by Jon Kohler
Like me, and many of you, most of the clients I broker land to spend a lot of time and effort giving their growing bucks the most protein they can. They want to harvest the same kind of “top 10” deer celebrated in this issue that we all do.
They plant it, feed it and burn habitat to make it. Surprisingly, it takes at least a year of feeding protein before one can really see a difference. There are a lot of complexities and wrong information about nutrition.
It reminds me of when I was 19, and I thought it would be a clever idea to add a raw egg or two to a protein shake. But never would I consider grandma’s health as a factor to how much muscle I could grow!
In college, I read articles in North America Whitetail written by my future friend David Morris. I remember first reading about food plots, my first spark that I had a chance to grow a big buck and getting one of the first Baker climbing deer stands for Christmas. I had nowhere to hunt deer or plant my food plots, but I dreamed big.
In all these years, my passion for learning has never slowed. My favorite part is what we know today about nutrition and genetics and how we can predictably raise bucks with enormous antlers. What I didn’t know is that one of the biggest predictors is based on grandma more than almost anything. This is the stuff I find fascinating.
Mississippi State’s Deer Lab caught pregnant does out of different parts of that state – the rich Delta and the Lower Coastal Plain. In Florida, that’s essentially the difference between northern Madison County above the Cody Escarpment and the Flatwoods of Taylor County.
The lab penned all the fawns and fed every one of them exactly the same. I thought this study was heading toward what I already knew – that it takes a year of high-quality feed before you begin to see a difference. It’s more complex than that. Much more.
The first generation gained seven inches of antler. That’s all. Same feed, same pen, same everything.
The second generation gained 28 inches of antler, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Delta bucks. Think of a Taylor County deer matching north Madison County’s best! How?
They call it epigenetics. The genes were never broken. They had been switched off generations back, on the mother’s side. Something in a doe that had lived hard tells her fawn not to grow as big as he could, because this country won’t feed him. And it takes two generations of good living through the does before that switch comes back on.
Which means those of us who manage habitat, plant food plots and feed protein ought to be looking at taking good care of grandma as the key ingredient. Don’t get me wrong – a growing buck needs high-protein feed. But it’s the feed his grandma got that can help determine whether he has the chance to look like he came out of Madison County or Taylor County.
Wherever they’re from, most folks are like me and enjoy the challenge of growing them to whatever their full potential may be. That gives us all the more incentive to plant perennial peanut, use prescribed fire and feed protein all year.
So, enjoy this issue. These 10 bucks are the finest Florida-produced last year – and according to MSU’s deer lab, thanks in large part to their grandmas. Perhaps the question we ought to be asking these hunters now is who those grandmas were and what kind of habitat they had.
Tell me about grandma!
The Book of Daniel said that in the last days, knowledge would increase. If that’s the case, I’m going to take that extra knowledge with me to the deer woods. Thank the good Lord for the country He made and for letting us learn how to steward it.
Research cited: Michel, E., S. Demarais, B. Strickland, et al. 2017. “The Role of Genetics and Nutrition in Deer Management.” Mississippi State University Extension Service Publication 3013.
From murky farm ponds to pristine glacier-cut lakes and everything in between, Knox Daniels’ expertise stems from a lifelong fascination of water and the creatures that live in and around it. He recognizes and helps clients appreciate the value water features bring to a property. “My goal is to help buyers realize and sellers maximize the value different water bodies bring to a property, not only in a recreational sense, but also for social storm reasons.” After extensively traveling the country for collegiate BASS fishing tournaments, Knox graduated and worked for the Southeast’s finest fisheries and wildlife biologist, Greg Grimes. With Grimes’ company, AES, Knox managed many of the southeast’s finest private lake estate/impoundment properties, and learned the intricacies of upscale property management. Learning from Greg and other biologists, Knox honed in on the specific conditions and habitat needed for optimal gamefish growth in private lakes. He has also worked as a property manager on several thousand acres and for a commercial developer, facilitating the dirt work and builds of several apartment complexes, but his true passion has always been in the outdoors. “I’ve always had an insatiable fascination with ponds/lakes and am grateful to be able to help to place clients on the properties of their dreams and make their personal fisheries/wildlife goals reality with JKA.” – Knox Daniels
Jason has been assisting landowners for the last 28 years in Georgia and South Carolina obtain achievements the owners did not realize were possible. His degree in Biology from Georgia Southern stemmed from the desire to know how things in nature work. His plantation roots began at just 16 years old outside of Albany, GA and the last 20 years were spent in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. His entire career has been spent developing a global approach to plantation management. That plan included sales. Sales is in Jason’s blood- his mom had a 45-year career as a real estate broker. After college, he chose to pursue his passion of making properties great. In 2011, Jason sold his first plantation. Since then, he has assisted buyers and sellers with over $20 million in sales while most of that time working as a full-time General Manager of a large Lowcountry plantation. Today, he is committed to using his unique skill set and experience to guide landowners through the many challenges of plantation ownership.
Bruce Ratliff is a retired elected official (Property Appraiser Taylor County). Bruce brings years of experience in ad valorem tax knowledge. His property tax background gives JKA Associates & clients a unique insight into the complicated tax process. Bruce held several positions in the Florida Association of Property Appraisers, including member of the Board of Directors, President, Vice-President and Secretary, and served on the Agricultural & Legislative Committees for the Association. The real estate business has been part of Bruce’s life since childhood. His mother, Shirley Ratliff owned Professional Realty of Perry, Florida and his father, Buster owned Ratliff Land Surveying which Bruce was General Manager of before his political career.
Hailing from a long line of outdoorsmen, Tim learned a great deal from his father and grandfather. He saw first-hand what it means to be a good land steward. He believes land is so much more than a place to hunt, fish, and grow timber or crops. “It’s an identity, a resting place, a safe haven and a way of life, said Tim.” Tim’s family ties to Alabama run deep. During his grandfather’s first term, Governor James was responsible for signing into law Alabama’s first state duck stamp which helped to ensure funding for the procurement, development, and preservation of wetlands for migratory waterfowl habitat. He also established Alabama’s lifetime hunting license, so it is no surprise that Tim is an avid outdoorsman with a keen eye as to how best to improve habitat for the greater good of its wildlife.
With Madison County roots, Lori grew up on her family farm at Pettis Springs along the historic Aucilla River. A love of the land was instilled in Lori very early on by her father who was a local farmer. Lori understands the importance of good land stewardship and has witnessed first-hand how her own father, a former 2-term member of the Florida House of Representatives whose district encompassed many rural counties of the Red Hills Plantation Region, with a little bit of sweat equity, so lovingly worked their own family land. These are core values she carries with her today, and nothing gives her more personal satisfaction than to represent some of the south’s best land stewards.
Cole’s dedication to land management lies in his family roots. As a fourth-generation timber expert, Cole’s earliest memories were spent with his father managing timber investments. With a degree in Food Resource Economics from the University of Florida, Cole is the epitome of an up-and-coming leader. He grew up with a hands-on approach to learning land management and conservation and has spent the last 15 years learning every angle of the real estate and forest industry. Cole is a member of the Florida Forestry Association, Red Hills Quail Forever, Southeastern Wood Producers Association and he uses this platform as an advocate for landowners and their land investments. His family has dedicated the past 60 years to providing landowners in North Florida and South Georgia with professional land management services focused on improving and protecting one’s forestland and wildlife investment. In fact, their family business, M.A. Rigoni, Inc., was one of the first to introduce whole tree chipping to the Red Hills Region.
As a landowner of his own family farm, Lick Skillet, along with family land that has been passed down and enjoyed together at Keaton Beach for 40 years, Jon knows what it means to be a steward of the last best places. As a third-generation land broker with more than 30 years of experience in advising landowners in this niche, Jon is known for his innate ability to harvest a land’s unique intrinsic value. Touting several notable sales under his belt, Jon personally closed Rock Creek/Molpus – 124,000 acres of premium timberland at $142,000,000 – which was known as the largest timberland land sale in the Southeast for eight years running. He is a co-founding member of LandLeader and achieved the real estate industry’s highest honor, “2022 National Broker of the Year – Recreational Land Sales,” by the Realtors® Land Institute.