Behind the Scenes at the Trinity Ranch
Written by: Team Trinity
The fall and winter months are without a doubt our favorite time of year, because that’s when we get to see and experience the fruits of our labor. Our whitetails are busy doing whitetail things, the bucks are either frisky or getting ready to get frisky, and everything that makes hunting season so special is happening on every single acre here in the south Texas brush country.
We live for the moments that take place from October through February, but the fact is, a lot of what occurs during that time period is the product of many variables and catalysts that were considered and put into action during the spring and summer. Hard work during these influential phases of the year allow us and our hunters to play even harder when it really matters.
We’ve been working diligently to continue pushing the limits on the whitetail hunting experience we can provide. Here’s a sneak peak behind the scenes of what we’ve been up to lately here at the Trinity Ranch.
In February we began a cottonseed feeding program. We started implementing this supplemental feed by building homemade feeders made out of T-posts and wire fencing. The fencing is wrapped around the posts in the shape of a cylinder with a diameter of two to three feet. We simply fill these round cages from the top and the deer are free to munch on the nutritious feed.
We created and put out eight feeders this year to see how well the program would work. Next year we plan to add seven more, which will give us one cottonseed feeder per 100 acres.
The benefit of this program is simple. It provides our whitetails with an additional nutritious feed that is high in protein, oils, and fats. We have also continued right along with our protein feeding program, so our deer herd’s diet hasn’t been altered much. Our hope is that the addition of cottonseed as a supplemental feed will help the deer recover from the rut and winter faster and easier, as well as result in more significant gains for the upcoming season.
It took our deer a couple of weeks to get used to the cottonseed, but since then they have been consuming it quite a bit. We will stop feeding cottonseed here soon as summer winds down, and we will pick it back up again next spring.
As far as protein is concerned, we feed it year round, and our deer have been gobbling it up all summer. The protein that we provide to our whitetails is an excellent supplement to the incredibly protein rich, natural and native brush that is found in South Texas and all over the Trinity Ranch. The deer naturally turn to these herbaceous forms of protein first, as they make up their main diet.
We will begin slinging corn again when hunting season commences. Corn serves as an attractant to help draw elusive deer out of the thick South Texas brush. Even after establishing a variety of supplemental feed sources, encountering our mature bucks in person still remains an arduous task.
In addition to protein, cottonseed, and corn, we also plant about 150 acres of food plots every year that mainly consist of oats. We have been prepping the soil for these crops over the past several months and they will be going in the ground at the beginning of the fall.
Ensuring our deer have plenty of available water sources is an integral part of our habitat management plan. Water is life in south Texas, and throughout our 1,500 acres we have 15 different locations with tanks and troughs that supply water all year long.
Brush management is also a key ingredient in our recipe for success. Last summer and fall we contracted a commercial mulching operation to clear strips and blocks on about 25-30% of the Trinity Ranch. The goal was to remove thick brush from portions of the pasture and convert it to open range, which has helped to create more space for weeds and forbs to grow. Whitetails love these herbaceous sprouts and receive a ton of nutritients from them.
This summer we have been able to go back over the areas that were cleared last year and chemically treat them to prevent the brush from growing back, thus preserving the open spaces to further promote the new growth of weeds, forbs, grasses.
As we continue to get geared up for hunting season, our motives and goals remain the same. We will do everything in our power to provide the best habitat, feed, and water that we can for our whitetails, so that the Trinity Ranch experience is unlike any other.
