Greetings to all, from what I hope is the beginning of the "Post Covid Era." To say it has been quite the ride, would be an understatement and one cannot imagine a single life or family that has not been touched by this Global Pandemic. Reflecting at lost freedoms, family members and friends, Confucius was probably on to something much larger than he realized when he said that "everyone eats and drinks; yet only a few appreciate the taste of food." After a wild wet 2019, and a Covid 2020, and simply considering those two things alone, 2021 seems to have gotten off to a better start. If one can possibly understand the ups and downs of … [Read more...] about Better Beginnings
Hunting
Tara Wildlife – Turning the Page
Albert Einstein is credited with more sayings than…. well…. than he really said. Nevertheless, the two Einstein quotes which follow, seem to have originated with this one-of-a-kind intellectual wonder: The only source of knowledge is experience If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. While we have all likely experienced, in real time, the Global Covid Pandemic, we are still seeking knowledge based on our singular and collective experience. Social distancing aside, there seems to be no simple cause/effect explanation; because there is a lot about this bug that we simply do not understand. Ironically, … [Read more...] about Tara Wildlife – Turning the Page
The 2019 Flood: An Agonizing Journey – An Inevitable Result
When the Steele Bayou gates were opened on April 1, the Yazoo Backwater Area (landside) had crested at 97.2 feet with an estimated 512,000 acres of the basin covered in floodwater. At a reading of 49 feet on the Vicksburg Gauge, the Mississippi River was at 6 feet above flood stage. On May 23, the Backwater Flood had risen to 98.2 feet with a River Stage at Vicksburg recorded at approximately 50 feet. At those recorded levels, 550,000 acres were now affected by backwater flooding; an area nearly three‐fourths the size of Rhode Island! As of July 17, Backwater flood levels had only dropped back to levels recorded on April 1. One‐half … [Read more...] about The 2019 Flood: An Agonizing Journey – An Inevitable Result
7 Benefits of Being Outdoors for Hunters at Tara
There’s nothing quite like a crisp, early fall morning, walking through the woods to get to your deer stand. The air smells clean, you hear nothing but the sound of your feet crunching through the leaves and birds singing, and all around you, all you see are the woods and the animals that live in them -- The Great Outdoors. We recently asked some of our clients about what they value about their hunting experience at Tara Wildlife. The top 7 things hunters at Tara deemed very important or important for creating a quality hunting experience at Tara are For many hunters, being outdoors in nature and spending quality time with … [Read more...] about 7 Benefits of Being Outdoors for Hunters at Tara
The 2015-2016 Flood: What Happened to the Tara Deer?
Management Notes from Tara 2015/2016 Deer Season Update – High Water Edition By W.H. "Bill" Tomlinson, CWB, RF Let me start off by saying that I have been involved with deer and deer management for my entire life; first as a hunter and then as a hunter turned professional forester/wildlife biologist. You might conclude then, and rightly so, that I am a tormented individual, often questioning facts over emotion; and few things are more emotionally charged than conversations amongst deer hunters. Mark Twain said “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” I once had a Sunday school teacher who was a deer hunter. On … [Read more...] about The 2015-2016 Flood: What Happened to the Tara Deer?
Tips on Installing and Using a Trail Camera
We start scouting the deer on our property with trail cameras in the humid days of summer and continue through January. We install 25 to 30 trail cameras on the property in high traffic areas along trails off of fields or food plots, along the edges of habitats, and along the river’s edge. Long gone are the days where we continuously walked the property to get a feel for our deer. Instead, these trail cameras help us get a glimpse of what is going on at Tara with more accurate information and data. The photos that the trail cameras take tell us a story. Through these photos we can tell how many deer are on the property, the size and … [Read more...] about Tips on Installing and Using a Trail Camera
