Stewardship

A Word on Land Stewardship

Our Waterfowl Program
The waterfowl program at The DelMar Waterfowl Club will be an example of what land stewardship and habitat restoration can do for waterfowl. We are very fortunate to lease our farms from progressive owners that are fully committed to waterfowl conservation efforts. We will expand these relationships over subsequent seasons in order to continually improve the habitat.

We no longer raise mallards, so our conservation program is focused on the wild bird population. We have installed wood duck boxes on the South Little Creek, Bilboro, Smith farm and Rouse ponds. We also built 12 additional boxes on the Little River along 1.5 miles of contiguous shoreline. We have constructing goose platforms on the Smith Farm pond and Mallard nesting structures on the Bilboro farm. We also plant our impoundments and the banks of the ponds will be planted with natural plants such as smartweed to ensure a stable source of food for migrating waterfowl.

We are so serious about our commitment to the birds that we will not allow club access into our nesting grounds until the young have fledged. We also practice an active predator control program in order to increase nesting success. In addition to our ponds, there are several impoundments we built that are flooded for the migratory season. We leave this flooded into the spring for waterfowl making the return flight. They will be managed within normal agricultural practices to maximize available habitat. All of the tidal creeks near the impoundments will never be hunted, simply to provide a resting area and private refuge for our wintering waterfowl. Thus, we hope for a huntable population of birds from the opening day until the last day of hunting season.
In many of our fields we leave large blocks of standing corn for late season geese. This encourages the birds to use the fields long after the waste corn is eaten.

The club has more than 50 blinds, pits and brushed field blinds. These will be rotated and/or rested on a constant basis in order to ensure consistent gunning throughout the season. To guarantee a quality experience, we do not allow more than one group of hunters in the same field. We have our own 4WD backhoe, fork lift and dump trailers to load, haul, dig and install all of our own pit blinds. We find that there is a very short window of time when the crop is down to get our blinds in the ground. We own and maintain this equipment in order to maximize our hunting opportunities.
Insert Pit building Photo 1 and 2.

We are going to spend an enormous amount of time and energy to ensure and preserve the resource. I honestly believe that DelMar is one of the premier waterfowl clubs in the Delaware and Maryland That the average individual can still afford to join. I enjoy speaking with others interested in this type of commitment for the upcoming season.

Construction
We are very fortunate to have relationships and the owners of some of the largest construction firms in the area as members in the club. We have been able to build some quality ponds and impoundments with there help. These are great habitat tools and ensure quality days in the filed. We plant some of these with a crop that is flooded and a few are full all year for local populations.

Farming
It has been an amazing transition and journey for us in this area. In a short time we have gone from an old Farmall M and H to modern equipment. We started with one small sunflower field and relying upon the farmers to plant crops in our impoundments, to a full self-contained farming operation. For the upcoming 2008-2009 season we will till approximately 325 areas in Sunflower fields, corn impoundments deer plots, standing corn and cover for the dog training areas and upland fields.

Our Deer Program
Our program is designed to improve the deer habitat on our farms and grow healthy, large antlered deer. Growing food plots is the best way to produce larger animals while increasing the number of deer we see.

Wild plants have usually no more than 10 - 12 percent protein. When you offer wild animals a food source that provides significantly more protein they will favor that source over others. That is why food plots are so effective. Many of the mixes or plants available here average over 22 percent crude protein with some reaching an unbelievable 38 percent range when the soil is prepared properly.

Deer food plots also can greatly increase the amount of deer that the land can support if it provides food during the winter months. When have spring and fall plantings it still reduces the pressure on the foods that will be supporting the deer in the later winter. Each year we will carefully consider the following factors before developing our plots

Location:
Our plots are located on fertile soils with adequate drainage. We typically select locations that are not under irrigation due to the reduced land rental payment. We select the hardiest seeds to produce more drought resistant crops. Cover is generally located nearby and not established near a public road or waterway due to the increased possibility of poaching.

Size:
Plot size and shape varies with local conditions, but are chosen to provide adequate sunlight to meet forage production requirements. Typically they are approximately 2-8 acres in size.

Spacing:
Our plots are scattered over the multiple contiguous farms. It is more beneficial to establish 10 plots, 2 acres in size than to have a single 20 acre field. We also make every attempt to located plots near well traveled deer routes.

Soil Testing:
We conduct soil tests for fertilization and lime requirements. We use local experts to provide information on soil sample to select the best crops.

Planting:
We select plant species or combination of species that will grow on the particular soil type and site we select. Proper seedbed preparation has increased germination and yield more productive food plots. We have our own fourteen foot disk, chisel plow and cultimulcher. We plant crops at the prescribed seeding rate and during the proper planting season with a Deere grain drill, AC two-row planter, Deere four-row plate planter and an Deere Six row planter with markers. We also own our own solid and liquid fertilizer spreaders.

(Click any photo below to enlarge)