Tom Indrebo - Growing & Hunting Quality Bucks: A Hands-On Approach to Better Land and Deer Management

I take great pride in the fact that a portion of the money spent to purchase this book will go toward the Bowhunting Preservation Alliance (BPA) and its efforts to promote and protect bowhunting. Its a true honor to have my book be part of the BPAs Save Our Heritage program. The vast majority of our clients at Bluff Country Outfitters carry a bow and arrow, and all of them enjoy being part of something that ensures their sports future. We must support programs that ensure our sons and daughtersas well as our grandsons and granddaughterswill enjoy the many great opportunities weve been lucky enough to experience the past few decades.

T OM I NDREBO , B LUFF C OUNTRY O UTFITTERS
A LMA , W ISCONSIN

Theres an old clich about those who are highly respected in their profession and this clich is most apt for Tom Indrebo and what Toms done on his lands in southwestern Wisconsin. Toms forgotten more about producing quality whitetails and creating quality whitetail hunting than most will ever know. What a lot of people dont know is that Tom also represents a long heritage of American commitments to the land, to wildlife and to hunting as a way of life. In fact, when we considered this book, I looked at this as a way for Tom to contribute what he knows best to our Save Our Heritage program. Thanks to the many who will read and, hopefully, manage their lands for quality hunting experiences after Toms example, Toms legacy will be in preserving our heritage through bowhunting, hunting and conservation which will live on not only in those who practice our sport but on the land that is so vital to what we love to do.

J AY M C A NINCH , P RESIDENT /CEO A RCHERY T RADE A SSOCIATION

Copyright 2013 by Tom Indrebo

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN: 978-1-61608-817-0

Printed in China

O ver my career as a deer biologist and researcher, Ive had the chance to exchange information and opinions with vast numbers of whitetail experts across North America. Since 1974, Ive had the pleasure of interacting with a veritable whos who of deer research: C.W. Bill Severinghaus, Lou Verme, Dave Hirth, Vic Nettles, Aaron Moen, Dale McCullough, Keith McCaffery, Don Hayne, Jim Teer, George Mattfeld, Lee Gladfelter, Bill Porter, Ollie Torgerson, Lonnie Hansen, Bill Healy, Pat Scanlon, Roy Kirkpatrick, Bob Warren, Ed Langenau, Willie Suchy, Harry Jacobson, Glen Del Guidice, Bob Zaiglin, Bill Hessleton and Gary Alt among others.

Ive also had the good fortune to visit many of the countrys top whitetail-management operations, and discuss deer management with many accomplished biologists and land managers. In addition, since the late 1980s, Ive met and talked with most of the best-known whitetail hunters, and watched or listened to their seminars, videos and TV shows.

Since the late 1990s Ive also visited often with Tom Indrebo while bowhunting at Bluff Country Outfitters in western Wisconsin near the Mississippi River. After spending hours, days and weeks riding with Tom all over his whitetail operation; and studying videos and photos in his cramped office while discussing deer habits, behaviors and movements; and listening to him share his knowledge and expertise with countless hunters, I believe Tom Indrebo is in a class by himself as a whitetail authority.

No one can match Toms accomplishments while working in an area rife with all the challenges that confront anyone who dreams of managing enough land to produce steady numbers of quality, free-ranging bucks. Consider these challenges:

There are no 8- or 10-foot high-fences on any land managed by Bluff Country Outfitters.

Tom owns 575 of the approximately 5,000 acres he manages, which means he faces the endless task of satisfying landowners and keeping them happy. If he doesnt, he loses years of work and investments in management practices.

He does not maintain hunting bait stations on any Bluff Country property at any time, not even salt, or supplement blocks.

Portions of Toms operation border a large, active hunting club, as well as lands with large hunting groups. This means he must maintain good relations with diverse, sometimes territorial, groups of other deer hunters.

Scattered throughout Toms operation are many small properties leased by hunters who first came to Buffalo County to hunt with him. They subsequently returned, only to lease properties where they might get a crack at bucks that Toms management helped produce.

Toms tree stands are not elevated condominiums, complete with heat, food, water and other comforts. Most of his stands require hunters to use tree steps or climbing sticks, and then sit exposed to the great outdoors.

Toms knowledge of many individual deer on his properties exceeds what most deer researchers ever compile in their areas, yet he has never used a radio-collar nor obtained a data bank of GPS waypoints or other numbers from those deer.

Sadly, Im unaware of any state-agency deer biologist or manager who has ever visited Toms operation to learn what he does and how he does it. If they should ever do so, they would be thoroughly impressed. They would be visiting a living whitetail management program that produces quality deer, quality deer habitat, balanced deer populations, and the highest quality deer hunting experience available.

What I admire most about Tom, who was in his early 60s while working on this book, is that his motivation remains as strong now as it was when he first watched whitetails a half-century ago. And because his curiosity about whitetails never rests, Tom continues to learn more about their habits and behaviors while most hunters, outfitters and many biologists Ive known stopped learning fairly early in their careers. While most of us go on to worry about budgets, staffing and programs; and spend time traveling and attending endless meetings; Tom stays focused on what drives his primary interest: white-tailed deer.

Perhaps most impressive, Tom gains his knowledge by spending most of each year roaming his region, making new observations, cataloging information and challenging his assumptions about whitetails. Thats how Tom sets himself apart from every other whitetail expert Ive ever met. He bases his judgments on information he obtains by spending more time in the woods than ninety-nine percent of the experts. In other words, this book is about a place and a man where the proof is truly on the landscape and in the minds of countless hunters who have been to Bluff Country Outfitters.