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Mourning dove is the most abundant dove species, the most abundant game bird and one of the most abundant songbirds in southern Oklahoma and north Texas. Many people enjoy watching, feeding, photographing and hunting mourning dove. Yet, it is surprising how few landowners and land managers manage for dove.

Ben Franklin wrote, "When the well's dry, we know the worth of water." Unfortunately, the "well" is running dry in many parts of the world. Rivers are running dry prior to reaching the seas because we are over-allocating and overusing them.

Food plots can be used to increase visibility of deer for hunting or other purposes. Although popular, food plots do not always accomplish intended deer management goals. Several factors should be evaluated to ensure the success of food plots.

Fall and winter roost habitat may be the most critical and limited Rio Grande turkey habitat. Wild turkeys roost in relatively tall, mature trees with large crowns, spreading horizontal branches, and relatively few woody plants and tall herbaceous plants under their canopies.

Wildlife management, particularly white-tailed deer management, is becoming more and more commercialized, but little attention is given to the basics of deer habitat management because it can't be put in a bag or can and sold for a profit.

Food plots and feeders are intensive management practices and, while widely used, they are not real habitat improvement practices in most cases. Usually, they only work as supplemental feeding to concentrate wildlife populations for improved harvest success or observation.

Wildlife managers need to be aware of the importance of habitat diversity.

Grazing lands provide forage for livestock, habitat for wildlife and recreational opportunities such as hunting. The assessed value of a ranch based on aesthetics and wildlife habitat or its recreational opportunities can often exceed the property's agricultural value.

Some of the best duck hunting is a result of abundant food, and the most important foods are primarily aquatic plants. Since most aquatic plants grow during the summer, management for those plants should be done at that time.

It depends, but in most situations with white-tailed deer, the answer is no. Here's why.