Wildlife Habitat Consultants

09/19/2026

Good luck to all the archery hunters hitting the stand tomorrow!

As the Minnesota deer seasons kick off tomorrow I’d just like to offer some tracking tips for when you finally get that shot at a deer you’re after to help ensure a clean recovery.
* Don’t rush to start tracking, even if you think it’s a perfect hit. If you don’t know the quality of your shot or if you think the hit may be less than ideal, wait a minimum of 1 hour before trying to locate the blood trail
* If you suspect a gut shot, don’t track for 3-12 hours
* At the first signs of losing a blood trail, stop and call a blood tracking K9 team. Pushing forward after losing a blood trail reduces the chances of recovery, even for the k9. Don’t treat a k9 team as a last resort, treat it like it’s the right tool for the job (because it is!)
* If you are an inexperienced tracker, bring help with you. If you don’t have an experienced friend, call us! We can give you tracking advice over the phone based on your current situation. We also have blood tracking k9’s on staff that we can deploy for you if that is what is needed to recover your deer!

Call with questions anytime!

218-290-4564

08/14/2026

Had our pre-season training day with our game recovery tracking teams today! Here’s a few snippets of some of the tracks second video in the comments). I put the dogs to the test today with some longer, real life style tracks. The terrain was not friendly, and despite the dry weather we even found ourselves going through water and mud. Both dogs did fantastic! They are ready to deploy should you need us! And with Minnesota bear season only two weeks away, those calls could come soon! No one ever plans on needing help to recover a game animal, but things can happen some times. Save our number so if you find yourself needing help recovering an animal the number is already accessible to you!

218-290-4564

We look forward to helping you this hunting season! Whether it’s the buck of a lifetime, a first deer, or a doe for the freezer we will be there to help!

08/07/2026

For those that missed out on the last swag order, I am putting in another order soon! To make sure you don't miss out on the items you want in your size, I am taking pre-order requests now! I will also be ordering each item in pink and grey as well as green. Expected prices for the items are below:
Beanie $18
Hat $22
Hoodie $35
Polo $30
T-Shirt $20

08/03/2026

Buckthorn: an invasive tree species that is spreading across much of the Midwest and beyond. I have heard people argue for an against buckthorn, so let’s talk about the facts.
We’ll start with that arguments I hear people make in favor of buckthorn.
“It creates thick cover very quickly, which is great for bedding and fawning.” This is true. It can create good cover and grows and spreads very quickly. However, there are numerous native tree species that can accomplish this also.
“It stays green later into the fall, providing better nutrition for deer.” This is partially true. It does stay green later into the fall, sometimes even during the first snowfalls of the year. Under unfortunate conditions, you will also occasionally see deer browsing on the leaves, berries, or twigs. However, those deer seen eating buckthorn are likely doing it because it is the only thing available. Buckthorn is toxic to deer and they will only eat it to prevent starvation. They can survive eating small amounts, but will get sick. Eating buckthorn long term or in high quantities can kill deer.
This brings up the arguments against buckthorn. As stated above, it is toxic to deer and some other wildlife. It is non native to the United States (and all of North America) and out competes native pant species with how fast it grows and spreads. This makes it an invasive non-native. The plants it out competes and replaces are a lot of the plant species that provide important nutrients to deer and other wildlife, as well as plants that provide important bedding and fawning cover. With buckthorn on your landscape, you are losing important nutrition and replacing it with toxins.
Bottom line: there are no benefits to buckthorn. It should be removed immediately upon discovery, at all times of the year.
Best way to eradicate buckthorn: cut it down and remove the trunk, limbs, leaves and berries. Stack these in a safe location and burn them thoroughly to prevent the berries from spreading viable seed. Within an hour of cutting the tree, spray the stump with a concentrated mixture of water and glyphosate and/or triclopyr. This will kill the roots, which new trees could otherwise sprout from.

07/10/2026

We’ve heard of beavers becoming established on many bodies of water, sometimes even creating their own habitats. But this family of beavers has hit a whole new level of becoming established. This lodge, measuring over 15 feet in diameter at water level, is located on a busy waterway with many homes and cabins. This family of beavers watched as their human neighbors all got satellite tv installed in their homes. The beavers decided that since their ancestors were here before the human ancestors were, they were entitled to the same luxuries. So, this family of beavers now has a tv satellite dish installed on their lodge. They are now permanently established and have been granted residency. If you want to prevent your local beavers from becoming this established around your beloved trees, give us a call! We will help with the eviction process!

06/14/2026

When I talk about getting browse to “deer level”, opening up the canopy, and natural deer feed, this is what I’m talking about. This is an acre area where my client and I cleared out the majority of mature aspens to get sunlight to the ground. We then maintain the “brush” to be under 5 feet tall. This area is now filled with young aspen, willow, alder, and some maple. Under that is filled with native forb growth. This area will produce deer feed year round and will give a total biomass value well beyond what any traditional food plot can produce. This variety of feed will also provide all the nutrients and minerals that the deer will need throughout the year, which again, a monocultured food plot cannot do.

Can you spot the bucks head in this picture?

06/06/2026

There’s a common debate about whether or not to mow food plots. There are reasons to mow, and reasons not to mow. There are some “crops” that do well with mowing, and some that do not. Let me break down these pictures for you and I’ll give you the pros and cons. This is a perennial white clover plot. This particular “crop” is very mow tolerant, so I’ll start with the pros. Deer prefer all of their green food to be younger shoots, as those are more palatable for them to digest than older shoots. Younger shoots also tend to carry higher nutritional values. Mowing is also a good way to knock back grass in a clover plot without the need for chemicals. So, mowing makes the clover more digestible and higher in nutrients for deer it also helps restrict grass growth within the plot, as grass carries almost no nutritional value for deer. Now for the cons. There’s really not many cons to mowing this type of food plot. Occasionally, too much mowing can stunt the size of the clover plants. The only other con is that while this is a perennial variety of clover, it still benefits from flowering and going to seed to help it thicken and replace dying plants. The flowers are also super beneficial for all of your pollinator species. So not mowing promotes a larger plant, helps pollinators, and allows the plot to re-seed itself.
So now, here’s my mowing routine. I mow once in June, based on when the grass starts to go to seed. I try to catch the grass before the seed matures to prevent the grass from spreading, and then allowing the clover to out compete the grass after mowing. I then let my plot mature and flower. I’ll mow again when at least 50% of the flowering plants have gone to seed. This allows the pollinators to take advantage of the food plot. It also reduces the frequency and amount that I need to reseed the plot. Depending on when the second mow occurs, I may mow a third time in early September to keep the clover palatable throughout the fall.
Now, if you look at the two pictures, you can see I was mowing at around 11:30 AM. If you look at the second picture, there is now two deer taking advantage of the fresh mowing only two hours later!
This mowing curriculum and advice is only for this particular plot, and some other similar varieties. If you want to know the best courses of actions for your plots, give us a call and we’d be happy to help!

05/29/2026

Voyage Minnesota Magazine recently interviewed me about Wildlife Habitat Consultants and my mission behind founding the company. Follow this link to read the article and get some insight behind the business!

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marty Thorne. Hi Marty, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?I graduated from the University of Minnesota – Crookston Campus in December of 2014 with a B.S. degree in Natural Resources. Life and career decision took me ou...

05/27/2026

NEW STAFF AND SERVICES!!

We are super excited to announce that Andy and K9 Ruby have been added to our staff to provide game tracking services! K9 Ruby is trained for tracking injured game animals to help ensure a quick recovery. She is trained for the recovery of both big and small game animals. Andy and K9 Ruby have been tracking animals together since 2024 and are excited to help with more recoveries! Keep these guys in mind come this fall, should you have an animal that you need assistance with recovering!

05/26/2026

We are super excited to announce we have officially partnered with MNL Corp! They are a company dedicated to restoring native plants and landscapes across Minnesota and the Midwest, just like we are at Wildlife Habitat Consultants! They are our official seed supplier for all things native plants and flowers! And we will help them reach their goal of 10 million acres of land restored to native habitats by 2030! Check out their page and website for information about them! We will also be able to provide all our clients with exclusive pricing on seeds and plants as part of our habitat management plans!

https://mnlcorp.com

MNL provides ecological restoration services and native seed/plants throughout the Upper Midwest