Growing up in Fort St John, a small town in northern British Columbia at mile 47 on the famous Alaska Highway I learned something about wildlife early in life, there is a lot of game in the agricultural areas and the game can really stack up on the best feeding areas. In the fall the elk deer, bear and geese would be on the grain fields and second growth alfalfa and the better the feed, the more concentrated the game would be as they were fattening up for a long cold Canadian winter.  Since then, there has been a growing science of creating food plots to attract wildlife and building permanent tree stands on those food plots so that hunters can be comfortable while putting in the time required to be successful.

Two years ago I was able to start building my own food plot and tree stand. I started by purchasing 80 acres of land right behind our lodge with healthy population of game that meandered through it. The property had a natural rise in the middle so I chose that for the tree stand location. Then I started clearing with my excavator, 450 meters north and south of the tree stand. This was a huge job to clear and burn all the trees and stumps getting the ground ready for a tractor and disk. It was a great feeling to be building wildlife habitat, a feeling of giving back to nature. This past summer was extremely hot and dry so I decided to add a watering hole in the low spot. Two more days of digging and spreading dirt with the excavator and the water hole was done and I was ready for the tractor and disk. As soon as the disking was done I was planting alfalfa, clover and a brassica mix and praying for rain. Luckily we got it seeded in time to catch the last rain of the summer and it was enough to germinate the seeds and get them growing.