Whitetail Habitat Solutions — Local services in Coon Valley

I have been doing whitetail habitat management practices for nearly 20 years now and have used other habitat specialists in those early years on other properties. In December of 2012 I bought my 40 acre farm to own a slice of a hunters dream and call it my own. With an enthusiasm to learn more, wanting a different view point than of my own and the past I learned from, I hired Jeff Sturgis from Whitetail Habitat Solutions. Jeff was booked out until late Sept. After already reading much of his blog, YouTube videos, his Whitetail Success by Design book, I knew he had a different approach to what I learned and practiced from the beginning almost 20 years ago. With knowing that and feeling confident in my choice, I accepted Jeff's booking offer...the day before his Wedding! Jeff showed up and was ready to go. We walked the entire property, had time to show me the way he hinge cut, even picked out specific stand sites and so much more than words can't describe on a review. Along the way he explained everything on how, what, why, and where on deer behaviors and how they would relate to my property. From an avid whitetail habitat manager, avid hunter whitetail literature reader, I was blown away by Jeff's visit. He did a lot of things differently then I did and was use to. I went along with it and trusted in his knowledge. After all the man has killed more mature deer than anyone I know and the majority of those came from land he never owned. Think about that in itself for a minute! At the end of the visit we went inside and Jeff pulled out his tablet and began to draw my property plan right on the spot. He showed me and explained everything. But he stated there was more detail and writings that he does on the plan and he would email it to me when it was completed. It did take awhile but very glad he offered that part of the service, as the patience was worth it. He gave me so much information on the visit and a priority on what to work on, I could have worked the property for two years straight and not need the written plan. However I know everyone's memory is different. I imagine every property detail and client skill is different which would play into a delay in the written plan as well Jeff's work load. My little 40 acres consists of 26 acres of woods, 12 acres of agriculture, and rest swamp. It is in a high hunting pressure area and non-selective hunters in central Michigan. I had expectations of 2.5 yo 8pts or better which the neighbors assured me I wouldn't be able to achieve when I first purchased it. Which in Michigan and on small parcels is no task of it's own with our hunter population and low regulation on buck management by the MDNR. I was shocked when Jeff told me that I could grow the age structure and consistently harvest 3.5-4.5 yo bucks if I stuck to the plan and trusted it. I'm proud to say that in my 5 years of ownership and continuing to work the plan to perfection, the property provides and produces a balanced buck age of 1.5 - 4.5 years old. Every stand choice that Jeff picked for the plan has produced respectable quality MI bucks. I personally have harvested 7 bucks in 5 years and the last 2 years only focus on 3.5 yo+. The choice to hire what I call the best in the business of habitat land consultants and the improvements I have made since then have made it better hunting not only for my family, but also the surrounding hunters success on bigger bucks have increased as well due to Jeff's design and my effort to help grow the age structure. It has been a win-win for everyone. It's a small price to pay for whitetail success and I whole heartedly with enthusiasm recommend Jeff Sturgis-Whitetail Habitat Solutions anywhere whitetails roam. If you do the work, put in the time, and trust the design.....success...

I had Jeff Sturgis out in 2012 to create a Habitat/Hunting Plan for my newly purchased piece of ground in WI. From that day forward I have experienced increasingly consistent success on target mature bucks. He created a Habitat Plan that took my property from good to great pretty quick. Most of what he suggested for my situation I was able to implement immediately up front with allot of sweat equity and more careful hunting practices on my part. Today the hunting efficiency that has been created and implemented over the years with a few tweaks here and there continues to impress me. I didn't realize how much control a small property can have on the local mature buck population. For what Jeff brought to me and my hunting property back in 2012 I can honestly say 7 years later I have no regrets and it was the best "Deer dollars" I have ever spent. Not to mention Jeff is just a all around good dude that has a serious passion for what he...

I used Jeff to help set up a newly acquired farm in Crawford County Wi within a hour of where he lives. After some emails back and forth the agenda was to meet in the morning, walk the property, and put together a land plan electronically. All went well except the land plan, it's month's later and I still have no land plan.

I've been told several times that Jeff is extremely busy but I should expect the plan in a day or two. It's funny how he was to busy to return calls/texts or get me my land plan but found time to cash my checks and use pictures of my land for his blog and YouTube channel!

After a couple months of getting nowhere with Jeff I filed a small claims to recover my money and to my surprise he didn't show up for our court date either! Save your time and money and don't...