Three years ago I hired Jake from Habitat Solutions to examine my property and to give me his advice on how I could improve the habitat, so that I could harvest mature bucks. It was the best thing I could have possibly done!!! Thanks Jake and QDMA!!
Dave Tanney – 2014
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Having Jake (Habitat Solutions) out to my place was the best decision I could have made (aside from buying the property). The comprehensive plan Jake put together for me saved many, many years of trial and error and indecision from my process of creating a whitetail paradise.
If you are serious about your habitat, Jake is the best!
Andrew Smith – 2013
Hubbardston, MI
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I’ve owned my own place for 3 years now, and while the deer hunting and sightings have been good, like most of us, I wanted better! I’d learned as much as I could take in over those few years and quickly realized that I couldn’t quite decide on a great overall plan, I was more doing a little of this here and a little of that there. Combine that with the fact that I have just under half of my place to build from a blank, barren field and I quickly realized that I needed some help! That’s where Jake and Habitat Solutions came into play. In just the one day that Jake was out, he gave me a full summers worth of work, even without having the plan in place. While Jake was creating the plan, I spent all spring, summer and early fall working on the basics per his recommendations. By the time the completed plan arrived, I could only get a few of the areas ready before I try to let things settle leading up to the season, but that didn’t seem to matter. In the first year, even without a full implementation of the plan or the benefit of any regeneration from the summers work, quality of sits was up. I was already seeing (and in easy shooting range) more 2.5 year old bucks than all previous seasons combined and things were starting to get a little more predicable in terms of the deer’s movements, along with a large increase in daytime feeding and sightings. Now, with a complete plan in hand, I look forward to the upcoming habitat season to progress things even further!
In the first season, I was able to harvest this nice 2.5 year old 8-point in a place and time that followed the script of what Jake had told me, almost verbatim. Ironically, we were standing almost in the exact spot that I shot the deer when Jake told me how it would all play out! After taking this deer, I was able to pass on multiple, larger 2.5’s, waiting on a 3.5, something I haven’t been able to do in past seasons. Even without the work complete, things have improved 10 fold,
Thanks Jake!
Andrew Smith – 2012
Hubbardston, MI
Ed and I just wanted to Thank you for all the ideas that Habitat Solutions has given us on our property. From the first time that we saw your presentation at a local seed mill, we knew you were the one to get our deer-hunting land rejuvenated. The QDMA strategies that you suggested, including Food Plots, Hinge-Cutting, Sanctuaries, Bedding Areas, Balanced Buck/Doe Ratios has really paid off with our success. Not only are we seeing more deer, but quality sized Bucks and larger Doe Groups. We appreciate you answering all of our questions regarding Deer Habitat and Management. If we can do it successfully on 13 acres, anyone can do it. Here is a 12 point that I harvested back on Nov. 16, 2010. We had him on our Trail Cams many times feeding in our Food Plots. We had another larger Buck on our Trail Cams during daylight hours. Without your help, this trophy wouldn’t be hanging on my wall. Thanks again to Habitat Solutions for making this possible.
Last year, my father and I purchased a 41 acre parcel of land in a Quality Deer Management Area located in Ionia, Michigan. As a dedicated father and son combination, we wanted to turn our investment into our own slice of “whitetail heaven.” We have leases in various other parts of West Michigan, which have proved successful throughout the years and provided us with numerous lifelong memories. However, leasing is not like owning your own land in which the topography is yours to mold and shape as desired. As a borderline obsessed student of hunting, I thought I knew exactly what needed to be done to this property based on the thousands of hours I have spent reading about whitetail hunting and habitat management. I knew I needed the following: bedding, water, structure, destination food plots, “killing” plots, smooth access in and out of stands, smart stand locations based on various wind conditions/rut phase, mock scrapes, minimized pressure, and security cover to name a few. To be honest, I, like most diehard hunters thought I had everything figured out. I was dead wrong! Before we “broke ground” on our property we found Jake Ehlinger, and his company Habitat Solutions. In all seriousness, Jake taught my father and I more about whitetail habitat management in one day than our whole life experience to date. In our defense, my dad and I were knowledgeable, but Jake’s delivery, philosophy, passion, and tactics were humbling and forever changed the way we look at habitat management and whitetail hunting.
Upon meeting Jake, my dad and I were immediately drawn in by Jake’s sheer passion for helping others achieve their hunting and habitat goals. Jake was punctual, articulate, friendly, and prepared. The method in which Jake conducts his business is conducive to both parties. Even before consulting at your property Jake loves to get to know a bit about you and your goals via phone, so he can best service your needs. I vividly remember Jake asking us, “Now…what are your goals exactly, and what do you have in mind for this property?” Accordingly, we told Jake our goals, thoughts, and what we thought needed to be done. He excitedly responded, “Exactly, Perfect…lets walk a bit.” I bring this up to make a very important point about Jake and his services. Jake will listen, digest, and then respectfully suggest his ideas. Unlike other companies and individuals who have a strict philosophy of “my way is the only way, and this is what you must do,” Jake is open-minded and wants to work with clients, not tell/force them what to do.
Upon walking our property for 4-5 hours in the rain and 30 degree temperatures, Jake provided us his thoughts in conjunction with the ideas we had. His suggestions never even crossed my mind! They were simple yet so profound. We immediately realized the advice we received was priceless. After walking our land, Jake drafted our own unique habitat plan and architecturally designed layout of our property. He provided us a pacing guide to help us determine which steps needed to be taken first to put the ball in motion. We took his philosophy and ran with it. With Jake’s personal support we made the following habitat changes to our property in just four months: we have roughly 5 “kill” plots, 2 destination feed fields, a pond, 15 apple trees, hundreds of mock scrapes, 18 stand locations, 4-5 acres of hinge-cut timber, we planted 430 three foot pine trees to diversify structure, break up food plots, and provide bedding, and have 8 acres of bedding in the form of switch-grass. With our combination of annual and perennial plots, hinge-cutting, and increased bedding we took a decent property and transformed it into one deer call home and feel 100% comfortable living on.
Lastly, I want to take a moment and speak upon the character of Jake Ehlinger, and his passion for aiding others in their whitetail endeavors. Like many services, people buy the service, it is provided, then it is completed. Jake is different. He welcomes and enjoys speaking to his past clients about their successes and is willing to elaborate, theorize, and answer any questions you have about your property, and the whitetail habitat plan he provides. Jake’s 20 plus years of experimentation and study upon his own “deer factory” is worth its weight in gold. Jake and Habitat Solutions are second to none.
Mike Ketelaar
Lowell, MI
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Jake,
I got my shot Saturday AM. He came thru the plot at my house just as I planned cruising for does. Ended up stopping at 15 yards and watched him go down. Dressed out at 155lbs. Thanks again for the direction you have sent me with your knowledge and awesome seed.
John Smith
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Jake,
I am so thankful for your help on my property. In one season of work I have already seen leaps in deer activity and to top it all off I shot my best buck so far on 11-04-2012 chasing does out of my food plot in the back. I put sorghum around the perimeter and fingers into the plot like you suggested. I never saw bucks in there during daylight until I did that. I was outside of plot about 65 yards, he chased does out and stopped broadside at 20 and booyah!
Thanks again!
Andy Lewis – Coleman, MI
I shot a nice buck last night; I was on my way to the stand when I saw a deer out across the bottom. He was almost a mile away and I could see he had horns so I figured it had to be a good buck. He had hot doe with him so I knew I had a chance to get close enough for a shot. I walked across a corn field and a bean field then crawled across our bean field that is across from the wheat. I was able to crawl within 200 yards of them. They never even looked over at me. I could see he was narrow but had a lot of length and had 10 points so I decided I had come to far not to shoo
t. I connected on two shots and dropped it. When I got up to the deer I was disappointed for about a second when I realized it was a young deer I had lots of pictures of during velvet and planed on letting go. The disappointment did not last long though because it is the biggest horned deer I had ever killed. He green scored 128 6/8 even with a broken brow tine and a width of only 12 6/8 inches. I have included a picture of a nice 9 and a velvet picture of the buck I killed. I have not had him aged yet but I think he is 2 1/2 what do you think.
Dustin Maczuk
Newhaven MO.
Jake,
I told you when we met that my goal was to shoot a 2 1/2 year old buck. I believe I met that goal. There was some ground shrinkage though, I thought he was an 8 point, he doesn’t have brows, so he is a 6. The first day of October I sat in a stand between two plots. I had a spike walk under my tree at 9:00. At 10:00 I looked down and seen a deer about 20 yards away. He had his head down and I couldn’t see if it was a buck. I did notice that he looked big. He turned his head a little and I see horns, I thought that I saw 4 on the side I was looking at. He was defiantly bigger than any buck I had ever taken. At that point I quit looking at the horns and concentrated on picking my bow up and getting turned around. I got the bow and he walked around the backside of my tree, I had to completely turn around. When I peeked around the tree he kept looking at me and I kept trying to hide behind the tree. I still hadn’t taken another look at the horns. I did look at the body and was sure that he was older than 1 1/2. He stepped out behind a small White Pine and I came to full draw, he looked up at me, and I hit the release. The arrow floated thru the opening, I was sure I seen the fletching disappear in his shoulder. He then took three jumps and stopped and stood there (amazing how much doubt comes through your mind in 2 seconds). After about 2 seconds he stumbled, he then turned around and made a jump back the way he came. He didn’t land on his feet, he disappeared in the grass. He ended up about 20 yards from where I hit him. My season has been a total success.
I then pulled the cards from the cameras, as I was walking (dragging) by them anyhow. I had 7 different bucks in one plot in two days. Three of them were bigger than the one I shot. The one I shot actually wasn’t in any of the pictures. I had never seen him before. All the bucks in the pictures are in the dark though. My goal is now a 3 1/2 or better.
I have hunted 4 or 5 times on the property since. I have seen a 1 1/2 year old 6 point a couple times. He came in and sniffed my climbing sticks one morning. I have not seen deer one time and have seen up to 6 on the best morning. The leaves are now falling off and I am seeing how thick my property is not. I got a lot of work to do!!
Hope you are hav
ing a great season.
Clark Northrup
Cadillac, MI
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The information provided by Jake really helped improve my Deer Habitat & Food Plots. I was able to transfer my property from a park like setting, into a lush Deer Sanctuary. Where the Deer felt comfortable to move around at all times of the day. With Jake’s knowledge of creating Deer Bedding areas next to Food Plots, I was able to take a Beautiful Michigan 8-Point Buck this year.
Thank you for your advice in helping me create a Hunting Property I have Always Wanted!!!
Thanks 
Again!!!
Matt McIntosh
Dexter, Michigan
