Making Do with What You’ve Got By Jim Casada Photos by the Author
I
grew up surrounded by folks with painful memories of the Great Depression. My parents were in their late teens and early 20s during the hard times of the 1930s, and my erstwhile sidekick, Grandpa Joe, often shared with me the impact those lean years had on him and his family. Indeed, Grandpa Joe, always a frugal soul, had a seemingly endless supply of maxims about dealing with life’s hard knocks. “Waste not, want not” was offered almost daily, and leaving so much as a morsel of food on your plate would bring a stern admonition about being “thankful there’s food on the table and your plate.” 40
WHITETAIL NEWS / Vol. 19, No. 1
The author with a fine whitetail he took on the property, where the management equation has always been “making do with what is available.”
Dad and Grandpa Joe saved everything that might have a potential use in the future. Even as I write this, I can envision my 99-year-old father’s basement filled with row upon row of Mason jars filled with nails, bolts, nuts, washers and the like, while strips of wood and pieces of plank were neatly stored on shelves. When you grow up in hardscrabble circumstances and have your life shaped by individuals who waste nothing, some courses of action come as naturally as breathing. One of those principles that has governed my years, and it was the guidepost in Grandpa Joe’s daily life, was, to use his words, “making do with what you’ve got.” For Grandpa, that simple, sensible advice figured in every aspect of his life — from hoarding chicken manure for use as fertilizer to making sure that every weed pulled from the garden went directly to the ever-ravenous residents of the nearby pig pen. Nothing was wasted, and he could find a use for everything. Looking back, with memories of his tutelage and wisdom as sharp as the keenly honed edge of his treasured Barlow knife, Grandpa Joe’s ways offer a sterling lesson for everyone managing a piece of property for wildlife. Here’s a glimpse at several ways you can “make do” for wildlife. And because I’m writing this the day after an election and in the midst of an economic rollercoaster, it is also a tribute to and reminder of the manner in which recent generations scrimped, saved and survived with striking success. When assessing a piece of land, become intimately acquainted with the property. That means walking the www.whitetailinstitute.com