Page 4 - 2020 Jan/Feb Outdoor Oklahoma

Off the Beaten Path

Off the Beaten Path

NOT ES ON WILDLIFE • OU T DOOR TI PS • R EA DERS’ LET T ERS • EN V I RON MEN TA L NEWS
C OM PILED BY DON P. BROW N
CATOOSA BUSINESSMAN NAMED 2019 LANDOWNER OF YEAR

By Carlos Gomez,
Oklahoma Game Warden Don P. brown/oDwc

The 2019 Landowner
Conservationist of the Year
Award winner is Gerald A.
Choate of Catoosa.
Choate acquired 325 acres
near the North Canadian
River near Dustin. With his
investment in knowledge,
working within tight budgets
and sweat equity, he’s trans-
formed his property into a
wildlife oasis in just 12 years.
Choate has used all the con-
ventional equipment including Gathered at the presentation of the 2019 Landowner Conservationist of the Year Award are, from left, J.D.
brush hog, disk, tree-pincher, Strong, Director of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation; Research Supervisor Russ Horton;
four-wheelers, broadcasters honoree Gerald A. Choate of Catoosa; Bill Dinkines, Assistant Chief of Wildlife; Game Warden Carlos Gomez; and
and chainsaws. But he’s also Wade Free, Assistant Director.
put in the time to study and strategize existing openings, max- To landowners like Choate who possess a sportsman’s pas-
imize the periodic benefits of fire, and leverage neighboring sion, helping wildlife flourish is reward in itself. But sharing the
landowner alliances. fruits of his labor may be the most gratifying reward of all. He
One beneficial nugget has been his use of a 60/40 mix of fully understands that wildlife is a renewable resource that can
wheat/rye grains (not grass) mixed with prescribed seeding provide plenty for many.
ProViDeD densities of brassicas (tur- Through his local National Wild Turkey Federation chapter
nips), rapeseed (cabbages) and in Tulsa, Choate consistently shares the results of his wildlife
clovers, planted all together in management efforts. By donating hunts on his property for
early fall. The wheat provides fundraising purposes, he’s been directly responsible for many
early-season food, brassicas thousands of dollars dedicated to NWTF-supported programs
produce a late-season food, in Oklahoma benefiting untold numbers of sportsmen.
and the rye serves as both a
natural, inexpensive fixator ProViDeD
of nitrogen (fertilizer) and
“weed-reducer.”
Maintaining 10 percent
of his total acreage in food
plots, Choate strives to keep
them connected where possi-
ble using mowed, disked, and
seeded openings following
the naturally occurring travel
This whitetail buck captured lanes. Then, with strategically
on camera on Gerald Choates’ timed and rotating controlled
property is testament to how
his conservation practices have burns, he has transformed To improve habitat, Gerald Choate discs and seeds open areas with a
created a wildlife oasis. good land into great land. wildlife-friendly mix of wheat, rye and clover, following natural travel lanes.

2 Off the Beaten Path

12/20/19 8:07 AM
OutdoorOK-2020-January-February.indd 2 12/20/19 8:07 AM
OutdoorOK-2020-January-February.indd 2