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Shurley Wildlife & Habitat Services

Hunting property management for serious landowners across Georgia, Florida, and the Southeast — built around food plots, cover, travel corridors, and science-backed strategy.

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Why Many Hunting Properties Underperform

Land across the Southeast, especially hunting land, has been mismanaged and underutilized for decades.

Hunting property management is more than forest management. While timber provides value and habitat management is beneficial, it does not necessarily produce strong deer, turkey, and quail populations across much of the Southeast.

Travel corridors, food plots, edge, and cover with a mix of forest management practices allow hunting properties to support more wildlife and provide excellent hunting opportunities.

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Land is a finite resource.
Think wildlife conservation.

A man in camouflage hunting gear kneels on the ground at night, holding the antlers of a large deer with a brown coat and prominent antlers. The scene is outdoors with trees and fallen leaves, illuminated by a flash.
A man in camouflage clothing kneels at night beside a large, dead deer with antlers, holding one of the antlers. The deer is lying on the ground with a visible wound.
A smiling man in camouflage clothing and a cap holding a large deer with impressive antlers in a truck bed at night.
A man in camouflage clothing and a black beanie smiling and kneeling next to a large deer with antlers, holding its antlers in a wooded area at night.
Logo of Shurley Wildlife Habitat Services featuring a black deer and a wild turkey against a geometric green outline and a forested ground, with the company name below.

A Flagship Hunting Property Design

In 2015, Matt Shurley developed a management framework that brings food plots, cover, edge, and travel corridors together at scales based on wildlife movement and population needs. This framework has continued to guide his work on hunting properties across Georgia and the Southeast.

One of its earliest applications was a 5,000 acre timber tract in east Georgia. Drawing on his experience at the Jones Center at Ichauway and his knowledge of white tailed deer home ranges, Matt divided the property into a series of Deer Management Zones.

Matt was hired to design the property from a deer management perspective. He used his knowledge from the Jones Research Center and home range data to develop Deer Management Zones. Food plots, crop rotations and yearling buck dispersal were also considered in DMZ’s. A simplified version of the property management map can be seen below.

The map below shows a simplified version of the property design and its Deer Management Zones.

Map showing different zones within a wildlife management area, including Deer Management Zones DMZ1, DMZ2, DMZ3, and a Quail Management Zone (QMZ). The map features various color-coded plots: green for harvest food plots, orange for summer food plots, pink for dove fields, along with designated buffer zones. The map was created by Jason Scott on June 8, 2016, using 2015 NAIP orthomosaic imagery, with the coordinate system NAD 1983 UTM Zone 17N.

“An asset the size of land should be managed. There will never be more land made and that alone is reason to manage it appropriately.”

— Matt Shurley

Wildlife and Habitat Management Services

Pile of corn kernels scattered on the ground in a grassy, wooded area with trees and shrubs.
An outdoor wooden well with a corrugated metal roof and a separate shaded water trough in a wooded area with trees and a blue sky.
Wildfire burning through a forest with flames and smoke, charred ground and burning dry grass surrounding trees.
A protective wire cage surrounds a small flowering plant in a grassy field, with trees and blue sky in the background.

Forest Management

Food Plots

Supplemental Feeding

Population Management

Own Land in the Southeast?

Every property is different. Soil limitations, forest history, wildlife needs, hunting pressure, and the goals of the landowner all influence the right management strategy. Our approach helps improve the performance of a hunting property while protecting its long-term value.

If you own land and love to hunt, there is a good chance you need help.

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