(birds) (music)
[David Kitner] This land was bare dirt when I came here.
You were hard-pressed to find a blade of grass on it.
My name is David Kitner and I'm the manager for Killam Ranch Properties.
(ducks)
[David Killam] My Name is David Killam and my family is the
owner of the Duval County Ranch Company.
(walking)
That's really one of the most impressive things about this ranch, the fact that you can literally
see so far.
(birds)
While you look off into the distance and see these great vistas, you can look at the ground
and you see all the diversity of the different plants and forbs that are right here.
I think that's a beautiful thing too.
(music)
[David Kitner] I told David early on, I said I am a fix-it
kind of guy.
I like a challenge.
And I'd be happy to work on this place if you want to fix it.
And so, he said do whatever you need to do.
And it's covered in grass now.
And forbs.
Where you have a plant cover, the soil temperature is 40 to 50 degrees less than it is on bare
dirt.
When you look at the diversity of brush and just this ground cover that we have right
here and the forb production that's generated in this area, it gives us the kind of nutrition
that, ah, produces these kinds of antlers right there.
[David Hewitt] There's markers all over this ranch that show
anybody how productive and what a wonderful piece of property this is for wildlife.
And while we're talking we're listening to quail call.
The brush diversity, the herbaceous plant diversity that we have around us is just amazing.
(music)
[David Kunz] In South Texas, in our semi-arid environment,
it's hard to have too much water.
[David Killam] We are a for profit ranching enterprise.
[David Kitner] And fortunately, the Killams don't need to
take out of whatever we make.
And so, I plow that money back into infrastructure on the ranch.
That's where the 350 miles of water lines have gotten paid for.
I tell everybody who wants to be a biologist, you better learn how to manage the land first,
because you can't manage anything else if you can't manage the land.
We use chemical applications by an airplane.
We use prescribed burning.
We use roller chopping.
And we always have wildlife on the forefront of our thinking when we do these practices.
(music)
[David Killam] We look at livestock as not only being a profit
center for the ranch, but also being an important tool to manage our habitat.
(gates shuts)
[David Kitner] We use rotational grazing exclusively here.
We like to see about a years rest on these pastures.
(siren)
We call those cattle every morning and use that siren to train them.
All we have to do is get on a hill and blow the siren and sit there.
Just be a little patient and those cattle come to us and then they will follow me wherever
I need them to go.
(siren) (cattle)
The slower you go, the quicker you get done.
(music)
The hunting enterprise is a very good business for us.
(turkeys gobble)
[David Killam] Our leases are geared towards families.
We want them to bring their kids and their grandkids out here and enjoy the property.
It's something that should be shared.
(deer fighting)
We do see a lot of value in outreach and education.
And we have wounded veterans.
We've done that for over ten years and, we have the opportunity to share this with others,
and have them participate and enjoy the beauty of the outdoors.
And that's been personally satisfying to be able to give back just a little bit.
[David Kunz] They take extensive records, which makes my
job a lot easier.
And I can do a lot with the extensive data they collect.
They run their game animal, their whitetail deer and Turkey and quail just like a business.
They take real data and records.
We don't guess.
We make real decisions based on that data.
(music)
[David Kitner] This land is going to be here long after we're
gone.
To me, to have a positive impact and carry it forward to future generations in better
shape than it was when I got here is extremely important to me.
And, I love it.
That's part of my passion of the, of the land.
(cows)
[David Killam] That's what we try to do in all our management
is try to keep wild places wild.
So, I think that we want this to always remain a part of South Texas and represent what South
Texas really is.