#HuntGarmin Spotlight: Meet Clark Wendlandt
Whether he’s flipping big bass in his boat or hunting out of his favorite treestand, Clark Wendlandt’s passion for the outdoors has never been questioned. In the first of a two-part series, we ask Clark about his TV show, Fishing and Hunting Texas, managing his ranch for big bucks, and how he developed his passion for the outdoors.
Garmin: What is your general wildlife management strategy at your Texas ranch, as far as balancing habitat for all species of game that you hunt for, including food, water and cover?
Clark: At my ranch, whitetail deer are what we put the most emphasis on managing. We’ve actually gone back to managing and manipulating the land with a bulldozer in ways that will actually help the herd, such as brush manipulation in small areas. We’ve actually gone away from protein feeding, and what we’ve noticed is that when we get in there and work the land, we get pretty much the same benefit as we did when we were feeding.
It’s been an incredible year as far as rainfall goes and our water is very plentiful. May was the wettest month on record in the city I live, so it’s been pretty good for the second year in a row here. The lakes are starting to fill up and will continue to rise, so it’s been great for the fish and wildlife.
This time of year we are doing some land manipulation and scouting here and there. We use Garmin handheld units, such as the GPSMAP 64st for a lot of what we do on our ranch, whether we’re plotting our stands, marking waypoints along creeks, or other key areas that we want to hunt. It makes it a lot of easier when we’re hunting and when we bring other people in to hunt because we have the lay of the land right at our fingertips.
How was spring turkey season, and what are you doing to prepare for the fall?
Spring turkey season was great! I harvested three birds, all caught on film for Fishing and Hunting Texas. One down in south Texas, one in central Texas, and one in northwest Texas, so I’ve had the opportunity to see three different areas and populations of turkeys. On our ranch, we’ve actually implemented more of a feeding program that is just aimed toward turkey. We’re not feeding for deer, just turkey. We’re trying to establish and increase the turkey population as much as we can.
Tell us a little bit about Fishing and Hunting Texas. What do you do, what is the show about, is there any certain point that you try to get across in each episode, etc.
Fishing and Hunting Texas is produced by CarecoTV and has been around for a long time. My good friend Wade Middleton actually hosted the show for quite a while before he asked me to take it over this year. It was one of the earliest outdoor shows out there. My background is as a tournament fisherman and they asked me if I would be willing to do both hunting and fishing, and I thought that sounded like a blast. Texas is one of the best states for hunting and fishing and it is very conservation-minded, whether it be managing for turkey, growing big deer, or managing for bass and making fishing better. I’m mostly just trying to showcase the state and what it has to offer.
What is the biggest challenge you face when trying to capture every key moment while filming Fishing and Hunting Texas?
When we started out filming Fishing and Hunting Texas, we had a big camera and a cameraman, but the thing that makes that show in my mind are all the different shots we are able get because of the Garmin VIRB. I have all kinds of different mounts for the VIRB, whether it be on the barrel of the gun, a bow mount, or a clamp that goes on a treestand or on a rod when I’m fishing. When you watch our show, you’ll see that the VIRB really adds to the quality of production in that show.
What got you interested in hunting and what is your favorite memory?
As a kid, that’s just what we did. We went hunting most weekends and that just cultivated my love for the outdoors. Everything just depended on the season. Hunting is always a huge deal in Texas, especially in November when the season starts. The start of deer season was just a benchmark date that you knew was coming, so you always looked forward to that. Most of the year you are able to fish in Texas, so I could fish just about anywhere at any time. My father and grandfather loved to fish, so I just followed in their footsteps.
Join us later this week for some fishing tips from Clark.
Follow Clark Wendlandt on Facebook:
Follow Garmin Fish & Hunt on social media and share your fishing and hunting photos with us using #FishGarmin and #HuntGarmin.
The post #HuntGarmin Spotlight: Meet Clark Wendlandt appeared first on Garmin Blog.
Sample Block Quote
Praesent vestibulum congue tellus at fringilla. Curabitur vitae semper sem, eu convallis est. Cras felis nunc commodo loremous convallis vitae interdum non nisl. Maecenas ac est sit amet augue pharetra convallis nec danos.
Sample Paragraph Text
Praesent vestibulum congue tellus at fringilla. Curabitur vitae semper sem, eu convallis est. Cras felis nunc commodo eu convallis vitae interdum non nisl. Maecenas ac est sit amet augue pharetra convallis nec danos dui.
Cras suscipit quam et turpis eleifend vitae malesuada magna congue. Damus id ullamcorper neque. Sed vitae mi a mi pretium aliquet ac sed elitos. Pellentesque nulla eros accumsan quis justo at tincidunt lobortis denimes loremous. Suspendisse vestibulum lectus in lectus volutpat, ut dapibus purus pulvinar. Vestibulum sit amet auctor ipsum.
