Whitetail News Vol 19.2

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Plant To FeedOr Plant To KillTheBestWay toHandle Both SituationsPage 5

Is It Big Enough?The “Right Size” is a Very PersonalMatterPage 43

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www.whitetailinstitute.com Vol. 19, No. 2 / WHITETAIL NEWS 3

Page 5

Page 22

Page 43

Features5 Plant to F

eed, Plant to Kill

By Charles Alsheim

er

Plantingfood plot

s to feedwhitetails

and

planting food plots

to hunt require diff

erent

strategies. Alsheim

er provides the de

tails as

to the best way to

handle both situatio

ns.

10 Doe Harvest is Eve

r-Evolving

DilemmaBy Scott

Bestul

If you ever doubt t

hat soundwhitetail

management is an

inexact and ever-

changingscience, l

ook no further than

the

issue of proper doe

harvest.

22 Mentors and Memo

ries: Young

Hunters Prep for Th

eir First

Time OutBy Tom Fegely

26 Food Plots — Save

Money by

Eliminating Wasted

Expenses

By Jon Cooner

30 ProblemSolving C

reates

“Deadly”Food Plo

t Strategy

By Fred Abbas

The Michigan expe

rt hunterprovides

unique

strategiesfor huntin

g your food plot.

33 Food Plots vs. Bait

ing: the

Controversy Conti

nues

By Bill Marchel

Althoughbaiting is

n’t necessarily a b

ad

practice,it can’t m

atch up to the ben

efits of

planting food plots

.

40 Biological Clock G

overns Life

and Health of Deer

By John Frank Dee

se, Whitetail Institute

Biologist

Smart whitetail ma

nagers know how t

o

“keep time.”

43 Is It Big Enough? T

he “Right”

Size is a Very Perso

nal Matter

By Brad Herndon

The scoreof the bu

ck’s antlers isn’t th

e only

thing to consider w

hen measuring a “t

rophy.”

48 LATE-SEASON SUC

CESS

When Food Plots P

ay Off the

MostBy Bill W

inke

Late season is the

time when your fo

od plots

can pay off the mo

st. Food plots are

important through

out the rest of the

year,

but theyare critica

l for hunting durin

g the

late season.

52 Fine Tuning Forag

es for

MaximumFall Perfo

rmance

By HollisAyres

56 The Ultimate Smor

gasbord

Plan: A Year-Round

Guide to

Outstanding White

tail

NutritionBy Brad H

erndon

Providinga variety

of foodsfor your d

eer is a

great wayto keep t

hem healthy and on you

r

land year-round.

61 Breadbasket Food

Plots

By JuddCooney

64 Big Bucks in Smal

l Places

By Capt.Michael V

eine

Many of today’s de

er hunters are bein

g

forced tohunt in sm

aller areas. The go

od

news is that those t

ight spots often p

roduce

some of the bigges

t bucks every year

.

67 LongtimeImperial P

roduct

User Battles Oklah

oma

Weatherto Come

Out on Top

By Bart Landsverk

68 Why Do You Hunt?

By Jon Cooner

Departments4 A Messag

e from Ray Scott

14 Turning Dirt: Part 6

Cultipackers

By Mark Trudeau, N

ational Sales

Manager

17 Fall Planting Dates

Map

19 Ask Big Jon

By Jon Cooner

20 Field Testers Repo

rt

PersonalStories an

d Photos

36 Record-Book Buck

s

PersonalStories an

d Photos

49 Winter-Greens

Planting Dates Map

72 First Deer — The

Future ofOur Spor

t

In This Issue…

Cover photo by Ch

arles J. Alsheimer

4 WHITETAIL NEWS / Vol. 19, No. 2 www.whitetailinstitute.com

A MESSAGE FROM RAY SCOTTFounder and President Whitetail Institute of North America

Tough Times Call ForExtra-Smart Management

There’s a new vocabulary in the media these days.

You’ve heard it: downsizing, cutting back, econo-

mizing, simplifying, getting back to basics, etc.

Like some of you out there I grew up with adults great-

ly affected by tough economic times — the Great

Depression. As a matter of fact I was born smack-dab in

the middle of that era. As a family we kept our sense of

humor and appreciated what we had and used our

resources wisely.

And that is what hunters and land managers must do —

and are doing — today.

As far as hunting and deer management is concerned, I

believe getting back to basics presents a unique challenge

with great rewards. A challenge our Whitetail Institute field

testers can turn to their advantage this upcoming hunting

season, because there will be more of an incentive to do

things right, which always saves money, as well as time.

Feedback from our field testers, tells us they are taking

the economy in stride as far as their hunting/management

plans. They know one thing for sure: starting with quality

products is the first step in making the most of their deermanagement dollars. They don’t depend on expensivegimmicks and fancy packaging or the latest fads. That’swhy they choose Imperial products.They also know there are specific steps they can take to

maximize the quality and longevity of their food plots andnutrition programs. Dr. Wayne Hanna reminds us — onemore time — that soil testing is not only an essential way toensure success with your food plots but can save you bigbucks in the long run. And when you’re in a position toplant a food plot, don’t skimp on fertilizer, lime or seed.That too will ultimately save money. And finally, don’t for-get that setting up a good perennial maintenance schedulecan make your plantings last longer. Jon Cooner addressedthat in your last issue of Whitetail News (see www.white-tailinstitute.com).It’s all common sense, but today it’s economic sense as

well.. W

Ray Scott

®

Whitetail InstituteOFFICERS AND STAFF

FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT:RAY SCOTT

Vice President of Operations.........................Wilson ScottVice President, Executive Editor.....................Steve ScottOperations Manager: ...................................William CousinsAgronomist & Director of

Forage Research...........................Wayne Hanna, Ph.D.National Sales Manager ..................................Mark TrudeauWildlife Biologist .....................Justin Moore, Frank DeeseDirector of Special Projects ..............................Jon CoonerWhitetail News Senior Editor ...................Bart LandsverkContributing Writers...Charles Alsheimer, Tom Fegely,Jim Casada, Brad Herndon, John Ozoga, Bill Winke,

Monte Burch, R.G. Bernier, Bill Marchel, Judd Cooney,Michael Veine, Dr. Carroll Johnson, III

Product Consultants.............Jon Cooner, Brandon Self,John White

Dealer/Distributor Sales ..........John Buhay, Greg AstonAccounting & Logistics ...................................Steffani HoodOffice Manager...............................................Dawn McGoughInternet Customer Service Manager.............Mary JonesShipping Manager ................................................Marlin SwainCopy Editor ...............................................................Susan ScottArt Director .........................................................George PudzisAdvertising Director........Wade Atchley, Atchley Media

YOUR CHOICE:PLANT TO FEED

ORPLANT TO KILL

By Charles J. AlsheimerPhotos by the author

The Bible says in Galatians 6:7,“Whatever a man sows, this he willalso reap.” I often find myself thinking

of this verse when analyzing all that goes intothe process of feeding, holding, raising andmanaging whitetails.


When I started raising whitetail deer nearly twodecades ago, I was struck by howmuch food each deerconsumed. I knew they were hearty eaters, but I neverrealized that when deer were on their feet, they werelooking for something to eat. Though each deer’sappetite is slightly different, they each consume 1 ormore tons of food per year. Because of this, it's imper-ative that lots of natural and grown food is available ifyou want to hold deer on your property.

PLANT TO FEED

To feed deer properly, think in terms of the tonnagerequired, the soil’s ability to grow the plants, whatseeds will grow best on your land, and how a food plotis angled to the sun so the seeds can grow to their fullpotential.Tonnage: You must carefully analyze a property’s

deer population and habitat type to know how muchfood must be produced. In most cases, you’ll be able tofigure out if you have too many deer by examining thenatural habitat. If there is little natural growth from theground to 5 feet off the ground, you need to kill moredeer or provide more grown food — probably both —because natural habitat will not sustain the deer on theproperty.Even the best natural habitat will have a difficult time

producing more than a ton of food per acre on a year-ly basis. In truth, in many portions of the country, thenatural habitat produces less than 500 pounds per acreannually. So, food plots are the only way to get the ton-nage of food needed to feed a wild deer population. Tohold deer on a property, adequate food must be avail-able throughout the year, not just during hunting sea-

son. In my region of the Northeast, that means thatfrom mid-May through February, I must have grownfood available if I have any hope of holding deer on ourfarm. To accomplish this requires a well thought-outplan.When it comes to feeding deer, the plot size matters

a lot. Therefore, I lay out our feeding and hunting plotsdifferently. Our feeding plots are large and not neces-sarily laid out with hunting in mind. Hunting plots,which I’ll discuss later, are smaller.Soil: No properties have the same soil quality. In

poor soils (where soil pH struggles to get higher than6.0) it will be difficult to grow more than 3 to 4 tonsof forage per acre. If a food plot’s soil is 6.5 or better,you might be able to grow forages that provide inexcess of 8 tons per acre. If your soil is not at least 6.0,work diligently through liming practices to get a pH of6.5. Doing so will let plants grow to their potential.Knowing a property’s deer population and soil typewill go a long way toward determining how muchfood is needed.Seed selection: With all the media hype, it can be

difficult to know which forage provides the biggestbang for your buck while giving the deer the nutritionthey require. As I wrote inWhitetail News Vol. 18, No. 3(What Whitetails Love to Eat), the whitetails I’ve raisedat my research facility have taught me a lot about whatthey prefer for forage offerings. Simply, 14 years ofanalysis have shown me that few forage offerings canrival Imperial Whitetail Clover.When it comes to whitetail food offerings, variety is

the spice of life. Forage variety also offers the variousnutrients deer require. Therefore, I plant Extreme andChicory PLUS blends to make sure that all of our white-

tail’s nutritional requirements are met. In addition tothe nutrients they offer, Extreme and Chicory PLUS aredrought resistant, which provides a bit of insuranceshould July or August be unseasonably dry.I rely on Winter-Greens (brassicas), Pure Attraction

(winter-hardy oats and brassicas), and Double Cross(Imperial clover and Winter-Greens) to provide thetonnage needed to feed and hold deer on our farmfrom October to February. For some of our smallerhunting plots, I’ve had great success with Secret Spot,which contains cereal grains, brassica and clover.And don’t skimp on fertilizer. To bump up the ton-

nage and create healthier plants, I fertilize our ImperialClover, Chicory Plus and Extreme plots in May and lateAugust at a rate of 300 pounds per acre.Size, light and location: To grow the tonnage of food

your deer need will probably require more food plotacreage than you think. In most cases, at least 5 per-cent of a property should be planted in food plots.Prime feeding food plots need to receive at least fivehours of sunlight each day. Their orientation to the sunis also critical. If a food plot is angled toward the sun,the ground temperature during the summer monthshas a tendency to overheat the ground, which bakesthe plants and retards their growth. So, think of thiswhen selecting a site for a feeding food plot.Also, place the feeding food plot as close to the

prime bedding area as possible so deer don’t have totravel far to get to the plot. Strive to keep any food plotaway from roadways and neighboring properties.Keeping prime food plots out of sight will ensure yourproperty’s deer will not be viewed by every Tom, Dickand Harry. The last thing you want to do is raise deerand then have others kill them — namely poachers and


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surrounding landowners who might not share yourmanagement goals.

PLANT TO KILL

Initially, most food plot practitioners put littlethought into whether their food plots can be effective-ly hunted. They just assume the food plot they’ve cre-ated will be an automatic honey hole come huntingseason. In many cases, big squares will not provide thebest hunting results. This is especially the case duringarchery season. To ensure great hunting opportunities,you must address four factors: forage offerings, beingable to beat the wind, getting the deer close andstealth tactics.Time the offerings: The forage that works during

summer might not be the right choice when October,November and December roll around. I continuallyshare with my seminar audiences that a whitetail’s sea-sonal food preferences need to be addressed for hunt-ing success. In my part of the country, ImperialWhitetail Clover is king spring, summer, and fall. Tokeep our deer from gravitating to surrounding proper-ties, in late winter I select forages that will keep themaround during hunting season. Pure Attraction andWinter-Greens are just the ticket to accomplish this.These blends are just coming into their own when cold-er temperatures and snow arrive.Air currents: In spite of what the scent-eliminating

folks say, you can’t push the envelope when it comes tobeating a whitetail’s nose — at least not 100 percent ofthe time. Never assume that air around a food plot willflow the same in summer as it does in October,November or December, because it doesn’t. Whenever

8 WHITETAIL NEWS / Vol. 19, No. 2 www.whitetailinstitute.com©20

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The protein provided by Whitetail Institute foodplots can help produce large antlers.

you are on stand, take time to throw out floaters to see how they drift. You just maybe surprised by what you see. And be sure to jot your findings down so that you’llhave a base point to go by in the future. The bottom line is that if you want to con-sistently kill bucks around food plots, you must know the ebb and flow of wind cur-rents around each food plot you intend to hunt.Funnel ’em in:When it comes to hunting a food plot, think smaller, irregular and

secluded. For the most part, the bigger feeding food plots will be used by deer atnight. Few of these will be great hunting plots — at least not during archery season,because you never know where deer will enter the plot.To get deer to use food plots during daylight, they must feel secure. Lush food

plots smaller than a half-acre, irregular in shape and surrounded by thick cover willbe excellent deer magnets during hunting hours. It has been my experience thathourglass- and L-shaped hunting plots (laid out with air currents in mind) providethe best hunting opportunities. An hourglass plot causes deer to move through thetight neck of the hour glass, offering a great bow-stand set up. L-shaped plots arealso great hunting setups because deer will move throughout the plot when theyfeed.Stealth entry/exit: After the proper stand location is determined, you must enact

a strategy that allows for silent entry and exit. I make sure that my entry and exitcan be done so that no deer know I’m around. A big part of this is accomplished byraking a narrow trail the last 100 yards to the stand. With the trail free of debris, I’mable to sneak to my stand without making a sound.Through the years, I’ve found that the best time to hunt near a food plot is the last

three hours of the day. If the location isn’t exit friendly (because deer are always inthe plot when nightfall comes), have someone pick you up with an ATV or vehicle.By letting the machine move the deer off the plot rather than you climbing from thetree, you will be less likely to make deer nocturnal. W


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Food plot edges are great early-season bow stand spots.

It was a shot I’d have never

passed a half-dozen years

ago. The doe walked the trail

like she’d been programmed;

browsing contentedly, pausing in

just the right places so I could

adjust my stance and draw my

bow. At 10 steps, she came to a

stop and looked away, exposing

her ribcage like a target.

But I never put my hand on my

bow, and when the old gal

walked off, I smiled. The doe had

received a free pass and never

knew it. Hours of stand time —

and a host of other factors — had

me convinced deer numbers

were down in my area, and I

needed all the healthy, experi-

enced breeding females in the

area I could get. When it came

time to shoot a slickhead to

stock my freezer, I’d focus my

attention on other farms to

accomplish that goal.


Doe Harvest IsEver-Evolving Dilemma

By Scott BestulPhotos by Brad Herndon

Hunters and biologists are learningthat it is possible to shoot too many does in

some areas.

EVOLVING ANTLERLESS DEER MANAGEMENT

If you ever doubt that sound whitetail managementis an inexact and ever-changing science, look no fartherthan the issue of proper doe harvest. When I starteddeer hunting more than 30 years ago, does were con-sidered sacred, and shooting them was acceptedgrudgingly, if at all. Barely a decade later, state agen-cies practically begged hunters to kill more does in aneffort to curb swelling whitetail herds. It took a massiveeducation effort to convince hunters that antlerlessharvests were critical and, in some cases, mandatory tokeep deer in harmony with the landscape. That cam-paign worked so well that I know hunters who taggednothing but does for several seasons and were content.They view themselves as deer managers as much ashunters — an attitude that would have arched the eye-brows of many of my old mentors.But now, after nearly two decades of listening to the

steady drumbeat of the “kill more does” movement,the antlerless kill pendulum has swung back toward thecenter. Indeed, hunters and biologists are learning thatit is possible to shoot too many does in some areas.Habitat conditions, predator loads and hunting prac-tices — as well as many other factors — can knock backdeer herds to the point that reducing or eliminatingantlerless harvest might be necessary.So how do we know how many does we should

shoot? There are no easy answers. In fact, when I men-tioned I was writing this story to several top whitetailresearchers, their general response was, “Good luckwith that one!” Many even chuckled. However, theyproposed some guidelines to consider when

hunters/managers are deciding on an appropriate doeharvest. Here they are, in no particular order.

FOOD/HABITAT CONDITIONS

Whitetails are one of the few creatures capable ofnegatively affecting native vegetation for themselvesand other species. Overly dense deer herds will eatthemselves out of all native food sources, as well asfarm crops, food plots and other plants not intendedfor their enjoyment. Just ask any suburbanite trying tomaintain a garden. One of the most telling indicatorsthat a deer herd needs trimming is the presence of abrowse line: an absence of brush, browse and treelimbs below 6 to 7 feet. If you notice such a distinct lineon the edge of a timber stand, a more aggressiveantlerless harvest is in order. In most cases, by the timea browse line is evident, deer will have already affectedother native plant species and the regeneration of treeseedlings.Significant damage to agricultural crops and food

plots is another sign that deer numbers are too highand does should be shot aggressively. Many of thecorn/soybean fields on the farms I hunt receive somedamage from deer activity, but I try to pay attention torelative trends across several seasons in an attempt toassess deer numbers. For example, if whitetails typical-ly trim the tops off soybean plants within 10 steps ofthe field edge in most years, but that line extends twiceas far one summer, I get concerned. Food plots canprovide other tell-tale signs. Exclusion cages that pre-vent deer from eating plants within their confines allowa comparison of how heavily deer are using the foodsource outside the cage. Again, dramatic differences

between plants within a cage and those growing out-side can indicate an overabundance of deer.

RECORD KEEPING

One of the most solid yet most-ignored means tomonitoring trends in herd size and health is recordkeeping. This can be as simple as a recording the sex,weight and age (jaw-bone verified or an estimate) ofevery deer harvested on a property. Viewed throughtime, this data allows a year-to-year comparison ofherd health and composition. For example, if the aver-age weight of harvested does decreases 20 percent fora couple of consecutive seasons, it might indicate thatdeer numbers are too high and available food is affect-ing body weights.Record keeping can also reveal other herd-health

indicators, such as fawn recruitment and buck-to-doeratios. Whether you use personal (field) observationsor trail cameras, simply recording the number, sex, esti-mated age and location of every deer you see (or“shoot” with cameras) is a huge step in learning thesize and composition of your deer herd. Remember,this is not a census. You’ll never count every deer onyour property. But it's an important estimate of num-bers, ages and sex that can be used as a snapshot ofyour deer herd from year to year. Again, trends willemerge that will help you adjust harvest goals for theseason.

LOCAL HARVEST/MORTALITY TRENDS

Most of us know how many deer we shoot on ourproperties, so tracking that data should be easy. But


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unless you own a huge tract, paying attention to deerharvests on adjacent properties — I refer to it as “myneighborhood,” with apologies to Mr. Rogers — is cer-tainly worthwhile. For example, my next-door neighborDave is a dairy farmer and whitetail nut. Neither of uskilled an antlerless deer this season, and that was onpurpose. We are almost surrounded by public land, andliberal antlerless tags have been available to areahunters for the past several years. Through a combina-tion of habitat/food analysis and personal observation,Dave and I recognized that overall deer populationswere down in the neighborhood, and we backed offour pursuit of antlerless deer to make up for theaggressive harvest by others.As another example, one of my friends hunted a farm

that had excellent habitat and food. Because he wasthe only hunter on 200 acres, Jesse worried aboutkilling enough whitetails, but every fall, the one or twodoes he shot seemed adequate. Jesse was a little puz-zled, until he finally discovered that the neighboringfarmer had been granted a depredation permit andwas shooting dozens of deer every year. Again, anaggressive harvest on neighboring property was mak-ing up for Jesse’s limited one-man show.Obviously, the opposite scenario can also exist.

Some hunting groups simply refuse to shoot antlerlessdeer, causing their neighbors to bear the burden ofherd control. This can be an extremely difficult situa-


The Whitetail Institute is proud to offer Imperial Whitetail Winter-Greens, our annual brassica blend designed specificallyfor late season food plot sources and hunting opportunities. Winter-Greens blend of brassica isextremely attractive, and during tests was preferred 4 to 1 over other brassica productstested. Winter-Greens stands tall and stays green, even in the coldest winter weather. Thecolder it gets the more sweet and attractive it becomes which creates perfect food plotsfor late season hunting. So this year plant our highly drought resistant Winter-Greensand give your deer a valuable source of nutrients for the winter season.

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Research = Results “Deer Nutrition Is All We Do!”

� Through a combination of habitat/food analysis andpersonal observation, the author recognized that overalldeer populations were down in the neighborhood andbacked off the pursuit of antlerless deer to make up forthe aggressive harvest by others.

tion to endure, as hunters on surrounding propertiesmust pay the freight for these sanctuaries. Other thanvisiting the neighbors and attempting to educate themin a calm, friendly manner, I’m not sure there’s a perfectsolution for situations like this.

PREDATION

Not long ago, the prevailing wisdom was that pred-ators were almost a non-issue for whitetail deer. Withwolves and mountain lions basically removed frommost of the East, black bears, bobcats and coyoteswere the only major carnivores capable of killing deer,and most folks (even biologists) believed their effectwas minimal. That attitude has changed in recent years.In fact, two recent studies have proven that coyote pre-dation on fawns can be substantial. Of 60 fawns moni-tored by South Carolina researchers during a two-yearperiod, 44 died before recruitment (surviving to theirfirst fall) into the local population. Forty-four (80 per-cent) of those fawns were killed by coyotes, a factproven by DNA sampling at the kill site.Another study in Georgia compared fawn/doe ratios

at two study sites; one where predators (coyotes andbobcats) were trapped aggressively and another con-trol site where no trapping occurred. The doe/fawnratio on the trapped site was .72/1, but the ratio on the

untrapped area was .07/1 — nearly 10 times lower.Clearly, coyotes — a common predator throughout

whitetail range — can have a significant impact on deernumbers. Black bears (another widespread species)are well-known fawn predators, and areas experiencinga rebound in timber wolf populations (primarily theGreat Lakes region) can experience even more preda-tion. What can be done in regions with high predatorloads? First, monitor sightings, sign and (with coyotes)audible clues that predator numbers might be increas-ing, as doe harvest goals might have to be adjustedaccordingly. Second, keep whitetail sex ratios as bal-anced as possible, as that creates a short, intense rutthat results in most fawns being dropped at the sametime. This flooding effect ensures that predators simplycan’t get to all the fawns before the fawns are mobileenough to escape (usually about eight weeks). Andfinally, don’t be reluctant to take up coyote hunting andtrapping in the off-season.

CONCLUSIONS

There are other X-factors to consider when deter-mining proper doe harvest. Weather is a perfect exam-ple. Al Gore’s claims to the contrary, global warmingwas not alive and well across much of the North thispast winter. Harsh winters can take a toll on deer by

killing animals outright as well as stressing themenough to affect long-term reproduction and health.Severe drought can have a similar effect in warmerclimes. And of course, disease outbreaks — particular-ly EHD — can dramatically knock a herd back in shortorder. All must be considered when deciding on anadequate doe harvest.Obviously, these many factors prove that deer man-

agement in general — and doe management in partic-ular — is an ever-evolving, dynamic process. There is nocookie-cutter approach. Indeed, what worked well thispast fall might be a disaster two years from now, whichshould encourage hunter/managers to keep their fin-gers on the pulse of local herd dynamics and theunique elements that affect them. Doing so can betime- and labor-intensive, but it's absolutely necessary.Fortunately, today’s hunters can get help. Many

states offer deer management assistance programconsultation, in which a biologist will visit your proper-ty to assess habitat health and herd conditions, andthen recommend an appropriate harvest strategy forthe coming season. For those lucky enough to live insuch areas, I believe it's silly to not take advantage ofsuch expertise. In states lacking such a program, pay-ing constant attention to the aforementioned factors iscritical.Recently, a veteran state deer biologist told me that

people came to him with three main complaints: notenough deer, too many deer and not the right kind ofdeer. Though his comment was squarely tongue-in-cheek, it was also based in fact. An adequate doe har-vest helps us eliminate the first two complaints and letsus focus more on the third. W


Many factors prove that deer management in general —and doe management in particular — is an ever-evolving, dynamic

process. There is no cookie-cutter approach.


TURNING DIRTBy Mark Trudeau, National Sales Manager

Part Six: CultipackersIn this series of articles, the Whitetail Institute’s

agricultural expert, Mark Trudeau, passes along hisdecades of real-world experience in farming andrelated matters to our Field Testers.

In the last few Turning Dirt articles we have dis-cussed how to select and properly use seedbedfinishing equipment. In this article, I’ll complete

that discussion by revisiting in greater detail anoptimum implement for preparing seedbeds forsmall seeds: cultipackers.

CULTIPACKERS: DEFINITION AND OPTIMUM SIZE

What is a cultipacker? A cultipacker is an imple-ment used to smooth, firm and eliminate cracksfrom a seedbed that has been disked or tilled. Itsmain components is a packing-cylinder assembly,which consists of a row of wheel-shaped “packerplates” mounted side-by-side on an axle. The outeredge of each packing plate is peaked, giving the

packing cylinder a wavy, or “corrugated” packingsurface when the plates are mounted side-by-side

on the axle. The peak of each packing plate is eithersmooth or notched. The packing cylinder is mount-ed to a frame by bearings, which allow the culti-packer to roll as it is pulled across the ground.Cultipackers come in a wide variety of lengths,

weights, sizes and configurations. The smallest cul-tipackers have only one packing cylinder, while thelargest may have multiple cylinders. Also, some arestand-alone implements, and others are included ascultipacking components of a variety of multi-taskimplements. (One of the most familiar multi-taskimplements to most hunters are food-plot plantersthat have a seeder, disks and harrows with a culti-packer mounted in the back.)Food-Plot Cultipackers — Optimum Features. In

this article, we’ll keep it simple and just talk aboutstand-alone cultipackers. The most versatile andefficient stand-alone cultipackers for most foodplotters will have the following characteristics:(A) A total length of 3 feet to 12 feet(B) A single packing cylinder

All cultipackers have packing wheels mounted side-by-side on an axle. The axle is mounted to a frame bybearings. Many lighter models also have riding wheelsso that the cultipacker can be flipped over and towedby tractor or ATV.

Riding Wheels

FrameBearing

Packing Plates

Making it greener on your side of the fence!

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The GroundBuster Spike Tooth Harrow Proper soil pH is the key to successful food plots.You can save time and money on all your liming needs by using the GroundBuster® Pulverized Lime Spreader. It pulls easily behind your ATV, tractor or vehicle and dispenses lime evenly, whether it’s damp or dry. The GroundBuster® Soil Preparation Implement is the only piece of equipment that you will need for successful ground preparation and planting. The GroundBuster® has two sets (frontand rear) of heavy duty 18" disc blades which are easily adjustable for very aggressive cutting. It also comes with a grading mat and heavy duty compact roller.

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(C) Packing plates with a diameter of about 8 inches to one footFor simplicity, I’ll refer to these as “FPCs” (food-plot cultipackers). For com-

parison, I’ll refer to cultipackers longer than 12 feet, with larger diameter pack-ing plates or both as “LHCs” (large, heavy cultipackers).

WHAT DOES A CULTIPACKER DO?

A cultipacker does quite a few things as it is pulled over soil. The most obvi-ous are that it smoothes and firms soil that has been recently disked or tilled.Others, though, are not as obvious. One less obvious thing a cultipacker doesis compact the soil to remove air, which can help reduce evaporation of soilmoisture. Another is that the corrugated surface of a cultipacker’s packingcylinder leaves shallow valleys as it moves across the soil.These functions are what make a cultipacker such a great tool for preparing

seedbeds for small seeds. As we look at why, keep in mind that the goal is tomake the seedbed optimum for small seeds, and that “optimum” means “justright — no more, and no less.”“Optimum” Seedbed Firmness. Optimum seedbed firmness means that

the seedbed should be firm enough, but not too firm. It should be firmenough for small seeds planted on or near the surface of the soil to staywhere you put them and not be driven too deep or washed away by rain. Itshould not be so firm, though, that the seedlings won’t be able to easily pen-etrate the soil with their tiny roots once the seeds germinate. If the seedling’sroots can’t penetrate the soil, the roots may grow sideways instead ofstraight down, potentially reducing seedling survivability and drought toler-ance.“Optimum” Moisture Retention. The seedbed should be firmed enough to

remove air from the soil, reducing the rate at which soil moisture evaporates.However, the seedbed should not be so firm that its ability to absorb moistureis reduced.“Optimum” Moisture Availability to the Seedlings. The corrugated shape of

a cultipacker’s packing cylinder leaves little valleys in the soil as the cultipack-er moves across the seedbed. There is also an optimum depth for these valleys— they should be deep enough to help channel rainwater to the seeds andreduce evaporation by wind, but not so deep that water stands in them.As we’ll see, if a seedbed has been properly prepared by disking or tilling, an

FPC will leave the soil in optimum condition in all these areas for small seeds.

WHY FPCS ARE SO VERSATILE ANDEFFICIENT FOR FOOD PLOTS

Versatility: Weight and Size. Lighter weight and smaller size make FPCsmuch easier to load, unload, store and transport. With regard to transport,some FPCs even come with riding wheels so that the cultipacker can be towedto the seedbed where it will be used.Efficiency: Weight and Packing Plate Diameter. FPCs are also more efficient

at using implement weight to generate pressure against the soil. Here’s howMatt Kunz of Kunz Engineering explains that.“A common misconception is that how well a cultipacker can do its job

depends entirely on how heavy it is. Actually, the important consideration ishow much pressure the cultipacker is putting on the soil. That doesn’t justdepend on the cultipacker’s weight. It also depends on how big an area of thesoil’s surface the cultipacker’s packing plates are in contact with. The smallerthe area of surface contact is, the more the cultipacker’s weight is focusedonto it. Notched packing plates further concentrate the cultipacker’s weight atthe notch points, much like the cleats of a mud tire do on rough ground.”Obviously that does not mean that a smaller diameter cultipacker is auto-

matically going to firm and smooth the soil better than a heavier cultipackerwith larger diameter plates; Matt is not saying that, and neither am I. Instead,we’re just pointing out the efficiency of smaller cultipackers. Everything elsebeing equal, a cultipacker with smaller-diameter packing plates will require lessweight than a cultipacker with larger-diameter packing plates to achieve a sim-ilar soil pressure.Also, realize that the larger a packing plate is, the more highly peaked it will

be, and the deeper the valley it will leave in the soil. That’s why LHC’s withpacking plates larger than one foot in diameter leave deeper valleys than FPCs,everything else being equal.Remember, our goal is to prepare an optimum seedbed (firm enough but


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not too firm, etc.) for small seeds. An FPC is themost versatile and efficient tool to do that.

CULTIPACKERS VERSUS OTHER IMPLEMENTS

Weighted Drags: As I mentioned earlier (and atthe risk of beating a dead horse), your goal is toprepare an optimum seedbed. If you don’t haveaccess to a cultipacker, you can still do a perfectlyadequate job of smoothing and firming yourseedbed with a weighted drag, such as a piece offence with blocks stacked on it to add weight.If you do use a drag instead of a cultipacker,

though, you must understand that drags and culti-packers differ from one another in how much each

can firm the soil. A weighted drag can be used tofirm the soil to a great degree, and certainly wellenough to plant small seeds. However, a drag won’tfirm the soil as much as a cultipacker. That’s becausea drag floats on the soil’s surface, while a cultipack-er presses down on the soil.This distinction is critical because which type

implement you use to firm the seedbed before seed-ing dictates what, if anything, you should do afterseeding. In fact, it’s so important that it’s one of thesections in the Institute’s small-seed plantinginstructions that is in bold print. It’s expressed dif-ferent ways for different small-seed products, butthey all make the same point:

Use a drag or a cultipacker to firm and smooth thesoil before seeding. If you used a cultipacker beforeseeding, then cultipack again after seeding.However, if you used a drag before seeding, do noth-ing further after you put the seed out. Do not coversmall seeds more than 1/4-inch. Never disk or till theseed into the seedbed.Notice that if you use a drag before seeding, you

should do nothing further after putting the seed out;the seed will naturally settle into good contact withthe soil. Never drag over small seeds or disk or tillthem into the soil; doing so substantially increasesthe risk that they will be buried too deep to survive.Also notice that if you use a cultipacker, you

should use it both before and after seeding. InTurning Dirt: Part 3, we discussed how to test to seeif your seedbed is at optimum firmness — the “BootTrack” test: The seedbed will be at optimum firm-

ness if your boot tracks sink down about ½ to oneinch in the soil. If your seedbed is softer than that,then cultipack the seedbed again until it is at opti-mum firmness before planting. If you don’t do thatand then cultipack after seeding in soft soil, youincrease the risk that the seed will be pushed toodeep.Lawn Rollers: Lawn rollers can do an adequate

job of smoothing and firming the soil. However,their packing cylinders are flat instead of corrugat-ed as a cultipacker’s packing cylinder is so theywon’t leave the beneficial valleys I mentioned earli-er.Aerators: Aerators should never be used for

smoothing and firming a seedbed for small seeds.Aerators will firm the surface somewhat, but theyhave spikes on their cylinders, which poke deepholes in the soil. That’s a problem for two reasons.First, small seeds should be planted on or very nearthe surface of the soil, and a small seed that fallsinto deep aeration hole likely won’t survive. Second,the holes allow air into the lower levels of the soil,which is the opposite of what you want to do whenpreparing a seedbed for small seeds. Instead, youwant to get air out of the soil to reduce moistureevaporation.

SOURCES FOR FOOD-PLOT CULTIPACKERS

There are basically two sources from which youcan get an FPC: You can buy one, or you can makeone yourself.

FALL PLANTING DATESfor Imperial Whitetail® Clover, Chicory Plus™,Alfa-Rack™,Alfa-Rack PLUS™, Extreme™,Secret Spot™, No-Plow™,“Chic”Magnet™, Pure Attraction™and Double-Cross™

� Call for planting dates

� Do not plant in fall

� Aug 1 - Sept 1

� Coastal: Sept 1 - Oct 15Piedmont: Aug 15 - Oct 1Mountain Valleys: Aug 1 -Sept 15

� Aug 1 - Sept 30

� Sept 1 - Nov 1

� North: Aug 1 - Sept 15South: Aug 15 - Oct 15

North: July 15 - Aug 20South: July 20 - Aug 25

Aug 1 - Aug 31

� Aug 1 - Sept 15

� Sept 15 - Nov 15

North: Sept 5 - Nov 15Central: Sept 15 - Nov 15South: Sept 25 - Nov 15

� North: Aug 25 - Oct 15South: Sept 5 - Oct 30

� North: Sept 5 - Nov 15Coastal: Sept 15 - Nov 15South: Sept 25 - Nov 15

� Coastal: Sept 25 - Oct 15Piedmont: Sept 1 - Oct 5Mountain: Aug 25 - Oct 15

� North: Sept 15 - Nov 15Central: Sept 15 - Nov 25South: Oct 5 - Nov 30

� Aug 1 - Sept 1

� Aug 20 - Sept 30

Lighter cultipackers create valleys in the soil better ifthey are notched because they concentrate pressure onthe tips much like a mud tire in rocky ground.


Thankfully, commercially available FPCs are not extremely expensive.They’re also commonly available from most farm supply stores, farm equip-ment vendors and even the Internet.If you elect instead to make your own, keep in mind that you want to use real

cultipacker packing plates if possible. If you make a packing cylinder out ofsomething that has a straight-line packing surface rather than the corrugatedpacking surface of a cultipacker, your homemade implement may firm andsmooth the soil, but it won’t make the beneficial valleys I mentioned earlier.If you are handy with welding and other metal work, building a cultipacker

from commercially available parts will be a fairly easy exercise, and plans areavailable on the Internet.

CULTIPACKER CARE, MAINTENANCE AND FINAL THOUGHTS

The main step you should take to care for a cultipacker is to never, ever pullit with the packer wheels down on a hard surface such as a paved or gravelroad, or where the packing plates might run into a rock, stump or other hardobstacle. If you do, then the packing plates will eventually break. Most packingplates are made of cast iron, which can break under shock. Also, when thepacking plates are assembled on the axle, some space is left between them toallow them to turn freely; and if you tow the cultipacker with the plates downon a hard surface, the plates will slam together. Just use common sense.Remember, this is an implement designed for smoothing and finishing aseedbed that has been disked or tilled, not pavement, gravel or stumps.As for maintenance, check to see whether your cultipacker’s bearings have

grease fittings on them. If they do, then grease the bearing both before andafter you use the cultipacker—and do it every time. And when you add grease,keep pumping until you see grease pushing out of the bearing. Any dirt orother contamination in the bearing will be pushed out with the grease. Asidefrom that, you should try to keep your cultipacker clean and stored out of theelements just as you would any piece of equipment.Finally, if you’ll be pulling your cultipacker with an ATV, don’t buy a culti-

packer so large that your ATV will have to operate at or near the top of itscapacity for extended periods. Doing so can permanently damage the ATV.If you haven’t bought an ATV yet but anticipate doing so, it can also be agood idea to buy one that’s 4x4 and water-cooled if you anticipate pulling acultipacker or tillage equipment with it. W

The corrugated cylinder of a cultipacker leaves shallow valleys in the soil that canhelp reduce erosion and concentrate soil moisture near the seeds.


A SK BIG JONBy Jon Cooner, Institute Director of Special Projects

Common Questions — Straightforward AnswersQ: I am going to plant Chicory Plus this fall, and

I would like to plant Pure Attraction with it. Can Ido that? If so, how?

A: Yes sir, you can. Better options, though, maybe to either plant the Pure Attraction beside yourChicory Plus, or use No-Plow or Winter-Greens ifyou are going to top-dress. Otherwise, you’ll needto follow a very specific planting sequence.Consider Chicory Plus the primary forage plant-

ing and the Pure Attraction as secondary, and fol-low the fertilizer recommendations for PureAttraction even though you'll also be plantingChicory Plus in the plot. The Pure Attraction instruc-tions call for the use of a fertilizer blend that is high-er in nitrogen than the one recommended forChicory Plus. Nitrogen is directly related to foragegrowth. Chicory Plus contains clovers that, inessence, make their own nitrogen. However, the

plants in Pure Attraction are not "nitrogen fixers," somore nitrogen needs to be included in the fertilizerblend. The additional nitrogen won't hurt theChicory Plus, and since nitrogen dissipates ratherquickly once it is exposed to the environment, it willbe long gone before it can stimulate weed and grasscompetition the following spring.Third, the planting instructions for each product

are different, so you should follow a specific plant-ing sequence when planting Pure Attraction with anImperial perennial blend.Imperial perennials such as Chicory Plus are

designed to be planted in contact with the surfaceof the ground — they should never be covered. PureAttraction, however, should be placed about 1/4 inchbelow the surface in loose soil. That means thatonce your seedbed is prepared, you'll need tobroadcast the Pure Attraction seed first and cover itlightly with a drag or harrow. Do not cultipack or roll

the seedbed after you plant your Pure Attraction.Just cover the Pure Attraction seed with about 1/4inch of loose soil. Then, broadcast your Chicory Plusseed right on top of the ground. Let that be the laststep in the planting process. Do not cultipack, dragor otherwise cover the Chicory Plus seed after youput it out.

Finally, remember to top-dress the plot withadditional high-nitrogen fertilizer once theseedlings reach 3-4 inches tall in accordance withthe Pure Attraction instructions. Also, remember tostart your Chicory Plus maintenance as soon asspring rolls around. Full planting and maintenanceinstructions for Pure Attraction and Chicory Plusare available at www.whitetailinstitute.com.And, as always, our highly trained in-house con-

sultants are standing by to answer your questionsanytime from 8:00-5:00 Central Time, Mondaythrough Friday, at (800) 688-3030, ext. 2. W

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J. Larry Lohr — Alabama

This is a picture of the 10 point I took from one of myfood plots. He scored 141 4/8 with a 17 inch spread andis the heaviest bodied deer I have ever killed. The onlyscales I had access to at the time would only weigh upto 200 pounds. He bottomed those out so I don’t knowhis exact weight. He is the second 140 class deer I havetaken on my property. The first was 4 years ago andwas a 14 point non typical that score 142 4/8. I haveused Whitetail Institute products exclusively the eightyears I have owned this property.

Chuck Crain — IndianaWhen I first

bought my prop-erty we just shotbucks and theywere nothing but1 ½ year olds tiny6 pointers with 8-12-inch spreads.Several years agomy brother triedsome ImperialWhitetail Cloverand after I sawwhat was eatingin his fields I hadto have some too.The next year Iordered some. Ilimed and fertilized one field. It came up alright but Ididn’t spray for grasses and weeds and it lasted onlytwo years. I then replanted two fields and I took bettercare of it and it lasted four years. Besides seeing moreand bigger deer we started seeing turkeys, up to 50 ata time. Now I’m also using 30-06 Mineral and this tooreally started working. And we’re really producing big-ger bucks. Last season my brother and my family shotthree bucks that scored 172, 144, and 125 pts. ThanksWhitetail Insttute for producing the products that helpus see more and bigger deer.

Lance Finlinson — IndianaA couple of years ago I bought 45 acres in southern

Indiana. It was all wooded at the time I bought it andthere were deer and turkey there but it was really hitand miss. The first year after I bought it I saw one deer

in four trips. So Idecided to put afood plot in. Ihad 3.5 acres ofh a r d w o o d sexcavated andhad a nice clear-ing. I then plant-ed 25 percent inAlfa-Rack andthe rest inExtreme. Theresults wereunbelievable. Mywife and I wentto the farmabout six weeks

after I planted and there were 12 deer standing in myplot in the evening. I was like a kid at Christmas. I start-ed seeing a lot of deer but still wondered if I couldbring in some nice quality deer. The deer I had seenthat had been taken in the area were just 120 caliber!Enclosed is a picture of the deer I shot this year.Obviously what I did worked....Anyone could do what I did. It’s not rocket science!

Just a little time and effort. I have also seen hens withpolts literally nesting in the thick clover. I shot a niceturkey last year and heard more birds gobbling therethan I have ever heard on any farm. There were a lot ofevenings that I had 12-16 deer in the field last year, Iknow this is bad but I actually only hunted there a cou-ple of times in October because I knew there would betons of deer in the field and I didn’t want to spook thembefore the rut.

Bobby Aulds — LouisianaI have been using Whitetail Institute products for the

past three years in Northeast Louisiana on my privatehunting property. We only shoot bucks that we consid-er trophies and we are going to mount. Last year I gotphotos of an 8 point coming to my 30-06 mineral licksduring the summer and food plots planted withWinter-Greens in the fall and winter. That 8 pointbecame a 170 inch 13 point in one year. I do believe it isa combination of genetics and Whitetail Institute prod-ucts. This deer is only 3 1/2 years old. Thanks WhitetailInstitute for making such nutritious and palatable prod-ucts that deer love.

Leon Belden — Michigan

I am an avid/passionate bow hunter from SouthwestMichigan. I am fortunate in that I have plenty of acresto hunt and manage, however I am convinced that youcan kill the neighbors’ deer with some planning andplantings of quality food plots.I have had excellent success with Imperial Whitetail

Clover food plots, even when I put them next to com-peting farm crops. I went from just filling my tags eachyear to filling the Commemorative Bucks of Michiganrecord book. Chicory PLUS is another of my favorites. Ihave some very effective food plots that are six andseven years old. I do work hard at maintaining them.Mowing, fertilizing, grass control, pH, etc. are key inprolonging thelife of a food plot.The pay back forthe hard work ishuge. I oftenwonder what myfood plots mustlook like from theair compared tothe drab foliagearound them.S o u t h w e s t

Michigan isn’tknown for it’s bigbucks. But, since1990 my son and I have entered 17 whitetail bucks inthe CBM record book and currently have two more toscore after the 60 day drying period from this past sea-son. Six of them qualify for Pope & Young includingboth of last season’s bucks.


It is Nov. 29 and at 4:10 p.m. I am looking out theback window of the house at many deer feeding in a ½acre food plot of Winter-Greens. The Winter-Greensfood plot is kicking in nicely. We have had some freez-ing nights and that makes them good. This food plot ofWinter-Greens has two bucks that would make book init as I write this letter. One is a 11-pointer (double browtine right side) and one is a 9-pointer. My tags are filledthis year but the food plot will keep them in my areathrough the upcoming muzzleloader season andthrough out the winter, and I can hardly wait for nextseason.Another really neat thing about the Winter-Greens

keeping the deer here throughout the winter is theshed hunting in the spring. I will pick up a dozen ormore sheds this coming Spring as I do each Spring.Unless you are my next door neighbor, I wish you

much deer hunting luck in the future and encourageyou to try the above mentioned products and tech-niques. You will become a better, more successful deerhunter in your own back yard. Food plots and WhitetailInstitute products have revolutionized my hunting life.

Gregory Keever — MissouriThere are definitely more deer feeding in Imperial

Whitetail Clover than regular clovers. Imperial WhitetailClover also stayed green longer in the fall. 30-06Mineral needs to be used over other products. I’ve triedmany different ones. 30-06 is the best. These are thebest products out there. If they weren’t I would not useor continue to recommend them to all my friends. Seephoto.

Johnny Gentry — North CarolinaMy wife and I purchased a 30 acre farm that has

been in her family for years. One of the first things wedid was to plant Imperial Whitetail Clover food plots.Taking good care of the food plots and letting thesmaller bucks walk, has produced some nice bucks. I’menclosing a photo. I also like to use the Chicory PLUS.Thanks goes out for the super products WhitetailInstitute makes.

Elisha Clemons — New YorkMy name is Elisha Clemons, I’m 25 years old and live

in New York. I started hunting three years ago on myhusband’s pride and joy 25 acre deer ground. We havebeen planting Whitetail Institute Winter-Greens,Imperial Whitetail Clover and also using 30-06 PlusProtein for the past six years. The results have amazedus. The food plot is like a magnet for the deer and otherwildlife. We started noticing a huge difference in thesize of the deer, they are bigger and healthier, and themass of their antlers is amazing. This is my first white-tail buck, and shows the amazing results the WhitetailInstitute products have given us.My husband and I had been sitting in our blind over

looking our food plot for a couple days. We were see-ing several doe’s and fawns, and many nice youngbucks grazing through out the food plot. Finally on daythree out came a beautiful 8 point buck, one of manywe had been watching through out the summer. I wasin such shock I think my husband had to pinch me toget me ready to shoot. Of course, being my firstWhitetail buck I was shaking from head to toe. With afew deep breaths, and a few calming words from myhusband, I was ready to shoot my first buck. Much tomy surprise I put a perfect shot on him and he fellwhere he stood. Overwhelmed with excitement, I couldbarely walk out of the blind to see my 160-pound 3 1/2year old, 8-point buck.I never thought shooting my first whitetail buck

could be one of the best experiences of my life. Thankyou Whitetail Institute.

William Belan — Ohio

Thank you so much Whitetail Institute for ImperialWhitetail Clover. It looks great. The deer really like theAlfa-Rack too. Keep up the good work. My friend shota 13 point buck. The buck made a mistake and the rightguy was there, Ken Daniel Bishop.

Christopher Zurcher — Ohio

I have been using Imperial Whitetail Clover for years.And now I bought the farm next to me and made big-ger food plots and a place for the deer to get someage. Things have gotten even better. This deer aged inat 4 ½ and scored 164-plus gross score. It’s the biggestbuck in my 35 years of hunting. Bigger food plots.Bigger deer.


(Continued on page 54)

Ivividly recall myfirst morning in thewhitetail woods;

my dad a mere acorn'stoss away beneath atowering oak wherewe had watched asmall buck and threedoes picking nuts onlya week before.It was an exciting

time following a sleepless night in which I’d rehearsedexactly what I’d do when a hat-racked buck strolledalong the trail 30 or 40 yards down the ridge and I’dshoulder my slug-loaded Remington double-barrel andtake aim.But it didn’t happen. Save for several does that

sprinted by in mid morning, and a small spike buck inthe afternoon, action on that cloudy deer hunting inau-gural was minimal. But the experience, in company ofmy dad and two uncles, remains a cherished memory.That was 1953 and thoughts of that first day in thewoods with my mentors remain crystal clear.Unfortunately, only a minority of today’s young

hunters are afforded the opportunities with which I wasblessed as a “country kid.” Their pre-hunt exposure tohunting of any sort, whether for whitetails or cotton-tails, gray squirrels or gobblers, is typically minimal. Forthat reason and others, a goodly part of my huntingtime today is spent in the company of kids — my ownand others — and I’ve come to appreciate the impor-tance of the task undertaken by mentors wishing topass on this lifetime addiction to woodlands, whitetails,woodchucks, waterfowl and other game — but espe-cially whitetails.

FIRST TIME OUT

If there will be a young hunter at your side this yearand/or next, consider these suggestions which set thestage for an equally unforgettable “first time out.”Many states require the completion of a hunter edu-

cation course by attending formal classes or via theInternet before a license can be purchased. Upon satis-factory completion of the course, mentors should fol-low up with a review of what was learned. Of priority isreinforcing gun handling safety with your rookie hunter.Stress the all-important rules of target identification nomatter what sort of game you’re after.


MENTORS & MEMORIESYoung Hunters Prep

For Their First Time OutBy Tom Fegely

Photos by the author

The author and his grandson Mason, then 3,create special memories on a woodland visit.


Time spent on a shooting range is a must and lessonscannot be overdone. Commercial facilities, gun clubs,state-operated ranges or friends offering farmlands orother safe havens can be found across the country.Visits to a range to sight-in scopes and open sightsusing paper targets should be the kick-off lesson.When possible, search out a place where only the twoof you will be present. Your student will play closerattention without being distracted, at least during thefirst training session or two. Make the experience aone-on-one venture to minimize distractions sure tooccur when two or more kids are hosted.Handling a rifle or shotgun can be intimidating to a

kid with a natural fear of a resounding blast and theinherent “kick” when firing. Flinching is a commonaffliction that must be corrected. The shooter oftendoesn’t realize he or she is flinching and thereforeaiming inaccurately. Sneak a spent shell into thechamber if you believe your student is jumping thegun and watch the reaction when the trigger issqueezed but only a “click” is heard. The lesson can bequite revealing.Of course, ear and eye protection and constant and

immediate reminders about unsafe gun handling prac-tices and the seriousness of what your student is doingmust be underscored throughout the instruction.Depending on a kid’s physical and mental maturity —no matter what the age — use a gun he can easily han-dle for the first practice sessions on the range. I preferstarting small with an air gun shooting BBs or pellets atpaper targets. When that’s satisfactorily completed,graduate to a scoped .22 rifle followed by the shotgunor rifle to be taken afield.Another valuable lesson is to take your new partner

to the hunting grounds where both of you will bespending opening day. Prior to deer season visit thespecific tree, tree stand or blind where you’ll be postedopening morning. Remember that in many states it'smandated that a licensed adult be close to the younghunter at all times. In some states the mentor must be“within sight of” or “close enough that verbal guidancecan be easily understood.”Point out trails, escape routes, rubs and scrapes and

specify distances to various landmarks. Indicate “out ofrange” shots and unsafe targets (deer on a horizon, for

example). Use deer photographs from magazines toshow where a bullet or arrow should penetrate formaximum effectiveness. An informal scouting trip ortwo will alleviate many first-time fears for the newhunter while bringing a dose of fun to the lesson.For small game, waterfowl and turkey hunting, simi-

lar pre-trip lessons are invaluable. As these “sports”require mentor and student to work side by side, a“mock hunt” serves as an excellent primer on what toexpect under actual hunting conditions. Set up as ifyou had a gobbler responding. Walk a field and kick

tinks69.com

Day-long hunting and shooting programs sponsored by state gameagencies and sporting clubs encourage youngsters of varied ages to

continue the learning experience with adult mentors.


brush piles for cottontails. Sit in a waterfowl blind andspecify who gets shots at “left to right” or “right to left”flying geese or incoming mallards. Use a 4-foot stick asa fake “gun” while aiming on a squirrel shinnying up atree. The scenarios will reinforce hunter educationcourse lessons and provide a smooth transition toactions in the field.Finish the lesson with the scattergun you’ll use afield

for turkeys. This is a good time to explain what hap-pens to the pellets as they leave the muzzle and travel

to the target, no matter if shooting at a turkey target ora live turkey. A shot or two at 15 yards (showing theoutline of a tom’s head and neck) and another coupleat 30 yards should get the lesson across. The expand-ing oval pattern formed by the shot will be plainly seen.

DEER PARTS: IDENTIFYING MISSING PIECES

Thinking back across my four-plus decades of pur-suing whitetails from Maine to Mexico, a goodly num-

ber of bucks and does upon which I’ve centered thecrosshairs probably wouldn’t have been seen exceptfor some revealing “deer parts.” While most experi-enced deer hunters are attuned to looking for tails,ears, legs, shiny noses, the glint of an eye and antlersegments or the horizontal line of a back or belly, new-comers often fail to make the connection when only afraction of an entire animal is seen. Delay things toolong and that dark “stump” you’re watching may risefrom its bed and run off.Novices in the deer woods (and we were all novices

at one time) typically take wide angle views of the ter-rain, often failing to see the smaller parts that mightbetray the presence of deer. Walks in the deer woodsor afternoons perched in tree stands during the off-season helped my sons and wife learn to pick out “bitsand pieces” of deer from the tangles, timber, scrub,swamp, understory and tall-grass fields. Bright andshadowy habitats such as the sunny edges of fieldscontrasted with dark woodland backgrounds alsorequire careful scrutiny.Movement is another giveaway. A closer look at a V-

shaped form in the brush, for instance, may reveal alight-colored twig, not an antler tip as may have firstbeen thought. Then again, it may be the other wayaround. Although a scoped shotgun or rifle scope mayaid identification, a binocular with 8x-10x magnificationis better and safer for studying stumps (bedded deer),twigs and small limbs (antlers), squirrel tails (twitchingears), sunlit leaves shivering in the wind (flicks of adeer’s tail), a horizontal line in an otherwise verticalwoods (a deer’s back) or other objects which hint atthe presence of a deer.Once you go afield in that frame of mind that any-

Extreme conditions call for extreme measures. And Imperial Whitetail Extreme ispowerful enough to overcome the worst your property has to offer. Thanks to Extreme,dry, hot locations and soil with low pH no longer prohibit growing a successfulperennial crop. Extreme requires only 15 inches of rainfall a year, is both heat andcold tolerant, and will grow well in pH levels as low as 5.4. Extreme is ideal forchallenging growing conditions, but will also do great when conditions are kinder. Anextreme response to extreme conditions.

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A father and son rehearse theirturkey hunting setup to assurethat mistakes in the field will

be minimal.


thing out of synch might be a whitetail you knowyou've come a long way in picking out the “deer parts”that put venison on the table and antlers on the wall.Yet another effective teaching tool calls for one or

two life size deer targets as used by bowhunters. Hidea 3-D target in brush, high grasses, behind deadfalls, inthick understories and in other habitat where only arump, head, legs, back, belly or some other body partis likely to be seen at, say, distances of 40 to 100 yards.Then have your student (who should not witness wherethe mentor is placing the targets, of course) walk slow-ly with you in the woods or high brush and grassesseeking the hidden targets. Supply the student with abinocular to verify that some mysterious form (the 3-Dtarget) is real or an illusion. For the youngest tykes—say four to six years old—fashion a fake binocular madeof two cardboard toilet paper tubes and duct tape.Gazing through the two openings at varied objectspointed out by the mentor focuses attention on themeven though no optics are required. Most students willbe considerably older, but there’s also a need to geteven the youngest kids involved in the basic activitiesof hunting.

EACH ONE, TEACH ONE

Many clubs and game agencies across the countryhold educational field days which are invaluable in pro-viding hands-on learning about guns, game and thespirit of the hunt. It’s up to those of us who choose tobe mentors to follow up on the field day theme with an“each one, teach one” drive to give something back.Except for visits to shooting ranges, the lesson plandoes not require going afield with a gun on those pre-

season training sessions. However, depending on statelaw, allowing the youngster to carry an unloaded rifleor shotgun prior to the season can be educational.Of course, each mentor has his or her own devices

for training first-timers. I know one Pennsylvania men-tor who insists that an actual squirrel hunt — wheremany of the same techniques used in deer huntingoccur — be part of his early array of lessons. Another

may be as simple as exposing a kid to the outdoors bytaking him on a stroll in a woodlot looking for signs ofwildlife. It opens the door to an impressionable younghunter’s eyes and mind.These are the kids representing the future of hunting.

It’s never too early to hook them up with a mentor whowants to give something back —while at the same timemaking things fun, meaningful and exciting. W

Chicory Plus is part of the Whitetail Institute’s continuing effort to develop products that are bothnutritionally superior and exceptionally attractive to deer. Chicory Plus contains the only chicorydeveloped especially for whitetail deer and it is blended with the number one clover in the world,Imperial Whitetail Clover. Chicory Plus is designed to provide the high protein of chicory with a morepalatable and attractive texture than other chicory varieties. Chicory Plus is an excellent perennial for

areas with heavier or moderately drained soils. It will provide you with 3 to 5 years ofhigh-protein forage from a single planting. You can be sure that it is the perfect blend forwhitetail – the deer think so, too.

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“Deer Nutrition Is All We Do!”

Everything from ear and eyeprotection to safe gun handlingshould be introduced on the

shooting range.


There’s no doubt about it -money is tighter for mostof us these days than ever

before. That doesn’t automatical-ly mean, though, that we have tolose out on the benefits high-quality food plots provide.Instead, many folks can cut costswithout giving up anything.The key is to identify wastedexpenses, eliminate them, andthen use the necessary expensesin the most efficient way possi-ble. As I highlight some ways todo that, keep our goal in mind:we are talking about ways tosave money without giving upanything in the way of food plotquality or performance.

FOOD PLOTS —Save Money ByEliminating

WastedExpenses

By Jon Cooner

BillMarchel


CHOOSE THE CORRECT FORAGE FOR EACH SITE

The first step in getting the most performance out ofyour forage plantings is to make sure you select a for-age that is designed to grow optimally in the condi-tions of each plot. That means that you need to selecta forage for one site at a time. There are two groups offactors to consider for each site: (1) physical factorsrelated to the site itself, and (2) what specific role youwant the forage in that particular site to serve in youroverall food-plot plan. Physical factors include, forexample, soil type, slope and accessibility of the sitewith equipment. Forage-role factors include whetheryou want a forage to provide nutrition and attractionyear around for several years from a single planting, ordo something specific for part of a year, such as pro-vide abundant, tall, nutritious growth in winter or mas-sive high-protein tonnage during the spring and sum-mer. These factors should be considered in a specificorder. For more information, see “How to Select theRight Forage,” which is available on-line here:http://www.whitetailinstitute.com/HowtoSelecttheRightForage.pdfHow Long You’ll Have the Property. Imperial peren-

nial blends are designed to last for up to 3-5 yearswithout replanting, with Mother Nature’s cooperationof course. Imperial annual blends are designed to lasteither from fall through early spring, or from late springthrough early fall. If you know you’ll be able to hunt theproperty for at least the next few years, Imperial peren-nials can be extremely cost effective over the life of theforage. By not having to replant every year, you savemoney and time by only preparing the seedbed once

for a forage that should last for several years. If you areon a year-to-year lease and are not sure that you’ll beable to lease the property again next year, Imperialannuals may be more cost-effective, since the initialcost to purchase the seed is generally less than thecost of perennials.Equipment Issues. Some, but not all, Imperial annu-

als need to be planted in a “prepared seedbed,” whichgenerally requires the use of a disk or tiller, a drag orcultipacker, and in some cases a sprayer. Imperialperennials should be planted in a prepared seedbedand they should also be mowed a few times in thespring and summer and if necessary and appropriate tothe forage being maintained, sprayed with Arrestand/or Slay. (For more information on using herbicides,see “Herbicides — Back to the Basics,” which is avail-able on-line here: www.whitetailinstitute.com/info/news/mar08/6.html).If you don’t have the equipment necessary to per-

form these functions, you have three options: (1) plantforages that don’t require ground tillage to plant, (2)hire someone to do the work for you, or (3) buy yourown equipment.Obviously, the option that carries the least up-front

expense is to select forages that do not require the useof tractor or ATV equipment to plant or maintain. TheWhitetail Institute offers two high quality forage blendsfor just such a situation, Imperial Whitetail No Plow andSecret Spot. Without question, these are two of theInstitute’s most popular annual forage products. Likeother Imperial forage blends, No Plow and Secret Spotcan be planted in a prepared seedbed. But that’s notrequired for them to perform well.Hiring someone to do the work for you can be an

excellent option in many cases. Doing so broadensyour forage options substantially. Plus, you don’t havethe expense of buying tillage and maintenance equip-ment, storing it, and transporting it to and from thesite. This option can be especially attractive for folkswhose schedules are very busy or who live away fromtheir hunting properties.If you plan to purchase equipment and do the work

yourself, consider whether you need to invest in a trac-tor and related equipment, or an ATV setup. An ATVand related equipment can be the better option if youeither don’t have a lot of acreage in food plots or youhave the time it takes to do the work with the lighterATV equipment. If you’ll be using an ATV to preparefallow plot sites, it can be a great idea to spray the sitewith a Roundup-type glyphosate herbicide a fewweeks before initial ground tillage. Doing so kills theroots of the existing vegetation, allowing the compara-tively light ATV tillage equipment to cut through theground much easier. A tractor may offer the betteroption for folks who have lots of acreage in food plots,since it has the strength and weight to work the soilmore quickly and efficiently.Efficient Use of Fuel Costs.When considering what

forage to put in each plot, you may find that you haveseveral options for each site. In that case, one potentialway to save costs is to plant perennials in larger sitesthat you can access more quickly and easily (but stillout of sight from public roads), and plant your moreremote sites in annuals. Since annuals don’t requiremaintenance after planting, you can save time andmoney by using more of your fuel cost for actuallymowing and spraying rather than traveling from smallplot to small plot.

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SOIL TEST, SOIL TEST, SOIL TEST!

Of all the tips in this article, none offers you a poten-tially greater chance to save money than performing alaboratory soil test any time you are considering buy-ing lime or fertilizer. Only a soil test performed througha qualified lab offers you the greatest potential savings.That’s because a laboratory can tell you EXACTLY howmuch (if any) lime you need, and how much and whatblend of fertilizer you need for optimum forage growth.When preparing your soil sample to send in to the lab,be sure to let the laboratory know what forage you’ll beplanting or maintaining. That way the lab can preciselytailor its recommendations for the specific needs of theplot. In most places, it only costs about $10 to do a soiltest for a plot, and that $10 is an investment that offersa huge potential savings by eliminating ALL unneces-sary lime and fertilizer expenses.Follow the Laboratory’s Recommendations: Once

you get your soil-test results back, follow its recom-mendations. That may sound obvious, but you mightbe tempted to add only part of the lime or fertilizer rec-ommendation in an attempt to save money. That’s notthe way to go, at least if you want optimum forage per-formance. The reason is that, as I said, a laboratory soiltest will tell you EXACTLY what, if anything, you needto add to the soil, and if you do less than the soil-testreport recommends, you will almost certainly see itshow up as reduced forage performance.

TRY TO PERFORM MULTIPLE TASKS EACH TRIP

There are lots of ways you can save money by doing

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Ge�ing big bucks with big racks takes anexceptionally nutritious forage, and that can be

hard to grow in hilly areas with lighter soils.Alfa-Rack Plus solves this problem. �e

extensive root structure of Alfa-Rack Plus allowsyou to grow this high-protein forage in areasthat might otherwise be inhospitable to the

foods deer like best. Alfa-Rack Plus includes ourspecial blend of alfalfas, chicory, and Imperial

Whitetail Clover. When the buck youare a�er is King of the Hill, make

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�e Whitetail Institute239 Whitetail TrailPintlala, AL 36043


®

Research = Results


Lush food plots like this one can be had ifyou follow the proper steps. This includes

doing a simple soil test.


more than one task each time you work on your foodplots. If you think about your own unique situation,you’ll probably think of lots of ways to do that. Here’san example:Let’s say you have selected a fallow site for a new

food plot, have selected the correct forage for that site,and are ready to start seedbed preparation. Let’s alsosay that the site is currently covered with a thick layerof sod, and that you want to spray the site with aRoundup-type glyphosate herbicide a few weeksbefore tilling. When you go to the site to take your soilsamples for testing, spray the site while you’re there.That way the herbicide can be working to kill the sodwhile you wait for your soil-test results to come back.

MAINTAIN PERENNIAL FORAGESIN A TIMELY MANNER

Maintaining Imperial perennials is easy. It’s also veryimportant if you want your forage planting to last aslong as it was designed to last. Just like your car, whichrequires regular oil changes at specific mileage inter-vals, your perennials need a little maintenance eachspring if they are to last as long as they should, and thatmaintenance should be timely.Start with grass control in the spring. As Dr. Wiley

Johnson used to say, “Grass control is your number-one maintenance priority.” And it’s not just importantto control grass — it’s also important to do it in a time-ly manner, especially if you want to keep costs down.Arrest works best at controlling grass that is still inseedling stage (that has not matured its root ball yet,which grasses generally do once they are old enoughto be about 6-12” tall). To reduce the chance that you’ll

have to deal with mature grass in your Imperial peren-nial plots, try to spray Arrest during a specific windowof time. That window starts when grass starts to active-ly grow, and it ends when grass reaches a height of 6-12”. It’s still possible to control grass after it matures,but in some situations it may require additional herbi-cide applications, stronger solution rates or both. Forinformation on how to set up a maintenance schedulefor your perennials, see “Perennial Maintenance —Setting up a Schedule,” which is available on-line here:www.whitetailinstitute.com/info/planting/Maintenance.pdfAlso, be sure to mow your Imperial perennial plots in

the spring, and again do so in a timely manner. Theykey is to mow the top off the plot any time it appearsthat the forage plants or any upright annual weeds areabout to “flower” (make seeds). If you can’t mowbefore flowering, still mow if possible because mowingalso helps keep the forage plants even more lush, nutri-tious and attractive. For best weed-control results,though, try to mow before anything growing in the plotflowers. Just don’t mow when conditions are exces-sively hot or dry.Remember, before you consider what you will have

to give up to cut costs, look for ways to cut costs with-out giving up anything. Most of us can find at leastsome wasted expense in our food-plot budgets, andthink of ways to be more efficient with our time andmoney. These are just some examples of areas to con-sider. Everyone’s situation is unique, though, and I’ll betyou can come up with more of your own. W

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Late spring through summer — Duringthis period deer need a specific arrayof vitamins and minerals to supportcontinued antler growth and lactation.Optimize is the perfect blend of nutri-ents to maintain a healthy herd duringthis crucial period.

Fall through early winter — Coldweather, food shortages and thestresses of he rut make fall and wintera difficult time for deer heards. Sus-tain provides the protein, energy, vita-mins and minerals necessary to bringthe herd through this difficult period.

CharlesJ.Alsheimer


PROBLEM SOLVINGCreates “Deadly”Food Plot Strategy

By Fred Abbas

When mature bucks become nocturnal,the problem can be solved using

unique techniques.

CharlesJ.Alsheimer


If you've ever watched our A-WayOutdoors television program orread any of our articles you know

we invent our own hunting tactics. Ifyou own any of our A-Way Huntingproducts, you would also know weinvent our own products. The reasonis very simple: There are problemswith every hunting aid that will even-tually cost a hunter their quarry, andthere are problems that ultimately sur-face during every type of hunt. Webelieve there is a solution to everyproblem, and we first attempt to rec-ognize exactly what the problem isand why it’s a problem. If this involvesa hunting aid, we isolate and thenremove the weaknesses and build onits strengths. By the time we are fin-ished, the product looks much differ-ent from its counterparts and ispatentable.

If you own or lease land for deer and turkey hunt-ing, you know the greatest component to continuedsuccess is food plots. Food plots can never be out-lawed because hunting near them is a legitimate, legaltactic. It's only a matter of time before baiting inMichigan and elsewhere will be eliminated. This is nowespecially true now that farmers have ethanol toenhance their income. (Note: This article wasauthored before chronic wasting disease was discov-ered in Michigan and prompted the baiting ban inMichigan’s lower peninsula.)Strategically placed food plots are designed to

attract deer and turkeys to your property, and properplantings are designed to hold animals on your land.We use a variety of Whitetail Institute products withoutstanding attraction power and they give deer thehigh protein needed to enhance antler growth. Doesalso benefit by having healthier fawns.You've heard that variety is the spice of life, and truer

words were never spoken when it applies to plantingfood plots — especially for deer. However, when hunt-ing food plots, you must solve some problems. Theproblem isn’t the food plot, but the way most maturebucks approach or leave a food plot, and the way mosthunters hunt the plots. The more I thought about theproblems, the easier they were to identify.Problem No. 1:Many hunters place permanent blinds

overlooking food plots and hunt the plot with a rifle orshotgun. Eventually, smarter, more mature deer will fig-ure it out and become nocturnal, making the plot muchless effective. That's if the big bucks don’t leave alto-gether. Remember, the idea of a food plot is to attractand hold deer on your land.Problem No. 2: Most bucks, especially mature bucks

entering a food plot in the evening, usually stage innearby woods before dark or enter the food plot dur-ing low light.Problem No. 3: Usually, mature bucks leave the plot

before daylight.

SEARCHING FOR THE SOLUTION

The remedy is easy. Move the blind or stand to aninterception point unrelated to the food plot. At leastthat's what we thought. Where it should be relocatedcreated a further problem. Then, we needed to knowwhat time deer were reaching the staging point andwhere that point was located. We also wanted to knowif deer that left the plot before light went directly tobedding areas or lingered somewhere. If they lingered,where did they linger, and for how long?The only way that we could find the answers was by

using trail cameras. We started in May at one of ourmost productive food plots, and then extended that toother farms, using eight cameras set near intersectingdeer runs 500 to 100 yards from the food plots. It tookus nearly five months to compile enough data to revealthe information.Before getting into specifics, it's worth mentioning

that the deadliest location for a food plot is below anorth-south ridge. Bucks loved the idea that they couldpeer down and see what was happening in a food plotfrom such a safe distance. They were also aware theyhad the advantage of using thermals in the morningwithout exposing themselves. The aerial photograph ofthat situation is shown on the next page. The oblongsquare in the picture is a two-acre food plot plantedwith Chicory Plus and Alfa-Rack Plus, which has mix-

Introducing the Brillion FPS-6 Food Plot Seeder, thenewest member of the Brillion seeder family.

The Brillion FPS-6 has the versatility to operate in a widevariety of wildlife food plot conditions and plant numerousgrasses, legumes, small grains and other blends and mixes. Ithas the features necessary for precise seed metering andplacement, as well as outstanding preparation and finishingof the seed bed.

The FPS-6 was designed with input from you, our customers,and we stand behind itwith our years ofexperience as a leaderin the industry.

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tures of alfalfa, chicory, clover and other foods. Theinverted L-shaped lines on opposite corners of thefood plots are subtle shooting lanes, where weremoved a tree or shrub here and there to weave a shotthrough without a deer knowing it's there. The L-shaped lines nearest the food plot is an average of 100yards from the plot, and the lines farthest from the plotaverage 300 yards away. The shooting lanes extendabout 150 yards in each direction. Duplicate shootinglanes on the opposite corners allow for wind-directionchanges.Here is what we found when gun-hunting these loca-

tions. When the guns were fired, deer in the food plotwere at first startled by the noise but felt no immediatethreat and soon returned to feeding. They never madethe connection. Further, the cameras told us that deer

staging in the evening would cross the 100-yard linealmost an hour before dark and stage 50 to 75 yardsfrom the food plot while waiting for dusk. We wereastounded to learn that before daylight, deer wouldleave the food plots one to two hours before dawn.More astonishing was that after deer traveled beyondthe 100-yard line, they lingered more than two hoursafter daylight before they crossed the 300-yard line.Some just stood around, and others would temporallybed down. It figures. Deer have no concept of time, norcan they reason. They have no thoughts of a tomor-row. Truthfully, deer are only motivated by their imme-diate needs: food, water, safety and reproduction,

along with curiosity.We had a series of eight stands surrounding a tar-

geted food plot. Each setup had an extra stand in caseI took a cameraman with me. I elected to hunt and filmby myself. Believe me, each year I do that, it usuallycosts me something, and this hunt would be noexception.Our Michigan muzzleloading hunt is my favorite. The

biggest bucks are more active than they have been allseason. Plus, many new bucks will have worked theirway onto some of our farms. These new bucks aremuch more vulnerable to our scent products becausethey haven’t had time to identify the local deer. So theymust spend considerable time trying to decipher eachscent they encounter, and that’s what we want them todo in our subtle shooting lanes.I sat overlooking the 100-yard line after spraying She

Heat over each deer run that crosses the shootinglanes. She Heat is made of real doe-in-estrus urine andsynthetics. With syntheses, you can duplicate the scentof anything but can amplify the scent. Thus, deer haveheightened curiosity. By doing this, you have the bestof both worlds (and a powerful attractant).Sure enough, one hour before dusk, I saw a huge

buck walk into the shooting lane. I easily locked him inthe viewfinder of the camera. Then, I ranged him at 167yards. He was doing everything I wanted him to do oncamera, even lip curling with his nose while almosttouching the She Heat. I remember thinking that hemust have read the script. Ka-boom. The buck wentright down, caught on camera for thousands of viewersof A-Way Outdoors. But as it turned out, I would be theonly witness. In the heat of battle I forgot to do one lit-tle thing: press record. W

30-06 is not aglorified salt lick or acattle mineral. It is atrue nutritional sup-plement developedspecifically for theneeds of the whitetaildeer. What is good fora bull will do verylittle for antler growthin a whitetail.

30-06 and 30-06 Plus Protein contain all the essential macro and trace mineralsalong with vitamins A, D, and E necessary for a quality deer herd andmaximum antler growth.

30-06 and 30-06 Plus Protein contain our exclusivescent and flavor enhancers which mean deer find,and frequent, the ground sites you create by mixingthese products into the soil. You can be assured30-06 was created with deer, not cattle, in mind.

Because of the 30-06 products incredible attractiveness, somestates may consider it bait. Remember to check your local gamelaws before hunting over the 30-06 site.

Research = Results



“Deer Nutrition Is All We Do!”®

FredAbbas

FredAbbas

The author with one of his many record-book bucks takenusing his unique techniques.


Fifteen years ago, I purchased70 acres of land in centralMinnesota. My goal was to

develop the acreage for wildlife,especially whitetail deer, and to thatend I have implemented a number ofsuccessful projects, including foodplot construction and maintenance,tree planting and other forest habitatimprovement projects, plus theexcavation of ponds.Although I had spent my entire life in the outdoors,

when it came to farming I was as green as a well-main-tained plot of Imperial Whitetail Clover. Now, with 15years of dirt under my fingernails, I more fully under-stand and appreciate the link between the land andwhitetail deer as well as other wildlife components.And the learning process is continuous.What does this have to do with the continuing con-

troversy over the use of food plots vs. baiting when itcomes to attracting whitetails? A lot.Here in Minnesota, hunting deer over bait is not legal.

Even supplemental feeding is discouraged by theMinnesota Department of Natural Resources. Had itbeen legal to bait deer like it is in a number of otherstates, and had I chosen that route to attract whitetailsto my land, I would not have garnered the many valu-able, interesting and entertaining lessons the outdoorshas to offer.This “link to nature” is just one advantage the imple-

mentation of food plots has over the use of bait toattract and hold whitetails. Let’s explore some of theother factors.I should note here that the purpose of this article is

not to pit those who hunt over bait (where legal)against those who hunt over food plots. Instead, Iwould like to note some advantages to both the deerand the hunter/landowner that the implementation offood plots has to offer.The increased chance of the spread of diseases such

as chronic wasting disease and bovine tuberculosissupplies critics of baiting the most fuel. Baiting con-centrates deer around food stations, whether that baitis a pile of corn, apples or whatever, more than doesdeer gathering in a food plot. Some biologists believediseases are spread more easily among deer when theanimals feed in the presence of their own droppingsand urine. A number of biologist also deem that dis-eases are spread when deer touch noses, a situationthat would occur far more readily, one would assume,in a baiting situation than in a food plot environment.Although the potential for the spread of deer dis-

eases in a close feeding environment seems likely, biol-ogists admit a link is difficult to prove.What has been verified is that once a disease like

CWD or bovine tuberculosis enters a deer population,everyone suffers. Financial costs aside, the deer suffer,livestock producers suffer, and finally so do those whohunt in the disease-affected areas. Ultimately, is it bestto err on the safe side? It would seem so.Some hunters who use bait to attract deer claim they

can’t afford to plant and maintain food plots, and thatthey don’t have the time to invest in deer managementwork.

Food Plots vs. Baiting:

The ControversyContinues

By Bill MarchelPhotos by the author


Implementing food plots can be expensive, but whencompared to dumping bait daily for weeks or months,the cost of even a well-maintained food plot is compa-rable. Let’s compare the annual cost of a one-acre foodplot of Imperial Whitetail Clover to a bait station main-tained only for the duration of an archery deer season.Right now the price of corn in my area is $7 for a 50-

pound bag. If a hunter were to dump only 25 pounds ofcorn per day for an entire archery deer season—saythree months—that would be 25 pounds times 90 days,or 2250 pounds for the season. Divide 2250 pounds bythe 50 pounds per bag and the result is 45 bags.Multiply that figure by $7 per bag and the total is $315.A one-acre food plot, not counting the initial work of

clearing, costs close to the same and is available todeer and other wildlife for the entire year and for yearsto come. Fertilizer is roughly $20 per 50-pound bagand most one-acre plots require 200 to 300 poundsper acre annually, which would cost $120 on the highend. Add the price of seed, about $55 for ImperialWhitetail clover, and 1/2 ton of lime at about $60, andthe total for the first year of planting is $240.Since Imperial Whitetail Clover can last up to five

years, and lime usually needs to be added only everyfew years, the maintenance cost after the initial plant-ing will be only the cost of fertilizer. Of course there willbe fuel costs, plus the cost of equipment and equip-ment repairs, but you can see that implementing just asingle bait station for only three months is expensive,too.My friends that live in states that allow hunting over

bait tell me that once baiting starts in an area, it caneasily get out of hand. A competition of sorts amonglandowners can brew. The results are that baiting dur-ing the hunting season expands into year-round deerfeeding and that can get really costly. Bait and feedstations become larger and spring up seemingly every-where, sometimes close to property boundaries whichcauses tension between neighbors.Another problem faced by hunters who bait white-

tails is that the deer often become nocturnal because abait station supplies deer with a concentrated foodsource that is easily and quickly consumed. The deer,knowing they can rapidly fill up on a highly palatablefood like corn for instance, often wait until after darkfor their easy meal. Deer must spend a greater amountof time feeding in order to fill up while grazing in aclover food plot.As I mentioned earlier, it is illegal to hunt over bait

here in Minnesota. But feeding deer is not illegal. So,following the firearms deer season, many Minnesotahunters start to feed deer. That makes hunting difficultfor late-season archers and muzzleloader hunters whoare still afield because the deer concentrate near thefeeders and rely on the easy meal afforded them. Thusthey move less, and become more nocturnal. I experi-ence this firsthand each year as several of my neigh-bors feed deer. I can immediately see the shift in deermovement when the feeding begins, especially the lackof daytime travel.Biologists worry too, that the use of bait is altering

deer habits, concentrating them near bait stations. Yes,food plots also concentrate deer to a certain extent,but not like a bait station where an effortless meal isreadily available. In some areas, deer frommiles aroundoften leave well-managed habitat to gather in close tothe bait stations. Thus, over-browsing of the nearbyhabitat occurs, which affects not only the health ofother wildlife, but also the long-term health of the habi-tat itself. An over-browsed section of forest for exam-

Implementing food plots can bemuch less expensive and moreproductive when compared withusing bait for months at a time.


ple, can take decades to recover. In addition, some deerbiologists claim it can be difficult to attain sufficientdeer harvests in areas where baiting has significantlyshifted deer.Conversely, food plots actually become an additional

element of proper deer habitat. A pile of bait doesn’tneed good habitat surrounding it to support deer.Ultimately, the debate between hunting over bait vs.

hunting over a food plot should be decided not bywhich is more effective, more ethical, less costly, ormore acceptable to the non-hunting public. What isimportant is the long-term health of the whitetail herdand their habitat, an environment that is shared bymany other creatures besides deer. We as hunters and

stewards of the land need to remember that.For me, implementing food plots has become a pas-

sion that goes far beyond attracting whitetails for thepurpose of hunting. I often pause while working myfood plots to watch other wildlife like woodchucks,rabbits and various species of songbirds as they gath-er for a feast. It is difficult to explain how gratifying it isto listen as a ruffed grouse drums from its log near myclover plot or how I love to listen to the incomingCanada geese as they announce to the world belowthat my food plot of corn is theirs.Sometimes when I pause for a rest during arduous

tasks like removing rocks from my food plots I’ll wan-der about my land with no real intentions in mind. I’ll

study a buck rub, size up the tracks in a freshly madescrape, or look for shed antlers.One late spring day just after sunset, while taking a

break from digging rocks, I glanced up to see a femalecinnamon-colored black bear and her two jet-blackcubs staring back at me. When I stood, the femalewoofed at me and then ran away while her cubs scram-bled up a nearby tree. The two young bears ascendeda few feet up the tree and then paused. When I took afew steps in their direction they leaped from the treetrunk and ran to catch up to mom.Gratifying? Indeed. For me providing deer and other

wildlife with year-round nutritional benefits is morethan just dumping a pile of corn. W

Properly implemented food plotsbecome an additional element of

good habitat.

The foundation of Pure Attraction’s early-season attraction and nutrition are WINA-Brandoats which are winter-hardy and drought-resistant. Their high sugar content makes themexceptionally attractive and palatable to deer. WINA-Brand Oats performance is unsur-passed by all other forage oats tested. WINA-Brand forage brassicas are also included inPure Attraction to provide abundant forage during the coldest months of the winter.

Read the early reviews from all over the country:

• From Virginia: “The Pure Attraction blend is extremely winter-hardy and lasted through the winter. It reallygrew well the whole time too. Even though it was heavily grazed, it continued to provide food for the deerduring the cold weather.”

• From Michigan: “The deer ate the Pure Attraction like crazy. The WINA-Brand oatsand winter peas came up first and then the brassica. The deer hit the WINA-Brand oatsand winter peas first. As of Nov. 18, both plots had been grazed low, but the plants werestill green.”

• From Maine: “Pure Attraction is awesome. The blend seemed to click with my soil and the deer. Another great product.”

• From Missouri: The Pure Attraction blendwas “among the most attractive I have everplanted.”

• From Alabama:“Deer completelymowed the Pure Attraction plot down.Even so, it continued to provide forageand grew well all through the winter. Deer werein the plot every night.”

• From Vermont: “In our experience in testing a broad range of oat products cur-rently available on the market, it is our belief that deer heavily prefer the oats in Pure Attraction overall other oat products we have ever tested. ”

Plant Pure Attraction during the same dates as the fall-planting dates for Imperialperennials. Since Pure Attraction does not require the sort of deeper ground tillagerequired for planting some perennial blends, it is even easier to plant. Looking for aproduct that will establish quickly and give your deer the one-two punch of both early-and late-season attraction…? GIVE PURE ATTRACTION A TRY!

The Whitetail Institute • 239 Whitetail Trail • Pintlala, AL 36043 • 1-800-688-3030 • www.whitetailinstitute.com Research = Results®


Tom Dial — IllinoisE n c l o s e d

find pictures ofsome of thedeer we took inIllinois last year.The first deer isa 14-point buckkilled by MarkWakefield. Itwas taken inClark Countyon Nov 17. Thedeer grossed

199 2/8. We have had Imperial Whitetail Clover on thisplace for four years. The second pic is my buck killedDec. 7, with a muzzleloader. He grossed 157. This buckwas chasing one of the many does on my place arounda 3 year old Imperial Clover field. We killed seven doesand this buck off of 40 acres and did not make a dentin the deer. Also enclosed is a pic of my buck two years

ago in the clover field with some of his buddies. Wehave used Imperial Whitetail Clover for years and thedeer love it. Thanks Whitetail Institute for a great prod-uct and happy hunting.

Tom Cooper — KentuckyI had pictures on my trail cams this summer and got

one shot of this guy in early August. He looked like amoose with the velvet and early growth. I didn't seehim again until late August, when he was coming intomy Imperial Whitetail Clover plot in the early evening.By now I could count 15 points in the pictures of him,but I never expected to get a shot at him. On the sec-ond day of the season, he came into the food plot, 38yards from my stand.It goes to show, deer want Imperial Whitetail Clover

and it truly worksto bring them in.My food plot wasthe first place thisguy was headingwhen coming outof the woods. I'vebeen using ImperialWhitetail Clover inmy food plots for 3years and I alsoplanted Imperial NoPlow and Extremethis year. It hasbrought more deer

to my property and increased the size of the racks, aswell as the deer. Before I put in the food plots, deerwould just cross my property, I had nothing to attractor hold them. But now I hunt with confidence and trulyreap what I sow. Thanks Whitetail Institute for a greatproduct, and thanks for the various products that helpme attract deer all year long.

John Patterson — MississippiWe have noticed a

better quality of deersince we started usingImperial WhitetailClover and 30-06 PlusProtein on our proper-ty in the late 80s. This

last bow season I tookthese deer a 14 pointweighing 225lbs andan 11 point weighing200 pounds. Theseweights are extremelyhigh for this area.Thanks Whitetail Institute for these great products.

Daniel Minor — MissouriSeveral years ago, my brothers and I purchased a

farm to take our kids and friend’s deer and turkey hunt-ing. We purchased an old tractor, disc, and planter toplant food plots on various locations on the property.We tried several different varieties and types of seedpurchased from the local feed store, for which weachieved marginal results at best. Last fall, we decidedto perform a food plot test/study, utilizing seed fromone of the premium deer plot seed companies andcompare to our existing plots.After researching different companies and seed

information, we decided to give Pure Attraction fromWhitetail Institute a try. As directed on the instructionssheet, we performed soil tests, limed, fertilized, andbroadcast the Pure Attraction in two food plot loca-

tions that had previously incurred poor plant produc-tion.Within a few weeks our food plots were lush and

thick with 4-6 inches of growth. My trail camerasimmediately started photographing more deer andturkeys in the Pure Attraction food plots.Most of the pictures showed deer gorging them-

selves with Pure Attraction. Throughout our bow andgun seasons, we witnessed significantly more and big-ger bucks than any prior year. The evenings becamequite a show to watch the deer walk and run to thePure Attraction food plots like someone rang a dinnerbell!Deer wore paths down from the neighbor’s farm

straight to the Pure Attraction plots. We were also sur-prised to see how well the Pure Attraction held up tothe daily hammering it took from the deer and hardfreezes.Since winter arrived, we are continuing to watch

deer feed in the Pure Attraction, when our other foodplots stopped producing. As a result of planting PureAttraction, I harvested my biggest bow kill buck todate, 158-inch 10-point, which was standing 18 yardsfrom my stand with its mouth buried in the PureAttraction. Without a doubt, Pure Attraction was theprimary reason why my family and friends enjoyed thebest deer season to date on our farm. I am sold on PureAttraction and will be planting additional WhitetailInstitute products next spring and fall.

Aren DiSalvo — New YorkWe began using

Imperial WhitetailClover and Alfa-Rack in the springthree years ago.Within a fewmonths of plant-ing we began tosee more deeractivity and sever-al bucks whichwere 3 1/2 yearsof age with racksscoring in therange of 130-145.For the first

year my father and I hung two tree stands on pathswhich led to the Imperial Whitetail Clover plot. On thesecond day of bow season my father settled into his


stand several hoursbefore last light. Afteronly 45 minutes heheard a stick crack fol-lowed by footstepsheading his way. Whenhe looked up he sawthe biggest buck he hashad a chance to har-vest. When the monster8-point with a verysymmetrically rackstepped into range at15 yards he let the shotof a lifetime go.

After he was able to stop shaking we tracked his per-fectly shot trophy a mere 35 yards where it hadstopped right on the edge of the plot. This buck endedup being my fathers biggest buck ever tipping thescale at 197 pounds field dressed with a green score of133.Our plot is inside of our 30 acre sanctuary and is 3/4

of an acre. The trail camera has proven all season thatImperial Whitetail Clover really does grow and holdmonster bucks. We have included photos. As a wholeour deer population and deer size/health has increasedtremendously since we began using Whitetail Instituteproducts. I have included a photo of my fathers buckand a trail camera photo of a live buck on its way to ourplots.

Brent VanHoveln - IllinoisI wanted to drop you a line and some pictures of our

success this year in Illinois using Whitetail Institutefood plots.On Nov. 17 last season I took a very close friend, Don

Wages out deer hunting with me on my farm in Illinois.We had the perfect wind to hunt the best stand on thisproperty so we slipped in way before daylight andwaited. This stand is situated 150 yards between a 4year old plot of Alfa-Rack that has been a deer magnet,and a bedding area. On this morning we were antici-pating deer (hopefully mature bucks) leaving the foodplot and returning to the bedding area. We were notdisappointed!!!One half hour after daylight, Don saw a huge buck

walking from the Alfa-Rack plot back into the timberheading right towards him. The buck passed under-neath his tree at 8 yards and Don made a perfect shot.This was the largest Buck Don has ever shot in almost

60 years of hunt-ing. He has shotover 170 deer witha Bow but nothingcould prepare himfor the sight hewas about to seewhen he walkedup on this IllinoisBruiser. It wouldhave been a 9x9but it broke off apoint on eachantler that wereboth several inch-es long. With 16 scoreable points the buck grossed justshy of 200-inches Pope and Young. One half hour laterDon also shot a big doe as she left the food plot toreturn to her bed. Enclosed is a picture of Don’s buck.Don stated to me "that was the best deer hunting dayin my 65 year life."One hour later, we were still in the tree trying to con-

tain our excitement when a 6 year old buck I hadnicked named "Curly" walked under us. This buck wasalso coming from the food plot probably checking fordoes. I was able to put my tag on old Curly from thesame spot Don had just shot his monster on the samemorning. (photo enclosed) It was a great morning ofhunting memories that we will cherish the rest of ourlives.Thank You Whitetail Institute for making products

that help hunters make memories of a lifetime.In the pictures you will notice how green and lush

this Alfa Rack still is, clear into mid November after sev-eral hard freezes.

Justin Dill — OhioEnclosed is a story and photo that are about of the

most memorable days of my life. Since my wedding,that is, of course.I knew this was going to be a great year. If we could

just get those big boys to stick around on our side of

the fence. My buddy, Bob Lott, and I contacted theWhitetail Institute for their professional opinion andexpert advice on deer nutrition. By listening to ourunique hunting situation they helped us establish whatkind of nutrition these deer needed to produce bodymass and antler growth. They were able pinpoint wherethis food plot needed to be and what seed would ben-efit the herd. We needed a central location to pull thedeer. In previous years, the bigger bucks left the farmto find does that had better forage. If we could keepdoes feeding on our little square, we were certain theold, more mature bucks would show.This deer was hard to see during daylight hours, but

he got love struck and his girlfriend brought him 15yards beneath me this November day. While most Ohioresidents are screaming "go bucks" on thisOSU/Michigan game day, my alarm goes off at 4:45a.m. and says Go GET a Buck!Timmy Young passed this deer up last year on video

at 20 yards. THANK YOU!!! We thought him to be a 31/2 year old. He is 4 1/2 this year and his 17-point rackscored 188.5 Boone and Crockett inches.We had been seeing this deer all over the farm on

our trail cams, and found him to be favoring the northend of his usual thicket. I moved a stand set into a fun-nel knowing that a big deer like that would be lookingfor those last few does coming into Estrous this late inthe rut. All the does on the farm were demolishing ourWinter-Greens food plot that we planted in August andI just knew this funnel between his two favorite thicketswould be the perfect ambush spot.I can’t believe that I was right! I’m never right about

where these deer will be. They never do what they aresupposed to do. He did on Saturday. I just happened tobe sitting there when he chased her by. She just hap-pened to stop 4 yards from my tree to take a breather.He just happened to pause behind a tree long enoughfor me to draw. He just happened to be broadside at 15yards. From the time I saw him to the time the arrowwas released was all of 10 seconds. I’m glad for that. IfI would have looked at him any longer, I would proba-bly have missed, and threw up on my lap.I venture to say that this 25-year-old bowhunter will

never harvest an animal like this again. I wanted toshare this with all of you.

Tracy Waddell — North CarolinaBoth No-Plow

and Secret Spotwork well for mebecause I plantseveral small patch-es in cutovers. Bothattract a lot of deerlate season. Here’sa 140 class 14-pointer I took onpublic land thisseason. W

Send Us Your Photos!Do you have a photo and/or story of a big buck, a small buck ora doe that you took with the help of Imperial products? Send it tous and youmight find it in the Field Tester section of the next issueof Whitetail News. Send your photo and a 3 to 4 paragraph storytelling how you harvested the deer and the role our productsplayed to:

Whitetail News, Attn: Field Tester Response239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043

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Our world is changing at afaster pace than we have everexperienced. Vast improvements

in science and technology have let con-servationists and outdoor enthusiasts man-age their natural resources in ways neverthought possible. We also have the latest, great-est camo patterns, the lightest tree stands andclothing that eliminates your scent. You can even havetrail-cam pics sent directly to your cell phone or computerwithout re-entering the woods. With so much change occurring,it's nice to know there is one thing that will always remainunchanged, and it's as steady and consistent as the rise of themorning sun. It's the biological clock. And no, it has absolutelynothing to do with that busted date you had a few years ago.


Biological ClockGoverns Lifeand Healthof Deer…And smartwhitetailmanagersknow howto keep timeBy John Frank Deese,Whitetail Institute Biologist


Biological clock is just a term I use to describe natureand its repetitive annual cycle. As outdoorsmen, wecan learn many things by simply observing this cycleand creating management plans and goals that flowwith it. For example, if creating a healthier deer herd is

your goal, ask yourself this question: “When dowhitetail deer experience the most physiolog-

ical change?” The answer is clear: earlyspring through late summer. Physics

prove that it takes energy foranything to change. So weknow that deer need vastamounts of quality foodduring spring andsummer to sup-port the manyphysiologicalc h a n g e sthat occurthen.

In most of the United States, does begin gestation inearly winter and begin lactating in late spring through-out summer. Bucks begin producing new antlers duringspring, and the process continues throughout the sum-mer. So it's not a coincidence that the whitetail’s quali-ty nutrient demand is greatest during spring and sum-mer in most of the country. Rather, it's a perfect exam-ple of a species taking full advantage of a season whennutrient availability is greatest. Whitetails have reliedon the consistent yearly cycle of the biological clockfor thousands of years, long before there was designercamo.Still, there are many nutritional gaps during spring

and summer that nature does not fill. Consider antlers.They are a secondary sex characteristic, which meansthey are not the body’s first priority. Nutrients are firstused for normal body growth and function, and theremaining nutrients can be used for antler develop-ment. Other than bucks being harvested at an earlyage, this nutritional gap is the main reason bucks neverreach full antler-size potential. In most parts of thecountry, bucks begin their rigorous 200-day antler-growing cycle in early spring, when natural foodsources are at a minimum. They are physically exhaust-ed from the rut and need nutrition to regain their prop-er body weight. So antler development is secondaryuntil the body's nutritional requirements are met. If thathappens, antlers will likely be stunted early on, andgrowth will not be compensated for later.What can we do to eliminate shortfalls in antler

growth? Research at the Whitetail Institute answeredthat question more than 20 years ago. WhitetailInstitute perennial food plots are one of the best — ifnot the best — solutions to natural nutritional shortfalls.

They can provide the crucial high-protein food sourceall deer need — and can do it all year. These nutritionalbuffets are not only important for growing antlers butfor growing babies. Does are in gestation during winterand early spring, when food sources are limited. Theymust supply their bodies with nutrients and care forthat future trophy. A fawn born from a healthy motherpossesses a huge advantage over fawns born fromnutritionally deprived mothers. It's crucial that preg-nant does have unlimited access to high-quality forageduring spring and summer. Again, Whitetail Instituteprovides the best products that offer year-round highquality forage. They include Imperial Clover, ChicoryPLUS, Alfa-Rack Plus, Extreme and more.The nutritional requirements of whitetail deer

change dramatically as they follow nature’s annualcycle. As mentioned, management plans and goalsshould follow this cycle. That's why the WhitetailInstitute has developed Cutting Edge, a line of prod-ucts that flow with this nutritional cycle. Cutting Edgeis divided into three unique products: Initiate, Optimizeand Sustain. Cutting Edge Initiate is designed to beused in late winter/early spring, and it targets the nutri-tional gap that occurs just before spring green-up,when bucks are growing antlers and does are enteringthe third trimester of pregnancy, when two-thirds offetal growth occurs. Cutting Edge Optimize isdesigned to be used after the spring green-up andthroughout the summer. Sustain is designed to be usedfrom fall through January.For example, let’s look at a lactating doe that has just

given birth to a future trophy. A deer’s milk is verynutrient-dense, and that milk is almost always highquality. However, the quantity of milk produced

Whitetail Institute • 239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043 • CALL TOLL FREE: 1-800-688-3030

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depends on the health of thedoe. What does that mean? Afawn born from a healthy doe willreceive more milk (nutrients),thus enhancing its overall growthpotential throughout life. CuttingEdge Initiate and Optimize weredeveloped partly for that reason.Just as bodybuilders enhancetheir diet with nutritional supple-ments to gain muscle mass,Cutting Edge can help deerreach their full potential. Whenspring is on the horizon, the dayswill slowly get longer. Manyhunters have long forgottenabout deer. They are planningsummer vacations of sun-filledbeach trips and campouts withthe kids. Many will have turkeyfever as they sharpen their call-ing skills with mouth calls, boxcalls and slates. Some are puttingnew line on the ol’ fishing reeland repairing those leaks in thealuminum boat. Deer hunting isoften the last thing on theirminds, but it should be the firstpriority if they want to harvestbigger, healthier deer.The seasons change, and the

interests and priorities of hunterschange, but that biological clockis still ticking. W

Ensure the success of your food plots.Our line of herbicides protect your investment by making sure that the plants you have so carefully planted can compete with grasses and weeds for nutrients and water. Arrest kills most grasses, but won’t harm clover, alfalfa, chicory or Extreme. Slay eliminates broadleaf plants and weeds, and is safe for clover and alfalfa. Both herbicides are extensively field-tested and can be easily applied by 4-wheeler or tractor sprayer. Easy and effective protection for your crop.

TREATED UN-TREATED

The Whitetail Institute — 239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043“Deer Nutrition Is All We Do!” Research = Results®


Whitetail Institute perennial food plotsare one of the best — if not the best —solutions to natural nutritional short-falls. They can provide the crucial high-protein food source all deer need —

and can do it all year.


Is ItBIGEnough?The “right size” is a very personal matter

By Brad HerndonPhotos by the author

After dropping over asteep hillside andwalking to the bot-

tom where a narrow thicketconnected two adjacent hill-sides, my wife, Carol, and Isnuggled into an old hollowstump that was open on oneside. With the wind pulsatingagainst our faces, it was aperfect setup.

One hour after daylight, we heard a deer coming from the opposite hillside. Itentered the thicket and we could hear it jump back and forth across a barbwire fence.Evidently it was trying to straighten out a doe trail. Shortly, though, we could see itcoming our way. Carol had the 20-gauge shotgun on her knee, and when the buckwas right in front of us at only 18 yards, it noticed something wasn’t quite right aboutthe stump and looked straight at us.I whispered to Carol, “Aim right in the middle of its chest and pull the trigger.”

Boom! The impact from the shot blew the buck over backwards. It never kicked. “Yougot it! You got it!” I screamed. Carol, who was almost sick from hyperventilating,jumped up and took one look at the buck and said, “Mount it up!”

THE FUN WAS JUST BEGINNING

After dragging the buck 35 yards to the field’s edge, we bolted back up the hill toour old Baja Bug. It would go anywhere, so we drove to the bottom of the hill andbounced across the rows of the cornfield right to Carol’s prize.I looked at the buck, and then to the metal rack on top of the Bug.“I’ll never get this buck up there by myself,” I mumbled.Turning around, I looked square in the eyes of 105 pounds of pure dynamite. With

a smile on her face, Carol softly said, “Oh, you’ll get it on top all right.” I did.Elated, we drove to the farmer’s house, and he and his wife admired Carol’s great

buck. Then it was on to my parent’s house, where my mother went crazy when shesaw Carol’s deer. Once at home, Carol called all of her friends. For two days, theycame to see her buck.As you might have guessed by now, that was Carol’s first deer. The detailed notes

in my deer diary reveal the date was Nov. 25, 1983, and that Carol was 39 years old.Her deer hunting career was just beginning.Oh, I forgot to mention the size of her trophy buck. It carried five points on a body

that field-dressed 132 pounds. At the time, Carol and I agreed it was the homeliestbuck we had ever seen.But in answer to the question, “Is it big enough?” Absolutely. Did we have fun?

Absolutely. Would we have had more fun if the deer had made the Boone & Crockettrecord bucks? I don’t think so. In fact, that hunt is so meaningful that I still get misty-eyed when I read over the notes I recorded that day.

26 YEARS OF HUNTING

In 1984, Carol purchased her first bow for $79.95; a Darton she set at 37 pounds.Although we had few deer in Indiana at the time, by mastering the doe bleat with hernatural voice, Carol called in several bucks and killed them. Most were yearling bucks,but she did tag a few 2 1/2-year-old bucks and one decent 3 1/2-year-old buck. Shewas having a blast hunting and was elated with each deer she killed. Then came atough year. It was firearm season, and Carol had not yet connected on a buck. I toldher I knew an inside corner deer would pass through when hunting pressure was high,so that evening we erected two stands in the corner. Within 10 minutes, a 1 1/2-year-old 4-pointer came slipping through the corner, and Carol laid it to rest. As shelooked at it, I could tell she was disappointed. To her, at that time and place, it was-n’t big enough. The next year she tagged a 137-inch net 8-pointer. Then, for severalyears, she killed mature bucks of all sizes, including one 14-pointer with a 21 1/2-inchinside spread. As time passed, we went from seeing 25 to 35 deer per year to thatmany deer in a single hunt at times. Eventually, we leased land in a beautiful hillyregion that had too many deer, resulting in bucks that had somewhat lower-scoringracks. Carol was still selective in what she shot, but if a buck came along that shethought was one of the better deer in our area, she killed it. Some of these bucksscored 130 to 140 inches. She was a happy gal. Then, during one late muzzleloadingseason when she picked me up after my hunt, she told me she had killed a buck. Icould tell she wasn’t elated about it.Once we got to where she had killed the deer, I noted it was indeed a fine buck.

Granted, it was smaller than what she had been tagging — perhaps 118 inches gross— but nevertheless a fine muzzleloader kill. She perked up when I said it was a nicedeer, and I realized at that time that her lack of excitement wasn’t caused becauseshe was unhappy with the buck. Instead, her lack of enthusiasm was caused becauseshe thought I wouldn’t think it was a good deer.

YOU DO INFLUENCE OTHER HUNTERS

When Carol killed her first buck, the 5-pointer, I had been into trophy hunting forfive years. Despite that, I was so excited when she shot that small buck that I notedin my diary I was breathing so fast I had to stop and take a deep breath.I mention this because I didn’t take my higher standards for a deer and place them


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on her. She shot the deer she wanted to shoot. I think we have had such a great hunt-ing career together because we have maintained our own standards, making our owndecisions about pulling the trigger.We each progressed on to higher standards on our own, but there is no doubt that

talk of killing bigger deer each year went a little too far on my part. That is why Carolwas concerned that I might not be happy with that buck she tagged during black-powder season. I learned a lesson that day. We influence whether someone is happywith their deer.That's why it is so important to let a new hunter, especially a youngster, decide

what they want to shoot. And whatever they shoot, you should be just as excitedabout it as they are. They will, by the way, be able to tell whether you are sincerelyhappy for them or just covering disappointment.

HUNTING CONDITIONS ARE DIFFERENT

What I have just said won’t be too hard for most parents. This is true becausealthough most of these whitetail enthusiasts have places to hunt, they aren’t greatplaces that are crawling with huge bucks. The first deer along is usually big enoughbecause they hunt public ground or by permission from a landowner. At this point,I want to point out that does are fair game too and can produce some exciting and

memorable hunting for a youngster — even if they aren’t the shooter.For example, when my granddaughter, Jessica "The Rascal Girl," went on her first

hunting trip with me, I was the shooter, and we decided immediately to shoot a doe.And that meant a doe fawn, as well. As it happened, the only whitetail to come outthat night was a doe fawn, and Jessica was so excited when we recovered the deershe had to have her dad guard it while we went to get the deer cart. She even helpedme field-dress and butcher the deer. She was 8 years old at the time.I think families with average hunting places have great hunts because it’s truly an

accomplishment for a child to kill a doe or small buck. If the youngster wants to kickhis goals up a notch later on, even that can be done in many areas today becausequality deer management on a state level is fairly common.For many — if not most of you — reading this article, your hunting situation might

be different than what I have just described. You most likely own or lease land, andprobably have food plots and some type of management plan. In your case, it’stempting to tell a youngster they shouldn’t shoot anything less than a mature buck— possibly a 130- or 140-inch buck. This can be a mistake, so be careful.An adult that has put their tags on deer for many years might have an entirely dif-

ferent perspective on what they want to shoot than a first-time hunter does. Forinstance, a friend of mine has put a ton of money into his deer hunting. He has pur-chased several hundred acres and managed the land perfectly. Bucks gross-scoring140 to 170 inches are relatively common.This past fall he took his young son out hunting in a food plot he knew trophy deer

frequented almost every evening.“What size buck do you want to shoot?” he asked his son.“Dad,” the son replied, “I just want to shoot a deer.”His son was elated when a 2 1/2-year-old 8-pointer came out before dark.Obviously this boy will want to shoot bigger bucks sometime in the future on this

ideal setup, but for the time being, he was thrilled with the smaller buck. It was bigenough for him. And, I might note, it was also big enough for his dad.

DON’T COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS

Four years ago, Carol and I were driving past one of our local mini-marts when Inoticed a dandy buck in the back of a truck. We wheeled in to look at it. The deerturned out to be a 10-point trophy that would net up in the 140s. The three guys atthe truck were teen-agers, and they almost looked like they had lost their best friend.“Great buck, guys!” I said, “Who killed it?”


� Let Less Experienced Hunters DecideTheir “Trophy” >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

If you’re hunting with a new hunter — wife, son, daughter, friend — be sureto try to determine what caliber of deer they would be happy with. If theywould be tickled with a doe, let them shoot one when it presents a good shot.Don’t make them wait, just in case a buck might show up. They might end upwith nothing and be disappointed about their lost opportunity. Remember thatthey haven’t killed a deer. Our good friends Hannah and Spencer Williams wenthunting one evening last year, and she killed her first deer, a doe. They wereflat-out excited about her kill, and we had fun celebrating with them.If hunting big bucks is wearing you down, and you’re losing some enjoyment

of the hunt, take some time off or shoot some does. Shooting does is fun, andcan provide some great eating for your family or other families. Plus, it helpskeep your whitetail herd in check. Be realistic in your goals. During the late1980s, I decided I was going to kill a giant buck or nothing. I was hunting pub-lic land, and there were some dandy bucks roaming the area. I went four yearswithout shooting an antlered deer. The fifth year, I decided to shoot one of themarginal deer I had been passing. It turned out to be an 11-point buck thatgrossed 154 inches and netted more than 144 inches.As I knelt and admired the whitetail, I knew my goals had been unrealistic for

my hunting area. As I read some of my notes from those years I saw statementssuch as, “I’m getting grumpy,” and “I’m discouraged today; I have to work onmy attitude.” Obviously I was losing some of the enjoyment of the hunt withmy hard hunting and unrealistic goals. Since then, I have still had rather highstandards regarding antler size, but I have kept my hunting expectations with-in my realm of achievability. Needless to say, I have enjoyed many happy yearsof deer hunting since then.Be ready to share. Losing one of your small bucks or a few does won’t be the

end of the world. We have some younger friends, a husband and wife team,who love to deer hunt, yet they lost most of the deer on the land they own toEHD two years ago. This past year, we were glad to share one of our leases withthem so they could have venison to eat. We also told them to shoot a buck ofany size if they wanted to. They didn’t end up shooting a buck, but they hadfun knowing they had the option of shooting one if they desired. Watch thedeer hunting progress of your family and friends. My sister started hunting fiveyears ago when she was in her 50s. She shot a small buck and a doe in twohunts the first year and was elated. She did the same thing the next year. Thethird year, she upped her standards and ended up harvesting several does andmissing one mature buck. She was still happy. The past two years, she has killeddoes but no mature bucks yet. Although she still seems happy with her hunt-ing, I’m letting her know that if she wants to shoot a smaller buck again, it’s per-fectly all right with me. I’ll continue to monitor her progress and try to makesure she continues to enjoy her days afield to the fullest.

Most hunters reading this would feel thisbuck would be big enough for a bow kill.Be realistic and enjoy your hunting. Make

your own decisions.


They proceeded to tell me who shot the deer, and the story that went along withit. Amazingly, two of them were in a tree videoing and had actually let the buck walkpast them early in the morning. Later, it came back, and they decided it wasn’t toobad of a buck and perhaps they should shoot it. Now, even though it was a bow kill,they were questioning whether they had done the right thing because it wasn’t as bigas the bucks on the hunting DVDs and TV shows they watched.I proceeded to tell these young hunters what a great feat they had pulled off and

that they should be doing cartwheels across the parking lot. They made the mistakeof thinking they should be able to kill deer matching the bucks shot by the so calledpro hunters, although they had marginal places to hunt. As these young huntersrevealed, this type of comparison can take the fun out of hunting.

A friend of mine in northern Indiana is a brilliant businessman. By working hardand investing wisely, he has accumulated hundreds of acres of choice deer ground.He has the equipment and intelligence to carry out a fantastic quality deer manage-ment plan. The best buck they shot last year was more than 176 inches. He recentlytold me he spent $25,000 on his deer management plan last year.If I compare myself to him, I’m setting myself up for failure and unhappiness. No

matter how hard and smart I hunt, I’m not going to consistently kill great deer in myregion that would compare to his. I know this, and I’m happy tapping out the best tro-phies for my area and style of managing.

BE FAIR

Be fair to your hunting buddies and family. Don’t look at their deer and tell themthey shouldn’t have shot it. Let them enjoy the moment. And if it is smaller thanthey thought it was, they will know that. Be especially careful when a son or daugh-ter gets old enough to hunt alone in their own stand. At this time they have to maketheir own decision without talking it over with you or another adult. They mightshoot a relatively small buck or make a mistake and shoot a button buck theythought was a doe. Be complimentary to them at this time. After all, they thoughtit was big enough.Always remember that you can help them learn how to evaluate a deer’s rack in

the field and also assist them in telling the difference between a doe and a buttonbuck. Don’t criticize them, for they might sit in the stand worrying about whetherthey can make the right decision when the next deer comes along. Be patient withthem, and they will have a far greater opportunity of getting hooked on the greatoutdoors and will experience a lifetime of enjoyment because of your actions.

AND THE FINAL DECISION IS ...

Finally, we come to the question: Is he big enough? There is no one answer to thisquestion for all hunters. This past fall, in the heat of the moment when the adrenalinewas coursing through his veins in bucketfuls, my friend arrowed a monster buck. Ashe has done before, upon finding the deer he said to himself, “I’ve found someoneelse’s buck!”We are still laughing about that ground-shrinkage buck, because his 12-year old

daughter was with him, and in an attempt to make him feel better she said, “Dad, it’sa nice deer. I think I would have shot it.” My friend recovered nicely, by the way, forhe had harvested a mature deer, just not a monster. And better yet, he kept the funin deer hunting by making light of the situation.Today, even on public land, the opportunity exists in most states to pursue the deer

of our choice, from a doe to a yearling buck to a mature buck. The same goes for theland wemanage. Each of us must decide what is big enough in our ownmind to shoot.In my family, this might be Jessica The Rascal Girl’s year for trying to get a deer.

She’s killed a couple of turkeys already. I’ll let her decide what she wants to shoot,and we’ll have a blast.And if she just wants to go with me and not shoot a deer, that’s fine, too. I’ve

already made up my mind that if a marginal buck walks in front of us and she whis-pers, “Grandad Brad, that’s a huge deer. Is it big enough?” I’m going push the safetyoff and reply, “You bet it is, Rascal Girl!”Throughout this article, I’ve noted how important it is for a deer hunter, beginning

or veteran, to shoot the deer of their choice. That’s why I have been a proponent ofquality deer management for almost 30 years, well before it was popular. At one time,we could kill four antlered bucks in Indiana, which meant we didn’t have many top-end trophies.Today, we are only allowed one antlered buck per year in Indiana. This means we

now have a more balanced age structure of bucks within our herd. If a yearling buckis your goal, and it’s a worthy goal, this shouldn’t be too hard to do. Likewise, thereare ample opportunities to tag 2 and 3 year-old bucks, and you might even get acrack occasionally at a 4-year-old or older buck. There is, indeed, something foreveryone at this point in time. W

Only the person shootingcan truly judge whether

a buck is big enough or not.This would be a

dandy first buck formost people, especially

youngsters.


Late season is the time when your food plots willpay off the most. Food plots are importantthroughout the rest of the year, but they are crit-

ical for hunting during the late season.For me, these past few seasons have confirmed a

few things. First, you never can predict what is goingto happen each season. That is a big part of what

makes it so much fun. You go into the season expect-ing to hunt a certain couple of bucks and soon findyourself hunting something completely different. Thekiller stand from last year is lukewarm this year. Foodsupplies change, affecting deer patterns and theneighbor shoots “your” buck. It is all part of the fun.Second, last season showed me that trail cameras

are the single best way to pattern big deer. They tellyou almost everything you need to know. What anexciting tool.Finally, this past season confirmed that the late sea-

son can be just as good as the rut when conditions areright. It was an amazing winter of hunting.When I say the conditions need to be right, I mean

LATE-SEASON SUCCESS—When Food Plots Pay Off the Most

By Bill WinkePhotos by the author

Mike Sawyer shot this buck onJan. 3, 2009, during a warmsnap as the buck was headingtoward a feeding area.


the weather has to cooperate, the deer need to feelcomfortable and there must be an attractive foodsource. I’ll hit these keys to success one at a time.

WEATHER

I am going to tell you about four hunts that tookplace late last season. One was a classic hunt and theother three were somewhat atypical. The classic hunttook place in mid-December. It was five degrees thatday. Snow started falling late in the morning; by noon,there were six fresh inches on the ground and driftsbuilding by the minute. Our kids came home fromschool early. Since our daughter had a deer tag, wewelcomed this chance to slip out to the cabin stand,start a fire in the old wood stove and prop the muzzle-loader in an open window facing the food plot that wasonce the cabin’s “yard”. The evening grew still and bit-terly cold with the passing front.These are classic conditions for late-season success;

cold and snow push deer to travel to standing foodsources where they can quickly and easily gain neededenergy. We were on hand to watch.By sunset, the food plot was full of deer feeding

heavily on the accessible food sticking above the newsnow. One of the deer was a 150-inch buck that I hadfilmed in November while bowhunting from a standnearby. He was now feeding just 70 yards away. Hewould make a great trophy for anyone. The fact thatJordan missed that dandy buck doesn’t detract fromthe fact that he was there and vulnerable. He was oneof several bucks (the rest were all smaller) that madetheir way into the plot well before the end of shootingtime that day.

That hunt is the classic vision of late-season hunting;cold, snow and deer in a panic to get to the accessiblefood. While these are definitely conditions I would lookfor when planning a late season strategy, you can alsotake great bucks under other conditions too, as thesenext three hunts will illustrate.The third ice storm of the winter greeted Chad

Lathrop and me as we headed out on the afternoon ofDec. 27. The previous several days had been warm andthe snow and the inch-thick coat of ice from earlier inthe month had melted off the fields, opening them upso the deer could get back to the waste grain theyoffered. Now after three weeks of cold weather andthick ice-covered fields, they were hungry and ready totake full advantage of the warmer conditions. Thoughit was barely less than freezing out, probably in theupper 20s, seemingly every buck on the farm came outin the fields.Chad was along to film me as I hunted with my bow,

but he also carried a muzzleloader and a late-seasontag in his pocket. That way, if a buck came out that wastoo far for me to shoot, I could swing the camera overand film Chad shooting it instead. That is exactly whathappened. Again, though the conditions were com-pletely different, I found myself staring at another fieldfull of deer. Right at sunset, a great eight-pointer cameout of the trees at a distance of 50 yards to feed in thewaste grain and was soon 70 yards out and wellbeyond bow range. It took us a few seconds to changestands, but soon I was filming Chad as he shot themagnificent buck.The third hunt took place on Jan. 2, 2009 as my

friend Mike Sawyer and his cousin Chris Mack werehunting along the edge of an Alfa-Rack field. By this

time, all the snow and ice had melted away, opening upthe fields for deer to graze. The deer were definitelytaking advantage of it. Mike’s cousin was filming Mike’shunt. It was a similar setup to mine and Chad’s. Chrishad the muzzleloader and Mike had the bow. If a shoot-er came out close, Mike would draw down with the bowand if it came out in the distance, Chris would do thehonors with the smoke pole.That evening, a dandy, mature 130-inch nine-pointer

came out just beyond bow range. Mike grabbed thecamera and Chris pulled the gun off the hook. As thebuck stepped out in the open, Chris made a great 60-yard offhand shot. Another late season buck in theback of the truck.The next evening, Jan. 3, Chris returned the favor

when he filmed Mike as he shot an incredible 180-inchgross-scoring basic eight-pointer. Mike made a 40-yardshot with his bow as the buck also was heading in thedirection of the open fields to feed. Similar to the pre-vious evening, the conditions were unseasonably warmand the bucks were on the move looking for availablefood.It is a misconception to think that it has to be cold for

late-season success. While a cold snap during a stretchof otherwise seasonal weather will usually encouragedeer to abandon normal caution in areas with moder-ate hunting pressure, cold is not an absolute necessityfor late-season success. We have shot many nice buckson average winter days.The rigors of the rut are enough to push bucks to

feed heavily during the late season. If they are notbeing pressured, they will fall into feeding patterns thatbring them out during the daylight. However, if they arebeing pressured (or recently were pressured during the

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general firearms season) you will need more help in theform of unseasonably cold weather to cause them toset aside caution in favor of food.OK, so weather is one condition that dictates late-

season success. It is not as important as most peoplethink, but it does play a role. A cold snap will get themfeeding actively, as will a warm snap after a prolongedperiod of cold. Watch for both conditions.

HUNTING PRESSURE

It is always hard to kill a buck that knows he is beinghunted and that is especially true during the late sea-son when the deer have been hunted hard during theregular firearms season. We intentionally avoid deerdrives on our farm to keep the deer as relaxed as pos-sible. We do hunt the firearms season some, but wedon’t hit it hard. Instead, we favor giving the deerrefuge during this time and then hunting them duringthe late season when they are more vulnerable on the

food sources.Moderate to light hunting pressure is the perfect

condition for great late-season hunting. However, youcan still enjoy some success during the late seasoneven if the deer experienced heavy hunting pressureduring the firearms season if they get peace and quietfor at least 10 days. Then they will start falling back intonatural movement patterns. Again, cold temps helpwhen the deer are wary.

A GREAT FOOD SOURCE

Food may not be the absolute key to success duringthe rut, but it definitely is the key to success during thelate season. Late season is when your food plots reallypay for themselves. The rule: “He who has the food hasthe deer” could be called the cardinal rule after the rut.It is very difficult to shoot a good buck (or even a

deer of any kind) during the late season if you don’thave a good food source. It is all about the food. Most

of the natural browse has been wiped out and theacorns vacuumed up by deer and turkeys in Septemberand October. The deer are in search of something nutri-tious that packs an energy punch to help them staveoff the brutal cold of winter. That is where your foodplots need to come in.WHAT TO PLANT: Ideally, you will plant food

sources that are highly attractive and highly nutritionalto deer during this time of great stress. That meansfoods that convert quickly and easily to energy — car-bohydrates are ideal. However, in their absence, deerwill also convert protein to energy.Within the Whitetail Institute product lineup, that

means you should specifically consider Pure Attraction,No-Plow and/or Winter-Greens for your late-seasonplantings. The nutritionists formulated these seedmixes to provide maximum forage and energy duringthe winter when deer need it most.Outside the Whitetail Institute product lineup, you

would be looking at corn and soybeans, primarily.WHERE TO PLANT: The very best place for a winter

food source is a secluded spot tucked away in the tim-ber where deer can feel secure coming out during theday. But unfortunately, the notion of tucking an isolat-ed food plot into the timber for months (you have toplant it during the spring or late summer, depending onthe mix) without it being wiped out during the fall isnot realistic. Typically, you should plant the small iso-lated plots to Imperial Whitetail Clover and hunt themduring the rut. They make for some of the best ruthunting locations because the does will be in or nearthe fields and the bucks will be coming.However, for late-season food sources to survive

long enough to do you and the deer any good in thewinter when you (and they) actually need them, theseplots generally have to be either big or conspicuouslyremoved from deer habitat — or both. In order to growenough food, I have to do a little of both. I have a fewmedium-sized winter plots (four to five acres) that aretucked away but can withstand my moderate deerdensity throughout the fall without being wiped out.But, I also have a few plots that are on the edges of mycommercial farm fields (the ones we sell) that are notas large but help to feed deer in the winter, as well.Because these disconnected food plots are more

exposed and the deer feel less secure in these places,the plots typically don’t get wiped out until late in theseason. Also, they aren’t quite as good for hunting forthe exact same reasons. However, when a cold spell fol-lows warmer weather or a warm snap follows pro-longed cold, the deer will hit these spots nearly asreadily as they hit the more secluded fields before theywere wiped out. Given my choices, I would definitelywant only medium to large secluded plots instead ofmore exposed plots for all my hunting, including lateseason. But most situations aren’t perfect. You play thehand you are dealt or make drastic changes to thehabitat.Instead of making my isolated plots larger, I prefer to

leave them small so they are prime for rut hunting. I amcontent to hunt the more exposed areas during the lateseason.

HOW TO HUNT LATE-SEASON PLOTS

When the conditions are right, you really don’t needmany hunts to be successful during the late season. Itis as close to being a guaranteed deal as you will findwhen hunting mature bucks. While it is never wise toput all your eggs into one basket, you can be aggres-


Successful late-season hunting requires afoolproof way to get away from your standat the end of legal shooting time without

alerting deer feeding nearby.

sive when you see the pieces falling into place duringthe late season. In other words, don’t sit back andwatch when the mercury is dropping; get right in thereand set up for a shot.That is about the only difference between the late

season and early season when bucks are also on food.During the late season, you should be more aggressivebecause it is easier to recognize when the odds are tip-ping in your favor. Yet the late season is similar to theearly season from one important standpoint: If youdon’t kill, you need to find a way to get back from thestand after the hunt without alerting the deer. If youdon’t get a shot the first evening, you will likely needsomeone to come and move the deer off the field soyou can vacate without alerting the deer.

CONCLUSION

Without a doubt, late-season success revolvesaround food sources. The better the food, the betterthe hunting. Every year that you have the best food inthe neighborhood, you train the deer a little more toseek out your farm as soon as the rut ends. Soon, it willbe a late-season buck sanctuary and you will knowwhat I mean when I say that the late season can actu-ally be better than the rut.Maybe you are tempted to skimp on your food plots

or maybe you think they are not worth the effort. Youspend the rut hunting deep in the timber; how can thatfood help you? All I have to do to refute that argumentis point to the three bucks we shot (and the one wemissed) during the late season last year. They were allcoming to food. We had more action in just a few daysduring this time than we did during the entire rut. W


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Imperial Whitetail Clover and Alfa-Rack Plus make for some of thebest rut-hunting setups becausedoes will be in or near them.

When choosing a forage, don’t forget to con-sider the purpose you want that forage toserve in the context of your overall food-plot

system. When it comes to maximizing the results fromyour food-plot system, planting only annuals, onlyperennials, or a combination can all be great optionsdepending on your specific needs. In this article, we’lltalk about the third option — using fall annuals such asImperial Whitetail Pure Attraction, Winter-Greens, No-Plow and Secret Spot to complement existing perennialplots.Regardless of whether you plan to plant annuals or

perennials, there are two general categories of factorsyou should consider in making your forage selectionfor a particular site. The first relates to physical condi-tions of the plot, for example soil type, drainage andequipment accessibility. The second relates to the roleyou want the forage in that site to play in the contextof your overall food-plot system.In this article, we’ll talk about the second group. For

example, if your goal for the forage in a particular siteis to provide year-around nutrition and attraction andearly availability in the spring before natural forages re-emerge, a perennial forage is the way to go. Or if youwant the forage in that particular plot to provide abun-dant, highly nutritious growth for fall and winter, youmight select an annual. In both cases you’ll want thatsite to meet a targeted need. Since this article is aboutusing annuals to complement perennials, we’ll assumethat you already have perennials planted and focus onways to complement them with fall annuals. The

Whitetail Institute’s perennial forage blends areImperial Whitetail Clover, Double-Cross, Alfa-Rack Plus,Chicory Plus, “Chic” Magnet and Extreme. Let’s look atwhy using annuals to complement these perennials canbe such a great benefit, and how to get the most outof the combination.Increased forage variety. Have you ever noticed that

most Whitetail Institute forage products are blends ofdifferent plant types? There’s a reason. WhitetailInstitute forage research, development and testing arecompletely goal-oriented. Specifically, existing andpotential new forages are developed and evaluated byhow well they fulfill a host of goals, each of which isdirectly related to how well they will perform in white-tail deer food plots. These goals include early seedlingvigor, heat, drought and cold tolerance, disease resist-ance, and of course high nutritional content and attrac-tiveness to whitetails. Rarely will a single plant typeexcel in all areas. That’s one reason most of WhitetailInstitute’s forage products are blends — each Imperialforage product is designed with the best possible com-ponents and in the right ratios so that the resultingblend performs at the highest possible level in all cate-gories.Using Imperial annuals in conjunction with existing

perennials can magnify this benefit even more. Ineffect, by using annuals to complement your existingperennials you are increasing the number of differentplant varieties available to your deer. Consider ImperialWhitetail Clover, for example, which consists of annualclovers as well as the Institute’s proprietary Advantage

and Insight perennial clovers. Annuals such as PureAttraction and Winter-Greens contain completely dif-ferent types of plants. The forage oats in PureAttraction provide a burst of high-carbohydrate foodfor deer in early fall right when they need it most asthey try to store energy for the coming winter. Later,the brassicas in Pure Attraction and Winter-Greensbecome even sweeter with the first frosts of fall andstand tall in the snow, providing abundant forage fordeer during the cold winter months.Broader-Based Attraction and Increased Tonnage.

There is no question that Imperial perennial forages arehighly attractive to deer, and they stay that way all yearor most of the year at a minimum. Whitetail Instituteannuals planted in the fall can boost attraction evenfurther. Because of the unique requirements of a deer’ssmall-ruminant digestive system, deer seek out onlythe most tender forages, such as newly emergedshoots, leaves and buds in early spring. Annuals plant-ed in the fall are extremely tender and attractive todeer, at a time of year when nature offers little to noth-ing in the way of highly attractive forage sources. Fallannuals also boost tonnage over that produced byeven the best perennials alone. Generally speaking, fallannuals tend to establish and grow even more quicklythan perennials.

HOW TO USE ANNUALS TO COMPLEMENT YOURPERENNIALS

When it comes to structuring your food-plot system


FINE TUNING FORAGESfor Maximum Fall Performance

By Hollis Ayres

Imperial No-Plow provides the benefits of early-season andlate-season plant varieties in a product designed for

minimum seedbed preparation.

for your own specific needs, the Whitetail Institute’s lineup of forage products hasyou covered. Planting all annuals or all perennials can be superb options in manycases depending on the situation. A third option is to plant both annuals and peren-nials, and if you decide to go that route, here are two ideas that can help maximizeyour returns: plant the annuals in separate plots near your existing perennials, oractually plant them on top of the perennials. Both can provide an effective comple-ment to existing perennials if done correctly.Planting Annuals near Perennials: One of the key benefits of this approach is that

it helps maximize “linear edge” to help deer feel safer using the plot during daylighthours. In the food-plot context, “linear edge” basically just means “where the foodplot meets cover.” The more linear edge you design into the plot, the safer deershould feel using the plot during daylight hours. The cover that linear edge bordersmay be actual cover — something that both humans and deer recognize as cover,such as a tree line or brushy area. However, it may also be something that deer onlyperceive as cover — something that they feel camouflages them enough to feel safe.For example, that might even be just a 10-foot wide strip of tall grass between twoplots. A great way to take advantage of linear edge is with larger clear areas such aspastures and cutovers with bedding areas in the woods around them. By planting for-ages in sections of the clear area and leaving strips between them, you can increasethe amount of linear edge without giving up much of the area actually devoted to for-ages. This gives you an excellent setup to add annuals right next to your perennials.Three superb choices for planting by themselves, whether near existing perennial

plots or not, are Pure-Attraction, Winter-Greens, No-Plow and Secret Spot. PureAttraction features the high early season tonnage and attraction of Whitetail Instituteforage oats and winter peas. Later in the season, the brassicas in Pure Attraction andWinter-Greens can provide an abundant food source for deer during the cold wintermonths when perennials may slow production or be buried by snow. No-Plow andSecret Spot provide the benefits of early-season and late-season plant varieties inproducts designed for minimum seedbed preparation.Top-Dressing Annuals into Existing Perennials. Even if you lack the room to plant

annuals right beside your perennials, you can still get many of the same benefits sim-ply by top dressing your existing perennials in the fall with No Plow orWinter-Greens.Imperial perennial forage blends come with some annual forage varieties in them.These annuals are there to fulfill a very specific purpose: to get the plot up and goingas soon after planting as possible, and start drawing deer right away. Generally, whenseeds germinate the first thing they do is start building some of their root systemsbefore they appear above ground. Imperial perennial forage plants do that veryquickly. Imperial annuals often do it even more quickly because they have less rootto build before they show up above ground. Once the perennials start coming up, theannuals have done their job, and the perennials take over.In some cases, folks may want to add annuals back into their existing perennial plots

in the fall. Doing so can be a great way to boost attraction, and it can be a great wayto get your plot full of forage plants again if Mother Nature damaged the stand overthe summer. Winter-Greens, No Plow and Secret Spot can be planted without groundtillage and do not need to be covered. They can just be broadcast right over an exist-ing perennial plot. If you are planning to do that, though, keep a few things in mind.Once thing to remember and plan for is that Slay, the Institute’s broadleaf herbi-

cide for use in maintaining Imperial Whitetail Clover and any other clover or alfalfa,has a soil residual in it. The residual is there to help control weeds long after the plotis sprayed. In the same way, though, the residual can also delay you from planting thesite in certain forages. How long you have to wait after spraying to plant depends onwhat you are planning to plant. The herbicide label contains a full chart, but if youplan on overseeding an existing clover or alfalfa plot in the fall with Winter-Greens,No-Plow or Secret Spot then don’t spray it with Slay the preceding spring.Another thing to remember is that you should try not to exceed the recommend-

ed seed rate when planting any forage. If you think about one square yard of yourfood plot, you can understand that having too many plants growing in a confinedarea can cause the roots to battle each other for space. This can result in the forageplants being less drought tolerant and perhaps even smaller than they would other-wise be. Accordingly, if you plan to overseed an existing perennial with Winter-Greens, No-Plow or Secret Spot, keep the seed rate at no more than 1/2 what it wouldbe if you planted them alone.When it comes to fall annual plantings, the line of Imperial forage blends has you

covered. Plant them alone for superior attraction and nutrition all season long. Orplant them in conjunction with your existing perennials to add attractive, nutritiousnew growth. Once you’ve covered the few planting and maintenance issues I’vementioned, the only real limit on how you use these outstanding fall annuals is yourimagination. W


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Spring.Helps Maximize Doe Lactation, Fawn Birth Weights, Growth Rates and Overall Herd Health!� Contains Critical Protein, Vitamins and Minerals for Does.� Source of High Carbohydrates and Lipids for Fall and Winter.Specifically Designed for the Needs of Deer!� Scientifically formulated to meet the unique requirements of the small-

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The Whitetail Institute239 Whitetail Trail • Pintlala, AL 36043

Call 800-688-3030 to find thedealer nearest you.


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(Continued from page 21)


Mark Paradise — PennsylvaniaEnclosed is a picture of deer feasting in the Chicory

PLUS. We have been seeing more bucks and largerbucks with the antler restrictions in Pennsylvania andwe attract and hold them with the Whitetail Instituteproducts.

Tim Douthit — TennesseeI bought a farm in Tennessee that was overgrown

and not taken care of. I cleared old fields, soil tested,fertilized and planted Imperial Whitetail Clover andnow have a nice deer herd. This year my son killed a 135class 8 point on an Imperial Whitetail Clover field. Apicture is enclosed.

Bern Cushman — VirginiaI have about two and a half acres of food plots that I

started eight years ago. When I first started I plantedwhite and red clover. Then I came across Imperial No-Plow and I have used it for the last six years with goodresults. I also use 30-06 Plus Protein. Here is a pictureof a buck I took off these plots last November. I ameighty three years young. I shot him at 35 feet with a

Knight .50 cal. black powder as he came to the foodplot. Hats off to Whitetail Institute and all that workthere, a good job well done.

Jack Michalek — MichiganI just planted Chicory PLUS last year, and it looks like

it’s another good choice. I’m sending a photo of two ofmy best bow kills. This spring the clover has come upfirst and the deer are out eating in it well before nightfall.

Tom Broze — MinnesotaI planted two food plots, one with Imperial Whitetail

Clover and one with Chicory PLUS. I have seen deer in

these food plots every time I hunted them. I probablyhunted 21 days. Enclosed is a picture of a deer I shotcoming into the food plot in hot pursuit of a doe. I alsohad a picture of this deer in the clover plot in July. Hemust have liked it. He stuck around. I can’t imaginewhat it’s going to be like next year. We plowed upanother spot to be planted next spring, I will be buyingsome more product from Whitetail Institute next year.

Kevin Coubal — WisconsinWe planted Secret Spot by each stand and we see

numerous large bucks there. See photo.

Dennis Gathright — ArkansasWe used Imperial Whitetail Clover on a few small

plots and the deer loved it. Then we cut timber on thefarm and made the plots bigger and we’re having greatsuccess now. After we select cut timber on our farm wealso put in Chicory PLUS on some larger fields and puttrail cams on them. It was unbelievable the traffic on

these fields. We have seen our herd go from spikes to8-point bucks to harvesting bigger deer, heavier antlersand mass.

Bill Yoakum — IllinoisDeer feed in the Imperial Whitetail Clover at all times

of day and night. The plot has grown good each year.We have increased deer activity with the plots andhave bigger antlered deer. We also have a very lushcrop of Winter-Greens. It’s an excellent late seasonfood plot. Deer feed and bed down in the plot. I’veenclosed photos of an 11 point I took and a 13 point mywife, Elaine, took.

Steve Olson — Wisconsin

Last year I planted Winter-Greens for the first time.To say I was impressed would be an understatement.The amount of deer sightings and activity in that foodplot was amazing. I killed my largest buck to date whilehunting my Winter-Greens food plot. My Winter-Greens seeds are already in the ground this year andwill be for years to come.Thanks Whitetail Institute for such a wonderful

product.

Kerry Bender — PennsylvaniaWe started using Imperial Whitetail Clover in 1990

and it has increased our ability to keep whitetails onour property and has richly increased the nutrition weare able to get to our deer. We love 30-06 Plus Protein

too. It definitely helps grow bone and helps the deerperiod. We used it since 1990 too. I’ve enclosed somepictures. number one shows some of the bucks we shotbefore 1990 and pictures two, three, and four showsome of the bucks we’ve shot since 1990 when westarted using Imperial Whitetail Clover and 30-06 PlusProtein. The buck I’m holding in picture 2 I shot thispast year and he scored 147 inches. The buck in picturefour scored 162-plus inches net. Picture 5 shows astump that we poured 30-06 Plus Protein on. ThanksWhitetail Institute for making a great product line. W

Send Us Your Photos!Do you have a photo and/or story of a big buck, a small buck ora doe that you took with the help of Imperial products? Send it tous and youmight find it in the Field Tester section of the next issueof Whitetail News. Send your photo and a 3 to 4 paragraph storytelling how you harvested the deer and the role our productsplayed to:

Whitetail News, Attn: Field Tester Response239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043


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Several years ago I washunting a hilly regionduring the late

December season. The landadjacent to where I was hunt-ing had been in corn that falland it had been picked in lateOctober. Ears of corn wereabundant on the groundamong the stalk debris, mak-ing it fairly easy for a deer toget at the high-energy foodsource.

Despite this, each evening I watched as whitetailswalked across that cornfield on the adjoining propertyto get to the standing cornfield where I was hunting.The reason? The standing corn provided a much easierfood source for them. A week later, I ended up killing adandy 10-point buck near this cornfield.These days you won’t see the same situation in this

area because farming methods have dramaticallychanged. With no-till farming and modern, updatedfarming equipment, it’s rare for any field to beunpicked in late December. Huge tires, and lots ofthem, allow modern harvesting equipment to literallyfloat over wet fields, and the mechanisms on thesecombines are so fine tuned that when the harvesting isover one can hardly tell what type of crop had beenthere. Simply put, there is very little food left in thefarm fields for the wildlife in the region.Things have changed with farming in the area, and

the same goes for the natural browse. A couple ofyears before the December hunts just mentionedabove, I was scouting a point in the hills and found theground covered with acorns that had fallen from thenumerous white oak trees on the point. A snow wascoming in and I suspected the deer in this region wouldkey in on this nutritious oak point food source.I talked my find over with a good friend who lived

near this point and since my schedule didn’t allow meto hunt the spot any time soon, we agreed he shouldhunt the location the day after the snow came in. Earlyin the afternoon my friend trudged through the snowand erected a stand on the point and waited to seewhat would happen.Although there weren’t many deer in the territory at

the time, well before dark deer started pouring ontothe point. Eventually there were three bucks amongthe doe munching acorns, presenting my friend with acrack at an excellent buck.

THE SMORGASBORD IS GONE

Today I lease the tract of land containing this oakpoint. Interestingly, we never hunt this location in


THE ULTIMATESMORGASBORD PLAN

AYear-Round Guide toOutstandingWhitetail Nutrition

By Brad HerndonPhotos by the author

By planting pear, apple,persimmon, or sawtooth oaktrees, you can provide addednutrition for your deer.

December for you will never find an acorn there in the late season. This is true for sev-eral reasons.First of all, the whitetails in this area were allowed to get overpopulated just before

I leased the land and we’re still trying to get the deer numbers down to where theyshould be. Secondly, years ago there were few wild turkeys in the region, and nowthere are many — and they simply love the sweet, white oak acorn.And finally, as I found out last November when I killed a 214-pound boar, wild hogs

from an adjacent county have finally expanded into our region. They will root upevery acorn around since they have good noses, so they have further depletednature’s available resources.By studying this section of our county, it’s easy for anyone to see a browse line in

the woods, a stark indicator that the food smorgasbord found here only 15 years agois long gone. It has affected the health of the deer in a negative way, and the drop infield-dressed body weights and gross antler scores point out this fact.

OTHERS ARE EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEMS

Our portion of Indiana is not the only place experiencing this problem. Since I talkto numerous deer managers, I see this happening in various other sections of ourstate and nation as well. That’s the bad news. The good news (and I like good news)is that deer hunters who are serious about quality deer management are picking upon the native browse, deer overpopulation, and other problems at a quicker rate.Moreover, they are starting to take the necessary steps to correct the situation,regardless of the cost.The managers who are doing it right are reaping huge rewards in the form of great

hunting and outstanding trophies. If you recognize that you have a diminishedamount of food on your property compared to past years, in the following para-graphs I’ll share how to install a whitetail smorgasbord on your property that willresult in both healthier deer, and higher-scoring bucks. Keep in mind at this point that


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30-06 vitamin/mineralsupplements are a great way tohold deer on your property.

The nutritional benefit offered isgreat too.

even if you have your deer population under control,this advice is still beneficial to the health of your futurewhitetail herd.

FOOD PLOTS ARE THE KEY TO A SMORGASBORD

Assuming farm fields are providing your local deerlittle nutrition in the fall, winter and early spring, andalso assuming the nutritious native foods have beendepleted to a large degree, the first steps to re-estab-lishing a quality food supply are very obvious.First, if you haven’t already done so, reduce the deer

herd to the carrying capacity of your land. This maymean you will have to bring in family and friends toshoot doe, because killing, field-dressing and removingdoe from your property can turn into quite a job. Oncethe deer herd is reduced, the next step is planting foodplots with a variety of products that will supply yourwhitetail herd with proper nutrition throughout theyear. Most likely this will mean increasing food plot sizeas well.For example, 20 years ago when most deer herds

were small and native foods were abundant, a deerhunter could plant a half-acre plot of Imperial WhitetailClover and draw deer in quite easily. Now, however, ifthe farm fields are depleted in your region and nativebrowse is slim, a half-acre plot of Imperial Clover canbe browsed so heavily the clover hardly protrudes fromthe ground. Bigger plots is the name of the game.This may mean your food plots will have to be one to

five acres in size. We are increasing ours in size eachyear, and we now have our plots in three different loca-tions on one 283-acre lease. I’m quite sure ImperialWhitetail Clover is the number-one selling deer seed inthe United States, and there are reasons for this loftyranking. It’s a great investment since a plot can last fiveyears if properly taken care of. Secondly, it tastes greatand provides whitetails with incredible amounts of pro-tein they so badly need.If you have good soil that holds moisture, by all

means Imperial Whitetail Clover is my first plantingchoice for a whitetail smorgasbord. If your ground is alittle questionable from a holding-moisture standpoint,try Imperial Whitetail Extreme. It’s high in protein and

is a mix of evergreen forbs, hardy clover and chicory.I’ve had outstanding results with it on our hilly, well-drained sections. Extreme will also thrive in low pH sit-uations found in many areas.If your soil is on the borderline of being dry, Imperial

Chicory Plus is a product you could try. It has theImperial Clover in the blend, but it also contains WINA-100 Brand Chicory. This mix was designed for climateswhere high summer heat and extended droughts canslow clover production.Another great product for drier soil, such as sandy

soil, is Alfa-Rack Plus. It is well known that alfalfa with-stands heat and dry conditions much better thanclover, while at the same time containing great nutri-tion for a variety of animals, including deer. While Alfa-Rack Plus does contain Imperial Clover (for possiblemoist areas) and chicory, its main ingredient is thebreakthrough X-9 alfalfa blend. It’s also a great invest-ment since it can last for several years.The products I have discussed thus far are what I call

the main course in the smorgasbord. Each productlasts a long time in a food plot, they are among themost nutritious of foods that deer prefer, and they pro-vide food almost all year. Before going on, I do want tomention one other product that provides great foodfor whitetails, and that is Imperial PowerPlant.PowerPlant is an annual consisting of a mixture of

warm-season forages that work together and offer ahigh-protein food source. PowerPlant grows an aston-ishing tonnage per acre consisting of small amounts ofsorghum and sunflowers, along with large quantities ofbeans and peas. It better withstands heavy browsing,and is designed to be a supplement to Imperial Clover,Alfa-Rack Plus, etc. It is not a substitute for these otherpreviously mentioned products.

MORE FEATURES OF THE MEAL

What I have mentioned thus far will feed your deerfor approximately seven to nine months of the year. Itcould be longer than this in the South. This means wehave to plant products to feed the deer during theharsh winter months, or provide them food in someother manner. This is where Winter-Greens, PureAttraction and other products come into play.Winter-Greens is a brassica blend, designed specifi-

cally to feed — and attract — deer in late seasons.Typically, a hard frost triggers plant maturity whichtriggers a sweet taste. It’s at this time your food plotstarts looking like someone has thrown hand grenadesinto it. This food is tasty to the deer and can be animportant nutritional part of their diet in the wintermonths. Winter-Greens in my plots will last through allof December and part of January here in southernIndiana. I plant it in at least one-acre size plots.Pure Attraction is also ideal to use as a food source

during late fall and winter because it contains the samebrassicas found in Winter-Greens, plus it also containsWINA Brand forage oats and winter peas. Again, thisproduct will last well into January in many parts of ournation and the oats and winter peas are a great transi-tion food for the time frame between clover and bras-sicas. Oats are especially sweet when compared toother similar products such as rye and wheat.And if you want a neat way to do double duty with

Imperial Clover and forage brassicas, then try one ofthe Whitetail Institute’s newest products — Double-Cross. This product gives you the benefit of clover earlyin the year, then brassicas in the later season. Of coursethe clover will also be good to go the next spring.


� ReadDeer Sign to EstimateHerd >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Be honest when evaluating whether you have too many deer or not. If you can see a visible browse line,

you have too many whitetails. Consider, too, that you may have quantities of saplings in your timber thatindicate the appearance of available browse, when in fact they may be varieties deer will not feed on. Apawpaw bush thicket is a good example of this. It’s important that you know the types of native browsethat deer prefer.Another indicator that will reveal you have too many deer on your property is the presence of ticks on your

deer, especially the older bucks. You rarely read anything about the older buck/tick connection, but twentyyears ago in a huge portion of North America the mature buck did not carry ticks into the fall months. Thiswas true of my area here in Indiana.Then about six years ago ticks started showing up on our mature bucks, and each time they were in

regions where the deer herd had grown too large. With lower nutrition available to these bucks, and thestress factor they incur during the rut, their bodies simply were not able to fight off the ticks. I have talkedto a noted deer biologist about this deer/tick connection and he agrees the deer overpopulation problem isthe contributing factor to this tick infestation.The figures for the deer-carrying capacity of the land vary depending on location, agriculture and food

plot availability, type of soil, size of trees, types of browse, and other factors. Overall, though, the carryingcapacity of a piece of land one square mile in size will normally be between 15 and 40 deer. Twenty deer persquare mile is usually about right. A square mile is 640 acres, so you can see it takes a lot of acreage to prop-erly support a few deer.Closely study the understory of your forest. In regions that are heavily over browsed you may see an over-

abundance of ferns and grass. The disappearance of flowers such as trilliums and other varieties is also a tip-off, as is the abundance of certain types of trees, such as black cherry. There are many other signs in thewoods that indicate you have major problems, and I hope to discuss them in future issues of this magazine.Perhaps you don’t have too many deer at this time. Beware! Studies have shown a low-density deer herd

can turn into a high-density deer herd in only seven years! You can do the math yourself on this and see howquickly it can happen. Better too few deer than too many deer is always the rule to follow in quality deermanagement.If you’re uncertain as to what product will work best in a specific food plot, then experiment. In one of our

food plots about 1-1/2 acres in size, I wasn’t sure what product would work best since it was somewhat welldrained. I divided the plot into three equal parts and planted it in Imperial Whitetail Clover, Extreme and Alfa-Rack Plus. In this case Extreme worked best for me.To kick your nutrition up a notch, consider using 30-06 Mineral/Vitamin and Plus Protein supplements at

a feeding site. The exclusive flavor and scent enhancer assures quick and consistent use in the critical antler-growing stage.Fortunately, many of you reading this article do not have a wild hog problem. Not yet, anyway. However,

since some people think it would be neat to hunt wild hogs, they “stock” some in their area. This is illegal inmost states, and these people have no idea what they are doing is a recipe for disaster when it comes tomost phases of wildlife, especially quality deer management. In Indiana you can kill wild hogs 24 hours a day,365 days per year. Turn in any one you hear of who is discussing turning loose wild hogs, and if you have wildhogs, by all means try to eradicate them as quickly as possible. This won’t be easy, by the way, since theyhave good noses and are quite intelligent.


SOIL TEST KITSWhitetail Institute

Soil testing is one of the most important things you can doto ensure the success of your plantings — of any kind.The Institute is pleased to now provide soil test kits and re-sults for all Imperial products or any other type seeds. (Completeinstructions and all related information will come with kits.) Test resultsinclude pH, phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Fertilizer and lime recom-mendations for maximum performance from your plantings will be provided. The aver-age turnaround time is 24-48 hours after our lab receives the sample.

The charge for the kit and results is $9.95. If ordered alone, add $2.50 shippingand handling for unlimited number of kits. If ordered with other Imperial productsthere is no shipping charge.Please send ______ soil test kits at $9.95 each. Add $2.50 shipping and handlingfor each order regardless of number of kits desired. (There is NO shipping chargeif kit is ordered with other Imperial products.) Cost of kit includes test results.SHIP TO:Name ________________________________________________________________Address ______________________________________________________________City _______________________________________State ______Zip _____________Phone _______________________Email ___________________________________Payment: : �� Check or Money Order enclosedCharge to: � �� MasterCard � �� Visa � �� DiscoverCredit Card # _______________________________________ Exp. Date __________Signature _____________________________________________________________Mail to: Whitetail Institute • 239 Whitetail Trail • Pintlala, AL 36043

or CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-688-3030

SOMETHING IS STILL MISSING

Even with the use of the quality products I have thusfar mentioned, even if they are in sizable plots — andthey should be if your timber is over browsed — we stillhave a period of roughly two months that deer are notdelivered nutritious food in the northern tiers of ourcountry. We need to fill in that time period so the deerare as robust and healthy as they can be coming intothe spring fawning and antler-growing periods. We cansupply whitetails the needed nutrition for this timeperiod in several ways.Perhaps the easiest but most expensive manner of

delivery is a feeding station. This way we can supplydeer with needed nutrients via shelled corn, specialblends of grain mixes or with Whitetail Institute’s newResults deer feed. As I said, this is expensive. If you canafford it, certainly this is a good option. Another way to provide a complex carbohydrate,

high-energy food source for this harsh winter period isto have a large food plot of corn planted. Five acres isthe smallest size I would recommend if you have verymany deer at all. Leave this corn standing and deer willlove it in late winter, plus the standing corn also pro-vides cover and food for various other forms of wildlife.This manner of providing food for your deer is some-what labor intensive, and expensive. Most of you knowwhat the price of corn is nowadays. Finally, I come to the perfect way to provide food for

the whitetails, and that is through native vegetation.Remember, this is what whitetails lived on all winterbefore deer managers and farmers came along. If you own your own property and reduce the deer

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numbers, you can selectively harvest your land or dosome tree stand improvement (TSI). This will allow newshoots that deer favor to emerge and grow. Study upon what might be on your land that shouldn’t be thereand eradicate these items, whatever they might be. Forinstance, when deer destroy the native browse, blackcherry, grasses and ferns often take over the understo-ry of the forest, and they do not allow sprouts toemerge and grow like they should, if at all. Plant other trees that are beneficial to deer, such as

apple and pear. If your property is short of oaks, deter-mine which type grows best on your particular type ofsoil and spend some time planting these acorns orseedlings in your woods. Seedlings can often beobtained either free, or at a small price from state treenurseries. Along edges, small draws, and those types ofplaces, sawtooth oak will do well; and the good newshere is that they will be producing an abundance ofacorns in seven to ten years. You can purchase them atvarious nursery sites found on the Web. Even if you lease your land rather than own it, often-

times the landowner will let you make native habitatimprovement. I assisted one landowner I lease from byobtaining the services of a professional forester forhim. This forester then advised the farmer how toselectively harvest his timber, and even gave him taxtips. It was a win-win situation for all of us. The farmer I lease the 283 acres from has much of

this tract in the Conservation Reserve Program. Theseacres were planted in tough, matted grass that did pre-vent erosion, but on the down side provided absolute-ly no value from a food or cover standpoint to anywildlife. I tipped the landowner off to a new CRP program

that gave him bonus points when it was time to re-bidhis CRP acreage. Under this plan, the farmer goes inwith Roundup and kills out strips of this grass eachyear and allows the strips to grow back up in native

vegetation. It then is mowed once per year in late fall. It’s amazing what is growing in these strips after

three years. A few of the species are: blackberry anddewberry vines; poison ivy; various saplings such aswhite ash, elm, poplar, and walnut; flowers and weedslike butterfly weed, Queen Anne’s lace, ironweed, andseveral other varieties. For the first time in the eleven years I have leased the

property, I see deer feeding in these CRP fields, andmuch of the food these strips provide are available tothe deer during the months of January, February andMarch. Each year we continue to reduce our deer herd. And

each year we try to put extra money into increasing thesize of our food plots. We also are trying to provide asmorgasbord of foods in our plots for the deer. Withthe addition of the CRP strips that provide nativebrowse, last fall for the first time in three years we sawan increase in our bucks’ antler sizes. We are encour-aged that we are back on the track to success in aregion that was completely over browsed when weleased it. Sadly, it should never have gotten to thispoint. If your property is still in good shape, be sure to keep

it that way. If it has been over browsed, keep in mindthat it will take lots of work and money to put the prop-erty you own or lease back into the type of habitat itshould be. Despite this, I can assure you it will be wellworth the effort to see a healthy forest and healthydeer when the job is complete. And in closing, I do want to remind you that the

Whitetail Institute has a staff that will be glad to helpyou create the perfect smorgasbord of deer food prod-ucts for your specific region. Give them a call! W


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To see how heavily browsed your plots are, build smallexclusion cages in order to get an accurate comparison.

Ihate it when the first deerI see during the season isa buck in the 130s to

140s; definitely a trophy butnot quite up to my standards. I was perched near the top of a gnarled,

spreading burr oak tree overlooking a prime plotof Imperial Alfa-Rack the first day of Iowa’s lateprimitive-weapons season. Normally, I wouldn’thave been hunting that early during the late sea-son, preferring to wait until deer settle downfrom the firearms season. Plus, I prefer lateDecember because frigid weather drives deer tofood plots. But all my guided firearms huntershad filled their tags and headed home, so thedeer on my leases had more than a week ofpeace, quiet and solitude. The unpredictableMidwestern weather had stayed warm enough tokeep the hardy, resilient Imperial Alfa-Rack,Imperial No-Plow and Imperial Clover plots lushgreen — not exactly the hunting conditions you’dexpect for Iowa in mid-December.I’d climbed into the tree stand an hour before

shooting light to let things settle down. As thepre-dawn blackness faded to ever-lighteningshades of gray, I saw the shapes of several doesfeeding at the far end of the ridge top Alfa- Rackplot. The sun was still buried in a layer of clouds,shedding just enough light for me to see thebrown form of another deer as it moved cau-tiously from the heavy timber to the edge of thefood plot. The deer’s blocky build and large frame indi-

cated it was a buck. I focused through my light-gathering 8x42 Nikon binoculars and quicklyverified my first impression. The buck’s whiteantlers stood out against the dark background,showing heavy main beams with long tines and6-inch split brow tines. He was definitely a shoot-er, unless it was your first day of hunting, and youhad access to several thousand acres of primeMidwestern whitetail habitat with 15 thrivingfood plots. Those plots were being hammered bymore whitetails that were pushed onto our pro-tected leases. Deer hunting for quality bucksdoesn’t get much better than that. So because I had two weeks to shoot the deer

of my choice, I decided to pass on the buck.

BREADBASKET PLOTS

If you hunt the breadbasket states of theMidwest, flourishing food plots can substantiallyincrease deer traffic on your hunting areas orleases. In fact, they can increase the number ofdeer inhabiting your hunting area, depending onthe size, quality and holding capacity of the area. The fertile soils of the Midwest produce most

of the country’s corn and soybean crop, earningthe region the name of the Breadbasket States.Producing an effective, desirable plot in the landof plenty — where a food plot is surrounded bythousands of acres of corn, soybeans, alfalfa,clover and other deer vittles can drastically


BREADBASKETFOOD PLOTS

Mid-West Food PlottingPresents Unique Challenges

By Judd CooneyPhotos by the author

improve your chances at a trophy buck.When I started an outfitting hunting operation in Iowa, I figured producing food

plots on our leases to attract and hold deer would be a no-brainer. Wrong. I quicklylearned that the rich, fertile loam soils of the Midwest were about 50 percent weedseeds just waiting for some joker to till, fertilize and plant them so they could takeover.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

One of the most important — and often overlooked or disregarded — aspects ofbreadbasket food-plot production is location. The easier you make it for deer to useyour food-plot delicacies, the more use you’ll see at your plots. With the easily avail-able abundance of nutritious and domestic and wild food sources in mostMidwestern states, you can’t make it too tough for deer to use your plots. You mustconsider the lay of the land in your hunting area and surrounding properties. Most of our leases are farms or have heavy timber to provide sanctuaries, escape

cover and bedding areas. Several of our better properties are enrolled in theConservation Reserve Program, so they cannot be farmed or pastured for 10 years.However, 10 percent of the total CRP ground on a farm can be put into wildlife foodplots and not harvested, which is ideal for an aggressive food-plot program.As mentioned, you not only have to consider your hunting land but also the sur-

rounding properties, or you might get blindsided. One of our better leases has 700acres of rolling hills, heavy timber and weed-covered CRP that has never been pas-tured by cattle. The area held a healthy population of deer when we leased it, and Ifigured the addition of several 3-acre food plots and some smaller plots interspersedthrough the woods would enhance the area’s attractiveness for deer. The second year of the lease, everything went perfectly, and every plot was doing

exceptionally well. As fall approached, I was looking forward to the food plots help-ing put clients within bow or gun range of the trophy bucks we had watched dur-ing that summer.Unfortunately, I didn’t fully consider how the lush, succulent plots would attract

neighboring cattle, which bordered our land on three sides. Also, I didn’t thoroughlycheck the condition of the fences surrounding the lease. Within a month, all the herdsof neighboring cattle busted through the fences and made a shambles of our food plots before hunting season. One farmer’s cattle were badly underfed. It’s difficult to

imagine the damage that 30 hungry cows and calves can to do a clover plot in sev-eral days.Needless to say, I was not happy, and after some serious discussions with the

cattle owners about the value of my food plots, there was a joint effort to fix thefences and solve the problem. You can get bet your bippy I check those fencesseveral times a year, not only on that lease but on all the leases with nearby cat-tle or horses.Surrounding crop rotations are another factor in food-plot planning. You must lay

out your food plots to take advantage of deer travel patterns from one major foodsource to another and pull them into your plots for a snack. It’s much easier to pulldeer a short distance out of their normal travel patterns to visit a food plot than itis to get them to completely change their routes. Lay out your food plots so deercan easily access them as they travel, and your plots will see far more use. If youplant a plot in the open, where a deer feels exposed and vulnerable traveling to orfrom it, whitetails may ignore it or use it only at night. Either way, you lose.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

When planning food plots in any part of the country, a major consideration is thesize of the plot. At times, food-plot size is strictly dictated by the size of the areaavailable, and you might be limited to small plots on your hunting area. Size mightalso be predicated on the equipment you have. It wouldn't be practical to plant a 5-acre plot if you only have a spade, rake and hand spreader. One of the problems I’ve faced with my food plots in Iowa is the sheer number of

deer using them. Many of our smaller hunting food plots got hammered becauseour leases act as sanctuaries and are surrounded by vast acreages of prime agri-cultural land that support many deer. They got hit so hard they barely survived withenough growth to provide any attraction during archery season. We abandoned several smaller plots that were limited by size simply because

deer ate them to the bare dirt by Oct. 1, and they didn’t attract enough deer after-ward to be worthwhile. Currently, we have several 2- or 3-acre plots that are hold-ing up under the deer assault. This strategy keeps my plots thriving so they attractthe deer throughout early fall and even into the late season if the weather stays fair-ly mild. One way to alleviate some heavy pre-season use by deer is by planting in fall. We

spray our plots with Roundup in late spring, usually after turkey season, and then


7The Whitetail Institute is proud to offer the WHITE-TAIL AGING PLAQUE. This interesting plaque displaysthe jawbone and teeth of the critical first eight years of adeer’s life. The display measures 11 inches wide by21 inches tall and is handmade of quality pine,sealed and protected with special lamination.

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If you have serious management interest in theprogress or decline of your deer herd, theWHITETAIL AGING PLAQUE is an invaluablemanagement tool. After a few hunting seasons ofaging deer using this technique, you will actuallybe able to determine fairly accurately the age ofyour deer on the hoof. Jawbones and teeth re-productions represent deer from 1-1/2 years to8-1/2 years old.

Remember, the only way to accurately agedeer is by the wear on the deer’s teeth. OurWHITETAIL AGING PLAQUE shows you every-thing you need to know about these wear pat-terns and will help you make intelligentdecisions about your deer management pro-gram. Every serious sportsman should havea WHITETAIL AGING PLAQUE. With it, you candetermine the age of each deer harvested. Withthis knowledge you are on your way to developing adeer management program that will lead to biggerand better-quality deer.

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hit them again with Roundup mid to late August, aweek or so before disking and planting them. This fallplanting almost eliminates the major weed problemthat plagues spring plantings. We’ve had much betterresults with these plantings lasting through earlyarchery season and into gun season. Generally, by thenext spring, these plantings are in great shape forturkey season, which is a great side benefit.Gobblers love to strut in the short Imperial Clover

and Alfa-Rack patches. There’s nothing prettier than aglowing, iridescent gobbler lit up by the early morningsun as he struts his stuff for a bunch of hens in the mid-dle of a bright, spring-green Imperial Clover or Alfa-Rack plot.Fall plot plantings work especially well on smaller

hunting plots, which tend to get obliterated by overuse.The drawback to fall plantings the past couple of yearsin the Midwest has been the extremely dry fall weath-er. If soil moisture is low and there isn’t sufficient rainafter you disk and plant your fall plots, you can chalkanother year’s food-plot venture up to experience.Weather always has been the greatest food-plot adver-sary, and I’ve yet to figure a way to beat uncooperativeweather.

THE EXPOSURE FACTOR

Another factor I try to remember when laying out mybreadbasket food plots is exposure. My food-plot plan-ning is designed to attract the deer to the center of myhunting area and keep them from being exposed toother hunters or landowners. An, out-of-sight, out-of-mind perspective should be an integral part of yourfood-plot location planning. Several seasons ago, one

of my leasers figured I needed a late-season food plotin a tight corner of his fields, surrounded on two sidesby dense woods and a thick cedar bedding area. So heleft me a half-acre of standing corn. I hadn’t planted afood plot in that otherwise superb location becausethere was a gravel road 100 yards from the plot on theother side of a thin screen of trees. It would have been tough for a road hunter to shoot

at a deer in the field, but just the sound of traffic on theadjacent road was enough to keep deer from using thefield in daylight. During a two-week cold period in lateDecember, the deer devoured the farmer’s offering,and the only deer I saw in the field during shootinglight were does and fawns. A quarter-mile over the hill,I had an Imperial Clover plot in another bottleneck oftimber, isolated from traffic sounds or disturbances,and you could count about 20 deer — including a cou-ple of dandy bucks — in that plot during good shoot-ing light. One of my clients shot a heavy-antlered 10-pointer on a trail leading to the plot at 3 p.m. onesunny, cold December day.

CONCLUSION

Planting effective food plots in the crop-rich bread-basket states of the Midwest might not be the piece ofcake it is in areas with longer growing seasons, milderweather and less food-crop competition. However, withthe burgeoning whitetail population and proliferationof trophy-class bucks produced in the Midwest, plot-ting, planning and planting food plots might be thebest tool for consistently getting within shooting dis-tance of a trophy buck. W

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In the Midwest, food plots are one of the best tools forshooting big bucks.


Big Bucks IN SMALL PLACES

Many of today’s deer hunters arebeing forced to hunt in smaller

areas. The good news is that

those tight spots often produce some of the

biggest bucks every year.

By Michael Veine

Chad Lathrop shot this buck last seasonas the buck was coming out into a grainfield that had been locked tight by thickice for nearly three weeks. A warmspell was the formula that spelledsuccess — that and an attractive,

accessible food source.

Bill Winke

It was the last day of

Michigan’s archery deer

season and my unused

deer tag felt like it was burn-

ing a hole in my pocket. Even

when the odds are against

me I always keep a positive

mental attitude when deer

hunting. It was crunch-time

though and I knew full well

that my chances for success

were remote at best and

dwindling fast. I sat tight in

my tree stand well beyond

the point of enjoyment.

Finally the penetrating cold,

a sore behind and the lack of

deer sightings convinced me

to head for home.My house is situated on a small parcel of land and

while my back woods are not what I’d consider primedeer hunting, it does hold a decent population ofwhitetails and the convenience of walking out my backdoor to hunt is awfully nice at times. Commitments precluded an evening hunt, so I slow-

ly still-hunted on the way back to the house to givemyself one last chance at success. I had barely coveredabout 200 yards when the sight of a deer movingahead caught my attention. My growing despair quick-ly turned to optimism when I saw antlers. It was adecent buck, not a huge one, but on the last day of theseason, any adult buck would have looked like a trophy.The buck scooted past me well out of range on an

obvious search-and-destroy mission for does. I let himproceed on by until he was out of sight and then racedahead to try and cut him off. After sprinting the 200yards out to the road, I quickly ran up to my drivewayhuffing and puffing all the way. I raced past my garageand then cut back to the edge of the swamp where Ihoped the buck would come through. I knew my prop-erty like the back of my hand and I was well aware of adeer trail leading through this natural funnel. I kneltdown and hoped that I’d beat the buck to the spot

without spooking him.I kept up my vigil kneeling in the tall swamp grass

lined with brush and small trees. With my arrownocked, I scanned in the direction where I anticipatedthat the buck might emerge. Unfortunately, after 15minutes without further sighting, my enthusiasm plum-meted.As a last ditch effort, I pulled out my trusty grunt call

and pressed it to my lips. It was a cold, quiet, bluebirdday with very little wind, so my grunts floated out forquite a distance. After several grunt-calling sequenceswith no responses, I was ready to submit to defeat. Iwas feeling lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rutwhen all of the sudden I heard a gentle swish frombehind me. Turning around, my disappointmentinstantly melted away as a different and much biggerbuck materialized through the brush. I was a littleshocked at this sudden turn of events and my heart letme know the magnitude of the situation by thumpinglike a base drum in my chest.In preparation for a shot, I slowly pivoted around and

began scanning ahead for a possible shooting lanealong the buck's approach route. When he closed towithin 25 yards, he abruptly stopped quarteringtowards me behind a thin screening of sumac brush. Ifhe proceeded ahead, he would pop into the clear atabout 10 yards distance. With no cover separating us atthat scant range, he would certainly spot me, ruiningany shot opportunity; so I decided that it was now ornever. When he turned broadside to look over his backtrail, I drew back the bow from my kneeling position.There was a fist-sized hole through the brush that wasconveniently lined up with the center of the buck’schest. Instead of concentrating on a specific spot onthe deer as an aiming point, I trained my sight pin onthe gap in the brush and then carefully squeezed thetrigger on my old reliable mechanical release. At theshot he whirled and bolted across the marsh with awide swath of crimson plainly visible down his side.After 100 yards, he slowed and began to falter; secondslater the muddy quagmire swallowed him up like a doginhaling a steak scrap.After waiting about an hour, I approached the fallen

buck, which had died right where I had last seen him.The incredibly lethal shot had taken out both lungscausing him to expire within 10 seconds. That"Backyard Buck's" beautiful head mount now adornsmy office wall. Once again a small place had produceda filled deer tag and just in the nick of time.A growing trend these days in the whitetail woods is

hunting on smaller and smaller parcels of land.Increasingly, larger holdings are being carved up intopint-sized properties and at a record pace I might add.Urban sprawl and escalating real estate prices acrossthe country are the main culprits. These days it seemslike everyone wants to buy a parcel of land in the quietcountry for a building site or just to own their ownpiece of turf.Over the past decade, I’ve noticed some drastic

changes in the woods on both private and public prop-erty: It’s becoming more crowded and the hunting isbeing reduced to tighter and tighter quarters. I reallycan’t complain too loudly about these developmentsthough, because in the past decade I’ve experiencedthe best success of my entire deer hunting career,which spans over thirty years. My recent success hasbeen distributed between both private and public landhunting spots. The secret to my success in thesedemanding locations is to apply smart “small place”hunting strategies.

LEARN THE LAND

One major advantage of deer hunting in a small areais being able to develop an intimate knowledge of theland. I can safely say that I know every deer trail on the38 acres that I call home. The deer’s preferred feedingand bedding areas at different times of the year arealso etched into my mind. In addition, I also knowwhere deer are likely to travel during daylight hours.Basically, I know the property well enough to hunt itvery effectively.

KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS

It doesn’t matter if you hunt on private or publicproperty, prudent deer hunters need to develop anintimate knowledge of the hunting pressure or gener-al human disturbances in any given hunting area. Onsmall private parcels, lands that surround yours willtypically be pounded by others. Talk to the owners ofadjacent properties and find out who is huntingwhere. Open communications often reduces conflictsand also makes deer hunting more enjoyable and suc-cessful for all.It is a good idea to have an agreement with neigh-

bors before the season starts concerning recoveringwounded deer. My neighbors and I have an agreementthat if one of us hits a deer and it crosses a propertyline, we must first call or visit and let the propertyowner know what's going on before venturing ontotheir property. This small courtesy eliminates having toneedlessly investigate a possible trespasser; besides,this policy also eliminates the temptation to rush thefollow-up and often results in a helping hand.Public hunting grounds pose a unique challenge

when deer hunting. Often, I actually scout more for thepresence of humans than for deer. I simply will not deerhunt, especially with a bow, in an area that is beingactively hunted by others. In this pursuit, I typicallyspend countless hours searching for the right combi-nation of seclusion and available deer. Quite often, I willconcentrate my efforts on a very small chunk of land inthe middle of a vast public forest. I may only have oneor two stand setups that are worth hunting amongthousands of acres of land.

HUNT WISELY

On small parcels, over-hunting and burning-out astand become a real problem. Even on my 38 acres, Ihave erected six different treestands along with sever-al ground stands. I only hunt a particular stand whenthe wind is favorable. I will typically hunt my own landin conjunction with other public and private parcels sothe pressure is spread out as much as possible. If youstart noticing a reduction in deer sightings in an area,then the spot is probably being over-hunted.Entry and exit routes to and from stands need spe-

cial consideration. I plan and clear those courses care-fully so I can access my stands with minimal distur-bance to deer. Even if it takes five times as long to getto a stand, it's better to avoid bumping deer.

ENHANCE THE LAND

Small parcels of property can be made into deerutopias by adding a few enhancements. Deer needquality cover and nutrition to thrive, and they alsorequire a steady water source to survive. A well-placed



food plot or two is one of the best ways to attract deerto your property. However, if you can provide a nearbybedding sanctuary along with a constant water sourceclose to a food plot, then the deer will really takenotice. I also like to spice up my property with plentyof 30-06 Plus Protein mineral sites. With proper plan-ning you can attract and hold deer and also make themvery “huntable” in the process.

SUBURBAN HOT SPOTS

I once attended a party at the home of one of mywife's co-workers. In the past, I had some discussionswith this guy about the subject of guns and hunting. Heis not an anti-hunter, but like the majority of people inthis country, he is just a non-hunter who doesn't under-stand modern wildlife management practices.We are both avid gardeners and when I asked our

host how his garden was doing, he said, “Mike, grabyour beer and come look at this.” He then showed methe remnants of his once-beautiful garden. All thestrawberries, tomatoes, beans and other plants werechewed off right down to the roots. He pointed into the dirt and said, “Do you recognize

those tracks?” I replied, “Looks like you've got a deer problem.” Hinting that I knew the solution to his problem, he

then said, “Those !@#$% deer have ruined my gardenand I’ve tried everything including repellents and evenfences, and those !@#$!@#$ are still coming into myyard.” I was shocked because I had never heard this nor-

mally soft-spoken guy swear or get bent-out-of-shapebefore. It’s kind of funny how a little deer infestation

can change a person’s attitude. It only takes one or twobad encounters and most people are more than readyto have someone take out some deer.I’ve had several opportunities presented to me in

urban and even suburban areas where homeowners arebeing devastated by hungry deer. It really pays to pres-ent your hunting activities in a positive manner to any-body who will listen at work, church, school, and clubsor wherever you go. Networking really pays off, espe-cially when deer become nuisances.

BIGGER IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER

Small hunting spots are what you make of them. Iwould rather have eight to ten isolated, small, huntingareas than one large property to hunt. Typically, thelarger parcel would be composed of the same familygroup of deer. Hunting pressure would eventually alterthe deer’s travel patterns, degrading the quality of thehunt after just a short period. Conversely, with manyseparated small spots, a prudent hunter can rotatestands and keep things fresh. Each spot would be com-posed of a separate deer herd and the deer can betaken by surprise on each outing.In my home state of Michigan, I often attend off-sea-

son hunting sports shows like the Deer & TurkeySpectacular. At last year’s show, antlers coming fromthe most crowded regions of southern Michigan domi-nated the Spectacular’s annual deer contest. This is anarea consisting primarily of many small parcels. It neverceases to amaze me that the majority of the biggestbucks in my state, some of which are Boone & Crockettcandidates, are taken from this region. “Big bucks in small places.” Need I say more? W

Putting out the welcome mat for deer is as easy as pouringfrom a jug. Deer are so attracted by the smell and drawnto the taste of Magnet Mix that they will come from milesaround — and keep coming back. Just shake and pour (nomixing required) and wait for the deer to show up. Justseconds of preparation provides gallons of attraction.

Because of Magnet Mix’s incredible attractiveness, some statesmay consider it bait. Remember to check your local game lawsbefore hunting over Magnet Mix.

The Whitetail Institute — 239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043

“Deer Nutrition Is All We Do!” Research = Results®

800-688-3030 whitetailinstitute.com

Small, secluded food plots in thick cover can producefantastic daytime feeding by deer.

Kevin Wood knows his Oklahoma weather isn’talways perfect for growing lush food plots. Infact, sometimes the hot, dry weather makes it

downright tough for food plots to thrive. Wood haslearned, though, if you pay attention to details, usequality products and get a little luck from MotherNature deer can benefit from the nutrition provided byfood plots. And now Wood’s deer are growing healthi-er and larger because of his food plot efforts.“I’m one of the early guys who started food plotting

in 1990, but I was like a lot of guys who didn’t listen.For instance, I didn’t have the correct pH in my soil fora lot of years. I never had it quite right. Now my plotsare the correct pH,” Wood explained. “The Alfa-Rackis difficult to grow unless you get that pH to 7.0. Evenwith the Imperial Clover here in Oklahoma, you’ve gotto get the pH correct. Now my plots are fantastic butin the early years they weren’t because I didn’t limemy plots properly.”Wood manages 300 acres in Oklahoma. He owns 40

acres of the 300. “I put in all of the food plots for this other family. The

unique thing about this land is it borders a federalwildlife refuge. The potential for big bucks is real,” hesaid. “That’s why I bought the place six years ago. Itmakes for some very good hunting. It’s heavily wood-ed with rolling hills and sandy loam-type soil. It’s a verydry soil. The tough thing is you have to deal withextremes in Oklahoma and I will tell you that I’ve donesome things wrong. I don’t live in Michigan where it’seasier to get food plots to grow. Perennials can die in ahot, dry summer. “Last spring my food plots were textbook. I mean

they were beautiful. I almost sent pictures of them tothe Whitetail Institute because they looked so good. Ihave fall plantings, spring plantings and I frost seed.This is what I do. I love to watch things grow. Last yearwas an exceptional year for moisture in the state ofOklahoma and the racks showed it. The Institute reallyneeds to push the new Chicory Plus in a dry state likeOklahoma. That’s why I’ve tried the Alfa-Rack Plus. TheChicory Plus is a product that can survive the droughtswe get in Oklahoma and it can really bring in the deerwhen its dry.”Woods said that his hard work has paid dividends.

The food plots have deer grazing in them and they areproviding his deer the nutrition they need to reach theirpotential.“All of Whitetail Institute products are wonderful

products. They do pull in more deer and the deer dohang around,” he said. “The improved health of theherd is a definite plus as well.”He suggests hunting off the plots at least 100 yards

to catch the big bucks before darkness. Other tips forkilling big bucks are to provide year-round qualitynutrition, hunt funnels and transition zones to the food

plots and make sure you enter and exit the stand with-out disturbing the food plots.“I get way back off of my food plots to hunt the big

guys,” he said. “They will be here if I keep the does here.I have a high concentration of does. That’s the beautyof the whole thing.”This tactic worked on Nov. 9 when he shot a 125-inch

buck with his Mathews bow.“I was hunting 200 yards away from one of my food

plots. The buck was working a scrape line. He came inat 12 yards and I got the shot. He weighed 140 poundsfield dressed,” Wood explained. “The second deer wasan 8-point with a 20-inch inside spread. I shot him at 15yards with a rifle. He was a textbook deer. He was fol-lowing a doe in the thick of the woods. These wererefuge bucks. They are back in the refuge becausethere isn’t any pressure. There were 44 bucks on therefuge in one day late last summer. But once the acornsstart dropping and once the rut starts swinging they’reall through here and it’s beautiful. There were eightwallhangers that were seen last year. The rain last yearwent right to the racks.”Despite the heat and droughts that can be common-

place in the part of Oklahoma where Wood lives andhunts, he overcomes these problems with persistenceand quality products from the Whitetail Institute. Headded that food plot managers must follow directions,be persistent and pay close attention to the fine points. “The pH is the most important thing to consider.

Always pick the plots that have the most moisture forthe Imperial Clover,” he said. “And follow the directions.I’m sold on the products. I just wish planting food plotsin Oklahoma was easier to deal with because I’m fromMichigan, originally. If you’re diligent and you workhard you can still have a lot of success with these prod-ucts, even in the dry South.” W


Longtime ImperialUser Battles

Oklahoma Weather To Come Out On Top

By Bart LandsverkPhoto by Kevin Wood

Kevin Wood from Oklahoma shot this buck using Alfa-Rack PLUS, Imperial Clover and Chicory PLUS.

“Why do you hunt?” Have you ever beenasked this question? If so, then youknow how hard it can be to answer in a

way that covers all the bases. In my own case, the firstanswer that usually comes to mind is, “Because it’s partof who I am.”Truthfully, though, we fail to satisfy an important

duty when we give such a short answer. We’re mostlikely to be asked this question by non-hunters who aretruly seeking information because they have not yetdeveloped a stance one way or the other. As stewardsof the land and its wildlife, we have a duty to educatethese folks, so each of us needs to sit down and for-mulate his own answer so he’ll be ready when thequestion is asked. When formulating your own personal answer, keep

this in mind. Every reason we hunt is an expression oftruth. and truth is on our side. That’s why it’s so easy forus to counter the ravings of militant anti-hunters and tosuccessfully educate others about why we hunt. In bothcases, truth is the common language that people capa-ble of understanding will accept if we present thosetruths in an accurate, personal way. Since each of us willdescribe those truths in a different way, I can’t tell youhow you should do it. As an example, though, here’show I describe them. First Truth: Every person has a duty of stewardship

of wildlife, and hunters meet that duty better than anyother group of people.Regardless of whether one is a hunter or not, every-

one benefits from the state of the natural world. In fact,humans could not survive without it. Accordingly, weall have a duty to protect and conserve it. Protection and conservation are not just matters of

control. The Book of Genesis specifically says that Godgave man “dominion” over all animals, and dominion iscontrol and care. Together they are the very definitionof stewardship. Over the last 100 years, no group hasbeen as directly responsible for the success of wildlifeconservation efforts than hunters. The proof is there inthe recovery of waterfowl, game fish, and whitetaildeer, and all one has to do is look at the sky, ocean andwoods to see it. Second Truth: Hunting is the single best way to

plant the seeds of good character in young people. Ican directly trace my first early understandings of fun-damental character traits back to a dove hunt I attend-ed with my grandfather in the mid-1960s. He was veryold at the time, and I was about 8 to 10 years old. Hehad allowed me to take along the new Stevens single-shot .410 he had given me the previous Christmas, butI ended up playing the role of bird dog more thanhunter. The first dove I retrieved for my grandfatherwas still alive when I found it, and I took it to him in that

condition. As my grandfather took the dove from my hand, he

looked directly at me and held my gaze. I rememberthat after a few seconds I felt my head nod. He thenquickly broke the dove’s neck over the butt of his shot-gun, slipped the bird into his vest, and we both turnedour eyes back toward the sky. No words had been spo-ken, and yet even at that young age I clearly under-stood the lesson about our obligation to the game wehad just taken. Later life added flesh to this first lesson in steward-

ship, each time broadening my understanding of it, andproving its truth instead of offering alternatives. It wasyears before I understood what the Book of Genesismeant by “dominion.” Likewise, I later observed the fullextent of the huge contribution hunters have made toconservation of both game and non-game wildlife. That dove hunt was also my first lesson that respect

cannot be asked for but must be earned. After thehunt, it took us awhile to gather my grandfather’sthings and make our way to the gathering of hunters atthe barn, and we were the last hunters to arrive. I dis-tinctly remember the great respect the other huntersgave my grandfather, every single person stopping tospeak to him and shake his hand. Several of the huntersdescribed to me how my grandfather had privatelyhelped them through some tough personal times.


“Why DoYou Hunt?”Your answer can

influence non-huntersBy Jon Cooner

Brad Herndon


There is a reason why these early lessons aboutstewardship and character stuck with me through theyears. The key is that these lessons were not told to me,but were communicated to me by direct participationwhile hunting with my grandfather. Whether you’reyoung or old, the best way to learn the deepest aspectsof something you don’t understand is to participate inits processes. Third Truth: Hunting benefits overall functional

health better than any other single activity. Now,before you raise your eyebrows, realize that I’m notsaying that hunting is the best activity to meet a spe-cific health goal such as building muscle, increasingcardiovascular capacity or losing weight. These arenarrow goals that can be better achieved by narrowactivities such as lifting weights, running and eatingbetter. Rather, I’m talking about “overall functional con-dition” — performing the best you can in every aspectof your life. Hunting exercises your brain and body. For example,

by now most hunters are studying and learning qualitydeer management principals. We also have to do someor all of the following: figure out how many food plotsto plant and where, locate sites for them, determinewhat forages to plant, clear brush, evaluate soil tests,prepare seedbeds, calculate fertilizer blends and rates,and most of us who aren’t made of money also have tocalculate the most cost-effective way of achieving ourmanagement goals. Later, we’ll need to scout, analyzeour scouting data, topographical maps and othersources of information to figure out where that bigbuck we saw last year will be this coming November,and then stalk him. Hunting also provides stress relief. Most of us work

hard during the week and run to keep up with familyactivity schedules and handle the daily pressures of life.Nothing clears you out and recharges you for the nextround like a day in the woods. Heck, even non-huntersdon’t need us to tell them that. All they have to do isread the bumper sticker that says, “A bad day in thewoods beats a great day at the office.” Hunting exercises your senses. As hunters, we know

that anytime we’re in the woods we’re more attuned tosights and sounds. Civilized life can tend to dull thosesenses with constant background noise, and huntingcan help reset them. Hunting even helps foster healthy interpersonal rela-

tionships. John Donne was correct when he wrote, “Noman is an island, entire of itself.” Humans are designedto interact with other humans. Unlike some other activ-ities, the folks you hunt with are like-minded people,which is required for true fellowship to occur. The proofis in the duration and depth of your friendships withyour hunting buddies — those are the people you knowyou can call at any hour of the day or night if you needthem. Fourth Truth: Hunting is the most objective way to

broadly test your performance. Hunting allows you totest your performance in a broad range of areas. Myown personal test is to try to sneak up on a whitetailand take him in his bed with an iron-sighted handgun.Each time I try, I stack the odds in my favor by plan-ning, and that planning requires that I consider everypossible variable, from where he’ll be to how I’llapproach and when. So far, I haven’t passed the test —I’ve been “busted” every time, and most often the rea-son has been that I failed in one aspect of planning orexecution. When it comes to standards for measuring

success versus failure, the real world pulls no punches,especially when a whitetail buck is involved.Fifth Truth: Hunting is fun and rewarding. There are

few things that bring me a sense of quiet, inner joy likethe little things that happen to each of us only whenwe’re in the woods. There’s the feeling you have as youwatch the first sunrise of the season from your stand,or when a robin lights within inches of you in a treewhere you sit in full camo on a bow hunt. Each time Iwitness those things, I think about how much my non-hunting friends are missing. Nothing is as rewarding as having hard work turn

into success, and nothing could be harder than goingafter a particular big buck and winning. You have toscout, figure out his patterns, set up on him and thennot blow the shot. A single error anywhere along theway means you lose. But even when you lose, you stillgain in that you learn, and eventually it will all pay off. So, that’s my answer to “Why do you hunt?” I hope it

will help you decide how best to answer the questionyourself in a way that will truly educate non-hunterswho ask. Obviously there are lots of reasons you couldcome up with to explain why you hunt, but rememberthe key: the truth is on your side. If you ask me thatquestion, though, I’ll probably just stick to saying,“Because it’s part of who I am.” After all, as hunters youalready know what I mean. W

Thanks to the continuing growth of the Internet, the startof a new hunting-related website might not seem like bignews. However, one new website seems to be making allthe right early moves: Talk Hunting(www.talkhunting.com). Talk Hunting is a free forumwhere hunters from all across the world can gather todiscuss tips, tactics, gear, and virtually anything hunt-ing-related in an atmosphere where posted content ismonitored to ensure that it is appropriate for the wholefamily – especially young hunters who are the future ofour hunting way of life. What separates Talk Huntingfrom other outdoor sites is that its registered members

can participate in weekly, monthly or quarterlydrawings to win prizes that hunters re-

ally want! Examples includeMathews bows, Knight ri-fles, Scent-Lok suits,turkey and deer decoys,

food-plot seed, magazine subscrip-tions, and other high quality products. Be

one of the first to sign up, and you’ll have achance to enter in the site’s next drawing.

PRIZES ARE FURNISHED BY

THESE FINE MANUFACTURERS:

Brad Herndon

Editor’s Note: If you would like to write an article titled“Why I Hunt” and have it considered for publication inthe Whitetail News, send it to WINA, 239 WhitetailTrail, Pintlala, AL 36043 or email it to [email protected]. All articles submitted become the proper-ty of Whitetail Institute.


IMPERIAL NO-PLOW™ YOU SAVE $49.05Suggested Retail: $149.00 (50 lbs. - 3 Acre Planting)

Price with coupon: $99.95Please send _____ 50 lb. quantities of ImperialNO-PLOW™ Wildlife Seed Blend.TOTAL Including shipping and handling $___ ______

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Please add $17.00 for shipping and handling for each 50 lbs. ordered. (Canadian residents call for shipping charges.)Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

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NEW!

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(A) Durable, crushable camouflage cap fea-tures the triple brow-tine buck in theWhitetail Institute logo.

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IMPERIAL CHICORY PLUS™ YOU SAVE $69.05Suggested Retail: $289.00 (28 lbs. - 4.5 Acre Planting)

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Please add $7.00 for shipping and handling for each 4 oz. package ordered. (Canadian residents call for ship-ping charges.) Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

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Please add $14.95 for shipping and handling for each print ordered. (Canadian residents call for shipping charges.)Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

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* Important: Shipping & Payment Information* Please Include Daytime Phone Number For UPS Shipments

and Any Questions We May Have About Your Order.

Mail To: Whitetail Institute of North America239 Whitetail Trail • Pintlala, AL 36043

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From Ray Scott’s Private Collection

MOST WANTED: The Imperial BuckBy Eddie Leroy

This unique portrait of the Institute icon named “the Im-perial Buck” was commissioned by Ray Scott for his per-sonal collection. As owner of the Imperial mount, he wantedthe distinctive buck mythically recreated and transported tothe southern climes of the Whitetail Institute and set amonga gentle autumn and the Spanish moss of Pintlala, Alabama.

The original painting is recreated in the ultimate Gicléeprinting process which is able to reproduce the fullest spec-trum of colors, displaying an extraordinarily vibrant paletteand texture on the finest acid-free paper.

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100% Cotton Heavy-Weight T-ShirtsFeature Whitetail LogoPlease send me Whitetail Institute Logo T-Shirts in the quantity,sizes, colors and sleeve-length indicated:

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The Future Of Our SportChristy Gardner — Tennessee

Enclosed is a photo of my six-year-old daughterKaleigh Gardner with her first deer. It was killed on anImperial Whitetail Clover field on Kaleigh’s PapawLong’s land in Tennessee. Kaleigh’s father Derrek washunting with her and it was one of the happiest days ofhis life.

Steve Scott — AlabamaAnother great hunting season here in Alabama and

another first. My 11-year-old son, Jackson, decided hewas ready to do the hunting himself instead of watch-ing his brother,mom and me dothe shooting.I spent the first

few hunts enjoyingspending timewith him and con-vincing him onabout a half-dozen occasionsthat he shouldn’tshoot that spike orfour point. If hewould just wait alittle while heshould probablyget a chance at adecent basket rack6-8 point. I washoping to get hima chance at a bas-ket rack 12-14 inch 8 point I could mount for him.Around the second week of December, we were sit-

ting on a food plot planted in Pure Attraction. We wererunning a little late that day and didn’t get in the standuntil 3:15 p.m. That was OK because I knew the besttime would be the last 30 minutes of light. About 4:45-5:15 p.m.

It was warm, in the low 60s and a beautiful day.Around 3:50 another spike walked out from the eastand we enjoyed watching him. About five minutes laterI looked to the west and one of the biggest bucks I’veseen in Alabama in a few years was walking onto thefield at about 150 yards with another nice buck behindhim. I told Jackson, “There’s the buck you want to shoot.”

The sun was in our eyes and Jackson suspected I wasmessing with him, AGAIN. I assured him I wasn’t. Hegot his eyes shaded from the sun and asked “How bigis he.” Well, I was already suffering from a minor caseof buck fever and didn’t want him to get the fever so Isaid he’s a decent 6- to 8-point. But he is too far, thewind is good, let’s let him get closer.” While we waitedfor what seemed like three hours but probably 10-15minutes, 12-15 more deer came out from all directions.It seemed the flood gates had opened. Several morebucks were in the crowd but none were as big as theone we were watching.The buck got to about 100 yards, and I told Jackson

we need to go ahead and take the shot. As I got readyto put the gun up for him he asked, “Why am I shakingso badly?” I said you need to calm down, take deepbreaths and let them out slowly. As I got the gun upand ready for him he asked “Why are you shaking sobad?” I ignored the question and told him to do as wehad practiced, deep breath, let half of it out andsqueeze the trigger. BOOM! The deer ran hard to theedge of the field, and I was worried he would get intothe thick clear cut but he fell just before getting off thefield. What a buck. A main frame 8-point with two kick-ers at the base. Jackson had him a 10-point and for surehe had a happy and proud dad.

Scott Camp — LouisianaI am writing to thank you for helping my 10-year-old

son achieve one of his dreams, his first deer. The dayafter Thanksgiving we were hunting over a one acre

plot of PureAttraction that wehad planted in earlyOctober. It was acold, windy, rainyday and I thoughtour odds were pret-ty long. It was evi-dent the deer hadbeen grazing thePure Attractionheavily but we hadnot had the oppor-tunity to hunt thisplot yet. We hadjust about given up

as it was getting pretty dark when a doe stepped intothe plot and immediately began to graze on the PureAttraction. My son slowly lifted his rifle and took care-ful aim. I was whispering to him the whole time but thedeer was so focused on the Pure Attraction that shenever lifted her head. I am very happy that even underpoor conditions your product still pulls them in. Resultone very happy 10-year-old. He would not wash hisface for days.

Michael Flanagan — New York

We have replanted 20-30 acres of Imperial WhitetailClover and have a good batch of young bucks growingup and we are seeing some nice bucks running around.My 16-year-old brother, Bill, joined the buck club thisyear by taking his first deer (buck or doe) with a rifle.Made a great shot.

Danny Sharpe — North CarolinaHere is my wife Kirsten with her first deer. I worked

hard for everything to come together for her this year,but the drought has been fierce on everything espe-cially my food plots, but what did come up, the magicis there along with the magnets that draw deer near. Ihunt a 30 acre farm which always gives me opportuni-ties at deer because they come to get my ImperialWhitetail Clover and Chicory PLUS instead of myneighbors’ fields. Lucky me — I love Whitetail Institute.I’m a buyer for life. W

Imperial Whitetail Clover changed deer nutrition forever. Now after years of painstaking research, the Whitetail Institute has addednewly developed Insight clover to our super-nutritious blend of clovers. Insight is genetically formulated specifically for whitetail deer.With the highest level of protein available, up to 35%, Imperial Whitetail Clover provides optimal nutrition throughout the year for theentire herd. Whether your deer are producing and feeding their young or building antlers, Imperial Whitetail Clover provides them withthe nutrients they need to do it well.

And when the deer get what they need to maintain healthy herds and grow big healthy bucks with impressive racks, you increase yourodds of bagging record-setting deer. For decades now, deer hunters all over North America have enjoyed the results of our innovativeand aggressive approach to deer nutrition, and have planted over a million acres of Imperial Whitetail products. All those years ofresearch continues to produce results – in the fields and in the record books. We do the research. You see the results.

Since its introduction in 1988,Imperial Whitetail Clover has become the standard

by which other food plot products are judged.

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Whitetail News Vol 19.2

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Transcript of Whitetail News Vol 19.2