Whitetail News Vol 19.3

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Volume 19 No. 3 $4.95

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The AmazingMarvel of

Antler GrowthWhat Does It Take

To Grow Great Antlers?Page 7

Antler AddictionTaking a Passion Too Far

6

Leave a LegacyFight for Your Kids’ Eroding Hunting Future

Page 28

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

Page 7

Page 16

Page 28

Features5 Don’t Wa

it too Long to Orde

r

PowerPlant

By Jon Cooner

Order early to make sure

you can plant this

protein-laden, antle

r-growing forage.

7 The Amazing Marv

el of Antler

Growth By Charle

s Alsheimer

Though every aspe

ct of the whitetail

fascinates the auth

or, it is their antler

s that

interest him most.

12 Why I Hunt

By Ted Nugent

14 The Right Way to

Perform a

Soil Test By Jon C

ooner

When it comes to plan

ting food plots, no

other step offers t

he greatest potent

ial to

ensure optimum results a

nd help save money

as testing your soil

through a qualifie

d soil-

testing laboratory.

16 Antler Addiction: T

aking a

Passion Too Far

By R.G. Bernier

19 “Unexcused Absen

ce” Leads to

a Magnificent Day o

f Learning

By Jeff McNelis

22 Patience is a Bless

ing

By Sarah Hudzinsk

i

Some say patience is a

virtue, but the auth

or

thinks it is a blessi

ng.

28 Leave a Legacy: Fi

ght for Your

Kids’ Eroding Hun

ting Future

By Brad Herndon

36 Are Antler Rest

rictions

Working? After Mo

re Than a

Decade of Data, Bi

ologists

Are Tweaking Buck

Harvest.

By David Hart

40 Supplemental

Feeding —

Not as Simple as It S

eems

By John Frank Dee

se, Wildlife Biologist

44 Dan’s Deer: A Lost

Son and a

Cherished Memory

By Rick Bampton

46 Pack on Antler Mas

s with

Mineral/Vitamin

Supplements

By Jon Cooner

52 Nothing But th

e Facts ± —

Why the Whitetail

Institute is

the Industry Leade

r

By Hollis Ayres

54 Debunking the Myt

h that

Food Plots in Agri

cultural

Country are a Wast

e of Time

By Dean Weimer

57 Chicory Plus — Wh

at’s the

“Plus?”

Departments4 A Messag

e from Ray Scott

20 Ask Big Jon

By Jon Cooner

24 Spring Planting Da

tes Map

26 Field Testers Repo

rt

Stories and Photos

34 Record Book Buck

s

Stories and Photos

60 First Deer… A True

Nikon

Moment

In This Issue…

Cover photo by Ch

arles J. Alsheimer

Page 54

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,

Jim Casada, Brad Herndon, Bill Winke, R.G. Bernier,Bill Marchel, Michael Veine, Dr. Carroll Johnson, III,

Ted Nugent, Dean Weimer, David HartProduct Consultants.............Jon Cooner, Brandon Self,

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

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

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

Why Do I Hunt? A Question For Every Hunter

There are two outstanding accounts in this issue of

Whitetail News that address the personal and com-

pelling question, “Why I Hunt,” that got my adrena-

line pumping and touched my heart and soul. If you don’t

react to these messages, you live in a different universe than

I do.

One is by our good friend, famed musician/outdoorsman

Ted Nugent (page 12) and the other is by Jeff McNelis, an

eloquent new writer to the Whitetail News (page 19).

It struck me how these two accounts could be so differ-

ent in style and yet so similar in substance, inspiring the

same emotions. Nugent’s article is a breathless roller coast-

er ride that brings you to your feet to salute. McNelis takes

you on an intense and beautiful journey that could change

the way you look at your outdoor surroundings forever.

Both accounts are compelling and for me they capture

what is best in the dedicated and responsible hunter/out-

doorsman who has reverence for his sport and his hunting

heritage. The kind of outdoorsman that makes up our

Whitetail Institute customers I’m proud to say.

And these two gentlemen make me proud to be a hunter.They remind me it is hunters and other outdoorsmen, whohave acted to not only protect and preserve our huntingenvironment and its resources, but to actively promote theirimprovement. And not just for ourselves, but for future gen-erations. I can’t tell you how many of our field testers talkabout their children and grandchildren and their desire topass down their hunting traditions to them.

When you sense the passion in these two articles by thesetwo dedicated outdoorsmen, it makes you more determinedthan ever to be a good steward of your environment and allthe natural resources you are blessed to enjoy. Those emo-tions are what will let us prevail over the uninformed anti-hunting forces that do not understand the beautiful order innature or who believe as Jeff McNelis does, that it’s worthgetting out of bed two hours early (to hunt) even if all hesees is a “stunning sunrise.”

W

Ray Scott

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Don’t WaitToo Late!Timing is critical

for proteinBy Jon Cooner

When it comes to maximizing antler size, nonutrient is as important as protein. And whenit comes to providing lots of palatable, high-

protein forage for deer, Imperial PowerPlant producesmore tonnage than any other competing product test-ed. To be sure your deer have all the protein they needto be as big and healthy as possible, and to help themgrow the biggest racks, order your PowerPlant early.There are two reasons timing is critical.

The first is that the antler-growing window only lastabout 200 days. After bucks have recovered from therigors of winter, they begin devoting substantial nutri-tional resources to antler growth, and when it comes toantler growth, the biggest nutritional player by far isprotein. The emerging antler — that is, the velvet antler— is living tissue, and it is the fastest growing living tis-sue in the animal world. As such, it requires hugeamounts of protein for its formation and growth.

Realize, though, that bucks have only a finite windowof time in which to grow their antlers. The antler-grow-ing window varies slightly in different regions of NorthAmerica, but in all areas it is of limited duration. Inshort, whatever antlers a buck is going to grow in ayear will have to be grown during that window. Andremember that spring and summer protein is not justimportant to bucks as they re-grow their antlers. It’salso extremely important for does as they completetheir third trimester of pregnancy and later when theyare producing milk for their newborn fawns. Doe milk isincredibly nutrient-dense, much more so than cow’smilk, and providing does with the palatable, abundant,high-protein forage that PowerPlant provides can helpthem increase milk volume.

Like all Imperial forage products, PowerPlant isdesigned to meet a specific and targeted need.PowerPlant is designed to produce as much tonnage ofhigh-protein forage as possible.

One reason PowerPlant can outperform all othercompeting products tested is that it includes several


varieties of forage beans and peas. These are true forage varieties. They are specifi-cally designed to be used as a forage source, and not for agricultural bean or pea pro-duction. Is that distinction important? You bet.

These days, many of the plant varieties sold in the agriculture market have beenengineered to do something specific. Agricultural soybean varieties, for example, areengineered to do one thing: grow the most beans per plant so bean farmers can getthe highest yield. No plant can do everything well, though, and agriculture soybeanplants that have been engineered toward maximizing bean production can fall some-what short when the plants are used for forage, a role other than that for which theywere designed. Many folks who have planted ag-variety soybeans as a deer forageknow that ag soybeans can start to become stemmy and less palatable to deer asthey mature and the lignen content in their stems increases. Also, ag soybeans don’ttolerate early grazing very well. This is also true of other ag-type plant varieties his-torically planted for deer, such as cow peas, which can often be wiped out by deer inonly a week or two.

The soybean included in PowerPlant does not become stemmy, and it can also sur-vive grazing much better than ag-type varieties. Unlike ag-soybean plants, whichgrow from one stem or trunk, the forage soybean in PowerPlant grows as a vine andputs its emphasis into producing abundant, tender, high-protein foliage that deerprefer. And once PowerPlant is established, its soybean component can keep goingeven after deer bite it off.

If you’re already familiar with PowerPlant, you might have already seen this (and ifyou’ll be planting PowerPlant for the first time this year, be sure to look for it). Afteryour PowerPlant is up and going, you’ll likely see where the vines have been bittenoff about deer-mouth level. If you check the same area of that plant a little later, you’lllikely see that a little knot where the deer bit the plant off, and several new “runners”growing from the knot. These runners keep growing and producing foliage.

To help PowerPlant keep producing at a high rate throughout spring and summer,the formula also includes small amounts of sunflowers and a high-quality wildlifesorghum. These structural plants act as a lattice for the vining forage plants to climb,helping them produce at a high rate and allow PowerPlant to grow into a thick greenwall of forage that deer will use for food and cover.

To recap, protein is critical to antler development in bucks and does, which arepregnant during the same time and later lactating. That’s one reason you don’t wantto wait too late to have your seedbed ready and your PowerPlant on hand. That’s soyou can get it in the ground just as soon as soil temperatures in your area warm upto a constant 65 degrees. I said there are two reasons, timing is critical, though. Here’sthe second one.

The second reason you shouldn’t wait to get your PowerPlant is that if you do, itmight not be available later in the year. As good as the Whitetail Institute is atresearch, development and testing of nutritional products for deer, it is difficult how-ever, to gauge the demand for PowerPlant.

Plus, the Whitetail Institute doesn’t carry PowerPlant over from one year to thenext. The reason is that the Institute sells only the freshest seed in all of its forageproducts, and that includes PowerPlant. Beans and peas generally don’t remain of thehighest quality for more than about a year in storage (although this life span can bestretched in some cases by deep-freezing them). That’s why the Whitetail Institutedoesn’t produce PowerPlant year round.

As many food plotters unfortunately found out, the Institute ran out of PowerPlantearly in each of the past three years because of sky-high demand. PowerPlant pro-duction has been increased again for 2010, but based on the demand for PowerPlantthe past few years, it’s likely the Institute will run out again in 2010, so prudent fieldtesters should order early.

Imperial Whitetail PowerPlant is available through many farm-supply stores. Youcan also order PowerPlant at www.whitetailinstitute.com, or by calling (800) 688-3030. Either way, though, don’t wait too late! W

�e Whitetail Institute239 Whitetail Trail • Pintlala, AL 36043

800-688-3030 whitetailinstitute.com“Deer Nutrition Is All We Do!” Research = Results®

Deer love fresh springlegumes, so much in fact thatthey typically clean out anentire planting before theplants are well established.�e mix of high-proteinannuals in PowerPlantbetter withstand heavygrazing to produce a highvolume crop thatcontinues to thrivethroughout the heat ofsummer, providing deerwith not only excellentforage, but withattractive beddingareas as well. Inuniversity testingPowerPlant producedmore tonnage peracre than any otherspring/summerannual. �ey’llcome for thesucculent plantsand stay to bedand make yourplot their home.

Antlers drive the huntingindustry. The merethought of them conjures

up a myriad of questions. Howbig can they grow? When dothey begin growing? How longdoes it take for a buck’s antlersto grow? What are they madeof? What does it take to growgreat antlers? Some might say that the white-tail has shaped my career. Thatwould be a fair statementbecause I’ve been passionateabout all aspects of them formore than 50 years. This passionplayed a role in my decision tobegin raising them more than 20years ago. During this time I’velearned much about their behav-ior and physiology. Though everyaspect of the whitetail fascinatesme, it is their antlers that interestme most.


The Amazing Marvel of

Antler GrowthBy Charles J. Alsheimer

Photos by the Author

There are no cookie-cutter bucks. Each is distinctlydifferent. Here in western New York the actual antlergrowth process begins at the end of March for themajority of bucks. The only thing that would keep abuck from starting at this time would be that he hasn’tcast the previous year’s antlers yet. The rate at which abuck’s antlers grow is dependent on a number of fac-tors with genetics, health, age, stress, soil quality andthe overall quality of habitat — both natural and agri-cultural — all playing a role.

I photographed this pictorial of a mature buck inNew York State. The quality of food available to himwas excellent and the levels of stress he experiencedwere about average for this part of the country.

HOW DOES IT HAPPEN?

Of all the whitetail bucks I’ve raised, the majority casttheir antlers between Jan. 20 and March 10. The earli-est I ever had a buck cast antlers was Jan. 1 (he wasinjured) and the latest April 3. Once the antlers are cast,the pedicle bleeds, causing a scab to form. The scabthen heals from the outside of the pedicle to the cen-ter. When fully healed, the top of the pedicle is coveredwith a brownish-gray skin, with a small light gray dot inthe center of the pedicle. Daylight increases as the win-ter wears on, setting the stage for antler growth tobegin.

When day length reaches a certain point, bloodbegins flowing to the pedicle area and the antlersbegin growing. The skin covering the pedicles pushesupwards through a series of superficial arteries that will

carry blood flow to the antlers as they grow over thenext four-plus months. During the growing process, theblood flow lays down a protein base upon which min-erals are deposited.

The skin covering the growing antlers is called velvetbecause it feels like velvet when touched. The velvetyfeel is actually the result of hundreds of tiny hairs thatgrow out of the skin. These hairs serve a purpose,which is to alert the buck to danger when the antlerstouch brush or other obstacles. Because the velvet ismade up of blood vessels, the antlers are warm to thetouch and only slightly cooler than a whitetail’s 101-degree body temperature. The velvet also makes abuck’s antlers appear much larger than they actuallyare.

The majority of bucks will be finished growing theirantlers by Aug. 1. Then the hardening process begins,which usually takes 20-25 days. Though the antlers willbe solid bone when the velvet is peeled, they are farfrom hard during the early stages of growth. From thetime they begin growing in late March until about July15th, a buck’s antlers are bulbous and quite pliable.Because of this, it is not uncommon for a buck to cutor even sever a beam or tine during the growthprocess. If the antler is badly cut or severed, it is quitepossible for the buck to bleed to death.

If a buck is mature and has everything going for him,his antlers may grow from one-half to one inch a day,especially during the June 15 to July 15 time frame,when daylight is greatest. During this 30-day periodantler growth literally explodes.

TIME LINE

April: From the time antlers begin growing in lateMarch through the end of April, growth is minimal. Theprimary reason for this is that the amount of daylight ismuch less than what it will be in June. Secondly, mostbucks are still stressed from the long winter so theiroverall body is in recovery mode. Another reason antlergrowth is slow in coming during April is the lack ofquality food because spring green-up doesn’t normal-ly come to the northern states until mid to late April. Bythe end of April brow tines on a fully mature buckshould be easy to spot as well as 1-2 inches of addi-tional antler beam.

May: In most whitetail locales, May explodes onto thescene with an abundance of high-octane food, bothnatural and man- created. Nutritionally, all natural foodand forage preferred by whitetails are high in proteinand very nutritious throughout May. This allows awhitetail’s overall body condition to improve from thestress of winter, setting the stage for an explosion inantler growth. By the time May draws to a close the G-2 points (second point on a typical rack) should benoticeable. In addition, the antler beams should now beabout half of what their length will be when the rack’sgrowth is complete.

June: “Summer time and the living is easy,” is aboutthe best way to describe what June is all about forwhitetails. If rainfall is normal, nutritious food will belush and readily available. This, coupled with thelongest amount of daylight of the year, provides the


BUTTON BUCK

APRIL 1ST

MAY 1ST


hormonal support that allows antler growth to accelerate. By the time June draws toa close, nearly all the primary points on a rack will have started to grow.

July: The month begins with a buck’s antlers being very bulbous. As the monthprogresses, the antler’s beams and points will finish growing. By July 20 a maturebuck’s antlers should look massive. Having adequate rainfall is a key to insuring thatoptimum antler growth continues during the month because if drought conditionstake place, the nutrition level of the food decreases, which has a tendency to causea drop in antler growth. By the time July ends most bucks’ antlers are fully formed,setting the stage for the hardening process to begin.

August: Most northern bucks will have completed their antler growth by the firstweek of August, at which time the blood flow to the antlers declines. For the next 20-25 days the antlers will harden. During this time the overall size of the antlers actual-ly appears to decrease because the velvet covering the antlers shrinks as the bloodflow slows. From late August to mid-September most bucks will peel the velvet fromtheir antlers.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE?

Many believe that having great summer growing conditions is the key to optimumantler growth. Though extremely important, there is far more to the antler-growingequation than having a great growing season. For a buck to truly reach its potentialrequires it be healthy and have great food sources 365 days a year. If either of thesefactors are lacking he will not reach his potential.

Few know the importance of high-nutrient foods in a deer’s diet better than Iowaanimal nutritionist, Matt Harper. Harper is a seasoned whitetail hunter who plants avariety of forages for deer on his family’s farm. Many of those forages are WhitetailInstitute products. When I asked him about the importance of having high-proteinforage food plots available to deer during the antler-growing process he said, “I viewnutrition during the antler-growing cycle from a holistic perspective. Protein and min-erals usually share the limelight but in reality, all nutrients including fat and oils, car-bohydrates, vitamins and others are equally important.

“However, protein and minerals are normally the most limiting nutrients in a free-

JUNE 1ST

ranging deer’s diet, which is why these two nutrientsreceive so much attention. Most research shows that 18percent protein is the optimal protein level during theantler growth cycle but the key to remember is that 18percent is for the complete diet. So, if the buck eats 25percent of his diet from a food plot that is 24 percentprotein and the remainder comes from natural foragesaveraging 12 percent protein, the buck’s overall foodsource is only averaging 15 percent protein. Using thisequation, you would need to have a food plot whoseforage averages 36.5 percent to reach the 18 percentprotein level in the total diet.

“This is why high-protein food plots are vital duringthe antler-growing phase in order to bring the averageprotein intake closer to the 18 percent goal. From anutritional standpoint, protein is the building block ofthe matrix that forms the antler structure, which is whyit can greatly affect overall antler size.”

Dr. Mike Lormore is a veterinarian with a Master’sdegree in animal nutrition. He and his family are pas-sionate whitetail hunters who are part of a group whooperate a more than 1900-acre hunting property onthe western side of New York’s Adirondack Mountains.Over the years he and I have worked together on sev-eral whitetail projects and his insight on what it takesfor great antler growth never ceases to amaze me.

“For starters, hunters need to understand that antlergrowth is nothing more than an extension of the ani-mal’s body condition. If a buck’s body is not healthyand well maintained with the proper nutrition, greatantlers are not possible,” he told me. “So, for a buck tohave a body capable of growing excellent antlersrequires that he have great nutrition not only duringthe months he is growing his antlers but throughoutthe rest of the year as well.

“During the antler-growing season high protein for-ages of 25-plus percent should be available if you wantto see what a buck is capable of producing. In addition,adequate rainfall must occur to ensure that forage pro-tein levels remain high. If drought conditions exist, pro-tein levels drop and fiber levels rise, making the food


source less nutritious. So, when droughts take placethe nutrient levels required for optimal antler growthare not available in the foods deer consume, causingantlers to be smaller.

“Though it is critical for great nutri-tion to be available during the antler-growing season, it is just as important tohave great foods for deer to consumethe balance of the year. If essentialfoods are present from September toMarch, a deer’s body will be in greatshape, making it possible for peak antlergrowth. The bottom line is that greatantlers are not possible without well-maintained bodies and it takes qualityfood sources with adequate availabilityfor that to happen.”

START ’EM EARLY

Ensuring a whitetail buck reaches hisantler-growing potential begins at birth.In order for a buck fawn to developgood pedicles he must have the essen-tial nutrients in his diet. Whitetail biolo-gist, John Ozoga writing in his bookWhitetail Intrigue states, “Wildlife man-agers expect to see fewer than 25 per-cent spikes among yearling bucks inwell-nourished, well-managed white-tailed deer herds.” Research aboundstouting the importance of providingfawns with high-nutrition foods during

the first year of life. The bottom line is that if you wantto see a buck reach his potential when he is three, fouror five years of age, they have to be able to developgreat bodies when they are young W

END OF OCTOBER

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The miracle of nature, or what we of faith lovinglyrefer to as God’s wonderful creation, is a force to reck-on with. In fact, nature is the force to reckon with if weare to work with her and conduct ourselves in an hon-est, responsible fashion. How we respectfully workhand-in-hand with nature as conscientious stewards ofall her bounty and power is the essence of life. Ourvery existence is determined by our intelligent, caringmanagement and utility of all nature has to offer. Fromnature comes food, water, shelter, clothing, weapons,heat, medicine, music, art, mobility, adventure, fun andeverything that makes up the heartbeat of man, beastand the good Mother Earth. And of course, those of us genuinely connected

with the natural world know all too well that natureheals. I call it The Spirit of the Wild. It is that powerful. A good farmer chooses his life in a natural, instinc-

tive response to a deep, soulful calling to work theground. Sure, they grow the food that feeds the world,but that is not why they farm. They farm because theyare farmers, from the bottom of their feet to the top oftheir heads. These days, those hardy souls that pursuetheir love of dirt and growing things are producingmore and better food on but a fraction of the acreagefrom yesteryear. This is a direct result of men whowere meant to be farmers being so dedicated, so con-sumed with their calling, that they put their hearts andsouls every day into their careers, and this drive for


WHY I HUNTBy Ted Nugent

Photo by the Author

“There is no question that my mind, body, spirit andsoul is hardwired to hunt. It is who I am.” I huntbecause I am a hunter. Period. Case closed. Have a

nice day. Drive safely. Now that we have that straight, let’sexpound upon, examine, admit to and celebrate all theglorious reality, facts and irrefutable evidence that makes ushunters, or better yet, who made us hunters.

excellence feeds the world aplenty. Men log because they are loggers. The spirit of the

woods beckons them to do their handiwork with thisamazing natural resource so mankind can build. Thattoday there is more standing board feet of timber onprivate and corporate property than at any time inrecorded history is a testament to real-world steward-ship in action. Planting more than is harvested is notrocket science, just good sense and smart manage-ment when you live the life.

My craving for all things wild kicked in at the earliestof age when I first noticed my surroundings. There is noquestion that my mind, body, spirit and soul is hard-wired to hunt. It is what I am. From my earliest memo-ries, I whittled spears, bows, arrows, knives, slingshotsand snares. The mere sighting of a bird or animal throt-tled my entire being. I wanted to get close. I wanted tointimately know each creature. I wanted to try to kill it.My instinct to hunt is as pure as my need to breathe. Asreasoning predators, we come to grips early on withsustain yield productivity and stewardship responsibil-ities, and through our ever-growing fascination withwildlife, we pragmatically determine at what rateswhich species produce and the varying dynamic needsfor diverse habitat. Simple, pure stuff.

The greatest compliment we can bestow uponsomeone is that they are “grounded.” Solid, reliable,logical, in touch with one’s surroundings, conscien-tious, tuned in and ready for anything. And surely, noother lifestyle will better prepare us, educate us andforce us to a higher level of awareness than the huntinglifestyle.

We who seriously hunt, fish and trap with all we gotare literally one with the ground. We are truly “ground-

ed,” for it is the shared ground upon which we stalk andmaneuver with our beloved wildlife that drives our verybeing. I know it does for me and all my hardcore hunt-ing friends. We would have it no other way.

Our human species survived, developed, progressedand thrived based upon our talents for killing game andsustaining our tribes. There is no doubt in my mind thattoday, in the ultra-modern world of convenience andcush, there are still nearly 30 million hunters in Americabecause we know in our guts that this is the last, best,purest, most natural activity possible that fulfills usphysically and spiritually, that provides us the finest,healthiest protein available on earth, and is theabsolute most positive environmental activity there is.Most importantly, we know that hunting is absolutelymandatory for the balancing management of nature.

We know that Thanksgiving is in November becausewe thank God for the life-giving bounty of His naturalseason of harvest every year. We know that allowingsoulless bureaucrats to waste yet more untold tax dol-lars by hiring so called sharp-shooters and USDA“hunters” to waste our precious wildlife is a curse ofdishonest, vulgar disconnect. We know that thispathetic, willful disconnect with the natural order ofthings by the animal right’s and anti-hunting cults ofdenial is an indictment of the rudeness of nature-hat-ing fools and hypocrites.

We know that the government didn’t come up withgame laws, hunting regulations or bag limits. Thesecame about when real “we the people” huntersdemanded the end of the gluttonous, irresponsibleslaughter by market shooters, and we insisted on thescience of sustain yield and wise use based on popula-tion dynamics and habitat carrying capacity. We know

that renewable natural wildlife resources should alwaysbe in the asset column, not the liability column.

With more deer, elk, black bears, cougars, wildturkey and geese than ever in recorded history, andnearly all game species thriving at record levels acrossNorth America, this perfect, natural function of huntinghas irrefutably proven to be the finest resource man-agement success story in the history of humankind.

The ultimate connection with wildlife is through thehands-on conservation lifestyle of hunting. It is thisdeep and abiding connection that all good huntersespouse and cherish. We have a reverence for all thingswild, and there simply is no Plan B. I’m with Sitting Bull.If the time comes when there are no more deer, elk orbuffalo on the prairies, in the forests or mountains, thenI will hunt mice. For I am a hunter, and I must hunt.

When the air changes in the glorious autumn eachyear, the leaves begin to color, and the waterfowl beginto stage for their migration, I feel it. When the deer andelk begin to stir restlessly as the breeding seasonchanges the taste of the wind, I change as well. I flowwith the barometric alterations, as if I am one with thehills, woods and swamps. It is in me. I am a part of it all.I cannot not hunt.

I hunt becauseI am a hunter…that’s all thatneeds to be said. W


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SOIL TEST KIT

If you are going to spend your hard-earned moneyon something to test your soil with, be sure you get themost bang for your buck. Use a soil test kit that actual-ly sends soil off to a qualified soil-testing lab for analy-sis, not a do-it-yourself probe or slurry kit. Only a qual-ified soil-testing lab can offer truly consistent results,give you exact readings of the soil’s soil pH and nutri-ent content and make precise recommendations as towhether you need to add lime, how much lime to addand what blend and amount of fertilizer to use. High-quality soil test kits are available from the WhitetailInstitute and most county agents, farm-supply storesand agricultural universities.

SOIL SAMPLING EQUIPMENT

The Whitetail Institute soil test kit and most otherhigh-quality laboratory soil test kits come with instruc-tions that are very easy to follow. Here are a few itemsthat will help you prepare your sample and paperworkquickly and properly.

ITEMS NEEDED

• Laboratory soil test kit (available from the WhitetailInstitute, and most farm supply stores, county agents

and agricultural universities) • A clean one-gallon bucket • Small clean shovel or clean soil test probe**Soil test probes are long cylinders open on thebottom end and with one side scalloped out. Thecylinders are mounted to a handle. By pushingdown on the handle, the cylinder is pushed downinto the seedbed and fills with a column of soil asdeep as the probe is pushed. When the probe iswithdrawn, the scallop on its side allows access forthe soil to be pushed out of the probe and into abucket. Soil test probes can be purchased from awide variety of sources. They can also be made outof sturdy one-inch PVC pipe.

HOW TO PREPARE AND SUBMIT YOUR SOILSAMPLE TO THE LABORATORY

Step 1: If you are preparing the siteto plant (as opposed to main-

taining an existing forage init), select the forage

you intend to plantbefore testing the

soil, if possible. Notall forages need the

same nutrients. If thelab is to provide fertilizer

recommendations that arespecifically tailored for your

specific needs in that plot,you’ll need to let the lab know

what forage you will be plantingthere. That way, the lab will be able

to precisely tailor its recommenda-tions for that site’s specific soil charac-

teristics and that particular forage. Step 2: Commit to following the instruc-

tions that came with the soil test kit. Mosthigh-quality soil test kits come with step-by-

step instructions that are short and easy to fol-low. Be sure you follow them exactly, because the

quality of your efforts in preparing the sample isvery important to how accurate the tests results can

be. So take care to prepare a high-quality sample fortesting. Step 3: Make sure your equipment is clean and free

of rust or other foreign matter before you take your soilsamples, and be sure you thoroughly clean it beforeyou move on to the next site. Remove any foreign mat-ter in your bucket, shovel or probe, or any other equip-ment involved in collecting and preparing the samplefor testing including soil remaining on the equipmentfrom plots you sampled earlier which can contaminatethe samples you’re about to take. Step 4: Pull representative plugs of soil, each from

three to six inches deep, from many areas of the site,and place all of the plugs together in the bucket.

Keep in mind that you’ll be sending only about a cupof soil to the lab for testing, and that sample must rep-resent all the soil in the plot. That’s why you shouldtake as many plugs from as many areas of the plot asyour common sense tells you is necessary for the sam-ple to contain a good representation of the soils overthe entire seedbed. If you aren’t sure you have takenenough plugs from different areas of the plot yet, keeptaking more plugs until you are sure. That way you’llknow that the lab will be able to give you the most ben-eficial results. Step 5: After you have put all the samples into the

When it comes to planting food plots, noother step offers the greatestpotential to ensure optimum results

and help save money as testing your soilthrough a qualified soil-testing laboratory.It’s simple and inexpensive, and itprovides information that’s critical tofood plot success. To get the most foryour money, however, be sure thatyou prepare and submit the soil samplethe right way.


THE RIGHT WAY TO PERFORM A SOIL TEST

By Jon Cooner


SOIL TEST KITSWhitetail Institute

Soil testing is one of the most important things you cando to ensure the success of your plantings — of anykind. The Institute is pleased to now provide soil test kits andresults for all Imperial products or any other type seeds. (Com-plete instructions and all related information will come with kits.) Testresults include pH, phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Fertilizer and limerecommendations for maximum performance from your plantings will be provided.The average 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 36043or CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-688-3030

Exclusive from the Whitetail Institute

Now you can try all our supplement products for onelow price and get a FREE video

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239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043FAX 334-286-9723

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bucket, stir all the soil in the bucket together thor-oughly, and remove rocks, plant matter, etc. Fill thetesting container with a portion of the thoroughlymixed soil from the bucket. Step 6: Fill out all the information requested on the

soil sample pouch and submission form. You’ll need toprovide information you’d expect, such as your name,address and the name of the plot the soil sample camefrom. And again, you’ll also need to let the lab knowwhether you will be planting a forage or maintaining anexisting forage in the site and, for best results, whatthat forage is. The Whitetail Institute soil test kit makesit easy for you to specify both. You just check theappropriate blocks on the submission sheet. If you for-get to specify those things, though, or if you perform asoil test before you decide what you’re going to plant,don’t worry. As always, the Whitetail Institute’s highlytrained in-house consultants are standing by to helpyou with any need, including adjusting your soil testreport for you right over the phone — for free.

WHEN TO TAKE YOUR SOIL TEST SAMPLES

There’s no way to say exactly how far in advance ofplanting you should test your soil because situationsdiffer. Allow as much time as you can though. Also, ifyou are planning to do any sort of deep tillage thatwould move soil vertically within the seedbed, try towait to collect the sample until after that has beendone. Let’s look at each of these in turn.

HOW LONG BEFORE PLANTING TO TEST

If possible, it is advisable to test your soil at least sev-

eral months in advance of planting. Fallow soils aremost commonly in an acidic state, meaning that soil pHis less than optimum (below 6.5 to 7.5). In such cases,the soil test report from the lab will give you a preciserecommendation as to whether you need to add limeand, if so, how much. Any lime you add to raise soil pHduring seedbed preparation should be incorporatedinto the seedbed by disking or tilling. Lime takes timeto complete its job of raising soil pH. Usually severalmonths is plenty of time. That’s why it’s a good idea totest your soil several months in advance of planting ifpossible, so that any lime you need to add based onthe report will have more time to work.

DEEP-TILLAGE CONSIDERATIONS

If you are planning deep tillage as part of theseedbed preparation process, consider whether theform of tillage you anticipate will move soil verticallywithin the seedbed. If the type of deep til-lage you planwill move lower levels of soil in the seedbed up (andthe surface down lower into the seedbed), it is best totake your soil samples after the deep tillage has beendone.

A good example is the difference in the way chiselplows and moldboard plows work the soil. A chiselplow generally breaks up the ground but does notmove soil vertically much. Moldboard plows, on theother hand, lift the top six or more inches of theseedbed as a column, and flip it upside down in anadjacent furrow. If you soil-test before deep tillage witha moldboard plow, you might be testing soil that won’tbe near the surface later when you plant. (For moreinformation on how chisel plows and moldboard plows

move soil within the seedbed, see “Turning Dirt: Plowsfor Food-Plot Tractors,” by Mark Trudeau, which isavailable on-line at: www.whitetailinstitute.com/info/news/Turning_Dirt2.pdf.)

DO AT LEAST ONE SOIL TEST PER SITE

For best results, be sure to perform a soil test ofevery site you intend to plant or maintain. Even if youhave two food plots that are very close to each otherand have soils that appear very similar, the soil pH andsoil nutrient levels can differ substantially from one siteto the next, even when the soils appear identical to theeye.

If we assume that hunting food plots generally runfrom about 4,500 square feet (1/10h acre) up to abouttwo to three acres, one soil test per site should be suf-ficient — if you prepare the sample in the mannerdescribed.

Ordinarily, it’s not necessary to do more than onetest per site. An exception, though, is if you see onetype of soil in one part of the plot but a different typein another. An example would be one food plot site thatincludes a sandier hillside and a flat bottom with dark,rich soil. In such cases, it can be a good idea to do aseparate soil test for each area, one test just of thesandier hillside and a second test just of the bottom-land.

If you would like additional information on soil test-ing or would like to order a high-quality WhitetailInstitute soil test kit, our consultants are standing by toassist you at (800) 688-3030. W


ANTLER ADDITaking APassionToo Far

By R.G. BernierPhotos by the Author

“In nature, everything moves inthe direction of its hungers.”

– A.W. Tozer

The whitetail deer must eat. The one componentin a deer’s life that drives its movements andpatterns is primarily food. Find the food they are

eating and you’ll find the deer. While eating may notnecessarily be classified as addictive, seeing as everyliving thing must eat in order to survive, it demon-strates the premise that whatever you hunger for is thedirection in which you’ll move.

Whenever we hear about addictions, some of thefirst thoughts that may cross our mind are, alcohol,tobacco, gambling, porn, drugs etc… but in reality, any-thing that is taken to the level that it completely con-sumes the individual would in reality be considered anaddiction. And yes, some of the most wholesomethings in life that are taken to unhealthy levels quicklyturn into addictions. Eat to many whoopee pies, cakesand cookies and before long you are grossly over-weight with potential diabetes on the horizon. Otherthan substances that have the effect of addicting oneto its seductive grip, most addictions first begin psy-chologically. Once ingrained, actions take over anddrive one to start doing whatever it takes to feed thiscraving. Left unchecked, the sky is the limit as to howfar it will go or to what extent the damage becomes.

THE SAD SAGA OF THE ADDICTED

Directly following a deer seminar I performed inPennsylvania a few years ago, a gentleman waitedpatiently behind a crowd of folks purchasing books atmy table. Once everyone had left, the man approached,shook my hand and said, “Continue to give that mes-


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sage wherever you go, it’s that important.” He was referring to part of my speechwhen I said, ‘Please don’t let what either does nor does not hang from your gamepole at season’s end define who and what you are. Whitetails are not the most impor-tant thing in my life, far from it.’

With tears streaming down his cheeks, the man explained that due to his addictionto whitetails, and his desire to shoot top-end bucks, he had lost his entire family. Hiswife divorced him, the kids vacated and he was left with nothing more than somedead stuffed deer in an empty house, and the realization that he’d bought into adeception.

His passion didn’t deliver as advertised. It deceived him. What it did deliver wasunadvertised consequences that he hadn’t anticipated. By following his passion tohunt whitetails with the chief end of bringing him satisfaction, glory, and fame, he, likeso many others tragically found out that because of his compulsive behavior his ulti-mate reward became only regret and loneliness. Sure he had his trophies, but let’sface it, mounts hanging from a wall offer little in the way of total fulfillment.

Because I’m in the business, I know of several whitetail addicts who have lost theirwives due to this obsession; some who have yet to be cured have actually lost mul-tiple spouses. Thousands of dollars have been spent on hunts they couldn’t affordjust to chase a dream. Sadly, this has become all too common. One individual I knowtook his addiction to whitetails to such a degree that he actually compromised thesafety and well being of his family — a wife and three small children. To feed his insa-tiable addiction, he moved his family from the Northeast out to the Midwest. Thestructure they moved into was nothing more than a tarpaper shack without anyappliances. And instead of spending what money he had left following the move ona refrigerator and stove, he purchased a four-wheeler that had to be hauled behindhis vehicle wherever he went for fear of it being stolen.

These stories are but a small sampling of how deer hunting, when taken to theextreme, can suddenly turn an otherwise accomplished hunter into what would bethe equivalent to an alcoholic. And like any other forms of addiction, there is thenasty side of the equation.

NEFARIOUS ACTIONS

Like a dope addict that desperately needs another fix, the deer hunter who has fall-en victim to his obsession will do whatever it takes to get his next high, legal or oth-erwise. Les Davenport expounded on this very thing when he wrote, “Desire bywhitetail hunters to kill trophy bucks seems to have hit epidemic proportions. Thisdrive has been fueled by the fame, fortune and the promotional value attached tosuch success.”

Often, once success has been met, the need to duplicate or better the last accom-plishment becomes an all-consuming fire. This is when the pressure begins to mount.Decisions are now made based on what is going to feed this fixation with self.Notoriety, usually at the expense of the good name you have worked to establish, andunethical behavior creeps in. Game laws are broken, friendships fractured, charactertainted, lies and deception become the byproduct of this addiction. Why would any-one want to risk family, friends, career and their good name just to be revered bysome fan base you may ask? Why would someone knowingly break game laws inorder to shoot a trophy that has eluded them through fair chase efforts? It has to beunderstood, when someone reaches this condition, their judgment and rational think-ing no longer exist. They are now only consumed with getting their next whitetail fix.

INFERIORITY COMPLEX

The number-one question I am routinely asked following a hunt is, “How was yourseason?” When I exclaim that I had a great deer season. it is immediately assumedthat I must have shot something of great proportion. The next inquiry becomes, “Howbig was he?” During those occasional aftermaths when nothing was hanging from themeat pole, I would confidently utter, “He won’t fill a soup bowl, but he sure gave megreat sport.” Far too often today’s hunter is fixated more on what has or has not been


killed, how large a specimen it may be, and what thatset of antlers is going to score to establish the bench-mark for success. If truth were told, most of the largestbucks killed annually fall victim to unpretentious hunts-men whose names we were ignorant of prior to themmaking that fateful shot. Without coming off disparag-ingly, had anyone beyond his family, friends, and neigh-bors ever heard of Milo Hansen prior to him shootingthe world record?

In his classic book, “The Still-Hunter,” T.S. Van Dykewrites, “I never saw the time when I cared a cent forrecords or anything of the sort and have alwaysdespised the ‘trophy’ business, which too often meansbeastly murder…What I wanted from a deer hunt wasnot that particular bit of meat or that head of horns, butto know whether I could get that buck or he get me.”

Nobel Prize-winning author, William Faulkner in hisclassic essay, “Race at Morning” asks this reflectivequestion, “Which would you rather have? His bloodyhead and hide on the kitchen floor yonder and half hismeat in a pickup truck on the way to YoknapatawphaCounty, or him with his head and hide and meat stilltogether over yonder in that brake, waiting for nextNovember for us to run him again?”

There is no shame in being outdone by a crafty olddenizen of the forest wilds, nor should there be causefor anyone to feel inferior for shooting something thatdidn’t quite meet one’s personal goal. It’s a contestbetwixt the hunter and the hunted the results of whichultimately become the weapon bearers as Faulknerstates,

“I hunt not only to pursue but to overtake and thento have compassion not to destroy, and then let gobecause then tomorrow you can pursue again. If you

destroy it, then it’s gone it’s finished. And that to me issometimes the greater part of valor but always it’s the

greater part of pleasure, not to destroy what you havepursued. The pursuit is the thing, not the reward, notthe gain.”

WHAT’S THE CURE?

Perhaps as you’ve read this you can identify withwhat has been written. Maybe you see yourself cur-rently as someone that may well be heading down thisdangerous path, or because of this piece, you now real-ize that indeed, I’m that guy. Please, take it from some-one who has had his share of fame, notoriety, and thelimelight, all that glitters is not gold. Marching to thebeat of a fan base and their fickle adoration is not theanswer to fulfillment. Fame is a hollow meal, and for-tune in a monetary sense comes to darn few in thehunting industry. By placing your identity in the seduc-tive world of big whitetails and placing your hopes anddreams of being the next whiz-bang celebrity only setsyou up for the inevitable fall. And trust me, its not if, it’swhen you fail to fill your tag that this dilemma willcome upon you. Your whole world will indeed comecrashing down.

Davenport rightly relates, “Whoever the huntermight be, the inner drive to succeed in harvesting arecord-book buck is no more of a problem thanattempting to do well at any sport, activity or hobby.It’s only when participants cheat the system, showenvy or let the sport dictate their lives that it becomesless enjoyable for them and those they affect.”

Count every achievement in proportion to the effortinvolved to accomplish it. Success is an admirable goaland should not be diminished; however, it should notcome at the expense of what’s really important in life.In the words of Charlie Alsheimer, “Realize your deerhunting experiences amount to far more than a rack onthe wall or meat in the freezer. Racks and meat vanishin a moment, but lessons learned will last a lifetime.” W


“UNEXCUSEDABSENCE”LEADS TO A

MAGNIFICENT DAYOF LEARNING

By Jeff McNelis

Why do I hunt? The reasons are many and var-ied, not the least of which is that hunting iseducational. No, I don’t set out each morning

with a goal of seeing how much information I canabsorb, but somehow I end each day just a bit moreeducated to the world of nature. Consider this.

I let my 10-year-old son take off school one day to goalong with me on a hunting trip. It was just small game,and he was too young to actually hunt, but the weath-er was to be great, and I felt being afield on a day likethat would help to kindle the fires of desire to becomean outdoorsman. It must have had a positive influencebecause he fell in love with the sport. We had a greatday together, walking for grouse, occasionally sittingfor squirrels and generally just exploring and wander-ing all over the mountain. The weather was perfect withblue skies and a brisk fall breeze. The leaves were attheir peak of fall color. I didn’t harvest an animal thatday, but we had many experiences and thoroughlyenjoyed the time we spent together.

I sent him to school the next day with a note explain-ing what we had done, and he returned with a noteexplaining that taking off school for hunting was con-sidered an unexcused absence because, “There was noeducational value in it.” I was OK with the unexcusedpart — I expected that. But when I thought about all wehad done on the day we spent together, I had a realproblem with the fact that they said there was no edu-cational value in it.

I decided to take them to task with this letter. To whom it may concern: My son recently missed a day of school because he

accompanied me on a hunting trip. You have indicatedthat you consider such an outing to have no educa-tional value. I would respectfully like to disagree withthat policy for the following reasons.

On a typical day in school, my son would expect tobe educated in science, math, English and geographyfor a total of about five hours of classroom time — howmuch of that time he would actually be interestedenough to pay attention is anyone’s guess. In nature’slaboratory, he spent a full 10 hours of hands-on inter-action with all aspects of nature — and I can guaranteeyou it held his attention the entire time.

Although we didn’t harvest any game animals, weencountered five different animal groups (birds, mam-mals, reptiles, fish and amphibians). And he learnedhow these groups all live together in the same habitatand that some have symbiotic relationships, while oth-ers have predator-prey relationships. He learned that

the predator is necessary and is not the villain in theequation, because without the predator, the animalpopulations would swell, and disease would becomerampant. He now realizes that the predator is an essen-tial factor in promoting the health of many differentspecies. He also learned that predators themselves canbecome overpopulated, and that man must sometimesbe the factor that controls their numbers or nature willdo it via disease and starvation. He understands thathunting and trapping, along with having great recre-ational value, are necessary to control these animalpopulations.

Together we encountered and studied the whitetaildeer, and he learned the differences between bucksand does and how their behaviors differ. He learned theyear-round life cycle of this animal and how they canharm the very habitat in which they live. He now knowsthat hunting this animal is necessary because the nat-ural predators that used to keep the deer’s populationin check are now nonexistent or so low in numbers thatthey’re no longer a factor. He knows that man is nowthe most prominent predator of the whitetail and hasthe responsibility of controlling their population num-bers. He understands that the process of hunting thedeer, while an enjoyable recreational pursuit for thehunter, is also a valuable management tool to be usedin deer population management.

We observed gray squirrels, fox squirrels, red squir-rels and chipmunks. He learned that these species arealmost solely responsible for the reforestation of theeight species of oaks and the five species of hickoriesand they accomplish this by constantly burying acornsand hickory nuts. He learned that these animals workdiligently in the fall storing food for the long winter,when food isn’t as plentiful — and if they don’t workhard, they don’t eat. They seek out these meals usingtheir acute sense of smell but that they store manymore than they find and the ones they don’t find ger-minate and become seedlings. Of these thousands ofseedlings that sprout each year, only one in 1,000 isprivileged to become a mature tree. He learned thatwhen one of these giants is felled by lightning or an icestorm or just dies of old age or disease, the sunlightthat reaches the forest floor in its absence nourishesthe seedlings and saplings till one is chosen to replaceit. He learned that the replacement is chosen bynature’s harshest law — only the strong survive — andthat the weak are doomed to wither and die, ensuringthe future and strength of the species.

In the mountain stream he observed native brooktrout, as well as salamanders and frogs in the deeperpools. He was fascinated by the wood turtle that wediscovered under the fern cover. The shed snake skinthat he found in the hollow log led to a lesson on howsnakes grow bigger. He learned forest ecology — thatthe animals are in balance with each other as well aswith the plant life of the forest. He learned dendrology— he can now name at least 10 species of trees and cantell you various facts about each. Without actuallymentioning the science of each, we touched on biolo-gy (life cycle of the frogs we saw), chemistry (acidicrain), zoology (the number of fawns a deer has is con-trolled by genetics, available food sources and popula-tion numbers), botany (some tolerant plants can growin shade while others need sunlight), meteorology(cloud formations can forecast coming weather), con-servation (lack of ground cover and plants can causeerosion), geology (our ground is on the edge of theeastern plateau), astronomy (the moon comes up atdifferent times and can affect animal feeding cycles),

wildlife dynamics (any range will only support a limitednumber of animals), orienteering (use of a map andcompass to determine where we were and where wewere going), and forestry (thinning existing treesmakes room for and opens the over story for differentspecies to develop). And since this was not an actualclassroom, he didn’t find the learning process boringbut grasped the information readily.

He also learned many human qualities this day. Helearned patience, vigilance and physical endurance —all things hunters must have to be successful. Helearned it’s worth getting out of bed two hours earlyeven if all you see is a stunning sunrise. He learned toappreciate and to understand the laws of nature. Hefound that Mother Nature isn’t always a kind old ladywhen we discovered the carcass of a deer with twobroken legs that had been snapped off this past winterin the thick ice crust. We learned compassion as westood in silence and viewed the remains and couldn’thelp but imagine the agony the poor thing must havegone through. We also realized from this that almostalways a hunter's bullet is more humane than MotherNature’s ways. But he understood that this animal’spassing enabled other animals that received nourish-ment from the carcass to live, and that no part of thedeer’s body would be wasted. And we learned rever-ence when we saw the last rays of a brilliant sunsetfade to gray.

Maybe “learned” isn’t the right word to use for theseexperiences. Possibly “absorbed” is a better word,because he absorbed the knowledge with such eager-ness that I know he will retain most of it. And this daywas not an exceptional day. This was a typical day — aday that can be repeated regularly, although with dif-ferent experiences each day. This day afield was notwasted. We shared an experience together that neitherof us will forget. He learned more about his naturalworld in this one day than he would in a month in aclassroom setting. So, I ask you to reconsider yourdecision in light of the fact that he spent the day in avery educational setting — nature’s outdoor laboratory.

I never received a response, but I learned somethingin the experience of writing the letter. I hadn’t reallyrealized until I put it down on paper how many variedand wonderful things we encounter on a typical day inthe outdoors. And, whether we admit it, and whetherwe like it, we are learning new and different thingsevery time we go out. The above took place about 25years ago. Although hunting may still not be consid-ered a valid excuse to take a day off school, in light ofincreased public awareness of our natural resourcesand the fact that we are entrusted with their care, mostschools are much more forgiving. I still feel the old say-ing is true: “Even a bad day hunting is better than agood day at work, or school or anywhere. In addition tobeing a soul cleansing experience, it can be extremely educational.” W

Brad Herndon


A SK B IG JONBy Jon Cooner, Institute Director of Special Projects

Common Questions — Straightforward Answers

Q:When is the best time of the year to sprayArrest?

A:Arrest is designed to offer optimum control of“seedling” grasses. By that, I mean grasses

that are growing vigorously, but that have notmatured to the point that they’d be more than 6-12inches tall if left un-mowed. Arrest can still controlgrasses that have matured beyond that point, but itmay be more difficult, in some cases requiring thatyou use a higher concentration of Arrest in thespray solution, apply it more often, or both. To savemoney, it's best to spray Arrest right when grassesare just starting to grow, but before they mature.

If that’s hard to figure out, here’s what I do. Onmy lease, I know that I will have to spray to controlgrass in my perennial plots. To gauge when it’s timeto spray, I just watch my lawn. Often, it appears tome once my lawn greens up each spring, it can beanother week or two before it starts growing well.So, each spring I wait until my lawn greens up, andthen I keep an eye on it. Once I see it starting to vig-orously grow again, I know it’s time to go spray myperennials with Arrest.

I’m as guilty as others, though, in occasionallyputting things off too long. Thankfully, controllingmore mature grass with Arrest is still possible. It justrequires a higher solution rate, and it may alsorequire two applications a month apart.

Q:I am going to spray my Alfa-Rack Plus withArrest to control grass. If I fertilize it firstwith 17-17-17, won’t that help the herbicide get intothe grass faster?

A:Not to the point that it will make a differencein the performance of Arrest (provided the

spray solution is mixed and applied according tolabel directions). Instead, you should look at grasscontrol and fertilization as two separate steps inperennial maintenance, and you should performthem in order.

Do your grass control first. Your number-one pri-ority when maintaining an Imperial perennial isgrass control. That’s because Arrest is designed tooffer the best control of grasses that are still in“seedling stage” (actively growing, but still soyoung that they could not have grown taller than 6-12 inches if left un-mowed).

If you allow grass to mature before you try it, con-trol is still possible with Arrest. However, it mayrequire a higher mix rate, multiple applications orboth, which costs you more.

Adding nitrogen fertilizer to a stand of Alfa-RackPlus also wastes money because it’s not necessary.

And, it can cause you problems as well. Alfa-Rack Plus doesn’t need nitrogen fertilizer for

maintenance. The legumes in Alfa-Rack Plus are“nitrogen fixers.” That means they make enoughnitrogen for their own needs, so your forage gainsnothing by adding nitrogen fertilizer. That’s one rea-son we recommend that Alfa-Rack Plus be main-tained with a zero-nitrogen (first number on the fer-tilizer bag) fertilizer such as 0-20-20.

In addition to wasting money, adding nitrogen fer-tilizer to a stand of Alfa-Rack Plus can boost thegrowth of grasses or weeds.

So, start your spring maintenance by controllinggrass. Arrest is designed to control most kinds ofgrass, and it can be sprayed on any Imperial peren-nial. Check the Arrest label for a list of what grassesArrest will control and for full mixing and applicationinstructions. If you have any questions about Arrest,call our consultants before you spray.

Q:The label on the Slay herbicide says that inmy area, ammonium sulfate should be addedto the spray solution. Ammonium sulfate has a lotof nitrogen in it, but your maintenance instructionsfor Imperial Whitetail Clover say to fertilize everyyear with a zero-nitrogen fertilizer (0-20-20).Won’t the ammonium sulfate boost weed andgrass growth?

A:Not really. The Slay label says to includeammonium sulfate in the Slay solution when itis will be used in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, oranywhere north of Interstate 40. Its purpose ismainly to buffer hard water in a spray solution,which can alter the herbicide’s active ingredientsand reduce its effectiveness. Ammonium sulfate is28 percent nitrogen, but it is used in such small vol-umes in the spray solution that very little nitrogen isactually supplied to the plants. W

4:09 PM

PATIENCEIS A BLESSING

By Sarah HudzinskiPhotos by the Author



Some say patience is a virtue, I think it is a

blessing. Though I have been hunting

since I was of legal age to do so, I never

have gotten that “trophy buck.” Don’t get me

wrong. I have placed my tag on a few nice (and

tasty) whitetails, and I even won the “big (little)

buck” contest in eighth grade, but I had never

experienced that rollercoaster of emotion that

hits you square in the forehead when your arrow

finds its mark. That is until now. Let me tell you

how family, management practices and too

much patience finally paid off.

This year marked my fourth year bow-hunting, and I hoped that this season I wouldfinally arrow my first buck with the bow. I need to explain that my “buck-less-ness”was not for lack of trying as my fiancé, Randy, has been managing our leases for thepast several years and has always put me in the best stands depending on wind,scouting and such.

No, my “buck-less-ness” was all of my own making. You see, I am too patient andhave been ribbed for it many times through the years. I was teased earlier in the sea-son for passing on a small basket 6-pointer as I needed to just get one under my belt.I admit that I felt a bit of regret after letting him pass by, but I think I would have feltmore regret for taking him before he had a chance to grow into the trophy we’vebeen managing for. Now, if we were in desperate need of venison for the freezer, myinternal debate would have had a different outcome. This has been the same story forthe three previous seasons.

My patience didn’t have anything to do with waiting for Bullwinkle. Nope, I was justwaiting for the opportunity when I felt it was right. In the meantime, I have beenentertained by countless squirrels, fox, coyotes and, of course, a few dandy whitetailsthat never came within range.

Before the opening of this past Wisconsin archery season, Randy decided that anew food plot was needed on a 50-acre piece we lease. Before we got to work, wedid a soil test and then contacted the Whitetail Institute, as we have been using theirImperial Clover in our management practices for years and wanted some profession-al feedback on what seed would be the best choice for this location. Because of otherfood sources available on the property, we determined that Whitetail InstituteWinter-Greens would be the ideal food source to hold the deer to property after thecorn was harvested. Now it was time to get a little dirty and get to work. Because ofthe size of the plot and access, we used our ATV and Kolpin Dirtworks system to workup the soil and prep it for planting. For Randy and me, this part is almost as fun asthe actual hunting. Who wouldn’t enjoy hopping on an ATV and tearing up some dirt?

Finally the Wisconsin archery season was upon us. Countless hours of practice withmy Mathews bow during the summer had me ready to go. The first month of the sea-son brought one passed opportunity on the 1-1/2-year-old 6-pointer I mentionedbefore and only a handful of does even close to being within range. It was startingout as a strange season for Randy, me and the rest of our hunting party, as we justweren’t encountering any of the deer we had been patterning in the late summer andearly fall. Actually, we weren’t encountering any deer at all. Blame it on the crazy, wetweather or all the standing corn. Either way, it was rather discouraging.

As our season continued into late October, I tried to remain hopeful that theupcoming rut would expose the deer herd I knew existed, and the Winter-Greens weplanted would help hold them to our property. Randy continuously set me up in thebest stands throughout our property in hopes that I’d finally be in the right place atthe right time. The time finally came, but my patience and inexperience were a hand-icap.

I was set up in a pine tree overlooking an opening in the woods about 100 yards

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from our Winter-Greens food plot. I had never sat inthat stand before and was unsure of which directionthe deer tended to travel through the opening. Well, Ilearned quickly when a very large, heavy buck sur-prised me over my left shoulder. He slowly walked atrail right to me, but I swear he was staring into the bot-tom of my soul with every step he took. I was able toget my release on my string but not able to pull up mybow to draw, as he continued to glare right at me (orso I thought).

I let him pass in hopes that he would continue on thetrail right underneath me and I would have an oppor-tunity to draw and get a shot off when he reached myright side. Needless to say, that was not what he had inmind, and he disappeared underneath me at a split inthe trail that I did not know was there. After the closeof that evening I told my tale to Randy and realized Ihad probably missed out on my chance of having a tro-phy buck within range because I was again too patient.

A few nights later I was finally able to get into thestand again. Randy was determined that I get anotheropportunity to close the deal and set me up in the oakstand that overlooked our new Winter-Greens foodplot. As I settled into the stand, I was doubtful that Iwould see anything with all the noise coming from thelake houses that sat back only 70 yards from the foodplot. But again Randy knew what I didn’t. He hadnoticed with the cold weather that deer had begun tofeed heavily on this plot and that the neighborhoodnoise would not be a factor as the deer were accus-tomed to it.

With plenty of time to think in the stand, I wasdetermined not to let myself be schooled by a bigbuck again, so I used the range-finder to determine

my shot range and began to wait. All of a sudden, Inoticed movement across the Winter-Greens plot in agap of tall grass — it was antlers, very tall antlersattached to a monster buck. As the adrenaline beganto flow, everything I had been taught kicked in. I knewthe buck had no clue I was there, so I steadied myselfin my stand and got my bow ready. All I had to do was

wait. And wait I did. "His Majesty" (that is what I nick-named him because of his regal rack) decided to justhang out at 60 yards for what seemed like an eternitybut in reality was about 15 minutes. By that time, I hadcalmed myself down and was prepared if he decidedto come my way. If he didn’t, I had spent an evening inthe stand watching a magnificent whitetail, so it was a

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Though the author had been hunting since legal age to do so, she had never gotten that “trophy buck” even though shehad placed her tag on a few nice whitetails like this one.


win-win situation. Finally, a young forker stepped out of the scrub

brush about 35 yards in front of me and began to makehis way along the edge of the plot to me. This was allthe incentive His Majesty needed, and he finally beganto make his way around the food plot on the same pathas the young buck. The young buck walked right pastme at 20 yards and entered the woods and trail thatwrapped behind my stand. Now the game was on. I fig-ured His Majesty would continue on the same path, andthat would put him right in my shooting lane. With thebranches in front of me as cover, I pulled back andwaited for him to step out to my left. Seconds felt likehours when he finally stepped out in front of me. I soft-ly grunted, and he stopped almost broadside at 18yards.

I was ready and felt good, so I let my arrow fly andheard a smack I swear sounded like a rifle hit. I lookedup to see my arrow sticking out of him as he quarteredaway and began to run around the other side of thefood plot, back through the gap through which heentered. Through tree branches, I could see him stopfor a few seconds in the green field and then take offagain. I heard him enter the corn with a loud crash, andthat was it. That's where the rollercoaster ride of emo-tions truly began for me. Sitting there, I replayed thelast minute in my head. I knew I had hit him and wasconfident when I let my arrow go, but I kept seeing thatarrow sticking out of him and then no arrow when heturned, so I began to think I must of hit him square inthe shoulder and that the arrow just fell right out. Iberated myself up and down for having the perfectopportunity and screwing it up, and then I prayed thatI did not wound that beautiful animal. That was not

what I expected to be experiencing after shooting atthe buck of my life.

I sat until a few minutes before closing time and thengot down to see if I could find my arrow. Sure enough,there it was, but only about half of it. The broadheadand about seven inches of my arrow were missing, Ihad even blown my knock right of the shaft. The adren-aline started pumping again so I headed back to thetruck to wait for Randy, as he had been hunting anoth-er part of the same property. While I waited, I called myfather to explain what happened and get his advice(plus I was just itching to tell someone about HisMajesty). As fathers tend to do, he calmed me downand explained that the arrow was probably sheared offwhen the buck turned, and that it sounded to him likeI made a well-placed, fatal shot.

Now I was actually shaking — did I place a goodshot? Did I get him? I think I was beginning to talk outloud to myself because Randy approached the trucklooking at me like I was crazy. I quickly explained to himwhat had transpired, and a grin began to creep acrosshis face. He decided we should give the buck an houror two and go get the lanterns ready.

The next hour and half were the longest of my life, asI retold the story about five times and prepared totrack my deer. The extensive search party of Randy,me, my father and several friends was assembled andready to go. It seems everyone was as excited as I wasat the prospect of tagging my first buck with the bow.

I led the way to where I had left the half of my arrowand explained the path I watched the buck take. As weentered the green field where His Majesty had stopped,we finally found a few specks of blood. This was thenext crest and plummet on my rollercoaster of emo-

tion. I figured the lack of blood meant a shoulder hit forsure and that I might have only wounded him. Myfather decided to cross the field to see if he could findwhere the buck entered the corn field and sure enoughhe did. Shining in the moonlight was bright red, bubblylung blood smeared all along the corn stalks. As youhave probably figured out, I had just rounded anothercorner on my emotional rollercoaster and was flyinghigh again.

The search party moved forward through the cornwhile I stood at last blood. While they searched for aclue to the buck’s course, I realized that there wasblood on both sides of me in the corn. I relayed themessage to my friend Jack, and as he lifted the lanternto peer over into the next row, there was His Majestythree feet to my right in the fence row. When I hadheard him hit the corn, the buck had been taking hisfinally steps. He had gone only 100 yards. The firstwords out of Jack’s mouth cannot be repeated, butlet’s just say everyone was as surprised as I was at howbeautiful this buck really was. The next hour or so wasa blur, as I was congratulated, pictures were taken andHis Majesty was transported home. But I will not forgetin those moments the pure joy and pride I saw on myfather and Randy’s face when they realized that mypatience and their support finally paid off — big time!

The rollercoaster ended on a high note for me —what an awesome evening and great memory. All thetime spent putting in food plots, clearing stands andbeing patient in the stand paid off. That is what all thework is for — harvesting a healthy, mature buck — andmy first buck with the bow is a something I will neverforget. W

Making it greener on your side of the fence!

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Kenny Brown — Alabama

I use PowerPlant in the spring and summer andImperial Whitetail Clover all year in my food plots. Ikilled this 13-point with my muzzleloader in an ImperialWhitetail Clover field. He’s a great buck for Alabama.He has 5 ½ inch bases and was 4 inches or better on allhis mass circumferences. Thanks Whitetail Institute.

Ed Montanari — Pennsylvania

I started with Whitetail Institute products two yearsago. Do soil tests and use Imperial Whitetail Clover, 30-06 and 30-06 Plus Protein and you will get biggerbucks.

Todd Langenhorst — WisconsinCan it get any better? That is the question I keep ask-

ing myself! Now that the Wisconsin deer season hascome to a close, I can truly say that I just experiencedthe “season of a lifetime!” I will share with you my

recent success but first I want to step back three yearsto when it all began. Success for us started when wedecided to plant a three-acre plot of Alfa-Rack PLUS.Our deer sightings increased dramatically, and my 13year old son Jared ended up harvesting a beautiful 140class buck (his first buck) that year! His story recentlymade the “Buck of the Month” segment on WhitetailInstitute E-News.

Now fast forward to the most recent season whenwe decided to give Winter-Greens a try. We tilled andplanted a 12 foot wide section (approximately ½ acre)of Winter-Greens all the way around the three-acreAlfa-Rack PLUS field. True to form it developed intolush greenery and by Sept. 15, the deer were alreadyhitting it hard. They would come out of the woods andstop to browse in the Winter-Greens before movinginto the Alfa-Rack PLUS. By the time the end ofNovember arrived, the deer had literally eaten the fieldclean. We are already planning on doubling the size ofour Winter-Greens plot for next season!

I am attaching a photo of a buck I harvested on myproperty this season. The buck is my “BEST” to date.The buck green scored a whopping 186-inch gross non-typical… truly the buck of my lifetime! With that said Iwanted to say thank you Whitetail Institute for makingsuch a fine product. Just three short years ago har-vesting bucks like this was just a dream for me. Nowthanks in large part to Whitetail Institute products theyare a reality!

Charles Taylor — IllinoisDeer eat on the Imperial Whitetail Clover and then

go into the corn patch and then eat clover on the wayout, also. The deer, turkey and birds love PowerPlanttoo. I like the height that it gets. Whitetail Instituteproducts prove themselves every year that I use them.I would recommend them to anyone.

The following story is about my daughter April’shunt during the gun season in Illinois. She has beenhunting for about six years. On Friday, Nov. 5, we start-ed hunting on the food plots I’ve planted with seedfrom the Whitetail Institute. We saw quite a few but notthe deer we were looking for. On Saturday we moved

to a switch grass patch we noticed the deer were mov-ing through to get to the food plots. It was about 9:30a.m. when April saw this buck in the switch grass. Shemade a perfect shot on the buck and he only ran about40 yards and dropped. We are really proud of April forher composure to shoot this big deer. Thanks a lotWhitetail Institute for the good products you keep pro-ducing for us hunters.

Dwight Wynn — KentuckyWe see better

quality deer andmore of them sincewe planted ImperialWhitetail Clover.The turkeys usingthe field are toomany to countsome days. Wehave counted morethan 100 in the fieldat one time. Thedeer in photo 1 washeaded to anImperial WhitetailClover plot when Icaught him slipping

through the woods. I had seen him in the clover earlierthat year. The clover keeps the deer (does & bucks)


�

�

coming year round. The deer in photo 2 had been usingthe Imperial Whitetail Clover field all year and was onhis way to check the does that were in the field. Theclover was holding many does at the time.

Clay Lafargue — LouisianaI planted No-Plow on an old logging road in a 70

acre pine thicket I lease. The deer are tearing it up! Iplanted Secret Spot by my stand on my families landon a river bank near Lake Ophelia National Refuge. Ikilled my biggest buck ever eating it! Picture included.I live to hunt! I love Whitetail Institute products, keepup the good work!

Bob Griffey — MarylandI had read about Whitetail Institute products for

years but never had a place to try them. That changed

when my wife and I purchased nine acres. The proper-ty includes a one-acre pond, five acres of forest, andthree acres of lawn meadow. The closet farming fields(corn and soybean) are half a mile away. Our new prop-erty was the perfect place to test Whitetail Instituteproducts. I planted one acre of Imperial WhitetailClover with amazing results. Soon the deer were herd-ing into my new whitetail paradise. One evening therewere fifteen deer in my clover plot. Eight of those deerwere bucks, ranging from a small spike to a mature 10-point. I have since added 30-06 Mineral/Vitamins,Winter-Greens and Secret Spot. The deer love all ofthese products. The 8-point in the photo was arrowedthe day before firearms season as he chased a doetoward my Imperial Whitetail Clover plot. ThanksWhitetail Institute for all of the research that goestoward making awesome products that work great forme.

Don Ouvry — Michigan

I go after only 10-point or bigger bucks and I havefive on the wall. Planting Whitetail Institute products onmy land to keep deer on my property so I can pick andchoose bigger and better bucks. Thanks WhitetailInstitute. I’m sending a photo of our round up after afew years of using Whitetail Institute products.

Tom Jacobs — MinnesotaI started with a small food plot of Imperial Whitetail

Clover. I couldn’t believe how well it worked. Killed thebiggest buck of my life (163-inch gross) on Oct. 13, inthe clover.

I also wanted something to attract even more deer inNovember — January. Pure Attraction has workedgreat. I live on 22 acres but these products attract deerfrom all the surrounding area.

Carol Robertson — MissouriI’ve now harvested these nice bucks and others not

pictured. I wait for the big boys. Imperial WhitetailClover is the favorite of does. Alfa-Rack is the favoriteof young deer and bucks. I was really surprised at ger-mination and growth of No-Plow. PowerPlant is a won-derful summer plot. Winter-Greens is wonderful too.

Randy Cummins — Kentucky

I have been using Whitetail Institute products formany years and where I'm located the Imperial

(Continued on page 50)


Fight foryour kids’erodinghuntingfuture By Brad HerndonPhotos by the Author

This was the hunt wehad been waiting for.Our 11-year-old grand-

daughter, Jessica "The RascalGirl," and her dad, Mr. Curt,had been tagging along withme on deer hunts from timeto time since Jessica wasfive. She had even been in ona couple of doe kills. Buttoday was different from pasthunts. This time Jessica wascarrying the weapon: amuzzleloader in .50 caliber.


Leave a Legacy:

Watching a son or daughter get theirfirst deer is a thrill no dad or mom willever forget.

I had cut the stock down on the gun to a 12-inchlength of pull and it was loaded with one 50-grain pel-let and a 250-grain sabot bullet. A red-dot scope madeit easy for her to aim. It was a gun she could shootcomfortably, and Jessica, Mr. Curt and I were full ofexcitement as we slipped into a ground blind on theeastern side of one of our food plots. As the perfectwest wind pulsated against our blind, I was sure theImperial Whitetail Clover and Pure Attraction in theplot would pull in deer and give us some action. I wasright. Well before dark, we saw a deer’s back at thesouthern end of the plot. “This might turn out to beJessica’s first deer,” I thought.

When the deer raised its head, it carried a small rack.Soon it browsed to within 40 yards of us. Within min-utes, three more small bucks joined the first one. It wasat that time a neighbor started his motorcycle to seehow loud it would sound without a muffler. At the roarof the engine, the bucks headed for the timber.

When things quieted down, three of the bucksreturned and stood in front of us from 34 to 45 yards.Then the rain started — a torrential downpour. None ofthe three bucks moved a step. We watched them untilthe rain let off right before dark, enabling us to makeour escape to the vehicle without getting drowned.

WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THIS HUNT

This just described hunt was made in Indiana thispast fall during our early two-day youth season inSeptember. The hunt was set up perfectly, and we hada great time even though we didn’t get a deer. And thereason Jessica didn’t get a deer wasn’t because shewanted a bigger buck — or because I wanted her to geta trophy deer. Her tag wasn’t filled, quite unbelievablyto all of us, because youths aren’t allowed to shoot anantlered deer during Indiana’s early two-day youthhunt.

Although we all would have been excited for TheRascal Girl to get a doe, one never showed up, so weeach thought it would have been great for her to get acrack at one of those bucks. I have explained this indetail because laws such as this are a direct detrimentto recruiting new hunters. And believe me, there arenumerous laws now in effect in several states that workagainst recruiting youngsters into the sport. For exam-

ple, until recently, New York youths had to be 16 yearsold before they could firearm hunt for deer. On the plusside, New York now has a Junior Mentoring Programfor 14- and 15-year olds that allows them to hunt duringbear and deer firearms seasons with a parent, legalguardian or someone at least 21 who is designated inwriting on a form. Mentors must have a license andthree years of hunting experience. The youth and men-tor must be together, stay on the ground (no treestands) and wear required hunter orange.

While this is an improvement, let’s face the facts. Byage 14, young people can be wrapped up in a variety ofother interests, such as 900 channels of TV, videogames, texting, and other electronic gadgets to the

point hunting is of no interest to them. Youth partici-pation in hunting declined by 26 percent from 1990 to2000. The youth participation figure has stabilizedsomewhat, but it’s sad to realize that only 25 percent ofchildren from hunting households now participate inhunting today. Our hunter recruitment figure is .69nationwide (New York’s is .55). In other words, forevery 100 hunters who pass away in the future, only 69hunters will replace them.

WE NEED TO GET INVOLVED

Unless hunters get actively involved in thelegislative process, there will be more laws passed inthe future that will not only curtail our youth’s ability tohunt, but in some cases destroy it. Last year, People ForThe Ethical Treatment Of Animals sent a letter toPennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell calling for a hunting banfor everyone younger than 18. They did the same inNovember 2008 in Arizona.

The Humane Society Of The United States continuesits fight against the Families Afield initiative, calling itone of the “Ten worst hunting ideas.” Families Afield isa pro youth hunting Web site of the National ShootingSports Foundation that works hard to promote youthand family hunting and has great statistics to back upthe wholesome value derived from families huntingtogether. I have listed the Web site in an accompanyingsidebar.

Getting politically involved in lobbying for youthrecruitment into the hunting sports might not havebeen what you expected out of the first part of thisarticle. Fighting for your children’s hunting future inthis way involves lots of your time, might take somemoney and without doubt will involve opposition andfrustration.

Like you, I don’t like this type of involvement; I justwant to go hunting. However, I’m willing to spend my


With today’s digital cameras,photography is an excellent way to get

children interested in the greatoutdoors.

Turkey hunting occurs during a warm season and the action is usuallygreat, making it an ideal way to get youth involved in hunting.


time, money and energy because I not only wantJessica and her sister, Hannah, to be able to hunt withme while I’m still able. I want their children to be ableto go hunting in the future with their grandfather, Mr.Curt.

SPORTS RULE

Raising children is something we have no experiencein doing. Yet we have to do it, and we better get it rightfor we only have one opportunity. That’s why it’s

important to expose our children to all the aspects oflife that are ethically and morally correct. Hunting, fish-ing, church, school, bird watching, traveling to otherstates, gardening, photographing, hiking — the listcould go on. One item I didn’t mention, though, issports, and in this day and age, sports rule in the livesof many youngsters — and families.

Although I have always liked sports and participatedin them while in school, the old saying “moderation inall things” also applies to sports. Today, children start atan early age in softball, baseball, golf, tennis, track, soc-

cer, swimming, volleyball, dancing, gymnastics,wrestling, cheerleading, basketball, rodeo, field hockey,football and more. Many children now participate inseveral sports, and it can consume family time to thepoint where it is harmful.

I happen to be a Christian, and schools used to becareful to keep Wednesday nights free for churchactivities. Likewise, in the past, ball games and othersporting events were rarely, if ever, held on Sundaymornings. All this has changed. It’s typical in ourchurch, and other churches in our region, for children,parents, and grandparents to be attending ball gamesor other sporting events instead of going to church. Asthe heading said, sports rule.

Perhaps you don’t attend church and are wonderinghow what I have just said might apply to you. Well, Ican assure you that an excess of sports can turn a hunt-ing family into one that rarely, if ever, hunts. For exam-ple, a couple of years ago, a youngster down the roadkilled his first turkey; a dandy 3-year-old tom. His dadcalled me up and asked if I would take a picture of hisson with his big gobbler. Of course I was glad to do so.

After we had taken the pictures, his dad told me howhis son was involved in a variety of sports and did wellat all of them. I marveled at what he said next. “Theother day my son said that we hardly ever go huntingand fishing together anymore, that he was always play-ing sports," he said. "‘Dad,’ he said, ‘I’m going to quiteverything but football so we can do more hunting andfishing together again.’”

That boy is my hero! And this true example showsexactly what can happen in a hunting family whensports rule over everything else. Children can playsports and have fun, but there must be limits set. Andalthough many sports can even be played and enjoyedinto adulthood, few sports can be played and enjoyedinto a person’s 50s, 60s or even 70s like hunting can. If what I have said regarding sports applies to yourfamily, evaluate your situation and see how it is affect-ing your family life. If you truly want your children tobecome hunters, you have to set aside ample time forthem to spend in the woods. Moderation in all things.

THE DESIRE TO HUNT

The first two points of this article have been frankand strong. I believe, however, that both needed to beaddressed in this article, or it would be another fluffpiece without much merit. Now — and “thank good-ness," you might be saying — we come to the moreenjoyable part of hunter recruitment: instilling thedesire to hunt in our youth.

Without doubt, the more youth are exposed tonature, the more of them will become hunters in thefuture. It’s important, though, to expose them to theentirety of nature, just not one aspect of the outdoorssuch as deer hunting. And the earlier you take themoutside to enjoy the thrills of the wild, the more enjoy-ment they will derive from the experience and the moreapt they will be to become hunters.

Although my dad was a hunter and started me outon rabbit and squirrel hunting at an early age, he was-n’t a patient person. Hunting and shooting was what hewas about, and he didn’t explain much else aboutnature to me. My mother and grandmother, on theother hand, were extremely patient with me. They justloved to be outdoors and dragged me along whereverthey went.

They were the ones who taught me to truly love theoutdoors. I learned wildflower names from them, how

� Take Care of the Details >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>a) Being of geezer age, I didn’t have the advantage of warm clothes or boots to wear when I started hunt-

ing nearly 60 years ago. I almost froze to death, and it was no fun. Be sure you know how to dress young-sters warmly so they can enjoy their hunts to the fullest. They will stay out longer, experience more successand be rearing to go again. And that is what we want.

b) While afield, explain everything you know about nature to the child who is with you. The sun comes upin the east and goes down in the west. So does the moon. That sound you hear is a squirrel barking. And thelist goes on.

c) Don’t put your standards on your children. Your minimum whitetail standard might be a 140-class buck.Your children just want to shoot a deer.

d) Always remember that safety comes first. Broadheads are sharp, so be careful. Never point the muzzleof the barrel at anyone. Calm yourself, and absolutely Identify your target before shooting. Wear a safety har-ness when in a tree stand. Be extra careful when ascending or descending to or from a stand. We all still needto hear this advice.

e) Let youngsters try all types of hunting, from small game to big game, from dove to deer. Waterfowlhunting, for instance, could turn out to be what they enjoy most. The point is, regardless of their field of inter-est, they will be enjoying nature and the sport of hunting.


to identify trees and where the mushrooms popped upeach spring. And they were two of the greatest gath-erers I’ve ever been around. They taught me when togo afield and gather serviceberries, wild strawberries,raspberries, dewberries, blackberries, hazelnuts, pawpaws, hickory nuts, wild grapes and much more. Theywould even help me dig worms and would pitch rightin on fish and rabbit cleaning.

I might add they were great cooks, too, and I was thehappy recipient of delicious food they created fromnature until they passed away a few years ago. On my15th birthday, my mother fried up some squirrel andmade a quantity of biscuits and gravy, and a few of myfriends and I sat down for a “pioneer” meal. This pastFebruary, we had our 52nd consecutive Herndon’sPioneer Dinner, all because of something my mother,Doris Herndon, started many years ago.

We now actually rent a building for this great feast offoods caught, killed, or gathered from the land, andmany people attend. Most of them are hunters. I usethis pioneer dinner example because enthusiasm, ded-ication and a vast knowledge of hunting and gatheringare what have been responsible for the dinner’slongevity. And the same will be true for hunting. Beenthusiastic, make sure you have a varied interest andknowledge of all aspects of nature, hunting and fishing,and odds are many young people you are associatedwith will end up hunting and enjoying the outdoors.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

One of most successful programs to intro-duce boys and girls to the shooting sports is theNational Archery In The Schools Program. Started in a

few schools in Kentucky in 2002, it has ballooned tothe point where it is currently used by schools in morethan 40 states and more than one million school-agegirls and boys will participate in the program this year.Thirty-eight percent will want to try bow-hunting afterthey complete the course. That is impressive, and it allstarted with an idea.

In this program, young people use a Genesis bow(invented by Matt McPherson, the Bill Gates of archery)that is low-noise and low-recoil, yet accurate and pow-erful enough for the arrow to stick in the target. Almost

an equal number of boys and girls shoot these bows,and even someone in a wheelchair can participate inthe sport.

This is an ideal way to get children involved in shoot-ing and hunting, and this usually will result in them tak-ing up hunting involving firearms. I know it’s been saidforever, but don’t start a child out with a gun that kickstoo much. My dad bought me a single-shot WinchesterModel 37 12-gauge when I was very small, and I believeI might have quit hunting if he hadn’t handed over hisdouble-barreled 16-gauge shotgun to me shortly there-

� We Can Make a Difference >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>The Indiana DNR, along with some of the state’s hunting organizations, generally agreed on the rules for

the state’s first youth seasons. The original rules, it should be noted, stated that children had to pass a huntereducation course before they could obtain a youth license, and that antlered deer could not be taken duringthe early youth deer hunt in September. It didn’t take long to see those rules were a mistake.

It took time, but Indiana youth can now obtain an apprenticeship license without passing the hunter edu-cation course. Three apprenticeship licenses can be purchased in a lifetime, so this allows a young hunter tohunt for three years before passing their hunter education course. A good law change, thanks to the DNRand the hunters of Indiana who were involved. And, as of Dec. 3, 2009, youth hunters younger than 18 inIndiana will be permitted to take an antlered deer during the early youth deer hunt in September. Anothergreat rule change.

Also, starting in 2009, Wisconsin’s new mentoring hunting law allowed hunters as young as 10 years of agewith or without hunter education certification to participate in the youth gun deer hunt with a mentor. Thisis a two-year improvement for youth hunting, but in my opinion, the age to start hunting should be deter-mined by the parents or other legal guardian. Still, there are improvements in hunting regulations beingmade because concerned outdoorsmen and women are taking action to make sure future generations havethe right to hunt from a legislative standpoint. We all must do our part to help. Get involved!

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.

The unique aging device is being used by thebest deer biologists in America. It is fascinating toview and interesting enough to be displayed inyour den, hunting lodge or camp.

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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after. That Model 37 just crushed me every time I shotit, and it scared me to death. There are many low-impact guns on the market, so be sure and start chil-dren out with these firearms so shooting will be enjoy-able for them — not something to be dreaded.

Actually, an excellent way to start children out shoot-ing is to put a BB gun, air rifle or .22-caliber rifle in theirhands. I had a BB gun when I was very small and savedevery penny I could to purchase more BBs. It was ablast. Of course, air rifles are awesome today and haveno recoil. And a .22 is flat out fun to use to shoot tar-gets, tin cans or walnuts off of trees in safe areas. That.22 rifle is also an outstanding firearm to break childreninto small-game hunting for squirrels. The weather iswarm in squirrel seasons; it’s a great opportunity toteach them about various aspects of nature. There isplenty of action, and squirrels are excellent eating.

MINNOW TRAPS AND MORE

The year when our granddaughter Hannah "TheRascal Gal" celebrated her 8th birthday, Grandmom

Carol and I drove the two hours to Lafayette, Ind., toattend the big event. Our gift to Hannah was a minnowtrap. Yes, a minnow trap — certainly a wild idea.

Interestingly, when The Rascal Family came down a

few weeks later, guess what Hannah had with her? Ohyes, the minnow trap. We all had the most fun puttingout and baiting the minnow trap in a small creek. And,naturally, we were all excited a few hours later when wediscovered we had trapped a bunch of minnows!During the same day, we also skipped rocks on a smalllake and enjoyed hiking and other activities. A fewweeks later, the grandgirls called, excited, to tell usabout a three-hour splashing wade they had made withmom and dad down Wildcat Creek near their home.They were now hooked on creeks — and minnows too.

WE CONTROL THE FUTURE OF HUNTING

The future of hunting is in our hands. Just as thefarmer says, the world is six months away from starva-tion if one year’s crop would fail. Likewise, hunting isjust one generation from eroding significantly if wedon’t do our part to grow and harvest the crop we havebeen entrusted with: our children.

Therefore, I urge you to make a pledge to fight forlegislation on a local, state and national level that willensure the youth of today will have the opportunity tohunt if they desire to do so — and at a young age. Second, evaluate the sports situation. Make sure youallow plenty of time for your children to spend in the“sport” of hunting.

And last, be enthusiastic about all of nature andencourage everyone you know to enjoy the great out-doors in every aspect. And last, make time to take ayoungster hunting. Use your life to leave more thanyour name on a gravestone. Leave a legacy. W


� Helpful Hunter Recruitment Websites >>>a) www.familiesafield.org National Shooting

Sports Foundation. b) www.nwtf.org National Wild Turkey

Federation. c) www.nra.org National Rifle Association. d) www.ussportsmen.org U.S. Sportsman’s

Alliance. e) www.pope-young.org The Pope & Young

Club. f) www.boone-crockett.org The Boone &

Crockett Club.

Grandad Brad, Jessica’s dad Curt Steger,and Jessica The Rascal Girl Steger withher first deer, a doe that field-dressed

134 pounds.

Kids love to be at a hunting camp. Huntinghas several interesting educational aspects

that will help them in school.

It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it. Introducing theMoultrie GameManagement System – a camera, GPS cellular modem and web site systemthat allows you to check your cameras from the comfort of your office.

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Mark Benson — MinnesotaWe’ve been using Chicory Plus in our two food plots

we have in the woods and have seen a dramaticincrease in activity in these areas. We see a lot moredoe activity than bucks. But where the girls go so dothe boys. Second rut action last year allowed me toarrow this nice Minnesota buck following a doe cominginto our newest food plot — Chicory Plus. 190-pound10-point 145-150 class buck.

Joey Murphy — MissouriWe started planting Whitetail Institute food plots

two years ago. Since then, we've seen a noticeableincrease in the size and numbers of the deer on ourfarm. This past fall has been the best year we've had todate. I had the privilege to take my FIRST deer EVERwith a bow this past fall. It's a strong 10-pointer withseveral other non-typical tines off its bases. In addition,I shot another 10 pointer with my rifle, my father shot a

ten pointer with his rifle, and my cousin shot his firstbuck ever (an eight pointer). We don’t think thiswould've been possible without the Whitetail Institutefood plots. They are by far the secret ingredient to pro-ducing a quality/quantity herd of deer. The success dueto the ease of planting and maintenance has shownsuch a great reward that I find myself trying to fit inmore food plots in every non-used area at our farm.Thanks Whitetail Institute for a great DeerSeason.....now I can't wait till next year.

Paul Powell — OhioI have managed my 112 acre southeastern Ohio farm

for three years. This has included selective mowing,planting 10,000 hardwood and white pine seedlings,keeping my 30-06 mineral licks going and planting 12acres of Imperial Whitetail Clover, Chicory Plus, andExtreme. The hard work has been very rewarding as Ihave watched the deer herd improve both in size andgeneral health. On October 28-last year I was fortunateenough to arrow a very nice eight pointer 75 yardsfrom one on the Imperial Clover fields. This main frameeight officially scored 153 6/8 inches gross and 150 5/8

inches net B&C and made the Buckeye Big Buck Club.Thanks go to the Whitetail Institute for great prod-

ucts.

Gabe Adair — IowaThis was the first season that I had hunted a new

farm that we bought in February. Not knowing theground very well, the first thing I did was plant multipleplots of Imperial Clover and Winter-Greens. The draw-ing power of both these products has always beenawesome, I started getting all sorts of shooter bucks onmy Reconyx Cameras, three of which were well overthe 170-inch mark. On Nov. 8 everything was right andwe decided to hunt in a real skinny draw that the deer

use to get from the food sources to bedding cover. Iknew that this was getting aggressive but it was time.We got in 1.5 hours early and waited for daylight. At thefirst crack of light I looked down the edge of the drawand saw the BIG 6x6 coming, I stopped him at 40 yardsand released my arrow. I was fortunate to have killed aBooner.

Dec. 13 rolled around and it was the opening day forthe second gun season in Iowa. I typically don’t huntthe late muzzleloader season but the weather was per-fect and the deer were pounding my Winter-Greensfood plots, so I decided to get a tag. On the fourth dayof the season we were hunting the top end of the ditchthat I killed my Booner during bow season in. (400yards away) This big boy that we were very familiarwith popped out 45 mins before dark and was headingdown to the Winter-Greens. I got a great 80 yard shotat him and the rest is history. This was hands down the


best season I have ever had, harvesting two 180-inchclass whitetails and capturing both on film. I give a lotof the credit to the drawing power that I had fromplanting Imperial Whitetail Clover and Winter-Greenson my farm. Thanks Whitetail Institute.

Chad Vanderroest — MichiganI feel that the food plots that I have incorporated into

my management strategy have been the biggest factorin my ever increasing success. Four years ago I pur-chased a meager 35 acres in southwest Michigan. Thearea is NOT known for having very many deer andobviously there are not many big bucks around either.I never saw a buck the first year, and only saw doesperiodically. I didn’t even see a turkey that first year. Myproperty wasn’t as good as the local state land. The fol-lowing spring I decided that I was going to try puttingin a food plot to improve my odds for the next season.I had soil tests conducted and worked in lime and fer-tilizer and planted Imperial Whitetail Clover. Deer start-ed coming into the plot regularly by mid August. ThatOctober I bow hunted off and on, and saw a few small-er bucks and a number of does. Deer would come inand around the clover on a daily basis. Turkeys werealways around the fields too. I was impressed with thechange from the year before. In muzzleloader season Ishot a nice 8 pointer. He wasn’t a huge deer, but I wasthrilled that deer like that were starting to hang aroundmy property.

The third year started with a bang by shooting a bigtom turkey in the clover field. With my new found con-fidence in food plots, I decided to add a couple more. Iplanted Chicory Plus, PowerPlant and No-Plow deep inthe woods on the back of my property. The secondweekend of gun season I went out on my property andhunted in the woods just off the back of the originalImperial Whitetail Clover field (in between a majorbedding area and the clover). I saw three bucks thatfirst day and shot the biggest one. He actually camedown the edge of the clover field and walked right pastme. That deer was a 10 point that gross scored 125inches.

This past year started again with a bang. I shot a tomturkey in the clover field again. In the late summer Iadded some long narrow (shooting lane) plots out inthe old farm field using Winter-Greens. I hunted hardthrough October and passed up seven different bucks(some of which were 100 inches or more. In November

(prime rut) I hadnine does out in theoriginal clover fieldeating, and a goodbuck came in tocheck them out. Idecided that thisone was worthshooting. He was a12 point and hasbeen green grossscored at 145 inches.

It is almost comi-cal looking backhow I have gonefrom seeing veryfew deer/turkeys to

consistently taking good bucks and turkeys from thesame field year after year. The progression from 8 to 10to 12 points and the incremental increase in score is ashining example of what quality food plots and othermanagement efforts can do. I will continue to add foodplots and maintain the ones I have for years to come. Itry to get every one I know who has property to plantfood plots now. I have even helped others plant foodplots the last two springs, and they too are seeingresults. Thanks Whitetail Institute for the great line ofproducts.

Todd Hughart — West Virginia

I shot the best buck to date from my small propertyin WV after planting 6-plus acres of Imperial WhitetailClover. I shot the nice 10 point in the photo on theopening day of this past archery season. I had hun-dreds of trail pix of him from the last three years. I alsohad used Whitetail Institute products for years on alarger farm that I recently sold and had great resultsthere as well.

Richard Sanders — WisconsinFour years ago, I told a rep of Whitetail Institute that

I had alfalfa all around the area I hunted and he told meto try Imperial Whitetail Clover because the deer wouldcome to it before the alfalfa. I decided to plant two

Imperial Whitetail Clover food plots on my propertyand try it. It was a good year for planting and I got agood catch. The deer do come to the Imperial WhitetailClover before the alfalfa. I shot several big does in the175 to 180 pound range over the two plots. Two yearsafter planting I had taken several deer already, someover the food plots and others on different parts of myproperty and on neighboring farms. Toward the end ofthe first Wisconsin bow season, which closes just priorto the opening of the November gun season, I had acouple more nights to hunt before the crazy gun sea-son got under way. About mid afternoon my wifecalled my attention to a huge buck standing out at theedge of our property. He was a monster 12-pointer. Idecided then and there I was going out that evening.After settling in on my stand I wondered if I would seethat huge 12 point buck again. About 15 minutes beforethe end of shooting hours a good sized fawn camestrolling into the clover patch and began feeding. I fig-ured his momma wouldn't be far behind and sureenough here she came. She too began feeding on theclover, digging through the sparse snow cover. I live inan area with a very high deer population so the DNRencourages hunters to shoot as many antlerless deeras we have tags for, (unlimited). I wrestled with myselffor a moment or two and decided I would take the bigdoe. I drew my bow and was just getting ready to putmy pin on her when from my far right I noticed move-ment. I looked to the right and there was a very nicebuck… but not the big 12-pointer I had seen earlier inthe day. But he was plenty good enough. I shot him atabout 35 yards while he was standing in the middle ofmy Imperial Whitetail Clover patch. He was a big bod-ied deer, easily over 275 pounds. Non-typical 9- point-er. He officially scored 148 4/8 Pope & Young. DoesImperial Clover work. You bet!

William Dailey — IllinoisPicture 1 is of a

buck I killed thatwas in a travelcorridor comingto the ImperialWhitetail Clover.

Picture 2 shows abuck I killed threeyears ago that scored194 2/8 inches netB & C. 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 you might 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


�

�


ARE ANTLER RESTRICTIONSWORKING?By David Hart


Not all quality bucks are the product ofmandatory antler restrictions. ThisVirginia whitetail was taken in an area ofhigh hunting pressure and was the resultof mostly luck.


In 2002 Pennsylvania became one of a growingnumber of states to institute antler restrictions. Thenew rules were part of a sweeping change to the

state’s deer management program, one that was anattempt to bring the state’s buck-doe ratio closertogether, increase the number of adult bucks and givehunters a better chance at killing a mature whitetail.Prior to the new rules, Pennsylvania hunters couldshoot any buck with at least one spike three inches orlonger, or a single antler with at least two points. Notonly were hunters willing to shoot those little bucks,they shot them en masse. According to harvest data,80 percent of the antlered deer taken in Pennsylvaniaeach season were just 1 1/2 years old, and buck-doeratios were as low as 1:10, even lower in some areas.Under the new rules, hunters in most of the state canonly shoot bucks with at least three points on one side.While most hunters were willing to give the restrictionsa try, a small but vocal number of critics blasted theplan for a variety of reasons, claiming the plan would-n’t work. Turns out, they were wrong.

BIGGER, YES, BUT…

Where it has been instituted, either through regula-tions or through voluntary cooperation by clubs and

individual hunters, antler restrictions have resulted inmore bigger bucks in the entire population. Bigger,however, is a relative term. Data compiled by the PGCshows that while yearling bucks are indeed surviving athigher rates, most are being harvested the first yearthey are legal. Prior to the new rules, about 20 percentof the total buck harvest consisted of mature (twoyears or older) deer. Now, 2-1/2-year-old bucks makeup 75 percent of Pennsylvania’s “mature” buck harvest.Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries deerproject leader Matt Knox is also seeing a shift in pres-sure away from yearlings to 2-1/2-year-old whitetails,even though there are no mandatory restrictions inmost of the state. They may be bigger, but how muchbigger?

“I walked into a deer processor last season and sawonly one one-year old buck hanging. The rest weretwo-year-olds,” he recalls.

Most of those two-year-olds are far from trophy-class deer, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, agreesKnox. He says an increase in 2-1/2-year-old bucks ulti-mately means there will be more older deer left in thetotal population after each hunting season.

“I think hunters will start treating two-year-old bucksthe same way they treated one-year-old deer in thepast,” he says. “They will realize that they don’t have to

shoot the first small eight-pointer because they’ve shotplenty of small eight-pointers already.”

Greg Patton, a taxidermy shop owner in ShenandoahCounty, Virginia, also thinks hunters will eventually tireof shooting those mediocre bucks and will be morewilling to pass on them. Patton was one of a handful offorward-thinking hunters who pushed the VDGIF toimplement antler point restrictions in his home countystarting in 2006. Instead of adopting a full-blown,across-the-board point restriction, the Departmentinstituted a second-buck rule: The first buck could beany antlered deer, but the second had to have at leastfour points on one side. It was a good start, figuresPatton, and while he’d like to see the rules taken a stepfarther, he agrees with Knox.

“I think hunters will start to realize that they don’tneed to shoot any more two-and-a-half year-old deerand they’ll start letting those bucks walk, even if thereare no changes to the current restrictions,” he says.

Mississippi, which adopted antler restrictions in 1995,is also seeing a shift away from the harvest of youngerdeer. Prior to the restrictions, yearlings accounted forabout 50 percent of the total buck kill. But unlikewhat’s happening in Pennsylvania and ShenandoahCounty, VA, hunters in Mississippi are shifting theirattention away from just-legal deer to older bucks. In

After over a decade of data, biologists are tweaking buck harvest.

The powerful appeal of Magnet Mix is now available in a handy,4-part block. Just break apart the block and place the sectionswherever you want the deer to gather. In addition to beingenormously attractive to deer, the formula in the 4-Play blockcontains a combination of essential vitamins and minerals. Fourtimes the attraction in the block; four times the deer activity onyour property.BBeeccaauussee ooff tthhee MMaaggnneett MMiixx lliinnee’’ss iinnccrreeddiibblleeaattttrraaccttiivveenneessss,, ssoommee ssttaatteess mmaayy ccoonnssiiddeerr iittbbaaiitt.. RReemmeemmbbeerr ttoo cchheecckk yyoouurr llooccaall ggaammeellaawwss bbeeffoorree hhuunnttiinngg oovveerr MMaaggnneett MMiixxpprroodduuccttss..

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2005, 60 percent of the buck harvest was 3-1/2 yearsold or older. After ten years of living and hunting underthe four-point rule, hunters have adopted the sameattitude Patton would like to see Shenandoah Countyhunters adopt: Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean ithas to be killed.

“The majority of the clubs have been using morestringent rules than the state rules and they have beenmore than willing to hold out for older deer,” saysMississippi Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks deerprogram coordinator Chad Dacus. “I think somewherein the late ‘90s or early 2000s there was also a notice-able shift by the general public to pass on thoseyounger legal deer and I think it is a trend that will con-tinue.”

Dacus added that a survey conducted by theMDFWP backs that up, as most hunters said they wereno longer shooting a buck just because he was legal.Overall, Mississippi hunters have been extremely satis-fied with the changes, and a majority of Pennsylvaniahunters have embraced the recent changes. A vocalminority, however, questioned the need to change thestatus quo, wondering if the state’s deer herd was trulyin need of a fix.

THE BIOLOGICAL FACTOR

Pennsylvania instituted its antler restrictions largelyas a result of an extremely low buck-to-doe ratio and adisproportionately low number of mature bucks. Therewas also some concern among hunters over the lack ofquality bucks. By drastically increasing the doe harvestthrough increases in permits and by cutting down onthe buck harvest, biologists have been able to bring the

herd into better balance. Knox, however, wonders whysome hunters and biologists get so worked up aboutbuck-doe ratios and age structures.

“I’m always having discussions with hunters and evenbiologists about the ‘right’ buck-doe ratios and theproper age structures for a deer herd, but no one cangive me the right number,” he says. “There is no short-age of deer in any of these states that are enactingantler restrictions, so to me it really comes down tocreating more older deer and not necessarily the rightbalance, whatever that is. As I said before, I have noproblem with managing for older-aged bucks, but Idon’t think it should be mandated by a wildlife depart-ment.”

Despite initial claims by Pennsylvania biologiststhat the skewed buck-doe ratio was creating unnatu-ral breeding cycles, new reports show that there hasbeen no change in the breeding dates of the state’sdeer. Prior to the restrictions, the average date of con-ception was Nov. 17; after, the average breeding datewas Nov. 16.

After examining the effect of antler restrictions for 14years, biologists in Mississippi found that selective har-vest of bucks with at least four points on one sideresulted in a reduction in bucks with larger antlers insubsequent years. In other words, the best bucks werebeing taken out of the population early because theygrew legal antlers at younger ages than lower-qualitybucks of the same age. Called “high-grading,” it ulti-mately resulted in an overall decline in antler size of 31/2-year old and older bucks. It’s happening mostly onpublic property where hunting pressure is high andhunters are still less willing to let a legal deer pass.Private-land hunters, however, have more freedom to

Despite concerns for young hunters who may beforced to pass up legal deer, at least one survey foundthat kids are embracing antler restrictions as eagerly

as many adults.

Putting out the welcome mat for deer is as easy as pouring from a jug. Deer are so attracted by thesmell and drawn to the taste of Magnet Mix thatthey will come from miles around — and keepcoming back. Just shake and pour (no mixingrequired) and wait for the deer to show up. Just seconds of preparation provides gallons of attraction.

Because of Magnet Mix’s incredible attractiveness, somestates may consider it bait. Remember to check yourlocal game laws before hunting over Magnet Mix.

The Whitetail Institute239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043®


“Deer Nutrition Is All We Do!”

Research = Results


be selective and are more willing to pass up legal bucksthat barely meet the minimum requirements as theywait for a mature, heavy-antlered buck.

So after 14 years of point restrictions, the MDFWPhas scrapped the four-point rule and instead adopteda measurement scale. Now, hunters have to judgeeither a buck’s antler spread or main beam length. Intwo management zones, which cover about three-quarters of the state, bucks must have at least a 10-inchinside spread or a main beam length of at least 13 inch-es. In one zone, which has more fertile soil and agreater potential to produce larger bucks, hunters arerestricted to bucks with at least a 12-inch inside spreador a main beam length of at least 15 inches. Dacus saysthe new rules will protect nearly 100 percent of thestate’s yearling bucks and allow mature bucks to breedmore does, which is more natural and better for theherd overall.

“We were seeing a decrease in antler quality becausethe poor-quality yearling bucks were doing most of thebreeding. By increasing the overall antler quality, weexpect to see a long-term increase in antler size as wellas a shorter breeding season,” he explains. “When wehad the four-point rule in place, the breeding seasonwas lasting as long as 50 days and we saw some fawnsborn as late as October. That’s not a sign of a healthydeer herd.”

The bottom line is that antler restrictions can work toa degree. Younger bucks are surviving at higher rates,putting more 2-1/2-year-old deer in the woods. Butwhat happens after they reach that age can only bedetermined by those who make the ultimate decisionto shoot or to wait. W

Most states withsome type of antlerrestriction offer

exemptions for younghunters.

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Exciting spring turkey hunts are also available.

Rocky Branch Outfitters7390 Hwy 145 South / Harrisburg, IL 62946(To Book) 618.252.8003 Fax 618.253.4868www.rockybranchoutfitters.com

Bob Walker / Walkerʼs Game Ear

People generally wantto do the right thing.At least that’s what my

grandfather says. I stop byhis house and have a cup ofcoffee with him everymorning before work. I walkin the front door and thecoffee is always ready, andhe is normally waiting in thekitchen. We usually sit andtalk about various topics fora few minutes before I makemy daily route to theWhitetail Institute office inPintlala, AL.

Listening to this man has got to be as close to timetravel as you can get. His name is John Lewis Deese,and he was one of eight brothers and sisters whostruggled for survival in rural Montgomery County, Ala.I remember him saying, “As a child I never hesitatedwhen supper was ready, because I might go to bedhungry.” Needless to say, times were tough back then,and a man learned things the hard way. I crave hisadvice on all of life’s issues because he’s been there. Hesays that there’s an exception to every rule, but mostpeople are good at heart. People generally want to dothe right thing no matter what crusade they areinvolved in. However, one needs to have a full under-standing of the issue at hand before they take action.Everything we do affects others in some way, good orbad. I think this advice can be applied to whitetail deer

enthusiasts as well. Land managers who aim toimprove the health of their local whitetail deer popula-tion through the use of a supplemental feeding pro-gram may find this old man’s advice useful.Sure, we all have good intentions. We all want our

property teaming with fat healthy deer, so we shouldstart filling the deer feeders, right? Wrong. Everyone’ssituation is different. The worst thing someone can dois blindly enter the game of supplemental feeding and


STOP ANDTHINK FIRST

Supplemental Feeding — Not as Simple As It Seems

By John Frank Deese — Wildlife Biologist


stick a deer feeder in the middle of their property without being fully aware of theeffects if might have on everything around it. We need to step back and get a clearunderstanding of the steps you should take before even considering a supplemen-tal feeding program.So where should you start? Begin by checking your state game laws. Many states

have outlawed supplemental feeding because it is believed to enhance the spread ofcertain diseases. It is illegal in some states to hunt over supplemental feed, but it islegal in other states. Keep in mind that many things must be done before supple-mental feeding is put on the agenda. For the sake of this article, let’s assume thatsome form of supplemental feeding is legal in your state.First, you should begin with food plots. The most effective and cost-friendly nutri-

tional tool available is a high-quality perennial food plot such as Imperial WhitetailClover. If properly managed, a perennial food plot can deliver nutrient-rich food towhitetails for several years. A responsible whitetail manager will have his property lit-tered with plots of clover, chicory, brassicas and other nutrient-rich forages. Startinga supplemental feeding program without established perennial food plots could becompared to a bodybuilder skipping his workout routine and simply drinking proteinshakes. It just doesn’t make sense. Again, developing high-quality perennial foodplots should be your first goal in growing bigger bucks. Second, improve what you already have. Enhance the natural food sources that

exist on your property by fertilizing and eliminating unwanted competing vegetation.For example, locate and identify all of your mast-producing trees, and choose around10 percent of the most favored species such as white oak, persimmon and post oak.Remove all small, woody vegetation from the drip line of each tree, and apply a slow-release fertilizer in these areas. These fertilizers can be purchased at your local co-opor tree nursery.

Check state game laws and consider your overallmanagement goals before you implement

supplemental feeding.


Removing saplings and small trees from the drip lineof your tree allows it to receive full benefit from the fer-tilizer being applied. Through time, this will result inhigher mast crop yield, or simply put, more food foryour deer.Adequate harvest of does is another crucial step you

should accomplish before even considering supple-mental feed. If your property is already above its white-tail carrying capacity, deer feeders will magnify thisproblem. Side effects of severely overpopulated white-tail deer include overbrowsing of native vegetation,increased risk of disease transmission, lower birthweight of fawns and declining overall health of the deerpopulation. I am in no way implying that supplementalfeeding is a bad idea, but I believe that it should onlybe practiced by responsible and informed people whounderstand the potential side effects (positive or neg-ative) on the local deer population. You are the onewho will determine if the result is beneficial or detri-mental. An agreement with your surrounding landowners is

another thing you should try to establish before imple-menting a supplemental feeding program. More oftenthan not, this has proven to be the most difficult taskmentioned thus far to accomplish because everyonehas their own idea about how things should be done.Arm yourself with knowledge about your goals so thatyou can persuade your neighbors with accurate infor-mation on the issue at hand. You don’t have to try tosell them on the supplemental feeding issue, just con-vince them to plant perennial food plots and imple-ment a proper doe harvest. Try to reach an agreementon your goals by explaining how much more can begained through teamwork. A whitetail’s home range

Deer have complex nutritional needs that change throughout the year. But because CuttingEdge meets these changing needs, it is not complex at all — in fact it’s very simple. Thanksto our extensive research and development, getting the right supplements to your deer herdat the right time is as easy as opening a bag and creating a ground site or mixing with otherfeed such as corn or beans. Devour flavor enhancer is included in the Cutting Edge formula tomake sure the deer find and frequently use this state-of-the-art supplement.

The Whitetail Institute239 Whitetail Trail | Pintlala, AL 36043


800-688-3030whitetailinstitute.com Late winter to mid-spring —

When bucks are regrowing theirantlers and doe are entering the thirdtrimester of pregnancy, Initiatemeets their increased need forprotein, energy, minerals andvitamins that early spring vegetationis not yet able to provide.

Late spring through summer —During this period deer need aspecific array of vitamins andminerals to support continued antlergrowth and lactation. Optimize is theperfect blend of nutrients tomaintain a healthy herd during thiscrucial period.

Fall through early winter — Cold weather, food shortages andthe stresses of he rut make fall andwinter a difficult time for deerheards. Sustain provides theprotein, energy, vitamins andminerals necessary to bring the herdthrough this difficult period.

Establishing food plots andenhancing natural food sources

are first-line strategies forgrowing trophy bucks.


can be quite large, ranging anywhere from a couple of hundred acres to sev-eral thousand. The deer you are managing for will reap the benefits of agood understanding between you and your neighbors.I think the landowner should only consider supplemental feeding after

perennial food plots have been established, native vegetation enhanced,proper buck-to-doe ratio has been achieved and some form of long-termagreement has been made between you and your surrounding landowners.Many readers may be asking, "What's the big deal?" Here are just a few rea-sons. First, I consider myself extremely lucky to live in this great country andhave the freedom to manage our wildlife in almost any way I please. I believeit is my responsibility to do the best I can to ensure the health of our natu-ral resources. I believe supplemental feeding to be an extremely complexissue, and after all, anyone can simply pour feed into a trough and walk away. Second, when you pour feed into a feeder, you are micro-managing the

food source that is so-relied on by animals you are managing for. Some peo-ple try to argue that food plots do the same thing, but that is not the case.Even though Imperial Whitetail Clover is considered by many to be the mostpreferred deer forage in the world, it simply is not the same as pouring foodinto a pile. Food plots have a natural aspect. Supplemental feeding might bea more borderline issue and it should be, especially if people are not respon-sible for their actions as land managers. That is why I believe it is the man-ager’s responsibility to enhance the natural food sources and perennial foodplots on your property to the highest level possible before supplementalfeeding. Third, responsible whitetail managers should want to accomplish these

goals before supplemental feeding simply because it is good managementpractice. Good advice is priceless. That is why I try to follow my grandfather’s

advice about so many things. He has learned through trial and error, and ifwe are smart, we will take advice from these people so that we can avoid thesame mistakes. Many things in life require people to learn through trial anderror. Managing whitetails is not one of them. The mistakes have alreadybeen made; all we have to do is pick up where they left off. Incidentally, mygrandfather turned 70 in February. And I wish this year to be his best. W

30-06 is not a glorified salt lick or acattle mineral. It is a true nutritional

sup-plement developed specificallyfor the needs of the whitetail deer.

What is good for a bull will do very littlefor antler growth in a whitetail.

30-06 and 30-06 Plus Protein contain allthe essential macro and trace minerals

along with vitamins A, D, and E necessary fora quality deer herd and maximum antler

growth.

30-06 and 30-06 Plus Protein contain ourexclusive scent and flavor enhancers which meandeer find, and frequent, the ground sites you

create by mixing these products into the soil. You can be assured 30-06 wascreated with deer, not cattle, in mind.Because of the 30-06 products incredible attractiveness, some states may consider it bait. Rememberto check your local game laws before hunting over the 30-06 site.

Research = Results


The Whitetail Institute239 Whitetail TrailPintlala, AL 36043“Deer Nutrition Is All We Do!”®


A Lost Son and A CherishedMemory By Rick BamptonPhotos by the Author

Deer season startedlike every other one.I would let

everything small go by inhopes of shooting that trophybuck. As opening morningwould progress, I would seeseveral does and small bucks.By mid-afternoon, afterhearing shots all morning, myimpatience would get thebest of me, and I would endup shooting a mediocre buckat best. This year was noexception.

Because I shot my deer on opening morning and hadto travel most of that next week, I decided to take my8-year-old son when I got back from my trip. I gothome Thursday and talked my wife into allowing me totake Dan out of school on Friday to try to get him hisfirst deer. The forecast for the weather was perfect:cold, still and clear. That Friday morning, Dan and I

headed out to the woods. We got there early, and justas predicted, the weather was perfect. Well, at least forme it was. Within 20 minutes of sitting in the woodswaiting for the sun to appear, Dan looked up and whis-pered he was getting cold. I told him the deer would bein the woods today and to try to hang tight, which he

agreed to do — for about another 10 minutes. He againlooked up and said he was getting cold. Rather thanfight this, I decided it was his hunt, and if he wanted togo up to our condo stand, that’s what we would do. So,about 7:30 a.m., we walked through the woods to theopen field where the condo stand was.

My eight-year-old son Danny, shot this buck in the 2007 deer season. He shot it over a Whitetail Clover patch with a pondin one corner of the field. I sat on this story since then and never got around to sending it until now. On Aug. 19, 2009,Dan was killed in a car accident. He would have been 10 in six days. This was Dan's first and only deer of his lifetime. I misshim more than words can describe, especially when we are coming up on his favorite season... fall and hunting.


I have to admit, it felt good inside the stand as thesun was shining through the window. As we sat in thestand, I actually fell asleep, which I never do. But, I fig-ured we wouldn’t see anything in the open field, andhad my sights set on the afternoon hunt. Around 9a.m., I woke up to the sound of Dan saying there was adeer running across the field. I looked up to see a doerunning within 10 yards of our stand. I told Dan to getready, because it looked like the doe was being chased.Well, 15 minutes went by and we didn’t see anythingelse. My hopes were quickly sinking. Then as I looked in the Imperial Whitetail Clover field

to my left, I noticed a big buck coming up over thepond dam and walking down to the water to drink. Ianxiously told Dan to look all the way to the left by thepond and asked him if he wanted to try to shoot him.At first he said no, worried that he might miss. But thenhe quickly changed his mind and grabbed the .270 totake a shot. As the deer stood there drinking, I told Danto get set and shoot when he was ready. It seemed likeforever, but then the shot rang out, and the deer fell inits tracks. I cannot describe the excitement displayed by Dan

when he saw the deer drop. After he settled downsome, and we were sure the deer wasn’t going to getup, we climbed down and walked over to see him. Itwas then that I realized it was the deer we had beenseeing for the past two years. The first year he was anice 8-pointer. The next year he was a big 10-pointer,and now he was a heavy main-frame 11-point buck witha sticker to make him 12 points. We had coined this deer the “Ghost” because with

only two exceptions, the only reason we knew he wasaround was because of the few pictures we would get

on our trail cams a couple of times during a three-weekperiod in October each year. The current year was anexception because we did not get any pictures of him.I thought he might have fallen victim to blue tonguedisease, which had stricken so many deer in our area.In the end, what I thought would be a normal day withfather and son spending the day together in the woodsactually turned out to be one of my most cherishedmemories of Dan that would last a lifetime. This was Dan’s first and only deer. My little Dan

was killed in a car accident in August, 2009. He willbe missed terribly. Take your kids hunting, and cher-ish your time together. You never know if it will beyour last. W

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

• Super-charged granules make buckssee RED!

• KRAZE contains Devour™, a scientificallydeveloped and tested scent and flavorenhancer that drives deer wild!

• KRAZE is mineral and vitamin enhanced• KRAZE satisfies a deer’s inherent craving

for specific types of sugars


™

Dan’s deer as an 8-pointer.

Dan’s deer as a 10-pointer.


PACK ONANTLER MASS

WithMineral/Vitamin

Supplements By Jon CoonerPhotos by Charles J. Alsheimer


There’s no question thatwhen it comes to improvingthe quality of the deer we

hunt, high-quality, high-proteinfood plots are among the mostimportant nutritional tools. If youwant to ensure that your deer haveall the nutrition they need tomaximize health and antler size,though, be sure you don’t overlookmineral/vitamin supplementation.The benefits that Imperial 30-06,30-06 Plus Protein and CuttingEdge offer can be huge.

Bucks, does and fawns need a host of macro andtrace minerals in varying amounts throughout the year.Mineral/vitamin requirements are at their highest dur-ing spring and summer, when bucks are regrowingantlers and does are in the later stages of pregnancyand, later, supplying milk to their newborn fawns. Highlevels of specific minerals in specific ratios are criticalto these processes. Here, though, I’m going to discuss

mineral/vitamin supplementation in the context ofantler growth.

ANTLER SIZE IS A PRODUCT OF THREE FACTORS

Antler size is determined by three things: genetics,age and nutrition.Genetics is basically the buck’s antler blueprint. The

buck’s genes set the maximum size of the antlers he iscapable of producing. If a buck’s antlers are not aslarge as they could be (as large as the buck’s geneticblueprint will allow), then the problem is not genetic.Instead, it's a shortfall in either or both of the other twofactors: age and/or nutrition. The age factor is pretty much fixed. A buck simply

will not grow the biggest set of antlers his geneticblueprint will allow until he is about 5.5 to 6.5 years old.And because that rule is fixed, the way to maximize thebenefit of the age factor is also straightforward: Try notto harvest bucks until they are mature. When it comes to deer, nutrition is something that

we can improve over what is usually available in thewild. The biggest nutritional players during spring andsummer are protein, minerals and vitamins. Let’s lookat minerals in the context of antler growth.

MINERALS AND THE ANTLER-GROWING PROCESS

Antler growth is referred to as a secondary sex char-acteristic. That means that a buck will use availablenutrition after winter to get his body back in shapebefore he devotes substantial nutritional resources toantler growth. When a buck starts regrowing his antlersin late winter or early spring, he starts by building the

velvet antler, about 80 percent of which is protein.When the hardening process starts later in the antler-growing season, the buck begins to deposit mineralson the collagen matrix of the velvet antler, a processcalled mineralization. A fully mineralized (hardened)antler is about 45 percent protein and 55 percent min-erals, so you can see how important minerals are. Inmost parts of North America, though, mineral availabil-ity is sufficient to keep a buck alive and for him to growantlers, but rarely is it anywhere near the levels neededto grow the biggest antlers his genes will allow. The entire antler-growing process takes place within

approximately a 200-day period during spring andsummer. The first time I stopped and really consideredthat — and that mineralization happens only during thefinal part of those 200 days — it made me wonder:Where does a buck get such a fast-flowing river of min-erals? The answer to this question is crucial to understand-

ing why supplementing mineral and vitamin availabilityduring spring and summer can be so critical to boost-ing rack size. Bucks get the minerals they use to hard-en their antlers from two sources; not just directly fromwhat they eat and by drawing them out of their ownskeletal systems. And that means that if a buck is todevote all the minerals and vitamins he can to antlergrowth, he must ingest enough minerals not only tosend them directly to his antlers but also to replenishthose he draws from his skeleton. In my case, understanding that specific point was

perhaps the biggest key in unlocking my understand-ing of the full potential weight of the benefits Imperial30-06, 30-06 Plus Protein and Cutting Edge can offerto antler growth.


WHAT MINERALS ARE IN AN ANTLER?

As I mentioned earlier, a fully mineralized antler isabout 55 percent minerals. If you were to assay anyhardened antler, no matter where in North America itcame from, you’d find that it contains the same miner-als in the same amounts and in the same ratios. Forexample, a hardened antler is comprised of about 22percent calcium and about 11 percent phosphorous, aratio of 2 to 1. And again, those percentages and thatratio will be consistent from one hardened antler to thenext. The other 22% of minerals in the hardened antlerconsist of a lot of complex percentages of micro andmacro minerals.

THE BIG SALT/SODIUM ILLUSION

One mineral of which there is very little in a hardenedantler is sodium, or salt. If you were to assay a hard-ened antler, you’d find that it contains less than onepercent salt. In fact, salt does virtually nothing to pro-mote antler size. Salt can be attractive to deer, though,and it is not uncommon to find holes that deer havedug in areas where salt, sodium or products with a highsalt content, such as cattle blocks, have been put out.The illusion is in assuming (incorrectly) that big holes inthe ground also mean big antlers on a buck’s head. Itdoesn’t, if what the deer are seeking is all or mostly saltor sodium. A little salt is fine, though, as a flavoringagent for minerals that actually provide nutritional ben-efit, because some of them aren’t very tasty. That’s why Imperial 30-06, 30-06 Plus Protein and

Cutting Edge contain small amounts of salt as an

attractant, as well as other scent and taste enhancers,including Devour, a proprietary attractant that can beaddictive to deer. The key, though, is that these attrac-tants are present in Whitetail Institute supplementsonly in sufficient amounts to get deer to take the nutri-tional minerals. That’s quite different from a productthat is all or mostly salt or sodium, which the Institutebelieves is more of an attractant than a beneficial nutri-tional supplement.

HOW TO KEEP FROM GETTING DUPED

The good news for consumers is that it’s very easy tobe sure you are purchasing a true mineral/vitamin sup-plement for deer, and not just a glorified bag of saltwith the picture of a big deer on the front. One way isto check the ingredient label on the package. The min-eral/vitamin industry is highly regulated, and you cancheck the ingredients in any product sold as “deer min-eral” by looking at the required ingredient tag on theback of the bag. Don’t try to duplicate the ingredientlabel on your own, though. Although the ingredientlabel will tell you what minerals and vitamins are in theproduct, it’s perhaps not the best way to ensure thatyou are buying a truly scientifically formulated productdesigned for the unique dietary and nutritional require-ments of deer. Ingredient labels might tell you very lit-tle about source and quality of each ingredient, theexact make up of certain compounds in the productand other important things. And in extreme cases,improperly formulated mixes can even be toxic to deer. You can see how important it is to use a scientifical-

ly formulated supplement such as Imperial 30-06, 30-06 Plus Protein or Cutting Edge when you consider all

the points we’ve discussed: (a) Deer antlers are among the fastest growing ani-

mal tissues. (b) A growing antler is comprised of 20 percent min-

erals and vitamins. (c) A hardened antler is comprised of 55 percent

minerals. (d) During the antler-growing season, a buck must

ingest enough of minerals not only to deposit directlyonto his velvet antler but also to replenish what he hasdrawn from his own skeletal system. (e) During the antler-growing season, the minerals a

buck needs are very specific as to type, quality, formand ratios to one another, so any supplement should bescientifically formulated to meet the unique require-ments of deer.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The easiest (and most foolproof) way to be sure thesupplement you’re getting is truly scientifically formu-lated to deliver the results you’re looking for is to juststick with the most respected products available:Imperial 30-06, 30-06 Plus Protein, and Cutting Edge. The Whitetail Institute has done all the hard work for

you. Imperial 30-06, 30-06 Plus Protein and CuttingEdge supplements are truly scientifically formulated tomeet the specific requirements deer. They contain thespecific nutritional minerals and vitamins deer need tomaximize health and rack size, and in the forms andcomponent qualities that will best serve those needs.They are also heavily researched and tested to ensurehigh quality and exceptional attractiveness to deer. Even if you have high-quality, high-protein Whitetail

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 cancompete 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 issafe for clover and alfalfa. Both herbicides are extensively field-tested and canbe easily applied by 4-wheeler or tractor sprayer. Easy and effective protectionfor your crop.

TREATED UN-TREATED

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



Institute food plots on your property, don’t overlook the importance of supplyingyour deer with Imperial 30-06, 30-06 Plus Protein, and/or Cutting Edge if you real-ly want to give your deer even more nutrition that can help them maximize theirgenetic potential. If you have any questions about 30-06, 30-06 Plus Protein, Cutting Edge, or any

other Whitetail Institute product, call our in-house consultants toll-free from 8 a.m.to 5 p.m. CST, Monday through Friday, at (800) 688-3030, ext. 2. W



Extreme conditions call for extreme measures. And ImperialWhitetail Extreme is powerful enough to overcome the worstyour property has to offer. Thanks to Extreme, dry, hot locationsand soil with low pH no longer prohibit growing a successfulperennial crop. Extreme requires only 15 inches of rainfall a year,is both heat and cold tolerant, and will grow well in pH levels aslow as 5.4. Extreme is ideal for challenging growing conditions,but will also do great when conditions are kinder. An extremeresponse to extreme conditions.

FREE Trial Offer! Offer 1 — only $9.95(shipping and handling)FREE all new DVD; FREE N0-Plow™

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(each sample plants 100 sq. ft.)

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(5 lbs.)


(Continued from page 27)

Whitetail Extreme matches my poor soil quality. Afterputting out two different plots two years apart I have agood rotation of plots. I started hunting this propertywhen I was 14, 25 years ago, and have tried many prod-ucts over these years. After seeing the deer using theExtreme I have been using it ever since. I have takenmany 120 class deer over the years on this propertyand knew the genetics were above normal. Throughgood management and the proper diet my son wasable to take this 4 1/2 year old deer within a 100 yardsof an Extreme plot. The deer has a 21-inch insidespread. Putting out a high quality food plot productmade the difference.

Adam Lanier — Ohio

Attached is a photo of my Ohio whitetail killed inDecember this past year. The previous spring I plantedtwo acres of PowerPlant and two acres of ImperialWhitetail Clover. This buck, along with many othersconsistently showed up all summer long. Manyevenings 8-10 does and seven to eight different buckswould feed in the plot. In August I plowed under half ofthe PowerPlant and planted an acre of Pure Attraction.We had a dry fall, but the Pure Attraction came up andthe deer instantly started feeding on it. It looks like arototiller has been in this part of the field! After the rutthis buck returned and I finally crossed paths with himas he entered the oats.

He has 14 scorable points and scores 178-inches with9 inches broken off of his G3.

I'm planning on expanding next year and plantingmore!

Raymond Siggelow — PennsylvaniaI started using Whitetail Institute products 20 years

ago. I had a camp in the PA mountains and I plantedsome No-Plow and Imperial Whitetail Clover. When thedeer found it they mowed it down. It made me a believ-er. My wife and I bought 38 acres in Mercer, PA eightyears ago. I planted Imperial Whitetail Clover soonafterwards and I also used Cutting Edge. Four yearsago during buck season my wife shot a 15-point thatgross scored 168 inches. I shot an 8-point thirty min-utes later. In the eight years we’ve owned the property

12 bucks have been shot — two 7-points; six 8-points;two 9-points; one 12-point and one 15-point buck..Enclosed is the eight I harvested this past year. Thanksagain for Whitetail Institute products.

Earl Hanna — Virginia

We’ve been using Imperial Whitetail Clover for sevenyears. My wife, family and friends have been truly for-tunate to observe various deer mature. This past yearwe had a 140-class 8-pointer and a 150-class 10-point-er enjoying our clover. Unfortunately, both of thosedeer were taken illegally at night and out of season. Iwas fortunate enough to take this 8-point buck on thelast day of our rifle season and the deer scored 150Boone & Crockett. Thanks Whitetail Institute for offer-ing such a great product.

Randy Stuart — New YorkI only use Imperial Whitetail Clover now. In the past I

had grown three different clovers, Imperial WhitetailClover by far is the best in longevity and what the deerprefer. I have also planted PowerPlant for three years.It’s a great product, too. Deer get lost in it and use itwell into winter. They hammer it. I love it. The trail cam

photo is a magnificent buck in a beautiful field ofImperial Whitetail Clover. We found sheds of this deerat 1 1/2, 2 1/2 and at 3 1/2 years of age. This is him at 41/2 in the photo. Luckily for my brother I missed thisbuck at 3 1/2 years old in archery season. Opening dayof his fourth year I watched him and 13 doe at dark in alarge field of PowerPlant. The distance was longer thanmy in-lines maximum range. Instead of a hasty stalk, Iopted to watch him fade into the dark, figuring it’s along enough season, lets not blow him out of our hunt-ing area. I kid my brother because again much to mybrothers liking, the big bruiser lived on. Four days lateron Thanksgiving Day he ran a doe past my brother’slong time stand. It was a big mistake as you can see inthe other photo. Our property definitely could producegood bucks before we started to manage with theWhitetail Institute products but they were few and farbetween. We now put a very good buck down everyyear or it seems worst case two out of three years.


Kendall Gladue — North DakotaI have had lots of experience hunting whitetail deer.

My old man and I have hunted since I was 14 years oldand I am now 25 and have just recently got the biggestbuck of my life. My dad got the biggest deer of his lifetwo years ago. When I learned of Whitetail Institute Ifigured I would try some of its products just behind ourhouse. The most amazing thing was I saw deer justabout every day. These products work and trust me ifthese small plots can allure the deer imagine what awhole field can do. Keep producing these productsWhitetail Institute and I'll produce the results

Stacie Romportl — WisconsinI've only been hunting for a few years because my

husband helped to get me into it when we met, but myluck has improved since we planted Whitetail Institute’sImperial Clover. It used to be that I would see does andfawns and maybe a 6-point buck or smaller but thispast year in gun season I was lucky enough to see thisbruiser 13-point buck walk into range. I tried not to

focus on the rack before I shot so I didn't know what hehad on his head until we walked up on him. I was as sur-prised as my husband. What a great year and a lot ofthanks goes to Whitetail Institute products. We can'twait to try some of the other products from WhitetailInstitute when we move to a bigger piece of land.

Jeff Swortzel — Virginia

The Beaver Dam Hunt Club was formed several yearsago, in Bedford County Virginia. At the time of incep-tion, the club founders got together and decided onpursuing a Quality Deer Management strategy. We seta harvest rule that mature bucks must have antlersextending at least to a point even with the tips of theears, and have eight points or more to be harvested.We began reading about and beginning to understandthe basics of the QDM strategy, immediately we beganto believe our buck to doe ratio was out of balance.

We began harvesting does and passing up youngbucks in an attempt to balance our buck to doe ratio.We wanted to give our young bucks a chance tomature, and soon found that achieving the optimum 1to 1 buck/doe ratio was very difficult. At the same timewe started harvesting does, we began planting foodplots and establishing mineral licks. We started our firstmineral licks with 30-06 Mineral supplement, and wereamazed at the size of the holes the deer would dig toget the 30-06.

In the beginning, we had much to learn aboutplanting and soil pH. Many things that farmers hadbeen learning for years. Our first food plot wasImperial Whitetail Clover, and we quickly learned justhow much our deer liked it. Since all of our members,retired from, or worked in jobs other than farming orgame management, we made many mistakes. Wecontinued to follow this course. We made mistakes,

but we continued to learn. Then two ten point buckswere shot one morning, we were beginning to see ourstrategy pay off.

I have enclosed a photograph of a large 160-inchten-point buck killed this year by Tommy Murray, amember of Beaver Dam Hunt Club. Over the years wehave harvested many does, some button bucks by mis-take, but now we are really seeing the benefits ofpatiently following a QDM strategy. We have seen howa QDM strategy of managing deer, working along sideproducts sold by the Whitetail Institute, will make a dif-ference in the size and number of deer harvested.

Todd Fisk — IndianaI’ve tried many other products and none compare to

Imperial Whitetail Clover! It last for many years (5 plus)and is outstanding for drawing and supplying thatextra source of nutrition for all wildlife. I live in farmcountry and the deer have every type of food source

available but still always hit the clover daily! The buckin the enclosed picture scored 151-5/8 and was har-vested following does to an Imperial Clover and PureAttraction food plot. Does hit the plot everyday duringthe rut. What else do you need? 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 you might 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


Deer nutrition remains one of

the fastest-growing

segments of the outdoor

industry. As such, it continues to

attract new players: some informed,

others uninformed. To be sure you

get your money’s worth, rely on

Whitetail Institute products. The

Institute doesn’t even have to tell you

why. The facts do it for us.

Ray Scott, the Institute’s founder

and president, explained the

philosophy on which the Institute is

based.

“I found out many years ago that getting a customeris only a small part of a successful enterprise. Keepinga customer is by far the most difficult — and rewarding— task. Also the most profitable,” Scott said. “So youhave to have two basic things: an unquestionably goodproduct and an outstanding customer service. I found-ed the Whitetail Institute on these principles and after20 years I am extremely proud to have the best prod-ucts in the industry and knowledgeable and responsivecustomer service that is second to none.” Has the Institute succeeded in following Scott’s phi-

losophy? The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” And thefacts show why.

THE WHITETAIL INSTITUTE IS COMMITTED TOHIGH-QUALITY PRODUCTS

Fact: The Whitetail Institute of North America pio-neered the deer nutrition industry. Imperial WhitetailClover, the Institute’s first forage product, is still the No.one food-plot planting in the world and the gold stan-dard by which all other food plot products are meas-ured. Fact: The Whitetail Institute is the only food plot

company that actually breeds many of the plant vari-eties included in its blends through an exhaustiveprocess of genetic selection, cross-breeding and real-world testing. Fact: Whitetail Institute forage products contain

Advantage and Insight, the only clover varieties scien-tifically developed for deer food plots. Fact: The Institute’s research and development team

is lead by top scientists in the fields of plant breedingand genetics. The Institute’s first director of forageresearch, Dr. Wiley Johnson, developed Advantage andInsight. The Institute’s current director of forageresearch, Dr. Wayne Hanna, a world-renowned expertand member or the Department of Agriculture’sResearch Hall of Fame, is continuing to develop newplant varieties for the Institute.

Fact:: The Institute conducts its plant researchand breeding according to strict scientific pro-tocols. For example, Advantage clover wasdeveloped by gathering more than 100 clovervarieties worldwide, crossbreeding them,

retaining only the best offspring for fur-ther breeding and repeating theprocess for seven years.

Fact: The Institute’s forageresearch and develop-ment are scientificallyg o a l - o r i e n t e dtoward producingthe highest qualityforages for deer.Goals include highnutritional con-tent, earlyseedling vigor,and toleranceto heat,drought, dis-ease, browse and

cold — and, ofcourse, extremeattractiveness towhitetails. Fact: Imperial for-

age products areblends rather than

NOTHING BUTTHE FACTS

Why the Whitetail Institute isthe Industry Leader

By Hollis Ayres



single plant varieties. The reason is that blends of multiple plant varieties help theoverall blend perform well in all areas mentioned above better than any single plantvariety could — at least, if those blends are painstakingly developed and tested. AndWhitetail Institute forage blends certainly are. Imperial Chic Magnet is all WINAperennial forage chicory, which is a component of other Whitetail Institute forageblends, such as Chicory Plus, Alfa-Rack Plus and Extreme. The Institute began pack-aging WINA chicory separately as Chic Magnet to meet customer demand. Fact: After initial research and development are completed, potential new prod-

ucts begin the next stages of the Institute’s exhaustive testing process. The processbegins with testing on deer in enclosures, followed by free-range testing at theInstitute, free-range testing at more than 100 Certified Research Stations from Floridato Canada, and then additional free-range testing under real-world conditions by fieldtesters everywhere Imperial products can be grown in North America. Fact: The Institute goes to the extra effort to pre-inoculate Imperial forage blends

that will benefit from inoculants. Fact: The Institute goes to the extra effort to coat its seeds with the finest polymer

coatings available to maximize seedling survivability. Fact: The Institute spares no effort in seeking plant varieties that will perform well

in deer food plots. These efforts have resulted in revolutionary food plot products,such as Imperial Whitetail Extreme, a perennial that will grow with roughly half therainfall required for other perennials, and Imperial Whitetail Winter-Greens, a uniquebrassica blend that outperforms standard brassicas by a wide margin. Fact: Imperial Whitetail Results is a full-spectrum deer feed available exclusively

through Southern States retailers and even includes WaterShed rain technology. TheWhitetail Institute has used an extremely high-quality deer feed of its own formula-tion for years in its testing and research. However, until now, it could not be producedeconomically enough to be made a mainline Whitetail Institute product. Faced withthe choice of reducing product quality or not selling the feed, the Institute chose thelatter. Now that an economical way has been found to produce the feed, it is nowbeing made available to the public. Fact: Whitetail Institute 30-06 and 30-06 Plus Protein mineral/vitamin supple-

ments are scientifically formulated to contain the correct minerals and vitamins in theproper forms and in the correct ratios to provide the best possible nutritional bene-fit to deer. And, they are formulated with taste enhancers, scent enhancers andDevour, a proprietary ingredient that can be addictive to deer, to make these sup-plements as attractive as possible to deer. Fact:Whitetail Institute Cutting Edge products are a wholly unique form of nutri-

tional supplements designed in three stages, each to meet the unique nutritionalrequirements of deer during a specific part of their annual cycles. No other producthas ever attempted to address the cyclical nutritional needs of deer in this way.

THE WHITETAIL INSTITUTE IS COMMITTED TOHIGH-QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE

As mentioned, the Whitetail Institute still adheres to the philosophy of its founder,Ray Scott, by backing up the best quality products in the industry with the best cus-tomer service in the industry. Fact: The Whitetail Institute has a staff of highly trained in-house consultants on

staff and available on a toll-free line so field testers who have questions can immedi-ately get someone on the phone during business hours and be assured that the infor-mation they receive will be knowledgeable. Fact: Many of the Institute’s new product ideas come from interaction with its field

testers. By far, the most common way the Institute gets its new product ideas is bynoticing trends in customer requests. Fact: The Whitetail Institute maintains a network of experts on its in-house and

adjunct staff in a broad range of disciplines related to deer nutrition. This networkincludes Dr. Hanna, Dr. Carroll Johnson, farming expert, Mark Trudeau and numerousothers with wildlife biology and other degrees. Each member of the WhitetailInstitute team is also cross-trained in other disciplines. Fact: The Whitetail Institute publishes Whitetail News, the Number One deer nutri-

tion journal in the world. Whitetail News features informative articles on WhitetailInstitute products, but that’s not all — not by a long shot. In its pages, you’ll findextremely useful articles by the top outdoor writers in the country. Past articles arealso available on the Web. The Whitetail Institute does this for its field testers for free. With as many new companies and products flooding into the deer nutrition and

food plot markets, be sure you don’t fall for a sales pitch that might leave you wish-ing you hadn’t. To be sure that doesn’t happen, look for the Whitetail Institute nameon any product you’re considering. That way you can be sure that you are buying thehighest-quality, most heavily researched product in the industry, and that it will besupported by informed, timely customer service. W




Getting big bucks with big racks takes an exceptionally nutritiousforage, and that can be hard to grow in hilly areas with lightersoils. Alfa-Rack Plus solves this problem. The extensive rootstructure of Alfa-Rack Plus allows you to grow this high-proteinforage in areas that might otherwise be inhospitable to the foodsdeer like best. Alfa-Rack Plus includes our special blend ofalfalfas, chicory, and Imperial Whitetail Clover. When the buckyou are after is King of the Hill, make sure the hill is planted inAlfa-Rack Plus.

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The Midwest is famous for itsfertile soils and agriculturalproduction. Indeed this large

vast swath of real estate isresponsible for much of the world’scorn and soybean production and hasgarnered such nicknames as “TheBreadbasket” and “The Heartland” ofthe United States.

Rightfully, the Midwest has garnered a reputation asone of the most fertile areas in the world. It is becauseof this fertility and agricultural production that the areahas gained another noteworthy reputation: one ofgrowing healthy, large-antlered white-tailed bucks andplenty of them. It is no coincidence that the over-whelming majority of America’s true giant typicals andnontypicals come from this region. Folks that follow big buck production across North

America are keenly aware of the capabilities that stateslike Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Kansas, Wisconsin, Minnesota,Indiana, Michigan and others are capable of because ofthe enhanced nutritional curve here. Many hunters refer


DEBUNKINGTHE MYTH

Food Plots inAgricultural Country are a

Waste of Time By Dean Weimer


This monster buck shot by the author is anexample of what the Midwest produces. Big deerlike this one can benefit greatly from high-proteinproducts like Imperial Whitetail Clover.


to the region as “one big food plot” or a “buffet.” Andin many ways, these statements are right on the money. It’s because of ideas like these that some consider

21st century food plotting to be a waste of time in theMidwest. I’ve heard it many times through the yearsfrom people that feel food plots aren’t needed therebecause nutritional requirements of deer are suppos-edly met here year round. For the purposes of this arti-cle, we’ll focus on overall whitetail nutrition in thespring growing season and beyond, as opposed tocool-season attraction, to try to answer the question offood plot necessity in the Midwest.

A FEW MISCONCEPTIONS

For starters, there are some misconceptions aboutoptimum nutrition being provided in the heartland yearround. Moreover, one of the foods grown commerciallyin the Midwest isn’t necessarily the super food thatmany well-meaning but often misled people think it is. Whitetails in the Midwest are often referred to as

corn fed, and although it’s true that deer love corn —and gain impressive fall body weights in large partbecause of their consumption of it — it’s really not agreat whitetail food. You didn’t misread that last sen-tence. Sure, corn is well received by deer and readily eaten,

especially in fall and winter. But corn doesn’t providegreat nutrition to deer in any season. It is actually lowin protein (about 8 percent) and other important nutri-ents and isn’t used that much outside of the maturitystage. Of course, deer eat young corn plants, but those

plants don’t offer much in the way of overall nutrition.

Research has shown that in order for bucks and doesto optimize growth (whether it is physiological and/orantler growth in bucks or for milk and/or fawn produc-tion in does) protein levels need to be at least 16-18 per-cent year round. What corn in its mature stage pro-vides is carbohydrates, or energy to deer — an impor-tant element of whitetail diets — but not an end-allnutritionally speaking. When corn is provided withother plants like Imperial Whitetail Clover, and otheragricultural crops and natural plants, it can be an awe-some component to a well-rounded diet. Another huge misconception is that deer have great

nutrition here year round. This particular school ofthought has holes all through it. Perhaps the culprit ofthis innocently enough flawed thinking is soybeans.

BEANS, THE MAGICAL FRUIT

Soybeans are a great whitetail food in the legumefamily and they are abundant region wide. They alsohave been the serendipitous and historical workhorsefor antler and body growth throughout the region andother areas. Again, I’m not here to argue that soybeansaren’t a great whitetail food — everyone knows theyare. But are they always present for deer? No. All you need to do is look at what happened in

Spring 2009 to see where this idea that soybeans arealways present to know that soybeans aren’t alwaysavailable. Everyone well remembers the super-wet con-ditions the Midwest saw in Spring 2009. Saturated soilseverywhere kept farmers from getting seeds into theirfields and soybean plants in particular weren’t availableto deer until early June. In a good year, they aren’t real-ly available until mid-late May.

When you consider that the antler-growing processbegins as early as March in many areas, you kind of getthe idea that perhaps farm crops aren’t available todeer year round after all. And we aren’t even consider-ing what happens after soybeans and other commer-cial grains, are harvested. As mentioned, soybeans are a great whitetail food,

but we’ve also looked at why they aren’t always readi-ly available to deer when they need them most.Soybeans are available for deer from roughly late Mayto late October in a good year — about five months. Ifyou consider that waste beans are still consumed afterthe harvest, you can tack on another month — possiblytwo — on top of that. In addition, hunters need to understand that soy-

beans aren’t used during their entire cycle, either. Oncesoybeans germinate, deer flock to them like children tocandy at Halloween. However, after a couple of months,lignin production in the plants makes them less palat-able and therefore less desirable to our deer. Whitetails still use beans at this point in time, but not

as well as they did weeks before when the young plantswere tender and full of vitamins and minerals. Thewhitetail rumen has evolved through millennia into amachine that breaks down less fibrous materials thansome of their relatives. This is why deer are known asselectors in the animal world. When whitetail deer changed from grassland into a

woodland species thousands of years ago theybecame more picky eaters. They evolved to select themost nutritious, tender, and readily palatable parts ofwoody plants long before the advent of modern agri-culture. This also helps to explain why fertilizing andmowing your Imperial Clover plots are very important.

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Try a full “menu” of Whitetail Institute Products at one lowprice… and get a FREE 2-year subscription to “Whitetail News”and a FREE DVD as well! Your Super Sampler Pak includes:• Imperial Whitetail™ Clover — 1/2 acre planting (4 lbs.)• Imperial ALFA-RACK™ PLUS — 1/4 acre planting (3.75 lbs.)• Imperial EXTREME™ — 1/4 acre planting (5.6 lbs.)• Imperial CHICORY PLUS™ — 1/2 acre planting (3.5 lbs.)• Imperial N0-PLOW™ — 1/2 acre planting (9 lbs.)• Imperial WINTER-GREENS™ — 1/2 acre planting (3 lbs.)• Imperial 30-06™ Mineral — 1 lick (5 lbs)• Imperial 30-06™ PLUS PROTEIN™ — 1 lick (5 lbs.)• Imperial DOUBLE-CROSS™ — 1/2 acre planting (4 lbs.)• Cutting Edge™ INITIATE™ — 1 site (5 lbs.)• Cutting Edge™ OPTIMIZE™ — 1 site (5 lbs.)• Cutting Edge™ SUSTAIN™ — 1 site (5 lbs.)

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF CROP

We talked briefly about the start of the antler-grow-ing cycle and how it really starts not too awfully longafter antler shedding. Antler buds start to form as earlyas March in many areas. When you consider that this isof one of the most stressful periods on bucks you getthe idea that they need a highly nutritious food sourceas quickly as possible.This is where an established and well-maintained

food plot of a high-protein legume like ImperialWhitetail Clover can really provide huge benefits forwhitetails that are lucky enough to be exposed to suchfood sources once Earth begins its tilt back toward thesun. When April’s warm rays start the growing cycle over

again, Imperial Clover is the first thing to green-up andis there to provide optimum nutrition to deer while thefarmers are still prepping their machinery. It also willbenefit fawn-carrying does as well as spring’s newarrivals. It’s not always just about the mature bucks that you

have on your property. Science has shown that lactat-ing does require daily protein levels as high as 24 per-cent! And, don’t forget that just over one-half of thefawns born are your future bucks. And speaking offuture bucks, my farmer buddy and I have watchedtwo fawn button-buck brothers all spring and sum-mer. They and their mother have used our ImperialClover plot for several months, and they were lookingexcellent in November. They were big, healthy andready for wintertime. Because of their enhanced nutri-tional intake they were well on their way to a healthy

start in life.Providing Imperial Whitetail Clover to a stressed and

nutritionally challenged whitetail herd several weeksbefore soybeans germinate is the ticket. Jump-startyour herd health earlier than normal and you’ll reap therewards of this added and timely nutritional boost foryears to come.

THE ULTIMATE YEAR-ROUND BUFFET

Of course, the deer will still use natural browse, agri-cultural crops (when they emerge), and other foodsources like alfalfa in hay (where present) because theycherish variety in their diets just like other mammalsdo. Plant a small test plot of Imperial Whitetail Clover,and see for yourself.Also many people don’t understand the correlation

of high nutritional intake in fall and how this can alsoboost the overall nutrition of deer going into winterand how this can translate into better antler growththe next spring. Everyone knows what kind of stress isput on bucks during the rut. After the post-rut rollsaround most agricultural crops have been harvested.What better time for a great food plot to be therewhen they need it most? Again, Imperial Clover plotsare there practically all year, so they benefit the herdnot just in spring and summer. Deer will no doubt con-sume soybeans, corn, alfalfa/hay and natural forbs,mast and other browse species in the months leadingup to spring. If you can also provide Imperial WhitetailClover to them in addition to all these other foods youwill be well on your way to ensuring that they comeinto spring in as good a shape as can be expected

after a tough, long winter.

OTHER BONUSES

We’ve touched on why Imperial Whitetail Clover is agreat food plot planting and how it can enhance theofferings already available to deer in the Midwest, butwe haven’t touched on some of the added bonuseswhen compared to other commercial plot seeds on themarket, or the many commercial agricultural crops thatare planted throughout the area. Imperial Clover has been specifically engineered to

be drought tolerant, super palatable and very high inprotein among other important nutrients. What thismeans is that it will be there for you when you need itmost, working to provide high protein levels duringtimes of stress. Another huge benefit is, Imperial Clovercan do all this for up to 5 years or longer without hav-ing to replant. We’ve also discussed how Imperial Clover will be

there when other preferred deer foods aren’t. Whenyou combine all of the benefits of planting ImperialClover you can see that this decision is a completewin-win for whitetail deer and the hunters who pursuethem. This is true throughout the whitetail range, letalone the fertile, agricultural-rich area of the Midwest. It’s true that deer nutrition is best in America in the

Heartland for obvious reasons. It’s also true that thesoil there is some of the best on the continent, letalone the world. It’s also true that planting ImperialWhitetail Clover can be the missing link in a total andcomplete whitetail buffet in the Midwest and allacross the U.S. W

Imperial Whitetail Clover can provide a year-round buffet for whitetails and turkeys and isavailable to the deer when crops like corn and

soybeans aren’t.

When it comes toforage productsfor whitetail food

plots, there’s no questionthat Imperial WhitetailClover rules the roost. It isthe gold standard — theNumber One food plotplanting in the world, and ithas been so since the beginning ofthe food plot industry. That beingsaid, you might wonder why theInstitute would also offer ImperialWhitetail Chicory Plus, a blend ofImperial Whitetail Clover and WINAperennial forage chicory. In otherwords, “What’s the plus?”

The answer’s pretty simple: WINA's customersdemanded it. And as always, the Institute was listening. One of the things that make Institute products

unique is that each is designed to meet a specific setof conditions and circumstances a customer might befaced with. No-Plow and Secret Spot, for example, aredesigned for customers who need to establish a high-quality food plot in areas with widely varying soil andclimate conditions and where equipment access islimited. The Institute’s other forage products aredesigned to meet the wide array of situations cus-tomers across North America face with regard to soiltypes, slopes, climate, and even the specific goal theywant a forage in a specific plot to serve in the contextof their overall food plot systems. That’s why theInstitute offers such a wide variety of forage products:Every customer’s needs are different, and ChicoryPlus is a prime example.Imperial Whitetail Clover and Chicory Plus are peren-

nial blends designed for the same soil types (good soilsthat hold moisture). So why does the Institute makeChicory Plus? What’s to be gained by planting ChicoryPlus instead of Imperial Whitetail Clover? The answer

lies in what I said earlier: Whitetail Instituteforage blends are designed to deliver thebest performance in a given set of conditions,and that’s why it went with Chicory Plus. The“Plus” refers to specific situations in whichthe chicory component of the blend mighthelp the Imperial Whitetail Clover componentmeet a customer’s needs even better. One situation that has occurred more often

than usual the past few years, especially inthe Deep South, is a trend of excessively hot,dry weather during late summer and earlyfall. Imperial Whitetail Clover is extremelyheat- and drought-tolerant. In times of exces-sive heat and drought, Imperial clover can

protect itself by slowing production. The combinationof Imperial Clover and WINA perennial forage chicoryin Chicory Plus helps keep the plot highly attractiveand nutritious even through periods of unusually hotdry weather until milder temperatures and rains return.

The WINA chicory in Chicory Plus can also keep theplot even more nutritious and attractive at the oppositeend of the weather spectrum, when conditions turnunusually cold in early fall. Anyone who has plantedImperial Whitetail Clover knows that deer feed heavilyon it in early fall as colder weather approaches, and theadditional WINA chicory component in Chicory Pluscan provide more tonnage when the weather turnscold and allow them even better access to the foragein the snow. Chicory Plus also provides additional variety to deer.

There’s no doubt that Imperial Whitetail Clover isincredibly attractive to deer. Even so, variety can gen-erally increase the attraction of the best forage evenfurther. That is, as long as the other plants used to pro-vide that variety are also highly palatable and attrac-tive. And WINA chicory is just that.Before WINA perennial forage chicory was available

to the food plot market, most chicory varieties plantedfor deer were somewhat stemmy and had leathery,waxy leaves — not the most palatable features to high-ly selective whitetails. WINA chicory is vastly more ten-der than such traditional chicories, so much so that onecan even see the difference. WINA chicory is visiblylighter and less stemmy, and its leaves are far less waxythan other chicories. To summarize, Imperial Whitetail Clover is still the

Number One food plot planting in the world, andChicory Plus doesn’t change that fact. Instead, it allowsfood plotters the additional flexibility to meet evenmore specific needs. Now you know why the Institutenamed it Chicory Plus: It provides all the benefits of itsImperial Whitetail Clover plus the increased heat-anddrought resistance, cold tolerance and variety provid-ed by WINA perennial forage chicory. In that way,Chicory Plus is just another example of the Institute’scustomer-driven approach to everything it does. W

CHICORY PLUS —What’s the “Plus”

?

WINA chicory is vastly more tender and less waxy than traditional chicories. So much so that one can even see the difference.



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Coupon Price: $84.95 or $49.95Please send _____ � 6-Pak KRAZE @ $84.95Please send _____ � 3-Pak KRAZE @ $49.95

TOTAL $___ ______

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No charge for shipping and handling. (Canadian residents call for shipping charges.)Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

IMPERIAL 4-PLAY BLOCK™ YOU SAVE Up To $23.95Suggested Retail: $59.90 and $29.95

Coupon Price: $35.95 or $19.95Please send _____ � 2-Pak Blocks @ $35.95Please send _____ � 1 Block @ $19.95TOTAL Including shipping and handling $___ ______

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Please add $9.00 for shipping and handling for EACH block or $17.00 for EACH Double Pack. (Canadian residents callfor shipping charges.) Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

ARREST™ HERBICIDE YOU SAVE $5.00Suggested Retail: $27.95 (1 Pint - .5 Acres)

Price with coupon: $22.95Please send _____ pint(s) of ARREST™ Herbicide. Call for larger quantities.TOTAL Including shipping and handling $___ ______

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Please add $7.00 for shipping and handling for each pint ordered. (Canadian residents call for shippingcharges.) Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

SLAY™ HERBICIDE YOU SAVE $15.00Suggested Retail: $59.95 (4 oz. - 1 Acre Treatment)

Price with coupon: $44.95Please send _____ 4 oz. Package(s) of SLAY™ Herbicide. Call for larger quantities.TOTAL Including shipping and handling $___ ______

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

Exclusive Limited-Edition Art Print YOU SAVE $129.05

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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.

IMPERIAL MAGNET MIX™ YOU SAVE $20-$35Suggested Retail: $119.95 — 6-Pak, $69.95 — 3-Pak

Coupon Price: $84.95 or $49.95Please send ___ Magnet Mix™ 6-Paks @ $84.95Please send ___ Magnet Mix™ 3-Paks @ $49.95

TOTAL $___ ______

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No charge for shipping and handling. (Canadian residents call for shipping charges.)Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

IMPACT™ PLANT GROWTH STIMULANT YOU SAVE $15.00Suggested Retail: $64.95 (32 oz. Jug. - 4 Acres)

Price with coupon: $49.95Please send _____ jug(s) of ImperialIMPACT™ Plant Growth Stimulant.TOTAL Including shipping and handling $___ ______

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Please add $9.50 for shipping and handling for each jug ordered. (Canadian residents call for shippingcharges.) Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

DISCOUNT COUPONS - Order Today!

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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

Or Call Toll Free: 1-800-688-3030 • Fax Orders To: (334) 286-9723

Name: ___________________________________________________________

Mailing Address: ___________________________________________________

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FREE

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FREIGH

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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 Giclée

printing process which is able to reproduce the fullest spec-trum of colors, displaying an extraordinarily vibrant paletteand texture on the finest acid-free paper.

• Each print is numbered and signed by both the artist andRay Scott. (Dimensions: 26” x 31”)

Please send me ______ Art Prints.

TOTAL Including shipping and handling $_________

Retail: $199.00

Pricewith coupon:

$69.95

WHITETAIL INSTITUTE® Field-Tester T-Shirts YOU SAVE $6.00

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Please add $5.50 for shipping and handling — no charge when ordered with other products. (Canadian residents call for shippingcharges.) Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

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

L ______ (Qty.), Color ___, � LS, � SS �

XL ______ (Qty.), Color ___, � LS, � SS

XXL ______ (Qty.), Color ___, � LS, � SS

Pricewith coupon:Short-Sleeves:$13.95

Suggested Retail: $19.95

Long-Sleeves:$15.95

Suggested Retail: $21.95

(P) PINK

(W) WHITE

(B) BLACK

(T) TAN

(O) OLIVE

TOTAL Including shipping and handling $ __________

TAN LONG-SLEEVES

(LS)

WHITE SHORT-SLEEVES

(SS)

Darren Beal — MississippiI killed my first buck

last year when I was 7over our ImperialWhitetail Clover patch.I shot it with my 243 atabout 40 yards. My dadreally likes how White-tail Institute productshave improved our deerherd since he has beenusing them for 11 yearsnow. And I have mynice 8-point on the wallto prove it. ThanksWhitetail Institute.

David Lemery — OhioMy two sons, Evan and Cole, got their first deer over

an Imperial Whitetail Clover field.I wanted my oldest son Evan, 10, to get his first deer

so his little brother Cole, 8, would want to get one also.The morning

of Dec. 20thEvan and I gotup and went tosit on our foodplot. Cole decid-ed to sleep in.When going into our groundblind I pulled thecard out of oneof our cameras

and saw that 9 deerhad fed in the field30 minutes beforewe arrived. I toldEvan to be readybecause I thoughtone might comeback into the cloverfor a late breakfast.At 8:00 a.m. Ilooked up and sawthe 7-pointer look-ing right at us. Evanslowly raised his gun and fired one shot.When we brought the buck home my younger son

congratulated his brother and said he wanted to go outand get his first deer. Cole borrowed his brothers 410and Cole and I headed for our ground blind over ourclover field. At 4:50 I noticed movement in the cornerof the field, I told Cole to get his gun ready. The doe

came down the same trail that Evans buck traveled.Cole shot and the doe ran the same direction as Evansbuck ran. After a few minutes of searching Cole yelled,over here dad, and there right beside where we fielddressed my oldest sons first deer just hours earlier laymy youngest son’s first deer.

TWO BROTHERS FIRST DEER, SAME DAY, SAMEBLIND, SAME GUN, SAME CLOVER FIELD.Thank you! Whitetail Institute for a great product.My sons thank you also.

Mike VandeVen — WisconsinI continuously tell every hunter that I talk to about

Whitetail Institute products. They have made such animpact on my hunting success. They have turned myproperty (40 acres) from sub-par habitat to primehunting. Thank you! I wanted a spot for my children to have a good

chance at harvesting a deer. I am a very avid whitetailhunter but my young son, Paul, didn’t seem to take toit with my passion. Our children are our future so Ineeded to show him some deer so he might be inter-ested. After asking him to hunt with me for four years,he finally said that he would like to give hunting a try.So during our Wisconsin October doe hunt I set him upby a 1-acre field of Imperial Whitetail Clover. After only1-1/2 hours a doe came into the field and Paul harvest-ed his first deer. Imperial Whitetail Clover is easily thebest product. It pulled deer from my neighbor’s land.Before we saw 1-3 deer per weekend now we see 10-15per weekend.A couple of days later he announced to me that he

was going to try for his first buck during our Novembergun season. I was so excited that my son (16 years old)was going to give it atry and spend timewith me. Opening daywas here. I told Paulthat it was ok for himto harvest any sizebuck since it would behis first one. He said,“No, Dad, I am going

to get a big one.”Well he was right!On opening dayhe harvested thelargest buck wehad ever gottenon our land. A 10point buck with ascore of 158” B&C.This buck’s dres-sed weight was

over 200 pounds.The intense size and health of this buck is directly

correlated with my Imperial Whitetail food plots. Beforeusing these products we never saw, much less harvest-ed a deer of this size. Even the does we harvest haveaverage weights that are 20 to 30 pounds more thanbefore we started using Whitetail Institute products.I want to thank Whitetail Institute for the fine prod-

ucts which have not only allowed me to create a muchhealthier deer herd, but more importantly allowed meto spend time with my children. The ability for me to beable to show them so many deer has fueled their desireto participate in the great sport of hunting. This time Iwas able to spend with Paul and experience the enjoy-ment he was able to feel. I will be able to enjoy andreflect on it the rest of my life. Thanks WhitetailInstitute. My son Paul passed away 1-1/2 years after thisexciting hunt. Paul’s stand will always overlook a field ofWhitetail Institute products. Thanks for the memories.

Russell Nitchman — New York

David and his sister Sarah went hunting on the Fridayafternoon following Thanksgiving in a box stand over-looking a small food plot. A mature doe came out andSarah made an excellent shot about a half hour beforedark. It was her 4th deer. Then right at dark, a nice buckwith easy to see antlers stepped out at 132 yards at theother end of the Imperial Whitetail Clover food plot.David carefully aimed the 20 gauge Mossberg slug gunwith rifled barrel and pulled the trigger. At the shot, thebuck bolted across the field to some thick cover. Hewas obviously hit in the front shoulder. 20 minutes laterwe recovered the 3-1/2 year old six-pointer whichlacked brow tines. David was so excited and evenenjoyed gutting his own deer. It was his first deer and Ibelieve that he is hooked on hunting. W


Photos and stories submitted for First Deer… A True NikonMoment will be entered into a random drawing to win a qual-ity product from Nikon. Drawings will be held at the mailing ofeach of the three issues of Whitetail News. Winners will beannounced in the next issue after each drawing. Send your firstdeer photos and stories to: Whitetail News, Att: First Deer,239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043.

www.nikonhunting.com

Imperial Whitetail Clover changed deer nutrition forever. Now after years of painstakingresearch, the Whitetail Institute has added newly 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 optimalnutrition throughout the year for the entire herd. Whether your deer are producing and feedingtheir young or building antlers, Imperial Whitetail Clover provides them with the nutrients theyneed to do it well.

And when the deer get what they need to maintain healthy herds and grow big healthy bucks withimpressive racks, you increase your odds of bagging record-setting deer. For decades now, deerhunters all over North America have enjoyed the results of our innovative and aggressive approachto deer nutrition, and have planted over a million acres of Imperial Whitetail products. All thoseyears of research continues to produce results – in the fields and in the record books. We do theresearch. You see the results.

Since its introduction in 1988,Imperial Whitetail Clover has becomethe standard by which other food plotproducts are judged.

FREE Trial O�er! O�er 1 — only $9.95(shipping and handling)FREE all new DVD; FREE N0-Plow™

FREE Imperial Clover™; FREE Extreme™

FREE Alfa-Rack™ PLUS; FREE Chicory PLUS™

FREE “Chic” Magnet™; FREE Winter-Greens™

FREE Double-Cross™

(each sample plants 100 sq. ft.)

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

®


O�er 2 — only $19.95(shipping and handling)Same as O�er 1 — PLUS:FREE 30-06™ Mineral (5 lbs.)FREE Cutting Edge™ Supplement (5 lbs.)

Whitetail News Vol 19.3

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Transcript of Whitetail News Vol 19.3