Whitetail News Vol 22.3

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For the latest promotions, sales and news visit www.Facebook.com/WhitetailInstitute Vol. 22, No. 3 / WHITETAIL NEWS 3

In This Issue…

Features5 Whitetail Institute of North America:

An Anniversary Celebration —25 Years of Innovation

By Matt Harper Companies that are true pioneers and start an entire

industry are rare. That is exactly what the WhitetailInstitute of North America is…a company that startedthe food plot industry 25 years ago and is stillinnovating to this day.

12 The Power of the Plot By Sam Parrish Food plots bring turkeys and kids together.

15 Keeping Weeds in Check By Whitetail Institute Staff Don’t miss the forest for the trees when it comes to keeping

weeds out of your food plots.

18 Whitetails are Nature’s Superstars By Charles J. Alsheimer Great photos and words capture how the white-tailed

deer is a phenomenal athlete.

26 Unrealistic Expectations By Craig Dougherty Are unrealistic expectations about how large the antlers

will grow on the deer you hunt driving you crazy? Theauthor discusses why it is important to understandwhat your property is capable of growing to maximizeyour fun in the deer woods.

30 Imperial Whitetail Chicory Plus —Chicory and Clover Combo KeepsAttracting Deer Even DuringDroughts

By Whitetail Institute Staff

33 Minerals, Minerals, Minerals By Matt Harper

38 Imperial Whitetail PowerPlant…Welcome to the Jungle

41 From Weekend Warriors to Master’sDegree Food Plotters

By Brad Herndon

45 What’s New with No-Plow? By Whitetail Institute Staff

47 A Magical Season By Cory Roberts

51 What Farmers Have Taught Me By Scott Bestul

57 Ugly Bullies Revisted By Bill Winke

Departments4 A Message from Ray Scott24 Field Testers Report Stories and Photos

29 Food Plot Planting Dates36 Record Book Bucks Stories and Photos

54 The Weed DoctorBy W. Carroll Johnson, III, Ph.D., Weed Scientist and Agronomist

64 First Deer — The Future of Our Sport

Whitetail InstituteOFFICERS AND STAFF

Ray Scott Founder and PresidentWilson Scott Vice President of Operations Steve Scott Vice President, Executive Editor

William Cousins Operations Manager Wayne Hanna, Ph.D. Agronomist & Director of Forage Research Mark Trudeau National Sales ManagerFrank Deese Wildlife Biologist Jon Cooner Director of Special Projects

Brandon Self, Kendrick Thomas, John White Product Consultants Daryl Cherry, Javin Thomas Dealer/Distributor Sales Steffani Hood Dealer/Distributor Analyst Dawn McGough Office Manager Mary Jones Internet Customer Service Manager Teri Hudson Internet and Office Assistant Marlin Swain Shipping Manager

Bart Landsverk Whitetail News Senior EditorCharles Alsheimer, Tracy Breen, Jim Casada, Matt Harper, Brad Herndon, Bill Winke, R.G. Bernier, Bill Marchel, Michael Veine, Dr. Carroll Johnson, III,

Ted Nugent, Dean Weimer, David Hart Contributing WritersSusan Scott Copy Editor George Pudzis Art Director Wade Atchley, Atchley Media Advertising Director

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4 WHITETAIL NEWS / Vol. 22, No. 3 www.whitetailinstitute.com

A Message from RAY SCOTTFounder and President of the Whitetail Institute of North America

Iread Matt Harper’s anniversary article with interestand appreciated the history he put together. So muchhas happened in the last quarter century, not just to

the Institute but to the entire deer hunting world.He made a comment that really caught my attention:

“Ray was never satisfied with the status quo.” I guessthat could pretty much sum up most of my life, especial-ly in my business endeavors. Sitting still sure doesn’tmove you forward.

Plus back in the mid-1980s there was nothing to likeabout the status quo of deer hunting in Alabama unlessyou were satisfied with herds of inferior whitetail. Yetthere we were, all trying desperately to make the best ofa mediocre situation.

Then one magical day I watched the deer grazing onthe buffet I had planted on my biggest field. Time andagain they stepped over the rye and the wheat and theoats to get to the new clover I’d planted, recommendedby my man at the seed-and-feed store in Montgomery.

That’s exactly how and why my search for ImperialWhitetail Clover began. Ultimately the development of adeer-specific forage helped launch a learning curveabout whitetail and protein and nutrition and manage-

ment that continues to this day.Lately I was talking to John White (my second

employee after William Cousins), reminiscing aboutthose earliest days and he reminded me I wasn’t the onlyone who wanted to move beyond the status quo. It wasalso our field testers, our customers. As soon as word ofthe success of Imperial Whitetail Clover spread, we weredeluged with immediate, specific and emphatic feedbackof what deer hunters and managers wanted and needed.Our mission was clear: Listen to our customers.

Alfa-Rack for well drained soils followed as quickly asit could, allowing for full research and development andtesting in the real world. That was followed quickly byNo-Plow, still one of our best-selling products thatenabled individuals without the time, inclination orequipment to plant a food plot.

More products have followed for different conditions— all carefully researched and tested. All an expressionof “YES” to innovation, improvement, and a betterwhitetail experience for all.

Ray Scott

25 Years of Innovation — “NO” to the Status Quo

I was almoststartled whenmy sons Steve

and Wilson said,“Pop, it’s our25th anniver-sary.” I guessit’s true thattime does flywhen you’rehaving fun…

and/or workinghard.

Of course, not all businesses succeed, andin fact, most do not. So when you find your-self still in business and profitable three yearsfrom when you first “hung out your shingle,”you have beaten the odds. To get there, youhad to provide a good product or service thatwas in demand and then more than likelywork your tail off. There are also those busi-nesses that not only remain profitable butalso grow beyond mere sustainability to be-come major players in their industries. These

companies likely have the same characteris-tics as their smaller brethren, but through in-novation, creativity, forward thinking andthe aptitude for taking calculated risks havefound ways to achieve exponential growth intheir respective market.

There is yet another type of company thatstands in a category reserved for the veryfew: the truly rare enterprises that start anentire industry, The pioneers. Imagine goingto a bank or investor and telling them thatyou have a great idea to provide a product orservice that has not only never been heard ofbut doesn’t even fit into any industry cate-gory.

To pull that off requires not only uniquevision, but also the ability to share that visionwith customers clearly enough that theythemselves see the value and need of thisnew innovative concept. Henry Ford is cred-ited by many for starting the auto industry.He did so when horses were still the mainpower source for transportation and roadsystems were limited and primitive. Yet, hehad a vision and that vision led to the cre-ation of one of the largest industries in theworld. An industry that changed the world.

Before the mid 1980s, the concept of foodplots and managing properties for whitetaildeer was by and large nonexistent. There


Whitetail Institute of North America

An Anniversary Celebration — of Innovation

By Matt Harper

merica, the greatexperiment, hasproven thatwhen peopleare given thefreedom to

be the master of theirown futures, they canrealize extraordinaryachievements. It is thisfact that helped buildAmerica into thegreatest nation on ourplanet today. Want tostart your ownbusiness? Go ahead.Work hard, work smartand with a little luckhere and there, you canrealize your dream.

Shortly after the birth of the Whitetail Institute, Ray was joined by his two sons, SteveScott and Wilson Scott, who shared Ray’s passion for deer hunting, deer research anddeer management.

were some places in Texas and possibly otherparts of the country that were practicingforms of deer management, but in terms ofthe hunting industry, food plots and deermanagement were unused and unknownconcepts. In the South, with the conversionof land from traditional farming to pine treeproduction, hunters realized that planting“green fields” was beneficial in drawing deerout of the deep labyrinth of planted trees. Butthis practice was done primarily if not exclu-sively for hunting purposes, and the words“food” or “nutrition” were never part of thevocabulary.

Enter Ray Scott. At that time, Ray was na-tionally known as the founder of B.A.S.S.and Bassmasters and the person responsiblefor popularizing bass fishing and creating na-tional fishing tournaments, which had grownfrom its beginning in the 1960s to a multibil-lion dollar industry. Not content with busi-ness success alone, Ray set out to protect,preserve and enhance the bass fishing re-source and its environment. According toField and Stream, Ray “walks with the out-door gods: Individuals like Teddy Roosevelt,Rachel Carson and Aldo Leopold. They listedhim among the ‘Twenty Who Have Made aDifference’ in the American outdoors overthe past century.”

Ray also was a deer hunter and hunted inhis home state of Alabama, where, like mosthunters in the area, he planted and huntedgreen fields. The green fields on Ray’s prop-erty consisted of the traditional forages ofwheat, rye and oats, but as you can imagine,Ray was never satisfied with the status quo.He planted all kinds of forages trying to findwhich produced the best results, and amongthese was a clover that produced better re-sults, attracting and holding more deer thanthe other forage varieties planted on theproperty.

His wheels began turning, and a theorytook shape that whatever deer-attractingcharacteristics that particular clover varietypossessed could be expanded upon whenthey were identified. Ray thought that plantgenetics held the answers to these questions,so he sought out one of the leading plant(more specifically, clover) geneticists in thecountry, Dr. Wiley Johnson, who hadhelped develop the clover he had tested. Themen started a research project that wouldeventually result in the first-ever forage va-riety genetically designed specifically forwhitetail deer. The resulting ImperialWhitetail Clover would be the flame that ig-

nited a new industry.“That whitetail deer hunting has been en-

riched by a nationwide proliferation of foodplots and plantings can’t be overstated, but infact the domino effect set in motion byWhitetail Institute goes much further thanthat,” said John Zent, editorial director forthe National Rifle Association magazines.“Innumerable species — everything fromsongbirds to black bears — are now thrivingin habitat enhanced purely through privateinitiative. In addition, this DIY conservationethic has helped to generate its own real es-tate boom as hunters make a commitment tobecome land managers and wildlife man-agers. America’s wildlife has benefited, andso too has the economy of many rural com-munities.”

With the development of Imperial White-tail Clover, a new company was created; acompany founded upon strict requirementsof research and results. In 1988, Ray opened

the doors to the Whitetail Institute of NorthAmerica, the first and only company at thattime whose sole purpose was researching anddeveloping forages and forage blends specifi-cally for whitetail deer management. A newterm was coined as well, taking the place ofgreen field: “food plot.” In the developmentof Imperial Whitetail Clover, it was deter-mined that protein content contributedgreatly to attraction. The higher the proteincontent, the more attractive the clover be-came. At that time, protein was a little-under-stood and seldom-used word in deer huntingcircles. However, researchers at the WhitetailInstitute quickly learned of the vital role pro-tein plays in a deer’s life including antlergrowth, lactation, and muscle and bonegrowth. This knowledge led to the conceptthat not only could you attract more deerwith Imperial Whitetail Clover, but becauseof high protein content, Imperial Cloverwould also provide improved nutrition and


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in turn a better quality deer herd. The com-bination of nutrition and attraction resultedin a planting that was truly a food plot.

“‘Nothing happens until something is sold’is one of the great quotes of all time,” notedoutdoor writer and deer expert Charles Al-sheimer said. “I learned a long time ago thatthis quote applies to Ray Scott and all thefolks at Whitetail Institute. Over the last 25years, they've led the way and sold huntersand landowners on how they can have betterdeer and better deer hunting.

Without their vision, great products, anddissemination of information, the whitetail'ssuccess story would not be what it is today.Simply put, nobody does it better thanWhitetail Institute.”

Shortly after the birth of the Whitetail In-stitute, Ray was joined by his two sons, Steveand Wilson Scott, who shared Ray’s passion

for deer hunting, deer research and deermanagement. Although the Whitetail Insti-tute was still a fledgling company, the Scottshad a much greater vision of a company thatwould provide food plot and deer nutritionalproducts to hunters all across the country.

“When we first began testing clovers in the’80s, other seed types, both annuals andother perennials were included in the testing.While our main focus was on finding and de-veloping clovers that met the high standardswe were searching for, we knew that in cer-tain circumstances other forages also had aplace in a deer hunter’s management plans,”Wilson Scott said. “The early research iden-tified certain other forages that deserved fol-low-up research. We expanded our testinglocations to cover all of North America andCanada to be sure the products we offeredwere the absolute best forages available andcould thrive in both the harshest cold north-ern climates as well as the hot/dry DeepSouth. This research, which continues today,is what sets the Whitetail Institute’s productsapart.”

Based on this national vision, researchersat Whitetail Institute recognized that vari-ables existed from region to region includingsoil type, climate and specific supplementalnutritional needs of deer. Using the sameprinciples that governed the development ofImperial Clover, Whitetail Institute redou-bled and expanded research efforts to designnew products that would provide for theneeds of a wide variety of management con-ditions. However, they did not follow thepath of some companies that forgo this exten-sive research in order to simply enlarge theirproduct portfolio. Their philosophy of exten-sive research to find vetted, proven, perform-ing products remained the very cornerstoneof their business.

“All Whitetail products go through an ex-haustive research program before ever reach-ing the marketplace. First, they have to gothrough initial testing at various WhitetailInstitute facilities, and if they make itthrough that stage, then they have to make itthrough expanded testing at satellite researchfacilities all over North America,” Steve Scottsaid. “And if they make it through that stage,then they are tested in the real world withfield testers all across the country. These fieldtesters are just regular guys who love huntingand enjoy being involved in the process ofhelping test and evaluate potentially the nextgreat thing or things. They use their ownequipment and plant the various products ex-

actly the same way that hunters acrossAmerica will eventually do if the productmakes it through this last research stage. Thisresearch is expensive and most often a longprocess, but it all goes back to Ray Scott’s vi-sion — no product will carry the WhitetailInstitute brand unless it has proven to be theabsolute best.”

Because of the hundreds of variables in-volved in whitetail deer research, WhitetailInstitute designed their research program toremove as many of these variables as possible.A concept was developed to begin with con-trolled micro research, and then expand theresearch protocol to eventually end withmacro research. Micro research is conductedon a small and controlled test set. With foodplot forages, this often starts in a greenhouse


Dr, Wiley Johnson was the originalDirector of Froage Research for theWhitetail Institute and is credited withthe development of Imperial WhitetailClover.

Today, Dr. Wayne Hanna, a member ofthe U.S. Agriculture Research Hall ofFame heads up seed research anddevelopment for the Whiteteail Institute.


under specific environmental conditionssuch as moisture and temperature. This way,forage samples can be tested for drought re-sistance, heat tolerance, disease resistanceand so on. From there, small test plots areplanted under less-controlled conditions andevaluated. This step is especially importantwhen testing blends of forages to evaluatecompatibility, seeding rates and other quali-ties.

Forages that pass this early testing go intolarge, semi-wild high-fence enclosures. Theseenclosures are maintained to simulate asclose to a wild, free-range environment aspossible. The next step is testing which isconducted at certified testing stations in var-ious parts of North America.

The testing is done on wild, free-rangingdeer but then is closely monitored by trainedresearchers. The last phase in testing is tosend the product to a large group of fieldtesters in nearly every region of whitetailcountry. Then, and only then, will a productbe considered for the Whitetail Institute’sline of products. The products that make thecut are only A-Grade products. Even then, ifa product does not fill a need for deer huntersor managers, it will not be added to the line.

The methodology and detail by which theWhitetail Institute tests its products removeas much variability as possible and helpsguarantee success to the customer. It is thisresearch process that has led to products suchas Imperial Alfa-Rack Plus, the first peren-nial food plot product on the market contain-ing grazing alfalfa designed for well-drainedsoils. Also, it produced Extreme, the firstperennial food plot product on the market de-signed for poor quality soils and limited rain-fall, and Imperial Winter-Greens, the mosthighly palatable and attractive brassica prod-uct the Whitetail Institute has ever tested.And this research protocol was not just usedfor food plot products but also for mineral/vi-tamin supplements such as 30-06 and 30-06Plus Protein, as well as nutritional supple-ments like the Cutting Edge line of products.These are only a small handful of the prod-ucts researchers have developed during thepast 25 years at the Whitetail Institute.Throughout its history and still today, re-search is the backbone of the products fromthe Whitetail Institute.

“I’ve greatly enjoyed knowing the peopleat the Whitetail Institute for many years. I’mimpressed by their innovation, professional-

ism and commitment to excellence,” saysGordy Krahn, editor-in-chief at North Amer-ican Hunter. “They have led a revolution thatis the food plot industry. I congratulate themon this incredible achievement!”

All the research and testing in the worldmeans very little without proven results. TheInstitute’s goal is not just to develop productsbut to see the results their products producefor their valued customers. So what do theresults look like? Well it could be said that theWhitetail Institute leads the industry in in-novation, or it could be said that millions ofacres of Whitetail Institute products havebeen planted. It could also be said that pro-fessional deer managers trust Whitetail Insti-tute products above all others. But I think thebest way to relay the results of Whitetail In-stitutes products during the past 25 years isto take a look at the tens of thousands of tes-timonials that have been received. Here isjust a sampling that have appeared in theWhitetail News.

“First of all, I want to praise Whitetail In-stitute for their awesome Imperial WhitetailClover. It has really helped the deer on ourfarm over the past several years. It has totallychanged not only how we hunt the deer but

the caliber of deer on the farm” — Rick Sweeney, Tennessee

“Since we started using Whitetail Instituteproducts, we have killed some very nicebucks. We have bigger-bodied deer and anoverall healthier deer herd.”

— Samuel Stoltzfus, Pennsylvania“Everyone at Whitetail Institute was great

and easy to work with. I asked a lot of ques-tions, but they were always good listeners. Ihave used Imperial Whitetail Clover, No-Plow and PowerPlant, and I have more andbigger deer.”

— Mark Gadbaw, Missouri“We have been using Whitetail Institute

products for six years now. Currently, wehave No-Plow, Extreme, Chicory Plus andseveral 30-06 mineral sites. We get multiplebucks throughout the year on our plots andmineral sites.”

— Mark Mabry, OhioThe Whitetail Newswas started soon after

the Institute was founded to educate fieldtesters and to satisfy a public that thirsts forthe latest information about seed blends, howto plant, what to plant, when to plant and thegreat results that can be realized.

“I remember when I started as editor of theWhitetail News almost 17 years ago,” saidBart Landsverk, senior editor. “The Newswas 24 pages on newspaper stock. Now weboast between 68 and 80 pages of informa-tion. And now the Whitetail News is online,which could never have been imagined 17years ago. I’m very proud of what the White-tail Institute has pioneered over these 25years. And I’m very proud to be a small partof it.”

Wade Atchley of Atchley Media has beenthe account executive for the Whitetail Newsfor 19 years. He also marvels at the successof the Institute.

“Every industry has a point in time whenone idea changes and accelerates everythingwithin that industry,” he said. “It not onlyimpacts the way the entire industry thinksbut strongly affects the direction in which theindustry moves in to the future. In 1988,Whitetail Institute of North America becamethe ‘game changer’ of the hunting industryand today continues to lead the industry inproducing innovative deer nutritional prod-ucts and scientifically proven methods formanaging whitetail deer.”

Authentic industry leaders are true game-changers and courageously lead so others canfollow. The Whitetail Institute of NorthAmerica created the deer nutrition industryin 1988, and 25 years later continues to forgenew trails so all hunters can fully enjoy themost prolific game animal in North America:the whitetail deer.

Outdoor writer Brad Herndon said, “I havebeen writing for the Scott family for severalyears, and it is my pleasure to be able to saythat not only do they have fine products, theyare fine people, which makes doing businesswith them a double blessing.

For me, it hardly seems possible that theWhitetail Institute, the industry leader, hasbeen selling its highly nutritious products todeer hunters for 25 years, but it is, in fact,true. It's also true that as the use of fine prod-ucts such as Imperial Whitetail Clover, Alfa-Rack, Extreme and others increasedthroughout the years, the annual number oftrophy buck entries into the whitetail recordbooks also increased dramatically. As an ex-pert in this field of research, I can assure youthere is definitely a connection between thetwo.

It will be fascinating to see what the next25 years will bring in the deer nutrition fieldfrom Whitetail Institute of North America.I'm betting that the best is yet to come.”

Over the past 25 years, the Institute has re-ceived continuous feedback from field testerswho are enjoying the best deer huntingthey’ve ever had. This feedback is what tellsthe folks at the Whitetail Institute that the re-search is paying off and is why, even after 25years, the Whitetail Institute customer basegrows every year.

Twenty-five years of business is a mile-stone to celebrate in any business. But 25years in a business that launched an entirenew industry is testament to the leaders ofthe company, the knowledgeable employeesand the value of the products that they pro-duce. In truth, you need all of the pieces forlongevity — foresight, vision, hard work anda commitment to the customers they serve.These are the ingredients that have made theWhitetail Institute a successful enterprisethrough the years. But what makes WhitetailInstitute truly a great company is that likeRay Scott 25 years ago, it will never be con-tent with the status quo. As you read this ar-ticle, new research is being conducted andnew products are being tested. Rest assured,more innovative products from Whitetail In-stitute are just over the horizon. W


The Lovstuen buck,the largest free-ranging buck everkilled by a hunter, wasphotographed manytimes and shot in anImperial WhitetailClover field.

f you’vechasedgobblersmuch thepast fewyears,

you know the power ofthe plot. Food plotsand spring turkeys gohand in hand. Freshgreen growth attractshens early in spring.Gobblers follow,strutting and gobblingin open areas, trying toimpress the ladies anddeter rival toms. Andin summer, clover plotsattract and holdinsects, providingcritical food forgrowing poults.

But as great as food plots are for all turkeyhunters, they’re even better for a special seg-ment of the 10th Legion: young hunters.Clover patches and similar plots often attractbirds early in spring, when many states holdyouth hunts. Further, these open areas letchildren see turkeys do their thing, and theiradult mentors can walk the neophytes

through every step of the process. In addi-tion, assuming everything comes together, anopen plot allows for an easy, sure-kill shot.

But don’t take my word for it. Listen to twoexperts — Erik Landsverk and Kolton Atch-ley, young hunters who shot gobblers overWhitetail Institute products last spring.

Kolton’s Hunt

As in previous years, Kolton and his dad,Wade Atchley, went to their favorite spot forAlabama’s youth turkey hunt: an ImperialClover plot in a place they call Charlie’s Bot-toms.

“Since I had scouted the area for severalweeks, I noticed that four two-year-olds werekeeping the plot company most every after-noon, so it was an easy choice for opening

day,” Wade said.The hunt started in classic fashion, with a

barred owl hooting in the distance beforesunrise. That was quickly followed by a thun-derous gobble.

“He was right where he was supposed tobe,” Wade said. “As Kolton and I venturedfrom the plot edge into the timber, the birdbegan to light up the morning with endlessgobbles, even though it was still pretty darkinside the timber draw leading to his perch.At about 75 yards from his vantage point, Ihad Kolton walk ahead of me another 20yards and park below a nice-sized hickory. Isettled in between two good ol’ southernpines.”

Darkness began to give way to morningsunshine, and another bird gobbled nearby,not far from the first longbeard.

“And without hesitation, I knew Koltoncould not resist the urge to turn around andsmile at me,” Wade said. “Thank you, God,for giving me such a fun-loving son.”

But then it was time for business, as Wadehad to let the gobblers know a hot hen waswaiting for them on the hillside next to theclover plot.

“After a few soft tree yelps, the two oldboys really got cranked up,” he said. “Thenon purpose, I let 10 minutes pass withoutmaking another peep. Which, of course, hadKolton looking back at me with that lookonly fathers know best: ‘What are youdoing?’ ‘Teaching you, son.’ After I gave hima big smile, I let out a flurry of soft tree yelpsand then a very aggressive fly down cackle,which sent the two longbeards into an ab-solute frenzy. It had been a long time since Iheard two birds get into such a war of gob-bles.”

Within minutes, father and son heardwings beating as the birds pitched to theground down a draw to the south.

“As soon as I knew they were on theground, I began to purr and rake the fallenleaves around me, and that was more than


The Powerof the PlotFood Plots Bring Turkeys and Youngsters Together

By Sam Parrish

Kolton Atchley showsoff his bird shot inImperial No-Plow.

the bachelors could take,” Wade said.“Within a few seconds, barreling up the drawwas not one, not two, not three, but four bar-rel-chested longbeards fighting over who wasgoing to get there first.”

Wade watched the race unfold, and thebirds began to fight for the right to strut andeventually breed the hen they’d heard.

“All I could do was snicker and grin,” hesaid. “Then, just as quickly as the morninghad started, all four birds broke the 25-yardbarrier, and the leader of the gang metKolton's old youth-model 20-gauge for thefirst and final time. Thank you, Whitetail In-stitute, for making not only a great productfor deer, but food plots that turkeys like tocall their own as well.”

Erik’s Hunt

“I had never shot a turkey before, so I wasexcited the night before we headed out into

the woods,” Erik said. “It was really early inthe morning, and I was still incredibly sleepy,even after napping in the car. I had only fourglazed donuts in me, and I was still hungry.”

Erik and his father, Bart Landsverk, satunder a tree at the corner of a cornfield. Barttold Erik they would wait there until birdsbegan gobbling.

“Gnats were already buzzing around myhead, and for a while, all I heard was ‘buzz,buzz,’” Erik said. “By 6 a.m., we had onlyseen a hen on the field we were hunting.Then we heard some distant gobbles in thefar back corner of the woods. We quickly ranto our van, drove part of the way toward thegobbles and walked the rest of the way to ourspot.”

Bart and Erik set up, and Bart began call-ing. Some gobbles echoed back in response.

“We waited for about 20 minutes, and thenthree jakes walked out 15 to 20 yards in frontof me,” Erik said. “These jakes had walkedright from a food plot we’ve had planted formany years.”

Erik slowly inched his 12-gauge toward hisshoulder, trying to ignore the gnats, mosqui-toes and other insects that buzzed near hisears.

“The bugs were so bad that I almostflinched,” he said. “But I knew I couldn’tswat at them because I would scare away theturkeys.”

With his gun finally in position, Erik triedto line up a bird.

“My dad said to wait for one of the turkeysto stray away and separate from the group.Finally, one gobbler split off from the others,so I followed him with my red dot, and the‘boom’ followed.”

It was a good shot, and the gobbler was his. “I was very excited to have shot my first

turkey,” Erik said. “It was a day that I’ll neverforget.”

Conclusion

If you’ve used Whitetail Institute productson your property and you’re a turkey hunter,you probably have similar stories. Food plotsand young turkey hunters go together like,well, a striker and pot call.

Consider taking a youngster on a food-plotturkey hunt this spring. The thrill of seeingan old longbeard strut and gobble for a gaggleof hens is something not to be missed. But I’llwarn you: It’s even better to see the look ofawe and joy on a youngster’s face after hecompletes a successful hunt for that bird. W


Erik Landsverkshot his first-everturkey while

hunting near afood plot.

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t’s often said thatdeath and taxes arethe only certainties inlife. We hunters andmanagers, though,

know that there’s athird certainty: No matterhow well we prepare ourseedbeds, and plant andmaintain our food plots,grasses and other weeds aregoing to show up in them atsome point. When thathappens, knowing how todeal with them can beconfusing if you only focuson a particular method (atree) instead of following anintegrated approach (theforest). This article willhopefully clear up some ofthat confusion.

To get the most out of this article, you’llfirst need to have a good, general understand-ing of a few preliminary matters:

Preliminary Understandings

What is a weed? Scientists use the termweed when describing any plant that’s grow-ing where it’s not wanted. In this article,

we’ll use the same term when describinggrasses and other weeds generally. When dis-cussing specific general types of weeds, we’lluse common references such as grass forweeds that look like grass, woody weeds forweeds like briars that have a woody, hardstem, and broadleaf weeds as a catchall formost other types.

Weed Control Methods

Cultural Weed Control: Any practicethat enhances crop growth and uniformity iscalled cultural weed control. Examples in-cluding ensuring that soil pH and nutrientlevels are, and remain, optimum for the for-age to be grown on the site.

“Uniform crop growth is the single mostpowerful form of weed control in any crop-ping system, including food plots.”

— W. Carroll Johnson, III, Ph.D

“Physical” or “Mechanical” WeedControl: Physically removing or destroyinga weed or its seeds, rhizomes or roots. Exam-ples include repeated ground tillage beforeplanting, and periodically mowing perennialsin the spring and summer. “Chemical” Weed Control: Herbicides.

For our purposes, there are two kinds of her-bicides: non-selective and selective. Non-se-lective herbicides don’t discriminate betweenforage plants and weeds. Instead, they cankill or damage any plants they enter. Non-se-lective herbicides include glyphosate, the ac-tive ingredient found in many Roundupbrand herbicides and generic equivalents. Se-lective herbicides, such as the Whitetail In-stitute’s Arrest and Slay, kill or damage someplants without harming others when used asdirected — and be sure to use them as di-rected. Otherwise, you can get no activity

from the herbicide, or worse, kill or damageyour forage plants. So remember: Before usingany herbicide, consult the herbicide label. Theherbicide label is the only official source of cor-rect information there is. (A detailed articleabout herbicides is available at this link:http://www.whitetailinstitute.com/news/index.php?topic=753.0.)Integrated Weed Management: An ap-

proach to weed control that incorporates cul-tural, physical and chemical weed-controlmethods to the extent appropriate for the for-age.

The Forest (Goal): Healthy,Vigorously Growing Forage

In his article, “Integrated Weed Manage-ment” (available on-line at the WhitetailNews Archives link at www.whitetailinsti-tute.com), Dr. Carroll Johnson explains thatphysical, cultural and chemical weed controlmethods should be considered a three-leggedstool. When it comes to things that will helpkeep grasses and other weeds from negativelyimpacting the quality of your food plots,nothing is more important than making sureyour forage plants are healthy and growingvigorously. Making sure your forage plantsproduce as they should throughout their in-tended life isn’t hard. You just need to be sureyou know what the steps are, and then followthem. For purposes of this article, we’ll groupthe steps into two categories: seedbed prepa-ration and forage maintenance.

Seedbed Preparation

Cultural Weed Control Steps:Select the correct forage for each site:

Different forage-plant types grow better incertain soil and slope conditions than others.Let’s use as examples Imperial Whitetail


KEEPING WEEDS IN CHECKDon’t Miss the Forest for the Trees


Clover and Imperial Whitetail Extreme, twoWhitetail Institute perennial forage productsdesigned for different soil conditions. Impe-rial Whitetail Clover is designed for “goodsoil” (soils that have the ability to retain somemoisture) in flatter sites. In contrast, Ex-treme is designed for sites that are welldrained—areas with lighter soils that tendnot to retain as much moisture, and that canalso be more highly sloped. Because thesetwo products are at the opposite ends of themoisture-requirements spectrum, neithermight perform as well as it should if plantedin a plot with the soil type and slope forwhich the other is designed. It’s easy to de-termine what Whitetail Institute forage prod-uct is right for each of your plot sites. Anarticle explaining the process in detail isavailable at www.whitetailinstitute.comunder the “Products” link. Laboratory Soil Testing: If possible, have

your soil tested by a qualified soil-testing lab-oratory. Only a qualified soil-testing labora-tory can tell you exactly what your soil pHand soil nutrient levels are, and exactly whatlime and fertilizer you might need to add toget the soil in optimum condition for yourforage planting. If possible, try to decide whatyou’ll be planting so that you can note thaton the soil-test submission sheet. That willallow the lab to tailor its recommendationsvery precisely for the particular soil type andforage. If possible, it’s also a good idea to haveyour soil tested at least several months in ad-vance of planting so that you can work in anylime you need early to give it more time towork.Addressing Soil pH if it is low: The

most important factor you can control tomake sure your soil is in ideal condition foryour forage planting is to make sure that soilpH is neutral (between 6.5 and 7.5). Whensoil pH is acidic (lower than 6.5), then someof the nutrients in the soil are bound up inthe soil and not available to the forage plants,and the lower soil pH is, the more nutrientsare unavailable. Generally, if you plant in soilwith a soil pH of 5.0, more than half of thefertilizer you put out can be wasted becausethe forage plants can’t get it. Having your soiltested by a qualified soil-testing laboratory isthe only way to be absolutely sure you knowwhether you need to add lime to the seedbed,and how much and what blend of fertilizeryou need to add to the soil for your seedbed

to present optimum growing conditions toyour forage plants.

If your soil test report shows that your soilpH is acidic, don’t be surprised. Most fallowsoils are acidic. If your report shows that yoursoil pH is acidic then it should also give youa recommendation for how much lime to addto the soil to raise soil pH to optimum levels.Add the lime as soon as you can, and disk ortill it into the top few inches of the seedbedso that it can go to work as quickly as possi-ble. This is extremely important if your for-age plants are to flourish. Raising soil pH toneutral levels can also make it harder forweeds and grass to grow.Fertilizing: Unlike lime, which should be

applied a few months in advance of plantingif possible, fertilize according to your soil testrecommendations immediately before plant-ing. The three numbers separated by dasheson the front of bags of blended fertilizer are(in order from left to right) nitrogen, phos-phorous and potassium. Generally, nitrogenfertilizer dissipates more rapidly than phos-phorous or potassium when the fertilizer isapplied and exposed to the environment.Waiting to apply fertilizer until just beforeyou plant will help you be sure your fertilizeris at full strength when the forage plants ger-minate and begin to grow.Planting Depth: So far, we’ve talked

about soil pH and soil nutrient levels. These

are covered in the planting and maintenanceinstructions for each Whitetail Institute for-age product, which can be found on the backof the product bags and also at www.white-tailinstute.com. Be sure that you also followthe instructions about whether to cover theseeds or not. Most Whitetail Institute foodplot products are small seeds, which shouldbe left on top of a smoothed, firm seedbed.The exceptions are Imperial Whitetail Pow-erPlant, Whitetail Oats Plus and Pure Attrac-tion, which should be covered by a light layerof loose soil. If you’re not sure how to prepareyour seedbed for seeding, contact the White-tail Institute’s consultants for advice.

Physical or MechanicalControl Steps

Repeated Ground Tillage (Optional):Does the soil in your food plot site containlots of dormant weed seed? In most areas ofthe United States, fallow ground is heavily in-fested with dormant weed seed, so chancesare, the answer is “yes”— and if you’ve evertilled your soil and had weeds quickly sprouton their own, that answer is even more cer-tain. In such cases, it can help to till the soila few times at two-week intervals during thesummer before planting. Doing so can bringdormant weed seeds to the surface, allowingthem to sprout and start growing, only to bekilled the next time you disk or till. A two-week interval generally works well since anyweeds that are going to sprout will usuallyhave done so by then, and they won’t be oldenough to flower and produce their ownseeds within just two weeks. If you elect toincorporate this step into your seedbedpreparation, try to till to the same depth eachtime.

Chemical Control Steps

Non-selective Herbicides. (Optional):If your site is heavily infested with grass, con-sider performing your final tillage a monthbefore your intended fall planting date, wait-ing two weeks for grass to return, spraying itwith a strong glyphosate spray solution, andthen planting two weeks later. If you elect totake this step, remember to not turn the soilagain after you spray. It often helps to add anadjuvant such as the Whitetail Institute’sSurefire Seed Oil to the spray solution to help


Taking a soil test is essential for you tohave your food plot thrive.

boost the effect of the herbicide.

Forage Maintenance

Cultural Weed Control Steps: Soil pH and Soil Nutrient Levels:When

soil pH has been raised to neutral by incor-porating lime into the soil, it will stay in neu-tral range for a while. How long, though,varies because of a number of factors, includ-ing soil type, how much lime was added, andhow thoroughly the lime was initially tilledinto the soil, fertilizer, organic matter andeven acid rain. Since soil pH is so importantto forage health and vitality, it’s a great ideato perform a laboratory soil test any timeyou’re even considering buying lime and fer-tilizer. That way, you can be sure that you’rebuying all the lime and fertilizer you need tokeep the soil pH and nutrient levels in theplot optimum for your forage (and to be sureyou don’t waste money buying lime and/orfertilizer you don’t really need).Mowing: Periodic mowing is a step recom-

mended for the maintenance of Imperialperennial stands. Generally, the Whitetail In-stitute’s maintenance instructions suggestthat perennials be mowed a few times in thespring and summer, and if possible onceagain in early fall. Mowing in a timely man-ner can stimulate new growth as well as pre-vent the forage plants from flowering toproduce seeds. The flowering process robsplants of huge amounts of nutrients and en-ergy. Imperial perennial forages are designedto keep producing for years without reseed-

ing, and by mowing to prevent flowering,you’ll keep nutrients and energy in the forageplants where they’ll be available to your deer.Note: Don’t mow when conditions are exces-sively hot and dry.

Physical or MechanicalControl Steps

(More on) Mowing: Many of the weedswe face in our food plots are annual, uprightweeds that rely on flowering (reseeding) tomaintain their presence in our plots. Giantragweed is an example most food plottershave experienced. In addition to the culturalweed control benefits mentioned above, peri-odic mowing can prevent these weeds fromhaving the chance to reproduce. To get thefull weed-control effect, though, be sure tomow these weeds before they flower.

Again, mowing a couple of times in springand summer, and again in early fall is usuallysufficient. Try not to mow too much off atonce — taking off only a few inches is best.If you take off more than that, then you maytake off too much foliage and/or expose moreof the soil to sun and wind, allowing acceler-ated loss of soil moisture. Also, don’t mowwhen your forage plants are stressed, for ex-ample when conditions are excessively hot ordroughty as we mentioned above.Hand Pulling: How often have you

walked into a plot early in the season andseen just one or two weeds growing? In suchcases, take the time to pull the weed, rootsand all. Consider carrying a plastic bag with

you anytime you’re heading to your plots.That way, you can immediately put thepulled weed into the bag and prevent anyseeds it may still have on-board from drop-ping into your food plot.

Chemical Control Steps

Unlike glyphosate, a non-selective herbi-cide (kills or damages any plant it enters), se-lective herbicides such as the WhitetailInstitute’s Arrest and Slay products are tai-lor-made for keeping grasses and other weedsat bay in established food plots. However, notevery herbicide is OK to spray on every for-age. Generally, Arrest is for controlling mostkinds of grass in any Imperial perennial for-age and in any other clover or alfalfa, andSlay is for controlling broadleaf weeds in es-tablished stands of Imperial Whitetail Clover,and any other straight clover or alfalfa plot.To be certain Arrest, Slay or any other her-bicide will control the grasses or other weedsyou’re facing, and do so without harmingyour forage plants, the first step is to specifi-cally identify the unwanted plants. Then,check the herbicide labels to make sure (a)that herbicide will control or suppress thatspecific weed or grass, and (2) that it is safeto use on the forage that’s growing in yourplot. Again, the official herbicide label is theonly 100 percent reliable source of informationabout the use, mix rates, storage, disposal, andother vital information about the herbicide.

If you’re not sure whether Arrest or Slayis OK to spray on your forage, or whether itwill control or suppress the weeds or grassyou’re facing, call the Whitetail Institute’s in-house consultants before you spray.

Closing Thoughts

If you’ve struggled with weeds and/orgrass in your food plots and haven’t knownhow to approach controlling them, I hopethis article has given you a new vantagepoint. An integrated weed-control plan cankeep your plots as weed-free and grass-freeas possible. In most others, it will help youkeep grasses and other weeds suppressed,meaning sufficiently in-check to minimizenegative effects on the quality of your foodplot. Either way, the practical result is thesame: keeping your food plots as attractiveand nutritious as possible. W


Mowing is animportant step in

forage maintenance.Generally, Imperialperennial stands

need to be mowed afew times in springand summer. But,

don’t mow when it ishot and dry.


By Any Measure…

Whitetails areNature’sSuperstars

By Charles J. AlsheimerPhotos by the Author


’ve had astoried career as anaturephotographer andoutdoor writer.

My travelswith camera have takenme from Australia’sOutback to the wilds ofAlaska and points inbetween. During thisjourney, I’ve filmed avast array of wildlife,from kangaroos togrizzlies.

When it comes to wild animals, there isfriendly debate as to which animal ranks asNorth America’s most athletic. Some arguethat squirrels, big cats or mountain sheep arethe best all-around when it comes to athleti-cism. Others say antelope, bears or birds ofprey top the list.

There is no question that some animalscan run faster, jump farther and see betterthan whitetail deer. However, after pursuingmost of North America’s big-game animalswith camera, I’ve yet to find one that canoffer the whole physical package like white-tail deer. Few animals can live with man andbeast and still survive. The whitetail can. Inshort, it can out-maneuver, out-jump, out-run and out-survive anything walking thecontinent — including man.

Speed Demon

You don’t have to spend much time aroundwhitetails to know they have speed to burn.There may be a few animals in North Amer-ica that can outrun a whitetail, but when itcomes to putting the pedal to the metal orturning on a dime, the whitetail has fewpeers.

On more than one occasion, I’ve been ableto monitor a deer running in the open alongside of an automobile. The top speed I’ve wit-nessed was slightly more than 40 miles perhour. This is pretty impressive consideringthe world’s fastest human barely tops 20mph. Of course, a whitetail really shines in

an obstacle-strewn forest, where deadfalls,thick brush and other natural hazards are thenorm. Certainly topography and natural con-ditions dictate a deer’s speed in each situa-tion, but it’s safe to say that a maturewhitetail can easily run 25 mph in a forestsetting.

The consensus among experts is thatwhitetails are more sprinters than marathonrunners. I’d have to agree with this assess-ment, though I have seen whitetails run upto a mile before stopping.

Scale Tall Buildings?

Through the years, I’ve heard all kinds ofstatements concerning how high a whitetailcan jump. Some say a deer can clear a 7-foot-high fence from a standing position. Otherssay they can easily clear an 8- to 10-foot-highfence if it has a running start.

During the past 25 years of observing andraising whitetails, I have to admit that I’venever seen one clear an 8-foot-high fence. I

have seen many that havetried, but none made it. I haveno doubt that the right deerduring the right conditionscould clear an 8-foot fence,but I’ve never seen it done. Inevery case where I’ve seen abuck or doe try to leap a highfence, they’ve hit it between6-1/2 and 7-1/2 feet high.

Whether they can clear 8-,9- or 10-foot-high fences isimmaterial. What impressesme most about the whitetail’sjumping ability is that itstands only 36 to 42 inches high at the shoul-ders and is capable of catapulting its bodyover obstacles more than twice its height.That’s impressive! By comparison, Olympichigh jumpers cannot clear an 8-foot-high barand most are taller than 6 feet.

In my mind, a whitetail’s horizontal jumpingprowess surpasses its ability to clear highfences. A deer’s ability to chew up yards of

ground with eachbound is leg-endary. Two au-tumn’s ago, I pho-tographed an in-credible breeding-party sequence.An estrous doewas being pur-sued by a domi-nant buck andseveral lesser-racked bucks. Inone exchange, thedominant buck

chased an intruding subordinate buck. Withthe dominant buck bearing down on him,the subordinate buck turned on a dime andran for his life. Unfortunately, a 4-foot-highcattle fence stood in his way. At full throttle,the subordinate buck cleared the fence inone fluid motion. I was shocked by theamount of ground the airborne buck covered.When things calmed, I measured the distance


the jumping buck had flown through the air.It was just shy of 35 feet. I’ve seen a lot ofrunning, jumping and bounding from white-tails in my life, but nothing like that scene.It’s something I’ll never forget.

Heavyweight Contenders

When confronted, whitetails will nearly al-ways attempt to outrun their enemies, be itman or beast. However, there are times whenthey will choose to stand their ground andconfront their opponent. Simply put, theycan dodge and weave or stand their groundand duke it out with the best of them. Eventhe biggest buck has cat-like reflexes thatallow him to elude slashing antler tines.

Of course there are times when “attitudebucks” opt to brawl rather than slash and jabwhen confronted by an adversary during therut. During these confrontations, fightingcan resemble Greco-Roman wrestlingmatches, in which opponents try to out-mus-cle each other by pushing and trying to throweach other to the ground. During these skir-mishes, it’s usually a given buck’s gift ofstrength, balance and leverage that wins theday.

Ultimate Survival MachineIn nature there are no gold medals for

achievement. An animal’s ultimate award isits ability to survive to see another sunrise.For this to happen, each whitetail must useall of its physical and sensual abilities. Every

gift — be it running, jumping, sight, hearingor sense of smell — must hit on all cylindersfor a whitetail to elude danger. When itcomes to surviving, very few animals onearth can stack up to a whitetail. Their speedand jumping ability are legendary, but fewoutside the hunting fraternity know of their



fine-tuned senses.Sense of smell: You don't have to be

around whitetails long to realize that theysurvive more times than not because of theirability to sniff out danger. Of all their senses,their sense of smell is the one that impressesme most. Speculation has it that deer cansmell anywhere from a hundred to a thou-sand times better than man. Truth beknown, we will probably never know whatthe real number is. However, what all deerenthusiasts do know is that a whitetail’ssense of smell is remarkable.

By way of example, my whitetail researchfacility’s south fence line is 450 yards fromthe nearest woods. During the rut, whenthere is a wind out of the south, my buckspace the south fence staring across openspace toward the woods where wild deer arebedded. As they stand statuesque they oftensniff and test the wind coming from thewoods’ direction. This example tells me twothings. They can smell other deer at least 450yards away and they can sift through allkinds of odors to pick up the smell of an es-trous doe. That’s pretty impressive stuff, ifyou ask me.Eyesight:Whitetails might not possess the

eyes of birds of prey, but don’t ever let anyonetell you deer cannot see as well as humans.Research done at the University of Georgiahas shown that deer don’t have the same cel-lular structure as people but they certainlyhave the rod/cone cell make up to suggestthey can see certain colors. Specifically, blueand yellow colors can most likely be seen bydeer. Because deer see very well into the bluewavelength of light, they are able to see ex-tremely well in dim light. So their nighttimevision is very good, equipping them with theability to survive predation any time of theday or night. Hearing: Though a whitetail’s hearing

ability doesn’t get as much attention as itsability to smell, it should. Time and timeagain, I’ve witnessed the whitetail’s unbeliev-able hearing. It’s been my experience that thedeer’s ability to hear far exceeds that of ahuman.

This is better understood through the writ-ings of noted whitetail expert Leonard LeeRue III, who summarizes the whitetail’s abil-ity to hear: “The auditory canal openings indeer and humans are the same size; aboutone-third inch in diameter, but a deer’s muchlarger ear allows more sound waves to be

picked up and funneled.“Another advantage that deer have is that

their range of hearing is much wider than hu-mans’. Most human adults can hear frequen-cies in the range of 40 to 16,000 cycles persecond. I know that deer can hear frequen-cies as high as 30,000 cycles and perhaps be-yond. I often use a ‘silent’ dog whistle whiledoing photography, to get a deer’s attentionand cause it to look at me alertly. These de-vices have been machine-tested to 30,000 cy-cles, and although humans can’t hear them,dogs and deer respond readily.”

When you put all the physical attributes awhitetail possesses together, is it any wonderthat they can survive unlike few animals onearth? They are incredible creatures, and de-spite the many advances in hunting technol-ogy during the past 20 years, man is still at adisadvantage when it comes to outsmartinga whitetail.

Whitetails are the real deal; ultimate sur-vivors. Their athleticism and physical attrib-utes have allowed them to outmaneuver andoutsmart the cagiest creatures for centuries,and this will no doubt be the case until theend of time. They truly are nature’s super-stars. W

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Guests at Ray Scott’s Trophy Bass Retreat will fish in the wake of presidents, first ladies and fishing superstarslike Kevin VanDam, Rick Clunn, Bill Dance and Roland Martin — all amidst 200 acres of live oaks, Spanish moss,whitetail deer and blue herons. And they will also enjoy many outstanding amenities as well as the opportunityto visit with host Ray Scott.

Ray Scott’s Trophy Bass Retreat is located just south of Montgomery, in the heart of Alabama’s Black Belt, a landof rich history, rich traditions and rich black soil that is credited with contributing to the outstanding fishing andhunting that has been treasured by so many generations of outdoorsmen.

Whether you’re with your best fishing buddies, son or father, or important business clientsor employees, your Ray Scott Trophy Bass Retreat will provide an exclusive, one-of-a-kind fishing experience to be remembered.

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CALLFOR SPECIAL DAY

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Eleven-year-old Olivia Winfrey shot this nice 8pointer on opening day with her dad. She used

her mom’s gun on an Alfa-Rack Plus plot planted onher grandpa and grandma’s farm. What a good prod-uct.

Olivia Winfrey – Minnesota

REAL HUNTERS DO THE TALKINGabout Whitetail Institute products…

We have used Imperial Whitetail Clover since the late ’80s with great success. Before using Imperial Whitetail Clover weplanted rye or winter wheat and had some success for the fall but had to replant each year. A big problem for us. Our

property is 130 acres on top of a mountain in New York that we have owned since 1963. It had never been crop land. At firstwe planted rye in the fall to help fill our tags. We were very lucky to bag basket rack size bucks — 4 points and 6 points andeven more common was spikes. After we heard about Whitetail Institute products my father called and purchased a bag of Im-perial Whitetail Clover. We had great success our first season and every season since we see more deer and bigger bucks. Sincethen we opened up more fields and have more opportunity to bag nice shooter bucks. We get three to four years out of ourfields. We took our largest buck to date an 11-pointer (146 B/C) this past year. Imperial Whitetail Clover really works.

Roger Sowicki – New Jersey

In 1972, I purchased 280 acres of farm land in Illinois.The property was initially purchased for farming and

residence. At that time, the deer population was few innumbers and deer hunting potential was not realized.

I killed my first buck by bow on Nov. 9, 1978; it was a10-point, what we call today a basket rack. I have beenhunting deer on my property with both gun and bow eversince.

My property consists of 155 tillable acres, 65 acreswhich is bottom ground bordered by Otter Creek on thewest. The remainder of ground is residence, timber, ponds,and deer plots.

In later years, I started thinking about the remainingground and how to enhance my deer herd; getting bucksand does in balance, along with their health, and developingmy property to attract and hold bucks and does.

I initially started researching food plots, timber man-agement, bedding attractions, and companies that supplyproducts and information on these goals. After a coupleyears of research, I decided on Whitetail Institute of North

America due to their years of research and valuable infor-mation they supply in all aspects of my goals.

Seven years ago, I started with 3 acres of Imperial White-tail Clover. This plot continues to be productive with fer-tilizing and with mowing and spraying for weed andgrasses once a year.

Each year since, I expanded my Imperial Clover plotsin different areas of the property and now have approxi-mately 12 acres in cultivation, some plots as small as 1/2acre. Even my pond areas, where I had fescue planted forerosion purposes, Imperial Clover is now planted.

I plan to plant 4 to 5 acres of Imperial PowerPlant thiscoming spring.

As to my deer population; bucks have increased theirantler size, some now past 170 class; does and fawns seemhealthy with added growth. This property is hunted byfamily and a few friends. We are continuing to try to keepthe herd in balance by maintaining buck to doe popula-tion.

My research results and choosing Whitetail Institutefor its products and information has enhanced my propertyfor deer hunting beyond my expectations. Imperial cloveris so prolific that I still have plots planted producing with-out having to replant.

Attached is a photo of one of my Imperial WhitetailClover fields around a pond and another photo of just oneof the bucks we’ve taken.

Jay Stewart – Illinois


I’ve been hunting for 42 years. The property I hunt nowis 98 acres and I have been there for 12 years. The prop-

erty has hundreds of wild apple trees on it which has beengood for holding the deer over the years.

Two years ago we had a bad freeze in late May and thiskilled all but a few of the apple blossoms. After harvestinga 7-point on the third day of the season I hunted the next17 days in a row without seeing a single deer. The entireseason was more of the same (archery, shotgun and muz-zleloader). Out of a 70-day season I hunted a minimum of60 days, I saw maybe a dozen deer the entire time! At theend of the season I decided that I must do whatever it takesto prevent this from ever happening to me again. Food plotswere the logical step to take.

When spring arrived it was warmer and dryer than nor-mal and I was able to break ground much sooner than I ex-pected. Everything went better then I hoped and I was ableto break ground on seven small plots that total about 6 acres.This was what I hoped to have in by the end of the secondyear. Unfortunately spring also brought another late Mayfreeze which killed all the of the apple blossoms for the sec-ond year in a row. I began by researching all the availablecompanies that were selling seed and what they had to offer.The decision was easy after talking on the phone to thefriendly and extremely helpful people at the Whitetail In-stitute. I started by ordering the free sample seed and DVDso I could decide on what to plant in each plot. I also pur-chased the Whitetail Institute soil sample kits for each plotand told them what would be in each plot.

The information provided for me was simply amazing.Each sample was laid out for the seed that I was using inthat plot and it told me how many pounds of fertilizer andlime to use not only per acre but also per 1000 sq. ft. Thisinformation was e-mailed to me in less than one week. Sincethis was all new to me I followed the instructions to the let-ter. I still had low expectations knowing that this land hasnever been worked before. To my surprise all but plot num-ber 7 came in thick and lush with heavy deer traffic. Plot 7was a name brand seed that was given to me and I have noidea how old it may have been but germination was under10 percent.

During the late summer I was able to take thousands ofpictures on my camera over a Whitetail Institute 30-06 Min-eral lick. Finally hunting season arrived on Oct. 16 andevery day was full of new encounters.

I passed on several small bucks and had encounters with

several larger bucks. I hunt western New York and wouldconsider it to be a good day of hunting if I averaged seeingthree or four deer per outing. This year I had double digitdays of seeing 20 or more and as many as 45 with seven ofthem being bucks. These sightings exceed anything I’ve seenover the last 11 years here by five-fold or more! I would seetwo to 12 deer in the Imperial Whitetail Clover field everymorning and nearly as many in the Alfa-Rack plot. ThePure Attraction plots are more secluded and I would seethe deer in them 9 out of 10 times coming and going to mystands.

Late one afternoon on my Imperial Whitetail Clover plota doe was being chased by an 8 point and at about the sametime a large buck stepped out as well. The result is this 20-1/2-inch wide 9-point that will soon be on my wall! This isthe biggest buck to date for me. I can’t wait to start breakingnew ground in the spring and adding additional food plots.

Keith Decker Sr. – New York

Istarted using Whitetail Institute products about eightyears ago. I started out with a 3-acre planting of Im-

perial Whitetail Clover. The deer loved it. That initialplanting lasted around five years without interventionexcept occasional mowing. My kids started complain-ing after that because the deer sightings went waydown so I resumed using Whitetail Institute productslast year. I put out 30-06 Plus Protein with a littleKraze mixed in, spring, summer and fall. I plantedPowerPlant in June and Imperial Whitetail Clover inearly September. The deer came back! I’ve enclosed aphoto of one of the bucks in our PowerPlant. I can’twait to see what he looks like next fall. I love WhitetailInstitute products. They work!

Mark Lenartz – Michigan

Iwanted to rave about PowerPlant. I decided to trymy hand at planting a food plot this year, and with

the awesome detailed instructions on Whitetail Insti-tute’s website, I prepared and planted my plot withPowerPlant. I was absolutely amazed at how fast theplants sprouted, and thanks to plentiful rain in EastTexas, it gets taller every week. The deer found itquickly, and now it doesn’t matter how heavily theybrowse, it just keeps growing. I can’t wait to see thedifference in antler growth from this and other sup-plemental feedings. PowerPlant has created a ravingfan. Thank you Whitetail Institute.

Steve Boon – Texas(Continued on page 53)

We bought our farm 15 years ago. We would see 5to 10 deer in our fields in winter months. With

the planting of roughly 25 acres in Whitetail Instituteproducts over the last 12 years we now see on average50 to 70 deer in the winter months. We now harvestbucks that score in the 150-170 class each year. Thetwo products that draw the most attention for us areChicory Plus and Imperial Whitetail Clover.

Robert Wert – Pennsylvania

UnrealisticExpectationsAre They Making You Crazy?

By Craig DoughertyPhotos by the Author

urn on hunting TV anynight of the week, andmost likely you will see

a celebrity hunter pass up acouple of 130- to 140-inch

bucks before taking the170-inch Booner he was after.Often after doing a littletouchdown dance, he will grab ahandful of antlers, look straightinto the camera and tell you howyou too can be taking bucks likethis if you’ll just buy whateverhe is selling that week.

What he should be telling you is bucks like the one he just took areas scarce as hen’s teeth, and unless you are managing property locatedin just a few specific regions of the country (with almost perfect con-ditions for growing huge bucks), you had best forget about 170-inchbucks. While he’s at it, he should add that good management can leadto a much better class of bucks on your meat pole and increase huntersatisfaction immensely, but unless you set realistic goals and expecta-tions, you may make yourself crazy.

As deer property experts, we deal with clients every day who areactively managing property for whitetails and hunting. They arepretty much a gung-ho group of landowner/ hunters who are willingto do most anything to create a great hunting property. They createcover, plant food plots, pass young bucks and hunt intelligently. Theydo everything by the QDM book and work hard to implement our rec-ommendations.

Most see results almost immediately. Improved nutrition leads toan average weight gain of about 15 percent. Harvesting more does andletting young bucks walk lead to an improved buck-to-doe ratio andmore and better bucks. They set a shoot-don’t-shoot buck policy —like a 16-inch inside spread or maybe a 125-inch minimum score —and by the third or fourth year, they are taking some nice bucks.

Everyone is happy.Then they start watching hunting TV and their heads get all Boone

and Crocketty again. They raise the bar to 150 inches, and the miserysets in. They forget they are hunting Alabama, Georgia, West Virginia,Pennsylvania or Michigan, and those states and another 30 or so likethem produce very few 150-inch or better bucks—much less many170-inch Booners. They forget that all properties have limitations (in-cluding theirs) that will prevent them from growing deer like they seeevery week on hunting TV. They have set an almost impossible goalfor their property, and within a few years, their hunting buddies areplaying golf instead of planting food plots.

Realistic Goals


Setting realistic goals isimportant to enjoy your

hunting. Neil Dougherty shotthis great buck that was in thetop 10 percent of the bucks on

the property.


This is one of the most prevalent and debilitating problems facedby our clients who experience initial success. Many draw a trend lineand expect to be growing world-class bucks in a few more years witha little more work. Sadly, it most often doesn’t work that way. We sendthem back to their initial site evaluation report and remind them ofthe limitations they face with their property. It could be poor soils,property size or location, or maybe a neighborhood full of yearlingkillers, or even a property plagued with swirling winds or poor access.Virtually every property has limitations that will keep you out of theB&C record book. But that doesn’t mean they can’t have the best hunt-ing place in the county. It simply means they need to establish a set ofrealistic expectations.

When it comes to big deer, the best way to set realistic goals and ex-pectations is to apply the 10 percent rule. That is, set a goal for yourproperty of producing the top 10 percent bucks in your area. Visityour local taxidermist, and ask him what some of the better buckscoming out of your area are scoring. Then get in touch with your re-gional deer biologist, and ask about ages, weights and antlers. If bigbuck contests are held in your part of the world, find out what kindof deer have been entered the past few years.

Put all this information into a hopper (add the top 10 percent fac-tor), and if you push the right button, a shoot-don’t-shoot bar will popout. If you start consistently filling your meatpole with the top 10 percent, you can moveit up to the top 5 percent or even 2.5 percent.And, if you have set it too high, you can al-ways lower it. The trick is to set goals thatare ambitious enough to be challenging andrewarding yet realistic and achievable. Whatfollows is eternal bliss.

Understand, we’re not talking only antlers.Some folks, such as New Englanders andMainers, think in terms of weight. Others,like us and many other QDMA diehards, areall about age. The 10 percent guideline workswith any and all.

And one more thing: With the advent oftrail cameras, it is relatively easy to get a fixon the deer using your property during agiven year. Some thought should be given toputting the green light on a few bucks evenif they don’t measure up. Your bar just mightbe set too high. The goal is to have some fun,and nothing acts like a wet blanket to a campfull of hunters like a “nothing-here-to-hunt”announcement the night before the opener.

Getting To The Top

After you have established a realistic set ofgoals and expectations, you can achieve themrelatively easily if you understand the threecornerstones of creating great deer. Age, nu-trition, and genetics are what deer are madeof, and the deer you see on TV have ampledoses of each. Unfortunately, most propertieswon’t even come close. That’s why you needto set realistic expectations for what you can

produce. That said, it is pretty hard to be disappointed when you arein the 90th percentile or above (county wide).

Age

If you are managing a property of say 200 to 300 acres, raising theage structure of bucks using your property can usually be readily ac-complished. The easiest way is to live in a state that protects youngbucks with antler restrictions, brief buck seasons or some other pro-gram designed to reduce the number of young bucks taken by hunters.If the program is sound and everyone complies, you will see resultsalmost immediately (year two). The second easiest way is to get abunch of neighbors together, form a QDMA co-op and agree to cutback on the young buck kill. The larger the area, the better. The resultswill come slower, but in most cases they are seen in two to three years.The third easiest and yet most difficult way is voluntary restraint byyou and the hunters hunting your property. If the neighborhood isnot hunted to death and you have a sizeable property with plenty offood and cover, and you practice low-impact hunting, you should seeresults in two to three years.

Age will do more to put extra inches on your bucks than anythingelse. Any fool can see that a 3-½-year-old buck will out-measure a

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yearling any day of the week. It would be great if all bucks could liveto be 7-1/2 and express their full antler potential, but that is an unre-alistic expectation. If you can get them to 4-½ to 5-½, you will bethrilled with the antler results and achieve a significant age accom-plishment as well.

Nutrition

Nutrition can be significantly improved on properties, too. Expertsagree that good nutrition is a product of good soils, and good soils canbe in short supply. However, you can always do something to improvethe nutrition on the property you manage and hunt. Food plots areprobably the most popular and effective method of improving nutri-tion. A good food plot can produce tons of highly nutritious forageper acre. We like to see our clients plant three percent to five percentof their property in food plots. The planting ratio should be about 60percent perennial plots versus 40 percent annuals. We like to see

plenty of nice nutrition-rich green stuff pop up in early spring, whendoes are close to birthing fawns and later lactating. Winter-wearybucks also need good groceries in spring to rebuild their bodies andfor antler development. Annuals are fine for attracting deer for fallhunting and pre-winter nutrition, but the best food plot programsshow a balance between annual and perennial plantings.

Enhancing and even planting native vegetation can also move thenutrition needle in the right direction. On the planting side, you canplant all kinds of hard and soft mast species and see results in a fewyears. Native vegetation can be enhanced with judicious use of achainsaw and pruning tool to release mast-producing trees and shrubs.Timber cutting works wonders. Any time you use a chainsaw to bringsun to the forest floor you have done well by your whitetail herd.

A good nutrition program will add weight to your deer and inchesto your bucks. Does, fawns, and bucks on most managed propertiesthat we work with are typically 15 percent heavier than their coun-terparts taken on properties with poorer nutrition. Bucks seem to pro-duce about the same amount of extra antler.

Supplemental feeding can also be used to improve nutrition. It canbe extremely costly when compared to planting food plots or enhanc-ing native vegetation, and we do not often recommend it to clients. Itis also illegal to supplemental feed in many states.

Genetics

Unless you are working behind a high fence, genetics are virtuallyimpossible to affect. According to the QDMA, the average size of aproperty managed by its members is slightly more than 200 acres.There is no such thing as a resident deer herd on 200 acres — or even

500 or 1,000 acres. Sure, some bucks are homebodies and tend tohang around certain areas, but if you think you are going to buya half dozen $5,000 breeder bucks and turn them loose on yourplace to improve the genetic composition of the herd, you hadbetter think again. Chances are, half of them will be three prop-erties away by morning, and the rest of them will die of naturalcauses such as cars, disease or rival breeding bucks within a year.

And if any of them manage to breed with wild deer, by the time theirantler genes are passed on through a few generations, they will be sodiluted they will make very little if any difference in the wild herd.The gene manipulation business is definitely a high-fence game whereyou start from scratch with breeder bucks and does.

So What Do You Do?

Assuming you have set sensible goals, how do you achieve them?For starters, you can purchase a property in an area known for pro-ducing bucks with sizeable antlers or heavy weights. There are soiland mineral belts across states capable of producing deer 20 percentto 25 percent larger than surrounding areas. Working with groundlike that can make life easier. You can also buy into an area (neigh-borhood) where QDM is practiced, and that will help you with theage equation. Some areas also seem to contain deer with better antlergenetics (or maybe it is just the soils). This is an option well worthconsideration if you are in the market for property.

But most have already bought in and already own or lease the prop-erty they are working with. In that case, the most direct path to the90th percentile is age, nutrition and hunting smart. But — no matterwhat — have fun! W


Over the years, we have been more concerned with getting age on our bucks. These deer will always be limited by our soils. But this great buck was taken

on his way to an Imperial Clover plot.


PLANTING DATES FOR DOUBLE-CROSS, PURE ATTRACTION, SECRET SPOT AND BOWSTAND� Call for planting dates

� Call for planting dates

� Aug 1 - Sept 15

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

� Aug 1 - Sept 30

� Aug 15 - Nov 1

� North: Aug 1 - Sept 30 South: Aug 15 - Oct 15

� July 15 - Sept 5

Aug 1 - Sept 15

Aug 1 - Sept 15

� Sept 15 - Nov 15

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

Sept 1 - Oct 30


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

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

� Aug 1 - Sept 15

� Aug 20 - Sept 30

� July 1 - Aug 15

� June 15 - July 15

� July 15 - Aug 31

� July 1 - Aug 15

PLANTING DATES FOR WINTER-GREENS™ AND TALL TINE TUBERS™� Call for planting dates


� July 1 - Sept 10*

� Coastal: Aug 15 - Sept 30 Southern Piedmont: Aug 1 - Sept 15 Mountain Valleys: July 15 - Sept 15


� Aug 1 - Oct 1

� North: July 15 - Sept 30 South: Aug 1 - Oct 10

� July 1 - Aug 30

July 1 - Aug 15

July 15 - Sept 15*

� Sept 15 - Nov 15

� North: Sept 5 - Nov 1 Central: Sept 15 - Nov 15 South: Sept 25 - Nov 15

North: Aug 15 - Oct 1 South: Sept 5 - Nov 1

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

� Coastal: Sept 1 - Oct 1 Piedmont: Aug 15 - Sept 20 Mountain Valleys: Aug 5 - Sept 15

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


� Aug 1 - Sept 30

� July 1 - Aug 15

� June 15 - July 15

� July 15 - Aug 31

� July 1 - Aug 15

* Earlier (spring) planting dates may be ap-plicable. Call Whitetail institute for moreinformation.

** For northern Pennsylvania, earlier (spring)planting dates may be applicable. CallWhitetail Institute for more information

IMPORTANT!For optimal production, plant atleast 50 days before first frost.

Food Plot Planting Guide…


� Apr 1 - July 1

� Apr 15 - June 15 Aug 1 - Sept 1

� Coastal: Feb 1 - Mar 15 Sept 1 - Oct 15 Southern Piedmont: Feb 15 - Apr 1 Aug 15 - Oct 1 Mountain Valleys: Mar 1 - Apr 15 Aug 1 - Sept 15

� Feb 1 - Apr 1 Aug 1 - Sept 30

� Feb 1 - Apr 15 Sept 1 - Nov 1

� North: Mar 15 - May 1 Aug 1 - Sept 15 South: Mar 1 - Apr 15 Aug 15 - Oct 15

� Apr 1 - June 15 July 15 - Sept 5

Apr 1 - May 15 Aug 1 - Sept 15

Mar 20 - May 15 Aug 1 - Sept 15

� Sept 15 - Nov 15

� Feb 5 - Mar 1 North: Sept 5 - Nov 15 South: Sept 25 - Nov 15

Feb 15 - Apr 1 Sept 1 - Oct 30


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

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

� Mar 1 - May 15 Aug 1 - Sept 15

� Feb 1 - Apr 15 Aug 20 - Sept 30

� Apr 15 - June 15 July 1 - Aug 15

� May 15 -July 1

� May 1 - June 15 July 1 - Aug 15

� May 15 - July 1

21

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PLANTING DATES FOR IMPERIAL CLOVER, ALFA-RACK PLUS, EXTREME, NO-PLOW, CHICORY PLUS, CHIC MAGNET AND EDGE

What is Chicory Plus?

Put simply, Chicory Plus is a perennialforage product designed to provide everythingImperial Whitetail Clover does, but with theadditional attraction, production and droughtresistance of the WhitetailInstitute’s WINA-100 pe-rennial forage chicory.Let’s take a closer lookat these compo-nents.

ImperialWhitetailClover Com-ponents.The Impe-rial White-tail Cloverstory is al-ready wellknown tolongtimeWhitetail In-stitute cus-tomers and theindustry in gener-al. It’s the first foodplot product ever specif-ically designed for deer, theNo. 1 food plot planting in theworld and the standard by which all otherforage products for deer are measured.

Like Imperial Whitetail Clover, ChicoryPlus contains perennial clovers geneticallydeveloped by the Whitetail Institute specifi-cally for food plots for deer. And take a mo-ment to consider what that really means. Itmeans that instead of choosing an existingclover variety to serve as the perennial back-

bone of Imperial Whitetail Clover (andChicory Plus), the Whitetail Institute actu-ally developed completely new varieties. TheWhitetail Institute’s research, developmentand testing to develop these clovers was con-ducted with a specific purpose in mind: to de-velop the best clover varieties the Whitetail

Institute could create that satis-fied a broad range of goals

specifically importantfor food plots

for deer. Examples of these goals include at-tractiveness to whitetails, rapid stand estab-lishment, early seedling vigor, rapid growth,sustained palatability, high protein contentand resistance to disease, heat and drought.And also like Imperial Whitetail Clover,Chicory Plus includes specially selected an-nual clovers to help the plot green up asquickly as possible after planting.

WINA-100 Chicory Component. ImperialWhitetail Clover is extremely drought toler-ant. Even so, the Whitetail Institute is neversatisfied, no matter how good a product is,and always looks for ways to improve per-formance. In past years, droughts in someareas of North America prompted WhitetailInstitute customers to ask for a product thatwould boost the drought tolerance of Impe-rial Whitetail Clover even further, and as al-ways, the Whitetail Institute was listening.Chicory Plus is a prime example of how theWhitetail Institute meets its customers’needs.

The Whitetail Institute considered com-bining chicory with Imperial WhitetailClover because of chicory’s general droughtresistance. However, not just any chicorywould meet the Whitetail Institute’s strin-

gent performance standards.Like Imperial Whitetail

Clover and all otherWhitetail Insti-

tute forageproducts,


Imperial Whitetail Chicory Plus —Chicory and Clover ComboKeeps Attracting Deer Even In Droughts

hocan forget

the droughtof 2012? It was one of the

worst in history. If you’re one of thehundreds of thousands of hunters andmanagers who’ve seen first-hand what

Imperial Whitetail Clover can do for yourdeer and you want to boost drought

tolerance even further, consider ImperialWhitetail Chicory Plus, It offers the

industry-leading performance ofImperial Whitetail Clover plus the

added variety, attraction anddrought resistance of the

Whitetail Institute’s WINA-100 perennial forage

chicory.


FREE TRIAL OFFER! OFFER 1 — ONLY $9.95(SHIPPING AND HANDLING)

OFFER 2 — ONLY $19.95 (SHIPPING AND HANDLING)SAME AS OFFER 1 — PLUS:

any chicory selected by the Whitetail Insti-tute would first have to satisfy the WhitetailInstitute’s research, development and testinggoals.

One of the requirements any candidate for-age component must satisfy is exceptional at-tractiveness to deer on a sustained basis.Anyone familiar with the small-ruminant di-gestive system of deer knows how importantforage palatability is. Deer simply cannot ef-fectively use tough forages the way cattle can.

Most chicories tested by the Whitetail In-stitute, though, became stemmier as theplants matured, and their leaves took on atough, waxy texture, making them unsuitable(by the Whitetail Institute’s standards) foruse in an Imperial forage product. One

chicory variety, though, exhibited the excel-lent drought tolerance of chicories generally— and it remained tender and highly palat-able to deer even as it matured. That varietyis WINA-100 perennial forage chicory.

Development of Chicory Plus

When the Whitetail Institute identifiedWINA-100 as a chicory variety that wouldlive up to its high standards, though, it didn’tjust toss some of the chicory seed into Impe-rial Whitetail Clover and package it as a newproduct. Far from it. Instead, Chicory Plushad to start again with testing to determinethe optimum ratios of perennial clover, an-nual clovers and chicory in the product for

top performance in all areas. Only after as-suring the Whitetail Institute that these ra-tios were the best it could make them was thedecision made to release the blend as Impe-rial Whitetail Chicory Plus.

Chicory Plus is designed for good soils thathold moisture or soils that are slightly welldrained. For best results, soil pH should beneutral (between 6.5 and 7.5). The WhitetailInstitute’s recommended planting dates, andplanting and maintenance instructions, areprovided on the back of the product bags aswell as at www.whitetailinstitute.com. If youhave any questions about Chicory Plus, theWhitetail Institute’s in-house consultants arestanding by to help. Call them at (800) 688-3030. The call and the service are free. W


Chicory Plus is a perennial forage that provides everything Imperial Clover does, with the additional attraction, production anddrought resistance of WINA-100 perennial forage chicory.

“Look at the masson that brute.

He’s got Coke canscoming out of his head,”my buddy said.

My over-excited buddy was looking atsome trail camera pictures from a card wehad just pulled on a camera set up overlook-ing a mineral site on my farm. I was mind-lessly looking at some aerial photos of foodplots, and Andy was giving me a fever-pitched commentary on what we had photo-captured over the past couple of weeks. Well,I have heard “Coke cans,” or more accurately“beer cans” (go figure), many times. It takesa pretty dang big base to even come close tothe circumference of a Coke can. So I pon-dered my map a bit more because after the300th look at it I might see something differ-ent, and only after the third urging did Isaunter over to take a peek. My mouth hit the

floor. I could almost read Miller Brewing Co.between the burr and brow tine.

I have to admit, I am a sucker for heavy,massive antlers. Sure, width looks cool, andtall tines jack up your score, but personally abuck with cranial bone that looks like a me-dieval skull crusher fires me up. I have beenfortunate enough to take a small handful ofthese heavy-boned critters, and each time Ido, it never ceases to amaze me how muchmineral it must have taken to build such amonstrosity. That’s right, I said mineral. Youmight have guessed that I would have saidprotein because, after all, protein is whateveryone talks about when it comes to antlergrowth. Protein nutrition is critical, but it isonly one of the rack-building components.There are actually several nutrients involvedin antler growth, but one of the major com-ponents is mineral. In fact, if you were to an-alyze a hardened antler, you would find thatit is made up of 55 percent mineral and 45percent protein.

While mineral nutrition has not received

as much press as protein through the years,more people are realizing the benefit of min-eral supplementation. For years, ranchersand farmers have fed supplementation min-eral to cows and saw the positive effects ofheavier body weights, faster growing calves,improved overall health, higher milk produc-tion, improved breeding success rates andmuch more. Considering that the mineralneeds of cattle are actually lower (based onbody weight) than a lactating doe or a buckduring antler growth, it would make sensethat mineral supplementation could benefitdeer as well. The lack of talk amongst the sci-entific community about mineral supplemen-tation in whitetail deer is caused by thedifficulty in traditional mineral studies on awild animal.

The way the mineral testing protocols aredesigned, all other variables must be takenaway, and only the specific mineral in ques-tion is altered to find a result. Obviously,studying free-ranging whitetails would pres-ent a multitude of variables, so most re-


Minerals, Minerals,Minerals…

Packin’ on the Bone!By Matt Harper

Photo by the Author

searchers say that the benefits of mineral sup-plementation cannot be definitively proven,at least by traditional methods. However,after that official line is uttered, most wouldagree that from a nutritional, biological andphysiological standpoint, supplemental min-erals would very likely produce positive re-sults. I have done academic research, and Iunderstand the rules that must be followedand don’t necessarily disagree with them inprinciple. However, I also lean toward com-mon sense thinking, and from that perspec-tive, mineral supplementation, withoutquestion, is beneficial.

Again, the benefit of mineral supplemen-tation has been proven time and again in live-stock, and considering the mineral needs ofdeer are higher than that of all major live-stock species, it goes without saying thatmineral supplementation in deer would pro-duce positive results. But it is not just theo-retical comparisons that prove the benefit ofmineral supplementation. There are also amultitude of hard facts.

First, if you take a map of the United Statesthat depicts the mineral content of the soil byregion and then over-lay a map from Popeand Young or Boone and Crockett, you willsee that they nearly match. Where soils arehigh in mineral, big bucks are found. Even ifyou break it down to properties within a re-gion, you will find that the farms with thehighest mineral content regularly producebigger bucks. Have you ever heard someonesay that river bottoms are where the bigbucks live? There are a couple of reasons forthis. First, cover tends to be better alongrivers and creeks, and second, river and creekbottoms have a higher mineral content be-cause of water-induced erosion that builds upmineral over time.

In my opinion the most telling example ofthe benefits of mineral is the results huntersand managers have experienced through theyears when using a professionally formulatedmineral supplement. Several years ago,Whitetail Institute introduced Imperial 30-06 Mineral/Vitamin Supplement followed byImperial 30-06 Plus Protein and later CuttingEdge Nutritional Supplements. Testimonialsimmediately started pouring in from everyregion of the country where whitetails live.“See bigger-bodied deer,” “fawns bigger andhealthier,” “antler mass is bigger than wehave ever seen” and so on. Year after year,and from all whitetail regions, these testimo-nials flood into the offices at Whitetail Insti-tute. The enormous data set derived from all

of these testimonials effectively removesmost of the variables that clouds the answerthat mineral supplementation is beneficial.

OK, so we know that mineral supplemen-tation can be beneficial in several ways to adeer herd. But what is the mode of action?How does it work, and why is it needed?Let’s tackle the why first. Can deer survivewithout mineral supplements? Of course,deer can and have for thousands of years.Can deer survive without mineral in the diet?Absolutely not. Mineral intake is essentialfor a deer’s life.

But if you are concerned about more thanmere survivability and instead want to im-prove the quality of the deer herd throughnutrition, mineral supplementation is some-thing to consider. It goes without saying thatthe better the nutritional plane of a deerherd, the higher the quality that deer herdwill be. So if are wanting to try and improvedeer body weights, fawn survivability orantler growth from their current levels, youwill have to improve the nutritional plane,part of which is mineral content in the diet.Minerals have a host of functions that are di-rectly and indirectly involved in the afore-mentioned herd characteristics.

I am not going to delve into each one ofthese, but the reference chart above explainsthe specific functions of minerals. Deer nat-urally obtain mineral from the soil via thevegetation they consume or in some cases di-rectly from the dirt. Mineral content of soils

varies greatly from region to region and evenfrom farm to farm within a region. This vari-ation is based on several factors, such as therock/mineral make-up of the soil sub-layers,the age of the soil and erosion just to name afew. Ranching and farming practices also willaffect mineral content of the soil. Plants re-quire minerals to grow, and they uptake theseout of the soil which in turn can be used bywhatever animal consumes the vegetation.

Unless properly managed, years of cropproduction and grazing will lower mineralcontent of the soil. It is a simple matter ofmore mineral coming out than what can bereplaced, thus the lower mineral level. There-fore, even in highly productive agriculturalareas, the soil is likely deficient in one ormore nutritionally critical minerals. Whenmanaging for high-quality whitetails, one ormore deficient minerals in the deer’s diet willresult in less than maximum herd productiv-ity.

The mode of action or how minerals func-tion in a deer’s body depends largely on theparticular mineral and the specific physiolog-ical function. The antler-growing process forexample involves several minerals, directly orindirectly. In particular, calcium, phospho-rus, magnesium, manganese and copper playcritical roles. Copper is involved in the pro-duction of collagen, which is a protein sub-stance that forms the structural matrix of anantler. Calcium and phosphorus are the twomost prevalent minerals found in a hardened


Category Mineral Functions

Macro Calcium Bone and teeth formation, muscle contraction, milk production and antlergrowth

Macro Phosphorus Bone and teeth formation, milk production and antler growth, importantin acid base balance

Macro Magnesium Bone formation, enzyme activator

Macro Potassium Muscle activity, major cation of intracellular fluid where it is involved inosmotic pressure and acid-base balance

Trace Iron Cellular respiration, hemoglobin

Trace Copper Hemoglobin synthesis, bone formation, hair pigmentation

Trace Zinc Bone development, component or cofactor of several enzyme systems

Trace Manganese Amino acid metabolism, fatty acid synthesis and cholesterol metabolism,bone formation and growth and reproduction

Trace Cobalt Component of vitamin B12, needed by rumen bacteria for growth andB12 synthesis

Trace Iodine Thyroxine formation

Trace Selenium Involved in vitamin E absorption and/or retention

Source – Animal Feeding and Nutrition Seventh Addition – Marshall H. Jurgens


antler. The transformation of velvet antlers to hardened antlers is ac-complished by mineral deposits of calcium, phosphorus and others onthe protein matrix of the velvet antler. These mineral deposits do notnecessarily come directly from the diet but are pulled from the deer’sskeletal system and deposited in the antler.

Antler growth is secondary to body health and condition, so if thereare not enough minerals in a deer’s diet to replenish those pulled forantler growth, less mineral will be transported from the skeletal sys-tem to the growing antler. This will result in decreased antler densityand likely less mass and overall growth. Mineral supplementationhelps to ensure that these minerals are adequately available in the diet,and thus the maximum amount can be transported to the growingantler.

Understanding how minerals work in a deer’s body, the importantroles they play, the likely deficiency in most soils and the overwhelm-ing positive results hunters and managers have realized has created ahigher awareness, and more people have starting using mineral sup-plements. However, there still remains quite a bit of confusion whenit comes to comparing mineral products that are out there on the mar-ket. As you probably already know, there are no shortages of them.All have claims of containing nutrients that will “pack on the bone,”or whatever it is that some clever marketing guy came up with.

The truth, however, is that a close examination of these productswill show some dramatic differences. To compare products, you mustfirst have a general understanding of a few important factors of min-eral supplements. Consider ratios. You might have heard or read some-thing about calcium-to-phosphorus ratios. Minerals have complicatedinteractions amongst themselves, and each is only effective if formu-lated in the right ratios. In other words, you need so many parts ofthis one and so many parts of another one and so on. Think of it as arecipe, which is really what a mineral formula is. Too much calciumto phosphorus, or vice versa, will result in both being less effective.

However, it does not stop with calcium and phosphorus. All min-erals, macro and trace, have complicated interactions that must be con-sidered when putting the recipe together. The particular form orcompound that is used as a mineral source is also important. For in-stance, copper sulfate is far more digestible than copper oxide. The ac-tual level of each mineral is also a key factor. There are products onthe market saying that they contain 30-some odd minerals vital toantler growth but upon examination, you will find that the levels areoften only .00001 percent or some such craziness, which amounts tobasically zip when it comes to actual benefit. Finally, consumption iscritical. Deer have to eat enough of the mineral to get the appropriatelevels. So you need the right formulation with the right ratios, fromthe right sources with proper amounts all combined with targetedamount of consumption. Pretty simple huh?

If you haven’t started a mineral supplementation program on yourhunting property and it is legal in the state where you live, I wouldhighly encourage you to start. I put out my first 30-06 Mineral/Vita-min Supplement several years ago and continue using mineral/vita-min supplements to this day. Even though I live in a highly productiveagricultural area, the results I have seen have been dramatic and con-sistent. Higher body weights, heavier and healthier fawns and, yes,more massively big antlers. Food plots are important, and I have sev-eral acres of them on my farms. But I also realize the importance ofthe second piece of the puzzle of “packin’ on the bone,” is mineral/vi-tamin supplements. W www.brillionfarmeq.com

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WhitetailInstitute

RECORDBOOK

BUCKS…

David Borg – Ohio

Deer keep the Imperial Whitetail Clover eaten down short. The Arrest herbicideworked great. I have a big hole where they have been eating the 30-06 Plus Protein. Ihave been seeing bigger and better bucks this year and killed my biggest buck ever thisyear in southeastern Ohio — 180-class 18-point. Thanks Whitetail Institute for yourgreat products.

Steve Scudder – IndianaI started using Whitetail Institute

products more than 10 years ago ona property that I had that didn’t haveany agricultural fields nearby. Iwanted something to attract deer andthat would benefit them. I started outusing Alfa-Rack and was impressedbeyond belief with the attraction andthe difference it was making with thebody and antler size on the deer. Acouple years later I planted an Impe-rial Clover plot and a No-Plow ploton another farm I hunted that hadcrops in every direction around it.Again, the deer were using them ona regular basis even with the cropfields close by. I would even occasion-ally watch deer walk across a greensoybean field straight to the ImperialClover patch and start feeding.

Over the years I have used severalof the Whitetail Institute products,annuals and perennials, and have hadGREAT success with everything thatI have planted. I have to say that eventhough the plots have turned outsome very nice bucks over the years,my proudest moments have been see-ing my son hunting over them andtaking several deer and turkey. Theplots have been a key tool in helpingintroduce him into the hunting world. There is always some type of action in our plots, beit deer or turkey, and that keeps a kid’s attention.

I have to say thank you to theWhitetail Institute for all of thegreat products and keep up thegreat work. I look forward to try-ing any new products that theycome out with in the future as Iknow without a doubt that theywill do as they say, attract andgrow bigger and healthier deer!

I’ve included some photos ofsome of the deer that we havetaken since using Whitetail In-stitute products. Including myson Tristan’s deer and my bestdeer ever that we took this pastyear. It was a year of unforget-table memories for us to say theleast. Words can’t describe thefeeling I got as I watched my sonharvest a 184-inch deer that wewatched all year long. (Photo 1)That day in September wentdown as one of the proudest daysof my life. Then later in Decem-ber I was able to close the dealon a 235-inch deer that I hadbeen after for three years. (Photo2) I’m not sure how we couldever top last year or if we everwill, but you can bet that we willkeep on with the Whitetail In-stitute products and makingsome great memories as we go.

One very satisfied customer.

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Bob Seckora – WisconsinWe started with Im-

perial Whitetail Cloverabout 10 years ago. Deerand turkeys were plen-tiful. It worked so wellwe tried Chicory Plus inanother plot about threeyears later and the deerhammered the ChicoryPlus too. Then I readabout Winter-Greensand tried them and gotthe same results. Lastyear I put a test plot ofAlfa-Rack in and I likeit and so did the deerand turkeys. What’snice about it is it’s a one-time planting and haseverything you need forspring, summer and fall.These bow and gun seasons were very successful with a lot of deer hanging around theplots. The photo shows my bow kill from last year. He is a 10-point with 20-inch spreadand he scored 156-plus inches.

Michael Smith – OhioIn April seven years ago I bought a rundown 17-acre farm almost in the city limits.

This small parcel of land has been a Godsend! It was already prime deer habitat withold apple and peach orchards, over-grown pastures and a brush lined stream right thruthe middle. I planted over 500 evergreen and hardwood trees, approximately 5 acres ofCRP grasses and put in a 1/2-acre wetland. Next came the food plots. I’ve used aboutall of Whitetail Institute’s products with Imperial Whitetail Clover and PowerPlantbeing my favorites. The wife and I had already tagged 5 bucks in 6 years on thisproperty but this year we each scored nice bucks 10 days apart. Mine was an exceptional186-inch non-typical Boone and Crockett. I am extremely happy with Whitetail Instituteproducts and will continue to use them.

Note: my deer was taken with a crossbow and my wife’s deer was taken with a muz-zleloader.

Scott Shawley – New YorkWhen we first decided to plant a

food plot we were skeptical of namebrand products so we conducted a testof our own. We planted 1/2-acre of Im-perial Whitetail Clover right next to ablend sold locally. The first year the re-sults were pretty balanced. After thatfirst year though, the results were amaz-ing! The Imperial Whitetail Clover hasoutperformed the local blend by leapsand bounds. Since then we have movedon with Whitetail Institute and used

their products all around ourfarm. We are seeing manymore deer, older deer, and big-ger bucks. In fact, this yearour neighbors, who don’t useWhitetail Institute products,complained about not seeing

many deer. The last evening hunt of the year, my hunting partner, Mark Goud sat on aPure Attraction plot and had 18 deer within 20 yards when he shot a 130-inch 8-pointat 5 yards. Whitetail Institute brand products actually do what they advertise. Theyoutperform their opponents! I’ve enclosed a picture of Mark’s deer and a trail cam picof bucks on a trail leading to an Imperial Whitetail Clover plot.

Keith Graham – IllinoisI killed this buck Dec. 23 last season at 4:50 p.m. over an Imperial Whitetail Clover

plot. He gross scored 168 inches. W

Send Us Your Photos!Do you have a photo of a buck that qualifies for the Pope & Young, Boone and Crockettor your state record books that you grew or took with the help of Imperial products?Send it to us and you might find it in the Record Book Bucks section of the next issue ofWhitetail News. Send your photo and a 3 to 4 paragraph story telling how you harvestedthe deer and the role our products played to:

Whitetail News, Attn: Record Book Bucks, 239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043


ImperialWhitetailPowerPlant is aspring/summerannual designed toget lots of protein

into your deer rightwhen they need it most:during spring andsummer.

If you’ve planted PowerPlant before, youprobably smiled when you read the title ofthis article, because you’ve seen for yourselfhow thick and tall PowerPlant can grow. Ifyou’re planning to plant PowerPlant thisspring for the first time, though, you’re in fora surprise: PowerPlant is designed to producetons of succulent, high-protein foliage thatdeer find irresistible as a forage and a beddingarea. The combination makes PowerPlant anextremely beneficial and versatile foragefrom spring to early fall. In this article, we’ll look at why Power-

Plant is such an excellent tool for folks whowant to push their deer as far up their ge-netic-potential ladders as possible. We’ll alsoanswer some questions our in-house consult-ants regularly receive about PowerPlant andgive you some tips on how to get the most outof it.

Why Plant PowerPlant?

Because it is specifically designed to get lotsof protein into your deer when they need it

most — during spring and summer. Realizethat there are two parts to that answer: lots ofprotein and getting it into your deer. If you’relooking to boost antler size, the forage you se-lect must do both. And PowerPlant does.

Lots of Protein

Need. It’s no secret how important proteinis to deer during spring and summer. Bucks,for example, start growing new antlers inearly spring. When you consider that antlersare the fastest-growing animal tissue onearth, and that the growing, or velvet antleris about 80 percent collagen (a protein), it re-ally hits home how important protein is dur-ing this time. And that’s not just true forbucks — it’s during this same period thatdoes are also going through their own physi-ological process that require lots of protein,such as pregnancy and, later, producing milkfor their fawns.Natural protein shortfalls. Generally,

bucks require an average of about 16 percentprotein in their diets and does about 18 per-cent. Unfortunately, Mother Nature sets apretty sparse table when it comes to protein.Most natural forages have protein contentsin the single digits, and to make matters evenworse, many can quickly be exhaustedand/or become too stemmy for deer to effec-tively digest. While natural food sources inthe spring are usually enough for bucks togrow antlers and for does to produce healthyfawns and milk, rarely are they anywherenear the levels needed to do what we deermanagers want: to give our deer access to themuch higher protein levels deer need to be ashealthy and grow antlers as big as they can. And that boils down to one thing: If you

expect your bucks to realize as much of their

genetic potential for antler size as possible,you should supplement naturally availableprotein during spring and summer. Power-Plant is specifically designed to do just that,and it works.PowerPlant produces lots of high-protein

foliage. Independent university research hasshown that PowerPlant produces more high-protein forage for deer than any competingproduct tested.

Into Your Deer

Tonnage alone, though, isn’t enough. Re-member what we said earlier? PowerPlantproduces lots of protein and gets it into yourdeer. We’ve already covered protein produc-tion. Now, let’s look at why PowerPlant issuch a great tool for getting protein into yourdeer to maximize antler size and herd health.Forage Quality. The term forage quality

is commonly used when describing how wella forage does what you want it to. For pur-poses of evaluating spring/summer annualplantings for deer, forage quality basicallymeans how well a forage gets protein intoyour deer and keeps doing it throughoutspring and summer. To excel at that, the for-age must satisfy several requirements. Itmust:• produce foliage that’s high in protein• produce a lot of it• keep producing well even after deer start

eating it• be highly preferred by deer. It’s important to understand that all these

factors enter into the equation. For instance,it does little good to have a high-tonnage,high-protein forage that deer won’t eat. Thesame is true of a highly attractive high-pro-tein forage that can’t withstand heavy graz-


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ing pressure. Consider summer peas, for ex-ample. You might be surprised how manytimes folks who’ve never tried PowerPlantcall the Whitetail Institute’s in-house con-sultants and say something like, “I plantedpeas for my deer last spring. They grew toabout six inches tall, and then the deerquickly wiped them out.” Then again, youmight not be surprised if you’ve tried to relyon just peas for a spring/summer deer forageand had the same thing happen.

PowerPlant delivers big-time in all thesecategories because that’s how the WhitetailInstitute designed it: specifically for use as adeer forage for spring and summer. PowerPlant is a Blend of Multiple Plant

Varieties. Like other Whitetail Institute for-age products, PowerPlant is a blend of multi-ple plant varieties. Why? Because in mostcases, blends of multiple plant varieties canmaximize overall performance of the foragestand if the components in the blend havebeen carefully selected and included in theproper ratios the way the Whitetail Institutedoes it. And PowerPlant is one of the best ex-amples you’ll find of how well that works.PowerPlant contains two general cate-

gories of components that, together, maxi-mize tonnage: forage varieties and structuralvarieties. Let’s look at each in greater detail.Forage Components. PowerPlant’s forage

components are forage soybeans, Lablab andforage peas. And make no mistake — theseare true forage varieties, and that makes a bigdifference. For example, the soybean in PowerPlant is

designed to emphasize foliage production,unlike agricultural soybeans, which are de-signed for bean production. No doubt, agri-cultural soybeans are attractive to deer. Butthey can suffer from early overgrazing, andthey can tend to become stemmy and lesspalatable to deer as they mature. The foragebean in PowerPlant grows in a vine and re-mains palatable to deer. And when it estab-lishes, it can continue to grow and produce

forage for your deer even as it is browsed. Structural Components. In addition to

the forage varieties mentioned above, Power-Plant contains small amounts of sunflowersand a high-quality wildlife sorghum, whichact as a trellis for the vining legumes to climband maximize production instead of growingalong the ground.Each forage and structural component has

been carefully selected and then included inthe correct ratio with the others for Power-Plant to produce as abundantly as the White-tail Institute can make it. And as with all itsforage products, the Whitetail Institutespares no expense when it comes to research,development and real-world testing of its for-age products. The result is a high-protein for-age stand that produces heavy tonnage thatkeeps producing even as deer feed on it, andthat is highly attractive to deer —both as afood source and for cover.

Answers to Frequently AskedQuestions

Can I plant PowerPlant anytime duringthe recommended plant-ing dates published by theWhitetail Institute? Yes,provided you also heed thisinstruction on the front ofthe bag:That means a constant

soil temperature of 65 degrees day and night.This is very important because of the generalnature of spring/summer beans and peas:They’re among the most fragile seeds andcannot handle cool, moist soil. An easy wayto be sure you don’t plant too early is tocheck with a local farmer or farm-supplystore to see when farmers in your area planto plant their agricultural soybeans.What is the smallest plot the Whitetail

Institute recommends for planting Power-Plant? That depends in large part onwhether you have what you’d consider nor-mal or heavy deer density. Here are somegeneral rules of thumb regarding plot size:

Should I spray my PowerPlant standwith a herbicide to control competition

from grasses and other weeds?No. It’s un-necessary. If you are concerned that grassesor other weeds may overtake your Power-Plant planting, finish your ground prepara-tion a few weeks early, and spray any weedsthat return with a Roundup-type glyphosateherbicide a week or so before you plant yourPowerPlant. How long into the fall is PowerPlant de-

signed to last? PowerPlant is designed to lastuntil the first frosts of fall, and then deer willconsume any remaining beans and peas.To keep the site drawing deer after frosts,

should I remove the PowerPlant stand dur-ing my fall planting dates and replace itwith a fall/winter forage?You can certainlydo that, but here’s a trick for getting full ben-efit out of the forage bedding attractiveness ofPowerPlant, keeping the plot drawing deerlater into the season, and creating a greathunting setup at the same time. Keep in mindthe plot size minimums recommended above(one acre in areas of low to medium deer den-sity and 1.5 acres in areas of heavy deer den-sity). Either situation will leave you with a bigenough plot to exercise this option. During your fall planting dates, mow some

relatively narrow lanes through the growingPowerPlant. Make the lanes so that you allowenough room to plant a fall annual in thembut not so wide or so many lanes that you de-stroy its bedding attraction. Then, lightly tillthe clippings into the soil. That often resultsin newly sprouted bean and pea plants,which are highly attractive. Also, plant the lanes in your favorite

Whitetail Institute fall annual, such as PureAttraction, Whitetail Oats Plus, Tall TineTubers, Winter-Greens or No-Plow. You’llfind that can keep the plot attracting deermuch later into fall and winter. Plus, duringthe early season before frosts arrive, deer willstep from the PowerPlant into the plantedlanes all throughout the day, making for agreat hunting setup.When should I order PowerPlant? Pow-

erPlant is usually ready for delivery each yearby the first part of March. The Whitetail In-stitute runs out of stock most years, andwhen its stock of PowerPlant runs out for theyear, it’s gone. So, try to order early if youwant to be certain you’ll have the advantagePowerPlant can give you in helping your deerbe all they can be.If you have any questions about Power-

Plant, give the Whitetail Institute’s in-houseconsultants a call at (800) 688-3030. The calland the service are free. W


f I were to ask 50deer hunterswhether theywanted to see moredeer or bigger deer,I’m betting I

would get this answerfrom many of them:“Both.” (Yes, we allknow there are a fewwiseacres in our deerhunting community. Infact, I might be one ofthem.)Overall though, in regards to this question

I believe many hunters would probably saybigger, and a few who live in low-densitywhitetail regions would say more. The truthbe known, however, if the habitat could sus-tain it, we all would like to see lots of deerwith several trophy buck sightings per daybeing the norm. Why shouldn’t we wantthose hunting conditions? Out of curiosity,the Whitetail Institute of North America set

out to see to what lengths the readers ofWhitetail News would go to see not onlymore deer, but higher-scoring bucks. Keep inmind at this point that both of these goalsmay be possible without increasing the deerpopulation. Our interviewing process cov-ered everything from the weekend warrior toMaster’s Degree food plotters. You will findthis information fascinating.

The Weekend Warrior

By definition, Merriam-Webster Diction-ary says a weekend warrior is “ … a personwho participates in an usually physicallystrenuous activity only on weekends or part-time.” In other words, a weekend warriorwho just happens to be a deer hunter is a per-son who has a limited amount of time, andmay also have limited monetary resources.Yet simply through hard work and the sweatof his brow he accomplishes some ratheramazing things in deer management. TomEller is such a guy. Let’s see how this hunterwith a wife and four children uses food plots. Like many hunters in the southeast, Tom

Eller belongs to a hunting club. Eighteen in-dividuals hunt a 2,300-acre lease. In the early1980s soybean farming was prevalent on thisland, but a paper company purchased theproperty and turned it into a pine plantation.

Most of the hardwoods are gone except thoseremaining along ditches and streams. Theland is flat to gently rolling, with two streamsand several small tributaries. It’s hard to squeeze a food plot out of a pine

plantation used for growing trees for paper,but Eller and his buddies do it. Sometimesthey can put in one where a few trees aredown, and sometimes they can expand agrassy area into a plot. Incidentally, this leaselies in the Black Belt area of Alabama, and itcontains varying soils. Since the rut hits thisregion in mid-January, a product that workswell for this time of year is required. “We set bush hog dates, and planting dates,

and a few of us get together and really hit ithard,” noted Eller. “We do take soil tests ofour plots, lime as needed, fertilize and dowhat it takes to produce good forage. We usetractors for heavy work, but ATVs are usedto a big degree for spraying, broadcastingseed, and dragging. We use a chain link fenceand drag it with an ATV. Much of what weuse isn’t fancy, but it works.” After experimenting with a variety of

products, Eller and buddies settled on usingImperial Whitetail No-Plow in their area.“We found that by using No-Plow we couldplant half the seed of other products and getbetter results,” Eller said. “In late season No-Plow is fantastic! The deer jump on it. We


From Weekend Warriorsto Master’s Degree Food Plotters

By Brad Herndon Brad Herndon

once had 12 racked bucks in one small plotat the same time. My brother ended up killinga 150-inch brute, and I shot an 8-point gross-ing in the 130s.” Most plots on this lease are one-half acre

to one acre in size, with the biggest beingthree acres. A variety of stands are used. Lad-der stands may be located in wooded regions,box stands on the edge of food plots, and sev-eral tripod stands have to be used in the sec-tions where only small pines are growing. Amonster deer in this region is 140 inches andup, and a 120 to 140-inch buck is consideredbig. Moreover, Tom Eller and his friends have

designed a network of small food plots thatpull numerous whitetails out of a huge, to-tally wooded region that contain few strategicambush points. And they also kill the bestbucks the area has to offer in these same lo-cations. Eller is one of many weekend war-riors who are experiencing great results with

small plots, and having lots of fun and fellow-ship in the process.

A Master’s Degree Food Plotter

Thus far we’ve seen how weekend war-riors can use small food plots to increase deersightings and kill a region’s best bucks. Nowlet’s visit a whitetail hunter in Wisconsinwho started out as a weekend warrior andhas since “kicked it up a notch.” Tim Jepsen and his wife, Linda, have four

children. Both have full-time jobs, yet bothare devoted whitetail hunters who contributeconsiderable time to deer management ontheir 350-acre tract of property, which is allin one piece. The terrain on this property isa mix of flat and hilly land, containing bothoak hills and a few swamps. Tree coverage is25 percent evergreens, 75 percent hard-woods. Over the years Jepsen has cut out alot of Jack Pine and planted numerous Nor-

way spruce. Archery gear is their favoritestyle of deer hunting, with firearm huntingsecond. “Like most deer hunters I started out with

about a half-acre food plot that I put in withan ATV and a disc,” Jepsen noted. “My firstcrop was Imperial Whitetail Clover and itcertainly attracted deer. At first I experi-mented with various seeds but always hadthe most success with Whitetail Instituteproducts, so I’ve used them ever since. I ratethem a 10.” The year Jepsen planted his half-acre food

plot was 1990. A 2-1/2 year-old buck was atop-end sighting during this time period. Asthe years went along he increased his num-ber of food plots, and always gave carefulconsideration to their placement. For exam-ple, a summer food plot may be in an areawhere it is hard to hunt, while a fall and win-ter food plot will be set in a location wherethe deer feel comfortable using it duringhunting seasons. “I have from 13 to 17 stands in place,”

Jepsen remarked. “We have a few ladderstands, but three-fourths of our stands arehang-ons. All are placed only after consider-ing what the best wind directions are foreach placement. We do erect stands back inthe timber because I find the better buckswill oftentimes scent-check the food plots forestrous does from a distance, and I take ad-vantage of this.” As Jepsen increased the number of food

plots, he also increased some of them in size.Therefore he hooked up with a local farmerto do the brunt of his work for him. Today hehas 80 acres of food plots on his 350 tract.Twenty acres are in Whitetail Institute prod-ucts. The rest is planted in soybeans and corn. The farmer plants and harvests these fields

for a percentage of the crop and comes outwell on it with today’s corn and soybeanprices. The farmer does leave behind a cer-tain amount of standing corn and soybeans,so it’s easy to see how so many acres on theproperty are in food plots. It’s good forJepsen, the deer, and the farmer. Jepsen stilluses an ATV coupled with a chisel plow todo smaller food plots in hard-to-get-to loca-tions, and this works out well. Today the soilon this property has been built up and main-tained, so a variety of products will do well.Today Jepsen primarily uses Imperial White-tail Clover, Winter-Greens, Whitetail OatsPlus, and Tall Tine Tubers. “I plant differentproducts at different times of the year,” hesaid. “Clover, of course, will last for years and


Dan Smith shot this largeWisconsin buck on the

Anderson properties by puttinga lot of time and effort into his

food plots.Ba

rt Landsverk


provides quality forage. I’ll plant some Win-ter-Greens in late July for fall and winterhunting. I’ve also started using WhitetailOats Plus and it has been a tremendous suc-cess too.” During the summer Jepsen usesseven surveillance cameras to take inventoryof his deer herd. His family also spends con-siderable time shed hunting and their eight-year-old son Skylar is the champion because“he is close to the ground.” They found a setof sheds last year that grosses 181 inches ifgiven a 17-inch spread. The Jepsen familyconsiders any buck 140 and up a shooter andtheir two best bucks to date go 173 and 171inches. That’s quite an improvement from a2-1/2-year-old buck. They are trophies thatare certainly worth the hard work that hasbeen put into their property.

Master’s or Doctorate DegreeFood Plotter?

Although the title of this article only goesto Master’s Degree I’m not sure we shouldn’thand out a doctorate degree to Mark Ander-son of northwestern Wisconsin. As wesouthern Indiana hillbillies say, “He’s wholehog into this deer management business!” Anderson had a desire for better hunting

and he knew owning his own land would en-able him to achieve that goal. In 1999 hefound some affordable land in northwestWisconsin — 3-1/2 hours away. Despite thedistance, the 160 acres were soon purchased.Anderson described the property as “an oldfarm with grown-up fields.” “There were several deer on the old farm,”

he said. “The first year I started cleaning upthe place and put a quarter-acre food plot inwith my ATV and a disc. Most everyonestarts with Imperial Whitetail Clover, and sodid I. I basically knew nothing about foodplots back then. What I have learned over theyears has come from reading articles, watch-ing videos, talking to other hunters, and byexperimenting. I saw lots of deer on my foodplot that first year.” The Anderson farm had hardwoods on it,

evergreens, and swamps. It had been cutover, so Anderson made a point to leaveevery oak he found in place. He even left oaksin food plots since it was one more foodsource to draw whitetails into one specificarea. Talking about a learning process—heonce planted 17,000 pine seedlings only tohave quackgrass choke out most of them.He sought out a DNR forester and they

came up with an approved herbicide to kill

out the quackgrass. He uses a forester to helphim properly manage his timber resources,and since his first disaster he has planted ap-proximately 100,000 pine trees on his prop-erties. I say properties because since 1999 Ander-

son has purchased two more tracts within sixto eight miles of each other. He and his wife,Tammy, (they have three children) now own800 acres. It’s worth mentioning at this timethat the majority of deer hunters who ownland didn’t have it given to them, nor are theyextremely wealthy. Most of these familieshave made many sacrifices to own their ownproperties and I admire them for their com-mitments to a goal. Over time Anderson has increased his food

plot numbers. Presently he has 20 food plotsvarying in size from a quarter acre to 5 to 7acres. Total acreage of all of these plots is 40-50 acres, and they vary in configuration.Some are square, some rectangular, some “L”shaped, and some are in strips. Each designis used for a specific purpose, which is some-times dictated by the terrain configuration onthe properties.Anderson still sprays his plots using an

ATV-mounted sprayer. After this, his equip-

ment gets bigger. Try a 2007 John Deere5425 4WD with 95 horses. He has a graindrill for the tractor, a disc at each propertysite, and more. And by the way, he buysRoundup in 30 gallon drums. He also uses abulldozer to make small roads which allowhim to enter and exit different areas in a low-impact manner. Also, each of his stands hasa special trail to them. His current crop favorites are Winter-

Greens, Imperial Whitetail Clover, corn andsoybeans. He has some interesting plantingdesigns in use in his food plots. Anderson uses a variety of standard tree

stands, some 200 yards off his food plot. Butright on some of the plots he does have boxblinds 7-foot x 7-foot in size. They have rub-ber roofs, are 10 feet tall, and have stairs lead-ing up to a platform. This makes it safe to getin and out of the blinds. If you were to stepinto one of his box blinds on one of his biggerplots during hunting season, here is what youwould see. First of all, you would see 12 rows of stand-

ing corn bordering the entire perimeter of theplot. This makes the deer feel safe. You wouldalso notice strips of soybeans, corn, Winter-Greens and Imperial Whitetail Clover within

the perimeter rows of corn. “I’ve found when planting in strips like this, leaving all of the corn

standing, the deer are much more relaxed, and they stay in the plotslonger,” Anderson duly noted. And obviously this arrangement is all laid out to encourage the deer

at some point to come within good shooting range of the box blind.

Shooter Bucks

When Anderson first purchased his property a good buck wouldgross 115 to 125 inches. Today he considers a shooter something inthe 140s, 150s, or better, and he may see three or four shooters onsome hunts. The family’s best buck to date is a 186-inch bruiser. Overthe past 10 years his family has killed ten bucks scoring more than140 inches. I could hear the excitement in his voice when Anderson told me his

favorite time to hunt. “My favorite time to hunt, by far, is the late sea-son,” he remarked. “The deer simply pour into my food plots duringthe late season when it gets cold and the snow gets deep. I can docu-ment pulling deer into my property from as far as 5 to 10 miles away.This is when I may see three or four shooters per day. The deer de-stroy the Winter-Greens at this time of year, and as a result we killour biggest bucks in late season.”

Closing Out

As can be seen, the readers of Whitetail News go to extreme lengthsto improve their hunting experience. Certainly the weekend warriorsderive much satisfaction from their hard work since they draw inmore, and better, deer. Likewise, the Master’s Degree food plotters areblessed as well for the efforts they have been able to put into deer man-agement, especially since much of it was carried out with the help andapproval of their family and friends. All of the folks at Whitetail Institute of North America feel privi-

leged that they have been able to be a big part of such positive deermanagement improvement for more than 20 years. W

Controlling the whitetail herd varies from region to region.In most areas of our nation the whitetail herd is much toolarge so there are a high number of antlerless deer permitsissued each year. Deer managers, however, should evaluatethe deer population on their own particular tract of land.This can get extremely interesting. For example, in northwest Wisconsin where Mark Ander-

son has his land, there are wolves, bears, bobcats and coy-otes as predators. Anderson said that when a pack of fiveor six wolves move into a section of land they can decimatethe whitetail herd in a few weeks. In the spring, bears areon the prowl for fawns and kill several of them. Bobcats alsotake a toll, and coyotes get their share, too. So while most of us may only have to monitor what dam-

age the coyote is doing, Anderson has to more carefullystudy the fawn kill by predators each year in order to de-termine whether to shoot doe in the fall, or not.


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esigned todeliverexcellentattractionandnutrition in

fully prepared seedbedsor with minimal groundpreparation, ImperialWhitetail No-Plow isone of the WhitetailInstitute’s mostsuccessful and long-running products. Withall that, what more isthere to say? Howabout, “Now, No-Plow iseven better with theinclusion of two newhighly attractive andnutritious forages.”

What Makes No-Plow Special?

There’s a reason why No-Plow is one ofthe Whitetail Institute’s longest runningproducts: It’s a result of the Whitetail Insti-tute’s customer-driven approach. When itcomes to new product development, theWhitetail Institute has always been customerdriven. Most of its new product ideas comefrom folks who actually use food plot prod-ucts in the field: hunters and managers.When the Whitetail Institute recognizes aneed, it acts by starting research and devel-opment toward a product that will meet it.That was the driving force behind the devel-opment of the Whitetail Institute’s first prod-uct, Imperial Whitetail Clover, which to thisday contains the only clover varieties everspecifically developed for deer. The same istrue of Imperial Whitetail Extreme, which isdesigned to meet the needs of folks in lowerrainfall areas, Winter-Greens, Tall Tine Tu-bers, and the rest of the Whitetail Institute’sproduct line. For perhaps as long as humanshave planted food plots for deer, hunters havealways been faced with a dilemma: finding afood plot product that would attract and holddeer like a magnet even in sites that couldn’tbe accessed with tillage equipment. That’swhy the Whitetail Institute started workingto meet that need so early in its history.

The first step the Whitetail Institute’s sci-entists and agronomists took when theystarted the research-and-development projectthat would ultimately lead to No-Plow was toidentify specific attributes the new forageproduct would need to possess. One might as-sume that the primary R and D goal was todevelop a product that could perform welleven with minimal ground preparation. Cer-tainly, the no-till aspect was important, butthe overriding research goal was somethingelse: attractiveness to deer. Without that, theproduct would be doomed from the outsetand never make it to Whitetail Institute prod-uct status. Other research goals includedrapid stand establishment; early seedlingvigor; drought and heat tolerance; the abilityto perform well from early fall, through thecoldest months of the year, and throughspring; and yes, the capability to thrive evenwhen planted with minimal ground prepara-tion. Rarely will a plant variety excel in all these

performance categories. Accordingly, theWhitetail Institute worked toward develop-ing a blend of multiple plant varieties that,acting in combination, would satisfy all theseperformance goals. Was the effort successful?Absolutely! All you have to do is look at howlong Imperial Whitetail No-Plow has been onthe market to know that. The final test blends that went on for real-


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world testing on free-ranging deer consistedof three main component groups: brassica,annual clovers, and forage grains and grasses.These were the same basic componentgroups in No-Plow when it was introduced,and they have remained so even as theWhitetail Institute has continued to improveNo-Plow through the years. The reason issimple: This structure works and has helpedNo-Plow maintain its dominant place in themarket. All the components establish andgrow quickly, often appearing above groundjust a few days after planting, and start at-tracting deer right away. Usually, deer tendto concentrate on the forage grains andgrasses first and then the clovers. When thefirst frosts of fall arrive, the brassicas in No-Plow become even sweeter and continue toattract and hold deer into the coldest months.After winter, the annual clovers continue toprovide much-needed nutrition for deer asthey recover their winter health losses andbucks begin to re-grow antlers.All that is nothing new to folks who’ve

used No-Plow before this new version be-came available. The Whitetail Institute regu-larly receives testimonials from hunters andmanagers from across the United States and

Canada telling the Whitetail Institute of thesuccess they’ve had with No-Plow. Even so,the Whitetail Institute is always looking forways to make even its most popular productsbetter, and No-Plow is yet another example.

What’s New?

No-Plow stillcontains the same

components that havemade it a favoritewith Whitetail

Institute customers,plus two new forage

components: a specially selectedradish and a new

lettuce.

The newly added radish and lettuce arehighly attractive and help No-Plow draw andhold deer even better. But that’s not all theydo. They also improve soil structure and fer-tility. The specially selected radish grows alarge root. As the planting reaches the end ofits life, any roots not devoured by your deerwill decompose and leave air spaces, whichhelp aerate the soil. This allows better waterfiltration and air movement throughout thesoil, both of which are important to root de-velopment and the growth of healthy plants.The large roots also recycle nutrients to thetop 8 to 12 inches of the soil, making themavailable to plants in subsequent food plotplantings. In short, if you’ve used No-Plow before and

liked it the way it was, don’t worry—you’llfind the same components in the new No-Plow that you’ve relied on for years. Plus,you’ll be getting even better attraction, andyou’ll be improving your soil structure at thesame time, whether you plant new No-Plowin a fully prepared seedbed or according toour no-tillage instructions. If you’re one ofthe few who is new to No-Plow, I have onlyone question: What are you waiting for? W


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I had a pretty good idea of where he wascoming from, but as I monitored his travelroutes, he was coming out in three placesinto a five-acre Pure Attraction food plot. Hewas hitting the field almost every night 30 to45 minutes before dark. I had to prepare andfigure out which travel route I was going tohunt. It became clear it was going to be asoutheast wind opening day, so my decisionwas easy. It was going to be the ditch standand that was awesome. This stand is one ofmy favorites, and several big bucks havefallen there. I just needed him to cooperateand come off the ridge where he was beddedand down to me. I would be set up 125 yardsoff the food plot at the bottom of a saddle thatfunneled them off the main ridge where hewas bedded and to the food plot.Opening day came, and I arrived at my

stand at 4 p.m. and got set up. It was a coolfall day, so the four-hour sit I had awaitingme would be very comfortable. As theevening progressed, a few deer started to fil-ter off the ridge right down past me. Thingswere looking really good. Several does and a

few small bucks came by and headed to thePure Attraction food plot. About an hour be-fore dark, I heard a deer start working downthe ridge and my heart started to race. I wasjust hoping it was him, and as the deerworked down I could tell it was a big buck.When the buck stepped out of the timber intothe creek ditch opening, I knew instantly itwas the one I was after. He stood facing me at 40 yards, checking

things out for what seemed like an eternity.Then he started to walk toward me to thecreek ditch crossing, and as he came to theditch edge, he stopped, perfectly broadside at30 yards. I drew my Mathews bow to fulldraw, settled in on his crease and let thearrow fly. The arrow hit its mark, and thebuck instantly high kicked, crashed into thecreek and ran past me. With blood spillingout of the deer, I knew it wouldn’t take long.Then I heard the sound I wanted to hear. Hecrashed 50 yards behind me, and it was over.I had just killed my biggest buck ever with abow on opening day.I was jacked up, the adrenalin was flowing


A Magical SeasonBy Cory RobertsPhotos by the Author

I had begun preppingmy Whitetail InstitutePure Attraction foodplots in late July andhad also put out sometrail cameras on some

30-06 mineral sites. Thepictures of big bucks in thearea started rolling in. Itlooked like we were going toget some rain on Aug. 16, soon Aug. 14, I planted all myPure Attraction food plots.The rain came, and by Sept.10, I had lush PureAttraction plots, and thedeer were already poundingthe oats. The trail cameraphotos had revealed severalreally good bucks, but I hadmy heart set on one. He wasan unbelievable buck with amain-frame 10 with split G-3s on both sides. He alsosported long brow tines andtremendous mass. Heappeared to be a Boone &Crockett buck, and from thatpoint, I concentrated all myefforts on killing him.

and I thought I might come out of the tree.The anticipation of getting my hands onthose antlers was killing me, so I packed upmy gear and climbed down. The short walkto the buck didn’t take long, and I was in aweas I walked up on him. The gnarly bases withhuge mass, the length of his main beams andlong tines were overwhelming. I thanked thegood Lord and admired the buck. He endedup gross-scoring 181, and I was tickled withthat.Now some might think that was the end of

my season, but in Iowa as a landowner, I getthree buck tags, so it was only the beginning.I got my landowner’s tag as a bow tag andwaited for the rut to hit. I started huntingagain Nov. 2 and was only able to sit a fewmornings and evenings because of someclients I had in for deer hunts. On Nov. 8, myearly rut bow clients were done and had left,and I didn’t have anyone coming until Nov.16. The rut was kicking pretty hard, and Ihad myself in the tree bright and early onNov. 9 for an all-day sit. The wind was outof the northwest, so I had myself on a ridgethat led into the southern corner of a doebedding area. To the northwest was a PureAttraction food plot that the does were goingto. The morning was slow, but at 10:45 a.m., I

started to hear a lot of racket coming from thedirection of the food plot. As it got louder andcloser, I realized it was an all-out war be-

tween several bucks over a hot doe. As thechasing and fighting continued, I finally gota look at the biggest buck, and man was hebig. Huge spread and long main beams withlong tines — he was a giant. The encountergot close but the deer never presented a shot,and the smaller bucks eventually worked off.

The big buck and the doe moved off the sideof the ridge and disappeared. As the day woreon, I kept wondering where the deer beddedand whether I would still get a crack at him. The afternoon was pretty slow until 3:30

p.m., when a mid-140s 10-pointer came outof the bedding area and walked off the sideof the ridge where the buck and doe did. Myquestion had soon been answered when it allerupted again. The big buck and doe hadbeen bedded only 100 yards from me, and thefight began. The doe started to head up theridge to me, and the buck continued to chaseoff the other buck. As the doe got closer, shewas heading directly toward my stand. Thebuck soon followed, and he was headed to-ward me while the smaller buck retreated. The doe continued her march toward me

and was eventually right under my tree. Ikept thinking, “Could this really be happen-ing? And then I couldn’t believe my eyes. Shebedded down right under my tree, and the bigbuck was getting closer. I found myself in theperfect spot, and I was ready for him. Heslowly marched his way in, head bobbingside to side with his giant rack. Then the mo-ment of truth — the buck stopped at 12yards, and I was already at full draw. I waited as he was quartering to me a bit

and then he turned broadside. I took a deepbreath and as soon as the arrow flew therewas an instantaneous whack. The buck was

48 WHITETAIL NEWS / Vol. 22, No. 3www.whitetailinstitute.com

This greatmuzzleloader buckcapped a magicalseason for the

author.

This monster 9-point routinely used the Imperial PureAttraction food plots and 30-06

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hit well and he bounded off from where he’d come. He made it about100 yards and then started to sway back and forth. I knew it wouldn’tbe long, and he soon fell on his side. The amount of pure adrenalinthat ran threw me was overwhelming. After 20 minutes, I stood overanother giant whitetail buck. He was only a 9-point but was wide withlong beams and had really good length on his tines. With another giantbuck down with my bow, my season was on hold until late muzzle-loader season, which wasn’t for another 39 days.The temps climbed in early December. It was abnormally warm,

and there wasn’t any snow on the ground. It didn’t look good for latemuzzleloader season, and hunting was getting tough. Without anysnow in the forecast, Dec. 19 arrived — opening day. I knew I wasonly going to hunt the evenings, so I didn’t need an early-morningstart. I had decided that I was going to hunt a tripod stand on the samefive-acre Pure Attraction food plot where I had killed my opening-daybow buck. By then, the deer had wiped out the oats and were prima-rily feeding on the turnips and brassicas. They were still very lushand had turnips the size of softballs. I had been seeing a couple of re-ally big 8-pointers there, and I had decided I was going to kill a man-agement deer with my gun. I got set up at 2 p.m., and the wait started.Nothing was moving, and I was starting to think it was going to be abust. The magic hour came, but nothing was in the field. I kept checking

my phone to see how much time I had left. Then, with 25 minutes togo, the train of deer started. Doe, yearling, yearling, doe, doe, yearling,little buck, little buck and then a big buck. I put my binoculars to myeyes and realized this was one of the big 8-pointers I had been seeing.As the other deer came out in the field, he stood along the edge of thetimber at 200 yards, checking the field out. Finally, he started his march into the field but wasn’t getting any

closer. The rest of the deer started moving toward me but light wasquickly fading. The buck eventually turned and was walking in mydirection, but then he stopped and turned broadside at 180 yards. Ihad about 10 minutes left, and I figured that was as good as it wasgoing to get. I raised my muzzleloader, dialed the power up to 9 andsettled in for the shot. One deep breath, and boom, the shot was off.The black-powder smoke engulfed me, but as it cleared, I caught aglimpse of the buck hunched down and digging hard as he ran intothe timber. I felt good about the shot, and it was just a waiting game.After waiting an hour, I went out to the field and looked for blood. Icouldn’t find any sign of blood, so I decided it would be best to waitto look until morning. It was a very sleepless night, but finally the sun rose, and I was in

my truck headed to the farm. One hour later, I was back in the fieldlooking for blood. I didn’t find any, but I followed the buck’s tracksinto the timber and found a few small drops of blood. The buck wasright on a main trail headed back to the bedding area. I continueddown the trail and came to the ditch creek crossing. I stopped, lookedup and there he was on the other side of the ditch in some brush. Ijumped over the creek and soon found my hands on his nice rack. Hewas about as nice of an 8-pointer as you can get. What a great way toend a magical season. There was a lot of hard work that went intothis season, but I firmly believe that without my Whitetail Instituteproducts I could not produce, pattern, and harvest the deer that I do.I have tremendous success hunting on and around Whitetail Institutefood plot products and have enjoyed managing my deer with all of theproducts they offer. W


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

WhatFarmersHave

Taught MeValuable lessons from

people who grow plantsfor a livingBy Scott Bestul

Photo by the Author

t’s not a world-beater buck, butit’s my Dad’s. And when yourfather is 82 years old, still climbsup to tree stands, continues toshoot a bow, and works as hard

at deer hunting as men half his age,well, the buck doesn’t have to win anycontests but the one held in the heartsof a family. As far as the Bestul Clanis concerned, a certain Minnesota 9-point is the biggest whitetail that everwalked the planet.

Dad shot the buck off the corner of a little food plot this past fall,and it was the third mature whitetail that swung through that patchof Imperial BowStand that day. The plot, planted on a log landing cre-ated by a timber sale this past spring, is far from large; a truly goodarcher could shoot the entire plot from the stand we hung. But thePine Tree Plot — imaginatively named for a huge white pine growingnearby — didn’t have to be big to draw deer. Instead, the small foodsource accomplished its one and only mission: attracting does


throughout the early season and, by default,acting as a buck magnet when the rut kickedin. When a plot you can throw a rock acrossmanages to do everything you wanted it to —and results in a trophy buck my family willtreasure forever — it’s cause for celebration.If it sounds like I’m celebrating any kind of

personal success, I apologize. The Pine TreePlot blossomed as a food source only becauseI saw the bare dirt left by a logger and mum-bled, “That might make a good food plot.”The person I said that to happened to be afarmer. And in the course of several seasonsmy neighbor Alan (the farmer and mybowhunting buddy) has shown me howsomeone who makes things grow for a livingapproaches food plots. What follows, then, iswhat I’ve learned.

Weeds Are Your Enemy

Farmers abhor weeds like Democrats de-test a tax cut, and a food plotter should bejust as serious about keeping his plantingsclean. Alan taught me early that herbicidescan work wonders on a plot, even a smallspot like the Pine Tree Plot. After we’d se-lected the site, Alan blitzed the weeds with aliberal dose of Roundup in early summer, fol-lowed by another application a week or twobefore planting in August. Anyone who’spaid attention to today’s modern agriculturerecognizes that the days of a weed-chokedcorn or soybean field are largely gone. By thetime we were ready to plant, our dirt wasblack-soil bare; devoid of nutrient-grabbinginvaders. The good news is that you don’t have to

spend a lot of money or buy fancy equipmentto achieve a largely weed-free plot. Roundup(and its generic equivalents) is widely avail-able and relatively cheap. And you can spraymost plots with an ATV boom sprayer (alsogetting cheaper) or even a backpack typesprayer like those used by homeowners. Also,by planting plots later in the growing season— we planted the Pine Tree Plot in August— you can often reduce weed competition bytilling after many weed species have germi-nated for the year. This approach helped ourcause tremendously.

Sun Is Your Friend

Getting adequate sunlight to a plot is noproblem in some areas, but in others — par-ticularly log landings like the Pine Tree Plot— it represents one of the chief challenges.

Granted, the seed types included in a bag ofBowstand will succeed in minimal sunlight,but in virtually every case, the more light youcan shine on a plot, the better. Farmers knowthis like second nature, and Alan made surethat I got my lesson before I tossed the firstseed in the ground.

The Pine Tree Plot was virtually sur-rounded by sun-blocking trees. Clear-cuttingthe area was an option, but not the most at-tractive one in this case. So we identified afew critical trees that were shading the plotand removed them. In each case, the tree wecut was on the southern side of the plot andshaded our planting during the mid- to late-afternoon hours when the summer sun couldbenefit our plants the most. The trees we re-moved were also low in timber value (elm,basswood), which wasn’t hard to determine,because the loggers had taken all the goodstuff. Felling a few sun-blockers was a no-brainer and resulted in enough light to keepour plants thriving.

Machinery Is Good

You can make a fine little plot with nothingmore than a steel rake and a whole lot ofsweat. But I won’t lie: You can make an evenbetter one with a diesel engine. An increasingnumber of food plotters are investing in smalltractors to do the heavy lifting on plot instal-lation and maintenance (if you doubt thisburgeoning market, price one of these niftylittle numbers someday; the sticker shockwill knock you over). Alas, I can’t afford thisinvestment, but I have neighbors — like Alan— who I can call on to help me out. Alan’stractor not only made short work of tillingour plot, but he also had a blade that clearedsome heavy debris from the plot and ex-panded its borders.What if you lack the next-door neighbor

with machinery? One option is to ask aroundthe neighborhood and find someone who’lldo your heavy lifting. I know several propertyowners who have knocked on the doors of

area farmers and arranged a per-hour fee fordoing plot work. One of my close friendspays his neighbor a mere $300 per summerto work three small plots. This computes toa small annual investment for my friend (anda whole of saved labor) and a $40 per hourrate for the farmer. The arrangement satisfiesboth parties. Obviously rates will vary, butmost fees will seem a bargain when you com-pare them to buying your own tractor.

Commit To The Long Haul

The final lesson I’ve learned from farmersis perhaps the most important: They look atthings long-term. Beefing up the corn produc-tion in a certain field isn’t a one-shot deal, it’sa commitment. Alan and his dad are some ofthe best corn and soybean growers in ourcounty (I’m not just bragging up my friends;they actually hold competitions for this stuff,and my buddies have the ribbons to provetheir prowess), and they didn’t achieve thatsuccess by a “good-enough” attitude. If a fieldproduces 200 bushels of corn one year, theyshoot for 210 the next, and they usually makegood on their goal.It’s important to note that achieving such

success isn’t a matter of cross-your-fingers-and-pray-for-rain; it’s a logical, step-by-stepprocess with measurable results. Building pHor inputting adequate fertilizer in a field isn’tdone overnight, and there are no quick fixes.I’ve seen this first-hand when Alan and Iplanted a small plot with Imperial WhitetailClover a couple of years back. That first sea-son we had the most beautiful clover I’ve everplanted, thanks to soil testing and applica-tions of fertilizer. I was tickled to death withour results, but guess what? The next yearthe plot grew an even prettier crop. And I ex-pect similar results in the Pine Tree Plot.

Conclusion

I doubt that most food plotters are differentthan me. I don’t have a ton of money, my freetime comes in inconvenient streaks, and mygreatest temptation is to step back from anewly planted food plot and say, “Well, that’sa heckuva lot better than nothing.” And in-deed it might be. But I also know this much;I got a whole lot better at growing stuff whenI started listening to and mimicking the prac-tices of folks who grow plants for a living.Judging from the success we enjoyed at thePine Tree Plot this past fall, I think it’s apractice I’ll keep repeating. W


It’s important to note thatachieving such success isn’t amatter of cross-your-fingers-and-pray-for-rain; it’s a logical,step-by-step process with

measurable results.


REAL HUNTERS DO THE TALKINGabout Whitetail Institute products…(Continued from page 25)

Ihave used several Whitetail Institute products, withwhich I have had much success. I have seen more deer

on my property of 149 acres, and the antlers have reallyimproved. I started hunting this land 10 years ago andthree years after that I started seeing major changes in theherd. It was that spring that I planted Imperial WhitetailClover and No-Plow. By summer the deer had really startedhitting my plots. But the most improvement came, when Imixed Winter-Greens with the clover. I then decided toput cameras in my food plot, and to my surprise I sawbucks that I did not know existed.

I first saw a 6-, a 7-, and then an 8-point buck. Eventhough he was not a 150-inch deer, he was the one I reallywanted to take, since I had never taken one with my bow.Since the wind wasn’t right for me to hunt the plot, Istayed away until Oct. 15. That evening the wind changed

from the north to the south so I went and sat about 40yards off the plot. At approximately 4:50 p.m. two bucks,a 6- and an 8- point, came off the hill toward the plot. Myheart started pounding as the eight point eased off theridge and stopped at about 35 yards. As he was watchingthe younger buck I drew my bow and shot him right behindhis front shoulder. When I finally got down and noticedmy arrow was a complete pass through, I was even moreexcited. Along with the photograph of this deer, I am alsoenclosing two more photographs of bucks that were killedwithin 150 yards of my plot. Robert’s 8-point buck, whichhad a 20-1/2-inch spread, was taken with a muzzleloaderon Dec. 5. My other 8-pointer was taken on Christmasmorning, and they both scored around 130 inches. ThanksWhitetail Institute!

Daniel Seiber – Tennessee W

Over the years I have used a wide variety of White-tail Institute products and I am still using them

with much success. In the spring I plant PowerPlantin one of my plots and in the fall I rotate in WhitetailOats Plus. The deer love them both! I use both No-Plow and Secret Spot in some of my harder to reachareas and they have done well, even in shady areas.The Whitetail Institute products are of the highestquality. I harvested the buck (enclosed photo) a shortdistance from my PowerPlant food plot and on a trailleading to one of my 30-06 Mineral lick stations.

Charles Massey – North Carolina

Send UsYour Photos!Do you have a photo and/or story of a big buck, asmall buck or a doe that you took with the help ofImperial products? Send it to us and you might findit in the Field Tester section of the next issue ofWhitetail News. Send your photo and a 3 to 4 para-graph story telling how you harvested the deer andthe role our products played to:

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

I’ve been using Imperial Whitetail Clover for about15 years. The Arrest and Slay herbicides help my

weed control a lot. The clover attracts a lot of deer andturkeys. I never used to see so many turkeys and deer;they really love Imperial Whitetail Clover. The deerhave bigger antlers and its fun to sit in my blind andwatch all the animals. The buck activity has really in-creased a lot. I have also informed my friends and theyalso love Imperial Whitetail Clover. All my neighborscomplain because I draw the deer to my land. I alsokilled a 178-inch deer last year.

Barry Popp – Michigan

As I write this article, mytwin daughters areseniors in high school.Both are taking anelective class at our

local junior college so they canexperience an early introductionto the challenges of college. Theycould have chosen all sorts of“easy” classes, but they enrolledin freshman level chemistry.Talk about an indoctrination byfire. Watching them sweat (andexcel) in this chemistry classbrings back all sorts of vividmemories from my earlier years.I believe that most of ourpopulation is genetically proneto being intimidated bychemistry. Knowing that, I amdelving into a topic that ischemistry-heavy. Sorry — itcannot be avoided.Herbicide adjuvants are additives that im-

prove herbicide performance. That soundssimple enough. However, “herbicide adju-vants” is a confusing topic and I have beenin the weed science business for 33 years.Confusion is due to no standardized termi-nology and there are hundreds of proprietarybrands of herbicide adjuvants sold by farmchemical distributors. This spells confusionfor everybody — me included. The best wayto discuss herbicide adjuvants is to generalizeand simplify.In commercial agriculture, herbicide adju-

vants can be sorted into five broad groups.1. Surface-active agents — help spray

droplets spread, adhere, or penetratethe leaf cuticle of weeds.

2. Spray buffers— alter the pH of thespray water and address hard-water is-sues.

3. Compatibility agents — used to helpherbicide combinations overcomechemical or physical incompatibility.

4. Suspension aids — help non-watersoluble pesticides maintain suspensionin the spray tank.

5. Drift retardants — alter the spraydroplets to reduce off-target spraydrift.

Fortunately, there only two of these cate-gories that are likely to be encountered whenusing herbicides in food plots; surface-activeagents and spray buffers. The rest are ofminor importance in food plots.

Surface Active Agent

A surface active agent affects the relation-ship between the spray droplet and leaf sur-face. One type of surface active agent is anon-ionic surfactant (NIS). A NIS reducesthe surface tension on the leaf surface allow-ing spray droplets to uniformly spread over alarger area. The best way to illustrate the roleof a NIS is to consider the slick waxy surfaceof a cabbage leaf. Water droplets bead on thecabbage leaf surface and promptly roll off. AnNIS added to water breaks the surface ten-sion and the water droplets evenly spread on

the cabbage leaf surface. By breaking the sur-face tension on the leaf surface and allowingthe spray droplet to spread, herbicide cover-age and retention on the leaf surface is sig-nificantly improved which greatly enhancesperformance.Another type of surface active agent is a

crop oil concentrate (COC). A COC is a com-bination material; a blend of paraffin-basedpetroleum oil (or a vegetable-oil) combinedwith a NIS. The oil component enhancesherbicide penetration through the leaf cuticle,while the NIS component increases the stick-ing-spreading properties on the leaf surface.COC will form an emulsion when added tothe spray tank — an opaque milky suspen-sion in water.Of the herbicides commonly used on food

plots, COC is the best example of an adjuvantthat allows you to get more from your herbi-cide dollar by improving herbicide efficacyand consistency. Arrest herbicide has its per-formance optimized when a COC is used. Mypersonal recommendation: when applyingArrest, use a COC to ensure that you get themost out of your herbicide dollar.Slay performs well when using a NIS or

COC. My personal preference is to use a COCwith Slay since overall performance is in-


The WEED DOCTORBy W. Carroll Johnson, III, Ph.D.,, Weed Scientist and Agronomist

Herbicide Adjuvants:Critical Tools to Get the Most of Your Herbicide Dollar

creased (colloquially — the herbicide is “hotter”) with a COC, al-though chances of clover and alfalfa stunting are slightly increased bythe COC. My rationale is that Slay is truly a small-weed herbicide.While that characteristic is well known, my own real-world experi-ences have shown me that weeds are often a bit too large when Slayis actually applied. The COC helps overall weed control using Slaywhen weeds are slightly larger than ideal. I caution readers that a COCdoes not give license to be lax when applying Slay. However, the COCprovides a little wiggle room in terms of timing and helps you get morefrom your herbicide dollar.

Spray Water Buffers

Minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and iron are present in waterin varying concentrations. The degree to which calcium and magne-sium are present is commonly called water hardness. Water with dis-solved minerals <114 ppm is soft water; 114 – 342 ppm is moderatelyhard water; 342 - 800 ppm is hard water, and >800 ppm is extremelyhard water. I live in southern Georgia where virtually all potable wateris well water originating from the extensive Floridian aquifer, drawnfrom underground limestone caverns. Our water is commonly classi-fied as medium hard. In my locale, buffers are often added to spraywater to help negate the effects of water hardness on certain types ofherbicides. Ammonium sulfate (AMS) is the most commonly usedspray buffer.Not all herbicides need a spray buffer like AMS. However, some

herbicides are formulated as a salt to improve stability and handling.In food plots, Slay (ammonium salt of imazethapyr) and Roundup(potassium salt of glyphosate) are examples of herbicides formulatedas a salt and these herbicides are prone to being adversely affected byminerals in hard water. The large amount of dissolved minerals in thehard water will bind with the parent herbicide molecule and form aninsoluble salt. This reduces herbicide performance. Hard-water antagonism is easily and effectively negated by the use

of AMS as a spray buffer. Sprayable-grade AMS reduces hard-waterantagonism in two ways. First, the sulfate portion of AMS combineswith the hard-water minerals, reducing mineral interference with theherbicide patent molecule. Second, AMS is an acidifier that alters thepH of the spray water such that the herbicide parent molecule is in achemical state that is efficiently transported through the leaf cuticle.AMS does not replace the need for a NIS or COC. In fact, they areoften used together. Sprayable-grade AMS will be found at agrichem-ical or fertilizer dealers and is sold as a dry or liquid product.Every herbicide label has specific recommendations for herbicide

adjuvant use and these statements need to be followed. Often, instruc-tions of the adjuvant label are in general agreement. However, in caseswhere statements differ, the default position is to follow the instruc-tions on the herbicide label.Finally, here are a few random points somewhat related to herbicide

adjuvants that are relevant.• A dishwashing detergent is not a substitute for a NIS. Deter-

gents contain a very low percentage of surface active agents.• Most glyphosate products contain a surface active agent, usu-

ally a NIS. Additional NIS may not help, but does not hurt.Controlling woody or perennial weeds with glyphosate may beimproved by additional NIS.

• Using additional herbicide adjuvants does not necessarily meanthat herbicide rates can be reduced. W


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few years ago I wrote an articlefor Whitetail News about mythoughts relative to onepossible way that deer

management can go astray. I titled thepiece, “Invasion of the Ugly Bullies.”In that piece, I brought out a numberof points related to how deermanagement can produce a group ofmature, but small-antlered dominantbucks on some properties. And as aresult, these “ugly bullies” can takeover certain pieces of real estate andkeep out other bucks that might havebetter antler growth potential.

That is how the world of the whitetail works. There can only be acertain number of mature, dominant aggressive bucks on any piece ofproperty. When fall comes, they don’t tolerate each other very well.And once you reach that limit, something has to give. In my experi-ence, it is the younger bucks that have reached breeding maturity andare looking for their own place to dominate. They are the ones thatare left looking for other ground to roam. In my area, this happenswhen they are 4-1/2 years old. We see some very nice 3-1/2-year-oldbucks each year that seem to be regulars. We don’t believe they areshot on other properties (they couldn’t all be every year), but it seemsmost are gone by the next year. I believe that by age 4-1/2 they are ready to have their own turf that

they control without having to pay homage to some other older buckthat may be holding sway there already. In other words, if my farmhas reached its maximum number of mature, aggressive, dominantbucks, these newcomers to the world of dominance battles have toleave. Rarely does it seem that they win out and the older, ugly bullypulls up stakes.Remember, dominance has almost nothing to do with antler size. It

has to do with attitude, body size, aggressiveness and often age (whichseems to contribute to all those other factors). A dominant buck canbe a thick-horned six-pointer that scores 90 inches but has a big bodyand a mean disposition. He owns the part of the property where he


UGLY BULLIESREVISITEDBy Bill WinkePhotos by the Author

Andrew Winke, the author’s son, with an old buck that he took during the late

season a few years ago. The buck had worn his teethalmost off and was obviously never going to get any

bigger. Such bucks serve little purpose in the herd andmay take up positions in the dominance structure

better occupied by bucks with bigger antlers.

spends the majority of his time and he doesn’t tolerate rivals in hisrealm.Either he has to go or the younger buck, with potentially better

antlers will have to go. If that old bully isn’t leaving, (and he probablyisn’t) then we have to remove him. It is that simple.That was the entire premise of my first article on this subject and I

concluded it with the plan to start removing more of the ugly bulliesfrom our farm in the future. Well, here we are a couple of years laterand it’s time for me to report on our success and what I have learnedthrough this process.

The Plan

My plan was simple — kill as many of the ugly bullies from ourfarm as legally and physically possible. The primary tool for shootingthese deer was going to be myself and the cameramen who go out withme each day. We both carry legal weapons to the tree, so if a buckcomes in that is mature but is one I don’t want to shoot, I offer theopportunity to the cameraman, who rarely says no. Most of these bucks are trophies only insofar as their age. But that

has become a good criteria for us when judging the trophy huntingexperience. We find that we get plenty of satisfaction out of shootingbucks we have been after for several years even if they don’t have bigracks, so these ugly bullies have become prime targets on our pre-sea-son hit lists. We actually have come to look forward to hunting them.So it is a simple plan — kill as many of them as possible. Our simplegoal each season is to shoot at least four. There are probably twicethat many here.

The Challenges

By their very definition, ugly bullies are old bucks. Any time youhunt an old buck you are going to have an uphill battle. Killing four,well that is a big task. The attempt to cull out that many of these deerproved frustrating. You can hunt all season to get one shot at a specificfully mature buck, so we had our work cut out for us. Removing oldbucks is never easy, only aided by the fact that there were several andwe weren’t going to be choosy.

The Opportunities

Along the way, we learned something interesting. A few of thesebucks went from being extremely elusive at five and six years old tobeing very visible and almost easy to kill as they got past age six. Itwas not something that I expected, and after I realized what was hap-pening I asked several serious deer hunters I know if they had seenthis over the years. I was pleased to learn that I was not the only one seeing this type of

behavior. The reason I say I was “pleased” is because it gives me newhope concerning the bucks on our farm that seem to be phantoms –that only move at night. Some of our old bullies fell into this category,but we found that if you can wait them out, they sometimes get easierto kill as they get older. Of course, that doesn’t really serve the goal ofgetting them out of the herd as soon as possible; they have been bul-lying other bucks for a long time.I am going to throw out an idea backed only by my own observa-

tions and not by any research of which I am aware — other than theobservations of myself and other deer hunters. It seems that the elu-


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siveness of a buck peaks when he is five or six years old. When nothunted hard, they are pretty easy to see and would be easy to kill atone, two and three years. They are a bit harder to see at four and seemto disappear at five. At seven they start to appear regularly again, al-most as if they are three-year-olds again.

Executing the Plan

I’ve had two seasons now where my goal has been to remove at leastfour of these ugly bullies each year. Two years ago, I killed a mature ten-pointer, a good solid medium-

caliber trophy — not a bully buck. My friend Mike Sawyer filmed hisfriend, John Reynolds, shoot a true bull of the woods that year. John’sbuck was giant-bodied, bad-tempered and came in ready to kick buttto the snort-wheeze in the middle of a windstorm. That buck defi-nitely fit the bill of what we after — a true bully buck in every sense— with a mediocre 130s scoring 8-point rack. Our son, Andrew, shot an old buck with worn-down teeth in De-

cember over a food plot using a muzzleloader. That buck was actinglike a youngster, paying no attention to all the noise we were makingin the ground blind only a short distance away. Again, he was a veryold buck, with a small rack. I am not sure he was a bully, but he wascertainly old and was taking up space. In January of that season, my cameraman, Chad Lathrop, shot a ma-

ture, short-tined heavy-horned ten-pointer. Though mature, that buckwasn’t necessarily a bully from our observations of his behavior thatfall. In other words, I think our grand total of bullies two years agowas just two. A couple of others gave us opportunities for shots butfor various reasons we weren’t able to capitalize. The neighbor killedone of them, which was nice. So, if everything had gone perfectly, wewould have shot four bullies ourselves that year with a total of five ofthem falling. But how often do things go perfectly? It was not super hard seeing the bucks, but it was harder than I

thought for the guys in the tree with me to get those bucks killed. Ilearned as much about other bowhunters that year (and the mistakesthey commonly make) as I did about deer. Just an FYI, the biggestproblem was getting the guys to be aggressive enough. They tendedto wait far too long to get their strings back. Shots at mature bucksare fleeting. These kind of deer don’t often just waltz in and thenstand there as you draw and aim. Instead, you have to be ready whenthey offer that first killing shot. It may be the only decent shot youget. If you snooze, you lose.Last year, our success rate was a bit better. I shot one very old buck

on Nov. 24, a deer that we had been hunting for years. He was almostentirely nocturnal, offering only a very few (less than five) daytimephotos on the trail cameras during a stretch of two seasons. However,last season, we saw him three times during daylight and I ended upcalling him in and shooting him the morning of Nov. 24 as he waslooking for does. He was a true bully buck in every sense, big-bodied, stout-antlered,

short-tined — an old warrior who had controlled a part of our farmfor many years. Not only was it good to finally remove him to makeroom for other bucks, but it was very rewarding in its own right toshoot such a veteran buck. The whole experience was as memorableas any I have had while deer hunting.Earlier in November, cameraman Greg Clements shot another very

old buck that we had been after for several years. Like the one I shot,Greg’s buck was also uncharacteristically visible, coming past us

within easy bow range the third different day that we saw him in day-light. We know this old, stiff-kneed buck was a bully from years ofwatching him operate. Again, it was very rewarding on two levels totake that buck. When the late season arrived, I shot another older buck with my

bow, also a 130s-class deer that had been taking up dominance nearby.In fact, a friend had missed the deer in early November. I am not surehe had the disposition of a bully, but he was a mature buck withmediocre antlers that was taking up space on the farm, so I can onlyassume removing him will open up a hole in the dominance hierarchy. We took three, so that was good, but there were still a couple of oth-

ers that got away and some that were so poorly antlered that neitherI nor the cameraman had the heart to put our tags on them. We letthem walk. The problem with taking out the bullies is not the plan; the problem

is the execution. To remove these bucks efficiently, we need late-sea-son food plots, a week of hard weather and a muzzleloader. Trying totake out an appreciable number of these old bucks with a bow is a tallorder.

Conclusion

I am just as firmly convinced that you need to cull out the old bulliesnow as I was back when I wrote that first article, but I have gained abit of humility through the course of the subsequent two seasons.They aren’t all that easy to kill. You may only get one shot, and if youlet him get away, it may be another year (or never) before you get asecond chance. However, it was interesting to note that the bucks seemed to get eas-

ier to kill as they got very old, but as I stated already, that is too late.Ideally, we get them out of the herd as soon as possible after realizingthey are pushing other bucks out of the area. Deer management is always an interesting project and the act of

adding the ugly bullies to the hit list has certainly given us new chal-lenges and added newfound enjoyment to our hunting. I have to admitthat after two years, I have found that I really like hunting those oldbrutes. I have almost forgotten about the trophy-antlered bucks on ourfarm… almost. W


The author with one of his bullies.

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Price with coupon: $36.95Please send _____ 45 lb. bags of Imperial Forage Oats Plus™.


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Please add $18.00 for shipping and handling for each 45 lbs. ordered. (Not available in Canada.) Pleaseenclose 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: __________________________________________________________Shipping Address: (No P.O. Box) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________City: ____________________________________State: ________Zip: _______Daytime Phone: ___________________________Email:___________________

Payment Method:n Check or Money Order Enclosed Charge to my: n Mastercard n Visa n DiscoverCredit Card#: _____________________________________Exp. Date: _______Signature: _______________________________________________________

▲

IMPERIAL CUTTING EDGE™ Nutritional SupplementsYOU SAVE $26.00Suggested Retail: $120.95 (68 lbs.)

Price with coupon: $94.95Please send _____ 68 lb. quantities of Cutting Edge™ n Initiate n Optimize n Sustain.TOTAL Including shipping and handling $_______

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“KRAZE” Flavored Deer Attractant YOU SAVE $40-$65Suggested Retail: $119.95 — 6-Pak, $69.95 — 3-Pak

Coupon Price: $54.95 or $29.95Please send _____ n 6-Pak KRAZE @ $54.95Please send _____ n 3-Pak KRAZE @ $29.95

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.

ARREST™ HERBICIDE YOU SAVE $5.00 to $25.00Suggested Retail: $27.95 (1 Pint - .5 Acres); $159.95 (1 Gal. -3.5 Acres)

Price with coupon: 1 Pint - $22.95; 1 Gal.- $134.95Please send _____ pint(s) of ARREST™ Herbicide. Please send _____ gallon(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 or gallon ordered. (Canadian residents call for ship-ping charges.) Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

IMPERIAL 4-PLAY BLOCK™ YOU SAVE Up To $24.00Suggested Retail: $59.95 and $29.95

Coupon Price: $34.95 or $19.95Please send _____ n 2-Pak Blocks @ $34.95Please send _____ n 1 Block @ $19.95


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Please add $12.00 for shipping and handling for EACH Block or $18.00 for EACH Double Pack. (Canadian residentscall for shipping charges.) Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

SLAY™ HERBICIDE YOU SAVE $15.00 to $25.00Suggested Retail: $59.95 (4 oz. - 1 Acre); $159.95 (1 Pint - 4 Acres)

Price with coupon: 4 oz. - $44.95; 1 Pint - $134.95Please send _____ 4 oz. Package(s) of SLAY™ Herbicide.Please send _____ Pint(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 or pint ordered. (Canadian residents call forshipping charges.) Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

Apple OBSESSION “Super” Deer Attractant YOU SAVE $20.00 - $35.00Suggested Retail: $119.95 — 6-Pak, $59.95 — 3-Pak

Coupon Price: $84.95 or $44.95Please send ___ Apple OBSESSION 6-Paks @ $84.95Please send ___ Apple OBSESSION 3-Paks @ $44.95

TOTAL $___ ______

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IMPERIAL MAGNET MIX™ YOU SAVE $20 to $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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IMPERIAL 30-06™Mineral/Vitamin Supplements YOU SAVE $25.00Suggested Retail: $89.95 and $99.95 (60 lbs.)

Coupon Price: $64.95 or $74.95Please send ____60 lb. quantities of 30-06™ n Original 30-06™ @ $64.95 n 30-06™ Plus Protein @ $74.95TOTAL Including shipping and handling $_______

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FREE

FREIGH

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NEW!

FREE

FREIGH

T!We Offer

SMALLER SIZESOf Most Seed ProductsCall 800-688-3030

For Details

IMPERIAL POWERPLANT™ YOU SAVE $21.00Suggested Retail: $120.00 (50 lbs. - 1.5 - 2 Acre Planting)

Price with coupon: $99.00Please send _____ 50 lb. quantities of Imperial PowerPlant™ Wildlife Seed Blend.


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BRANDONHOWARD –IllinoisThis picture is of my 13-

year-old brother, Scott Wal-drup. He shot his first deerthis morning during youthseason in Illinois. Of course itwas over an Imperial White-tail Clover patch that hasdrawn deer out of the wood-work to our property. White-tail Institute is the best!

DENNIS ADAMS – MissouriOctober 31st this past year will be a day that 9-year-old Dillen Adams,

his Pappa, Bud Adams, and cousin, Whitney Williams of Wappapello,Mo., will never forget.It was opening day of the Missouri Youth Deer Season. Dillen, Pappa,

and Whitney were up before first light getting ready to go into the woodsbehind the house to hunt. Armed with his Rossi .243 caliber single shotrifle and Whitney with her Savage .243 bolt action, they were ready tochallenge each other to see who could get the first deer. The three ofthem headed out to the tree stand near the Whitetail Institute food plot.Dillen and Pappa quietly climbed into the two man ladder stand, har-

nessed up, and Whitney got settled in the ground blind and they allwaited for the woods to wake up. Barely an hour later a doe and twofawns appeared on the far side of the food plot. Twenty minutes later they started easing down the hill and outof view. About the same time a buck appeared from the same direction. Twenty agonizing minutes passesbefore he finally walked into a lane where Dillen could get a shot. At the crack of the rifle, the buck kicked likea mule, ran down into the bottom and went down within sight of the stand.Dillen looked at his Pappa with a grin as wide as his head and no doubt Pappa’s was just as big. He asked,

“Can we go see him?” Pappa said, “Let’s wait and make sure he’s down for good.” After what seemed like aneternity he asks again. Pappa looked at his watch and the eternity that had lasted three minutes was over. Pappasays, “Let’s go” so they climbed out of the stand and went to the bottom of the hill to claim the buck. Dillen hadwon the challenge with a big 10-point buck and not just any old buck, but a ‘Halloween Buck’!

RUSTY WELCH – VirginiaOn the second week of the Virginia muzzle loader season I set out with my 11-year-old son Owen, looking for

his first deer.We were hunting a farm where we have been managing the deer for the last several years. We have had great

success using Whitetail Institute products such as 30-06 and Cutting Edge, Imperial Clover, Extreme and mostrecently Winter Greens.We were sitting in a box blind over looking an Imperial Whitetail Clover food plot and a cut bean field.The first deer to step out into the clover was a huge 8 pointer but he was just past Owen's effective range

with his muzzle loader. We watched him in our binoculars until he faded back into the woods. A few minutes later we saw another deer come out and feed in the clover, it

was a seven pointer. He too was just outside of Owen's range. Just before dark we saw another buck, a 4-pointer. He entered the bean field

and was heading towards the clover and us! I noticed another deer coming out ofthe woods behind the 4-point, it was the 7-point from earlier. We watched thetwo deer feed in the beans towards us for the next ten minutes. As they enteredthe clover plot, they put themselves into Owen's range of 100 yards. While Owensettled the cross hairs on the 7-pointers shoulder, I ranged him at 90 yards. Owensqueezed the trigger and through the smoke we could see the buck running backout into the bean field where he fell. This young deer sported a beautiful seven point rack. He weighed in at 175

pounds. That is a hog for such a young deer in this area. We have seen and takenmuch bigger bucks on this farm but this is a great first deer for a fine young man.I'm very proud of my son and thankful for the products that the Whitetail In-

stitute has developed exclusively for deer. They work!

TODD SMITH –TennesseeMy son Tanner is 10 years

old. He passed his hunterssafety class and we’ve beenpracticing with his .243 Pa-paw gave him. He got his firstdeer this season here on ourfarm in Tennessee during thetwo day juvenile hunt. W


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Documents

Whitetail News Vol 22.3