whitetail news vol 21.3

Whitetail Institute of North America239 Whitetail Trail / Pintlala, AL 36043

Phone: 334-281-3006 / Fax: 334-286-9723

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

www.whitetailinstitute.com

Volume 21, No. 3 $4.95

PRESORTED

STANDARD

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

MONTGOMERY, AL

PERMIT NO.314

®

5 x 6

360º

ith its spacious interior, UV protected gel coat and fiberglass construction, tinted tempered automotive glass windows, submarine styled door and carpeted walls and floor, Redneck hunting blinds give new definition to the term Redneck.

“There ain’t nothing redneck about these blinds ”

• Molded Solid Fiberglass construction with gel coated UV protection

• Whisper Quiet window design• Silent Tinted Tempered Automotive

Glass Windows• Unparalleled weather proofing detail

• Submarine Styled Door• Quiet carpeted floor and walls• 5 versatile models to choose from• Available with either a 5’, 10’ or 15’

Powder Coated Steel Stand

Willie Robertson – the Buck Commander

Check out www.redneckblinds.com or call 877.523.9986

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 ManagerJustin Moore, Frank DeeseWildlife Biologists Jon Cooner Director of Special Projects

Brandon Self, John White Product Consultants Daryl Cherry, Greg Aston, 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 David Dickey Shipping Manager

Bart LandsverkWhitetail 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

®

Page 8

Page 16

2

In This Issue…

Features5 Intr

oducing a New

Perennial for 2012

—

Imperial Whitetail Ed

ge

By Whitetai

l Institute Staff

The Whitetail In

stitute of North

America is proud to a

nnounce the

development and r

elease of a

perennial forage m

ixture that

combines heat toleranc

e, drought

tolerance and winter hard

iness in a

single mix that deer absolu

tely

devour.

8 Why Deer Eat What They

Eat — Unraveling t

he

Mystery

By Matt Har

per

The answer

is simple: For food plots

to be effective, dee

r must utilize them,

so it is important t

o have an

understanding of w

hy deer eat what

they eat, and the a

nswers can all be

found in the openin

g paragraph;

availability, taste an

d digestibility.

12 PowerPlant —

Racing Fuel

for Antler Growth

By Jon Coo

ner

If you want

to win that race by hel

ping

your deer grow the large

st antlers

they can by fall, yo

u’ll need a special

high-protein racing

fuel. That fuel is

Imperial Whitetail PowerPlant.

16 Turkeys: The S

pring Food

Plot Equation

By Sam Par

rish

Often, the

best food options f

or

longbeards are log

ging roads, wildlife

openings and food

plots with the

year’s first green sh

oots of vegetation.

19 Follow the D

irections

for Planting Succe

ss

By Wilson S

cott

Much has b

een written in these pag

es

about the Institute’

s exhaustive

product development, real-w

orld

testing and produc

t preparation. You

might not have realiz

ed, though, that

the Institute’s commitment to pro

duct

quality extends eve

n to its planting-

date recommendation

s and planting

instructions, so do

n’t cut corners with

either.

24 Springtime is

Spray time

By Whitetai

l Institute Staff

32 A Passion for

Bowhunting

Unites Family

By Tracy Bre

en

Long before

husband and wife bow-

hunting teams were pa

rt of the

outdoor TV landsca

pe, and long

before there were

outdoor programs

dedicated to gettin

g women involved

in the outdoors, Ja

nice Maxfield was

bowhunting.

36 Why I Plant in Spring

By Dean We

imer

44 Write Your O

wn Hunting

History — Logbook

is a

Tool for Success

By Whitetai

l Institute Staff

48 The Ever-Pre

sent Question:

Nutrition vs. Attra

ction

By Matt Har

per

54 10 Reasons Fo

od Plots Fail

By Brad Her

ndon

Departments4 A M

essage from Ray S

cott

11 Food Plot Pla

nting Dates

30 Field Testers

Report

Stories a

nd Photos

40 Record Book

Bucks

Stories a

nd Photos

42 The Weed Do

ctor

64 First Deer —

The Future

of Our Sport

www.whitetailinstitute.com For the latest promotions, sales and news visit www.Facebook.com/WhitetailInstitute Vol. 21, No. 3 / WHITETAIL NEWS 3

4 WHITETAIL NEWS / Vol. 21, No. 3 For the latest promotions, sales and news visit www.Facebook.com/WhitetailInstitute www.whitetailinstitute.com

THE BEST USE THE BEST! Whether fi shing, hunting or mowing your lawn, outdoor experiences are always more rewarding when using the best products money can buy. That’s why Hank, Bill, and top landscape pros rely on their durable, easy operating and comfortable Exmarks.

America’s favorite angler,

Hank Parker

HUNT, FISH–AND MOW–LIKE THE PROS!

Hunting icon and Realtree founder,

Bill Jordan

LOOK FOR THE 2012 EXMARK OUTDOOR TOUR, POWERED BY

www.exmarkoutdoors.com

with the purchase of any new Exmark® riding mower! *Limited-time offer. See Web sitefor details.

RECEIVE A $200 GIFT CARD

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

Your Own Back Yard

There is a song from the Roaring Twenties that tells us “happiness lies rightunder your eyes back in your own back yard.” I heard that sentimental oldsong recently on a player piano and I had to agree. I know that the best

things literally ARE in my own back yard in Central Alabama.Because that’s how I feel about my part of the world with its great hunting

and fishing. The area I call home is known as the Black Belt, a geographicalregion named for its rich dark soil. It cuts a swath across the state from east towest and as you can imagine from its definition, it enjoys a longstanding and his-toric agrarian tradition. Even better, it is home to superb natural resources,including two of America’s favorite game critters — whitetail deer and blackbass.

I don’t think it’s any coincidence that my hometown of Montgomery is thebirthplace of no less than three influential outdoor organizations. It is where Ifounded the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) in 1968 and it is whereJackie Bushman founded Buckmasters, built I’m proud to say, on the basic modelof B.A.S.S. Then in 1988 I founded the Whitetail Institute of North America,inspired by my frustration at not being able to find a really good whitetail forageand my determination to improve the less-than-desirable deer quality we suf-fered with at the time. I’m happy to say both situations were taken care of.

With my interest in both hunting and fishing, I was excited when I was invitedto participate in a new state initiative called Alabama Black Belt Adventures, a

program designed to spotlight and promote the state’s exceptional outdoorresources, especially its hunting and fishing lodges. That’s frankly what promptedme to open my own bass lakes and home to a limited number of groups at RayScott’s Trophy Bass Retreat.

As much as anything however, I felt gratitude knowing that there are individu-als out there who not only treasure our outdoor heritage on a personal level butare willing to expend considerable time and energy to protect and enhance itsfuture for all.

I know that similar efforts — on local levels or statewide — are being made allover the country, sometimes against a mighty strong headwind. Hunting is asacred tradition in the Black Belt and the South in general. However, in a fewother regions, hunters must fight constantly simply not to lose ground.

But with perseverance and the kind of knowledge and support the WhitetailInstitute provides, we can be more certain that the next generation of whitetailhunters will continue a proud tradition of responsible management and dedica-tion to conservation principles that will ensure that our sport not only survivesbut thrives in all of our own backyards.

Ray Scott

The Whitetail Institute of NorthAmerica is proud to announce thedevelopment and release of a peren-

nial forage mixture that combines heat toler-ance, drought tolerance and winter hardinessin a single mix that deer absolutely devour.Imperial Whitetail Edge is the latest additionto the Whitetail Institute’s industry-leadingline of forage products for deer. Edge is theresult of five years of the same scientificresearch, development and real-world testingprocess that make Whitetail Institute forageproducts the gold standard of the industry.That means you can rest assured that Edgewill perform well in a variety of climatesranging from Florida to Canada and attractdeer like a magnet.

THE HIGH POINTS

• Extremely palatable forageto deer that provides out-standing energy and nutri-tion

• Five years in WhitetailInstitute’s research, develop-ment and testing program

• Perennial mixture (last up to 5 years from asingle planting with proper management)

• Up to 44 percent protein• Penetrating and prolific root systems which

enhance drought and heat tolerance• Winter hardy• Best performance on medium/heavy to mod-

erately well-drained soils• Optimum soil pH: 6.5 to 7.5

THE DETAILS

The Whitetail Institute’s research, develop-ment and testing process are entirely goal-ori-ented. That goal is product quality and high per-formance in a wide range of categories thatinclude: early seedling vigor, rapid stand estab-lishment, drought and heat tolerance, diseaseresistance, persistence, nutritional content and,of course, attractiveness to whitetails. Over thefive years of Whitetail Institute’s research, devel-opment and testing of this product, Edge hasmet or exceeded the Whitetail Institute’s strin-gent standards which ensure success for yourherd management and hunting success.

FORAGE COMPONENTS

Like most other Whitetail Institute forageproducts, Edge is a carefully designed blend ofseveral plant species that have traits that pro-vide optimum performance in the field and opti-mum results for your deer herd.

We use blends for a couple reasons: 1) Rarelywill a single plant type perform at the highestlevels in all test categories; 2) Mixtures canadapt to the variable growing environments andconditions found throughout different growingregions and even in the variable conditions ofyour own food plot. You will find one of thecomponents may be predominant in shady, wetarea, while another component prevails in asunny, dry area.

Because all the components are selected forfield performance and deer preference andnutritional benefits, the flexibility of the blendensures good food availability and nutritionthroughout your entire food plot. That’s why theWhitetail Institute takes such care in selectingforage components that complement eachother, and then determine the optimum ratios inwhich to combine them.

As a result, you can be sure that, like allWhitetail Institute products, Edge is well suitedto a broad range of environments from theSoutheastern U.S. to Alberta, Canada, and ishighly preferred by deer. Edge contains the fol-lowing forage components, some of which willbe familiar to those who have planted otherWhitetail Institute perennials. Edge includes


proprietary forage varieties available only in Whitetail Institute products.Persist Forb: The backbone perennial in Imperial Whitetail Extreme.

Sweet, deeply rooted, cold/heat tolerant, and drought resistant. Persistperforms well on light to medium-heavy soils in well-drained sites.Optimum soil pH of 6.5-7.5. X-9 Grazing Alfalfas: The same high-tech grazing alfalfas found in Alfa-

Rack Plus. Deeply rooted, winter hardy and extremely attractive to deer.Because these are true “grazing” alfalfa varieties, they have an excellentleaf-to-stem ratio. Like any alfalfa, X-9 grazing alfalfas should be planted insoils with soil pH of 6.5 or above. WINA Perennial Forage Chicory: The same proprietary perennial forage

chicory found in Imperial Whitetail “Chic” Magnet, Alfa-Rack Plus andExtreme. Deeply rooted. More palatable to deer because its leaves don’tbecome leathery and waxy like other chicories traditionally planted fordeer. Specially Selected Sainfoin Variety: High-protein legume that produces

protein levels similar to those produced by high-quality alfalfas. Sainfoin isa non-bloating legume which increases palatability. Winter hardy as well asdrought and heat tolerant to withstand hotter, dryer environments. Thesainfoin variety included in Edge has been specially selected for its out-standing deer preference compared to all other sainfoin varieties tested bythe Whitetail Institute. WINA Golden-Jumpstart Annual Clovers: These are the same propri-

etary clovers included in other Whitetail Institute perennial and annual for-age blends. These clovers sprout and grow very rapidly, providing fastgreen-up and attraction.

RAINBOND SEED COATING

Edge includes Rainbond, a high-tech coating component that containswater-absorbing polymer beads. These polymer beads act like a mini-reservoir, absorbing up to 200 times their weight in water that would nor-mally be lost to evaporation or percolation through the soil, and keeping itright next to the seed as it germinates. The beads continue to absorb morewater as the moisture in them is depleted. The seed coating and Rainbondon Whitetail Institute products dramatically improves seed-to-soil contactwhich is critical for successful seed germination and plant establishment.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Planting Dates. Edge is suitable for spring or fall planting in most areas,and during a single yearly planting date window in others. Planting mapsfor the United States and Canada are provided on the back of the productbags as well as on-line at www.whitetailinstitute.com. Soil Type, Drainage and Soil pH. Edge is designed for medium or heavy

soils in sites that are moderately well drained. As with any alfalfa or prod-uct containing alfalfa, soil pH should be within neutral range (6.5-7.5) at thetime of planting. Equipment Requirements. Equipment required to prepare the seedbed

for Edge and to maintain the established forage is the same as for anyWhitetail Institute perennial forage product. Seedbed preparation includesthe incorporation of lime (when soil pH is below 6.5) by disking or tilling,and smoothing the seedbed with a cultipacker or drag-type implement toeliminate soil cracks and spaces before seeding. Maintenance includesmowing a few times in the spring and, if possible, once as fall approaches.Edge stands should also be sprayed for grass each spring if needed. Bag Sizes. Edge is available in 1-acre (26 lbs.) and 1/4–acre (6.5 lbs.)

sizes. If you have any additional questions about new Edge, call the Whitetail

Institute’s in-house consultants at (800) 688-3030. The call and the serv-ice are free. W


®

The Whitetail Institute239 Whitetail Trail • Pintlala, AL 36043

Research = Results™

Is it is just me or does it seem like sometimeduring the past 20 years our communitieshave been inundated with eating establish-

ments? When I was a kid, we had two restau-rants in my hometown, one where you had cof-fee (maybe breakfast if you were lucky) and theother you went to after church on Sunday fordinner (lunch for city folks). And at these dinersyour choices were anything that included meatand potatoes, maybe eggs at the breakfast joint.Today, I think there are more than 12 restaurantsin that town with food to match any dining pref-erence including a host of ethnic foods andgood old Americana. Actually your choices areendless, which can be good or bad dependingon the flexibility of your digestive tract. I am nottoo adventurous when it comes to trying newfood but I did try some Thai food one time andlet’s just say I spent a lot of time alone for thenext few hours.

So you may be asking yourself what all thisrambling about food and restaurants has to do

with food plots and deer management.The answer is simple. For food plots to be

effective, deer must utilize them, so it is impor-tant to have an understanding of why deer eatwhat they eat, and the answers can all be foundin the opening paragraph; availability, taste anddigestibility.

AVAILABILITY

Over the past few years I have had huntersshare with me literally hundreds of differentfood stuffs that they swear deer love. There arethe obvious ones but add to that pumpkins,watermelons, all types of landscaping plants,cattle feed and on and on. On one occasion, Ihad someone tell me that deer love fescue. Ihave never experienced this nor have I heard ofdeer eating fescue with regularity and certainlynot as a preference. I asked him what types offorages the deer in his area have available tothem. He answered with the enlightening state-

ment that fescue was just about the only avail-able food source.

So basically, the deer’s choices were starvingor eating the fescue. I have also had huntersshare with me the food plot forages that theyfeel work the best in terms of deer preference. Afew of the forage types mentioned were a bitsurprising in that they were varieties that nor-mally do not win the deer attraction contest.After a bit more inquiry I discovered that inmost cases, the forages they were growing werethe only ones that would grow successfully inthe type of soil in which they were planting, thusthe only forages available to any degree.

In these cases, I like to use the analogy ofgoing to a buffet. If you show up early at thebuffet and you’re greeted with a plethora ofchoices including your favorite juicy rib eyesteak, what do you think you will choose? Nowlet’s say you get stuck in traffic and you get tothe buffet line late in the evening. The choiceshave been picked over pretty good and all that


By Matt HarperPhotos by the Author

Even though standing corn is available, deer are often-times drawn to the brassicas underthe snow. If you didn’t have brassicas, the deer

would likely be in standing corn.

is left is some dried-out meatloaf.Do you just go home? Of course not, because

it has been a long time since lunch and you’restarving, so you will eat just about anything thatis eatable. I used two extremes in the analogybut the fact is that with multiple choices of food,one will move progressively down the food pref-erence scale depending on availability. Have youever had deer seemingly disappear sometime inearly fall only to find them munching on whiteoak acorns? Or maybe you notice less usage onyour food plots for a few weeks in spring whennatural browse is lush and bountiful?

While both of these examples do have thebenefit of deer being able to browse in cover, itis also true that at these specific times of theyear a food source that deer prefer is available.The take-home message is that it is hard todetermine what food source is more preferredthan another if you only have one or two choic-es. As the diversity of available food sourcesincrease, so will the likelihood of determiningtrue forage preferences.

My first experience of testing forage prefer-ence occurred several years ago when I plantedmy first food plot. We had an 18-acre hay fieldthat was primarily red clover and deer wereoften seen browsing in the hay field. I planted aone-half-acre Imperial Whitetail Clover fieldnear the edge of the 18-acre hay field in order totest if deer truly preferred Imperial Clover overother clovers. The first day of hunting season, Isat in a stand overlooking the bottom and wasshocked to see deer move thru 18 acres of hayclover and congregate on the one-half-acreImperial Clover field. If I had not planted thefood plot, I am sure that the deer would havecontinued using the hay field, but when I madeImperial Clover available to the deer herd, a dis-tinct preference was obvious.

TASTE

In the discussion of why deer eat what theyeat, it would only make sense that taste wouldplay a part in the food preference. In fact, itseems a bit obvious but in reality, the actual“taste” of the food stuffs deer prefer is some-what less than obvious. It’s pretty tricky to getdeer to fill out a taste survey as to what flavorsthey prefer and the incredible diversity of foodthat deer consume makes it difficult to pinpointspecific flavors. However, there is one type oftaste that unquestionably deer are attracted toand that is sweet. Many years ago I was talkingto some university researchers and they told methat the best way they could lure deer into aspecific area to catch them with a net cannonwas to use apple pie filling.

You may say, “Of course, it’s apples, deer loveapples”. I certainly don’t disagree but I wouldsuggest that a more exact statement is thatdeer like sweets. Pour molasses out on theground and likely you will have deer attracted tothat spot and for that matter, just pour sugarout and deer will be lured to that area. To furtherillustrate the point, deer are most attracted toapples when they ripen and their sugar contentincreases. Persimmons, berries and other typesof soft mast are all most attractive to deer whenthey ripen and the fruit is at its sweetest stage.Acorns are not particularly sweet but some areless bitter than others such as white oak acorns,and it would seem that the less bitter the acorn,the more attractive it is to deer.

You have all either witnessed or heard thatbrassicas are most attractive after a frost. Thereason is that the frost forces the plant tomature and ripen which involves a buildup ofsugar content in the leaves. Imperial Winter-

Greens tends to be more attractive than othervariety blends because the brassica hybridsused in the mix are primarily derived from veg-etable (garden) varieties as opposed to the for-age varieties found in most of the other brassicaproducts and thus are less bitter. I would beremiss not to mention salt in a discussion ontaste. Salt is a difficult attractant to categorizebecause deer are attracted to salt when they areexperiencing a mineral imbalance in the body. Inthe spring and summer when plants are lushand vegetative, they are high in potassium. Thishigh potassium level in the diet causes deer tocrave salt in order to get sodium to balance outthe potassium level in the diet. So does thatmean that deer are attracted to salt because ofthe taste or is it more of a physiological func-tion? It is somewhat of a chicken-or-the-egg-type question, but because salt becomes lessattractive to deer when plants start to matureand the potassium level drops, I would suggestthat it is more physiological than purely a tasteattraction. It would also appear that some typesof starches and oils are attractive to deer suchas those found in grains and hard mast althoughthe actual taste attraction is less apparent.

DIGESTIBILITY

While availability and taste are two major fac-tors affecting the food sources deer eat, thedigestibility of a food source is an influencerthat seems the most consistent and predictable.In order to understand the idea behind the rela-tionship of digestibility and food source prefer-ence you first have to have an understanding ofhow deer digest their food. Deer are ruminantswhich means they have a stomach that has foursections or regions, each performing specificfunctions. These four sections consist of a retic-ulum, rumen, omasum and abomasum.

The reticulum is involved in controlling theflow of food particles either into the rumen orout of the rumen and back to the mouth. Theregurgitated food-stuff bolus is then furthermasticated (chewed) to break down the digestawhich is especially important when breakingdown fibrous material. The reticulum is alsocalled the “honeycomb” as the internal surfacehas the appearance of a honeycomb which actsas a filter trapping larger particulars. The oma-sum is less understood but is likely involved insome nutrient absorption and the control ofdigesta flow from the rumen to the abomasum.

The abomasum or “true stomach” functions ina similar fashion to the stomach of a monogas-tric (single stomach). Gastric juices found in theabomasum create a low pH environment thathelps to complete the digestion of food parti-cles to allow nutrients to be absorbed in thesmall intestine. The “heart” of the ruminant sys-tem is the rumen, the largest section of thestomach. The rumen of a deer is a volleyball-


The author plants multiple forages in areas he’ll huntas deer usage will change from forage to forage

based on the stage of maturity.

sized sack that is the home of millions of livingmicroorganisms. The microbial populationsfound in the rumen have a symbiotic relation-ship with the host (deer) and are in large partwhat gives a deer the ability to digest fibrousmaterial. Food particles enter the rumen and arebroken down by the microbial populationsresulting in the production of compounds thatdeer can digest and utilize. Without a healthymicrobial population, deer would lose their abil-ity to digest many of the food sources they con-sume. Cattle are also ruminants and thereforeare often related to deer in terms of their eatinghabits. The difference, however, is that cattle arelarge ruminants where deer are small ruminantsand are described this way not necessarily interms of overall body size but rather in the sizeof the rumen. As mentioned earlier, a deer’srumen is roughly the size of a volleyball but incomparison, a cow’s rumen is roughly the size ofa beach ball. The larger the rumen, the moresurface area and in turn the larger the popula-tion of microbial colonies. A higher populationof microbial colonies gives the host animal theability to digest forages with a greater variabili-ty of digestibility.

Therefore, cattle, being large ruminants, havethe ability to digest poorer quality material witha higher NDF (neutral detergent fiber) com-pared to deer. NDF is a good indicator of foragedigestibility for deer as it represents the total

fiber content of forages. The content not foundin NDF are cell solubles (starch, protein and sug-ars), which tend to be more easily digested. Inother words, the higher the NDF, the morefibrous the forage will be and less digestible theforage will be, especially to deer. For example,cattle can derive nutrition from mature, stemmy,low-quality hay that is high in NDF where deercould literally starve on the same diet.

Put a bale of alfalfa hay in front of a cow andshe will eat the entire bale where a deer will like-ly eat only the leaves and not the stems as theleaves are less fibrous and more digestible.When you take this knowledge and apply it tofood plot forages, the less fibrous the plant, themore digestible and more attractive it will be todeer. Fiber is found in the highest levels in thestructural part of plants such as the stems.

Therefore, it would make sense that a foodplot with less stems and more leaves would bemore attractive to deer. This solves part of themystery as to why the deer on my farm browsedmore heavily on the Imperial Clover instead ofthe 18 acres of hay clover. Hay clover is designedprimarily for cattle production and to producetonnage. To produce large quantities of hay, theforage needs the stem structure to support themassive growth, and since cattle can derivenutrition even from the fibrous stem, plantbreeders of hay clover allow for heavy stems.

Because deer do not have as great a capacity

to digest stems, Imperial Whitetail Clover wasbred to be heavily leaved with smaller stems,thus making it more digestible and attractive todeer. Maturity also plays a role in digestibility.Plants that are vegetative (in the growingstage) are more digestible than mature plants.You may have noticed deer activity is alwaysgreatest in a hay field just after it has beenmowed. This is because after mowing, the plantbegins shooting up new tender, lush growththat is high in digestibility. So the longer a plantcan stay vegetative, the longer it will be attrac-tive to deer, which is one of the major factorsthat influence food plot design at the WhitetailInstitute. The preference for new growth alsoexplains why deer utilize natural browse mostheavily in spring.

CONCLUSION

Deer can be unpredictable and I am in no waysaying that you can tell what a deer is going toeat 100 percent of the time. I have seen deer eatthings with no logical reason as to why they areeating that food source. However, if you keep inmind the three factors we discussed —availability,taste and digestibility — you will be able to ac-curately predict more times than not what deerprefer to eat at certain times. And that predictionmay very well give you an advantage when nextdeer season rolls around. W



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

� Call for planting dates

� Aug 1 - Sept 1

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

� Aug 1 - Sept 30

� Sept 1 - Nov 1

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

� July 15 - Aug 25

Aug 1 - Aug 31

Aug 1 - Sept 15

� Sept 15 - Nov 15

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

Sept 1 - Oct 30


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

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

� Aug 1 - Sept 1

� 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™



� July1 - August 1*

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

� July 15 - Sept 15

� Aug 1 - Oct 1

� North: July 15 - Sept 15 South: Aug1 - Oct 1

� North: July 20 - Aug 1* South: July 5 - Aug 15*

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 - Oct 20

� 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

� July 15 - Sept 1

� 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 1 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 - Aug 25

Apr 1 - May 15 Aug 1 - Aug 31

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 15 - Nov 25 South: Oct 5 - Nov 30

� Mar 1 - May 15 Aug 1 - Sept 1

� 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

22

2122

2122

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

Make no mistake about it: Antler growth isa race. Given that the antler-growingwindow of each spring and summer only

lasts about 200 days, it’s no wonder that antlersare the fastest growing animal tissue on earth. Ifyou want to win that race by helping your deergrow the largest antlers they can by fall, you’ll needa special high-protein racing fuel. That fuel isImperial Whitetail PowerPlant.

THE GOAL: REALIZING MORE GENETIC POTENTIAL FOR ANTLER SIZE

When managing free-range deer tomaximize antler size, the specific goalis to make it possible for bucks torealize as much of their geneticpotential for antler size as they can.Your management approach shouldbe designed to achieve that goal asfully, quickly, and directly as possible.

The three main factorsinfluencing rack size

are age, geneticsand nutrition.

Each factor presents management hurdles that can’t be completely elimi-nated in most free-range situations, but they can be managed to varyingdegrees. As NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt once said, “In life there aresome hurdles you get over and some you don’t," and although he wasreferring to auto racing, the same is equally true of managing free-rangebucks toward larger antlers. The key is to identify the hurdles, and addressthem in a way that offers the greatest potential to maximize antler size asquickly and directly as possible. Age. One rule in deer management that can’t be changed is the role of

age in antler size: a buck cannot grow the biggest set of antlers he has thegenetic potential to grow until he’s mature (about 5-1/2 to 6-1/2 years old).Accordingly, any manager whose goal is to maximize antler size shouldallow his bucks to mature before harvest. In a free-range situation, theeffect of age-based harvest restrictions might be limited to some degreeby the generally high mortality rate of young bucks from non-hunting

related causes and the tendency ofbucks that live longer to sometimesrelocate. Even so, a management planthat allows bucks to be harvestedbefore maturity will never yield fullbenefits in antler size. Put simply, youhave to let them grow up. Genetics. Another common feature

of many management plans is culling— removing mature bucks exhibitinginferior racks from the herd to keepthem from breeding and passing on

their genes. Over time,


By Jon CoonerPhotos by Whitetail Institute


culling bucks with inferior genetics can reduce the number of mal-formed racks (a well-formed antler on one side, and a stunted antleron the other) and even racks that are well-formed but structurallysmaller than the manager desires (removing 6- or 8-pointers so thatonly bucks with more points do the breeding) can improve genetics.However, culling can carry practical limitations, especially in free-range situations.

Absent scientific testing, the manager has to rely on observationalone to judge the quality of a buck’s genetics, and in some casesobservation alone may be an uncertain gauge. A buck whose rackappears to show sub-standard genetics may have simply injured hisvelvet antlers, which might return to full form the next year.

Moreover, even when bucks with inferior genetics are accuratelyidentified, improvement in the herd’s average rack size due to theirremoval may take a while to show up. Does pass on their genes totheir offspring, and you can’t tell much about a doe’s genes by obser-vation. Also, in free-range situations bucks from outside the propertymay move onto the property, bringing their genes (good or bad) withthem. Either may delay or dilute the benefits of culling.

In many free-range cases, managing only to improve genetics maynot yield larger rack sizes at all. Inferior genetics is a much less com-mon problem in most free-range situations than you might think.Bucks in almost all areas have the genetic potential to grow far biggerantlers than they ever actually grow because they are nutritionally lim-ited by the food Mother Nature provides, die before reaching maturity,or both. Nutrition. Unlike age and genetics, limitations inherent in natural

food sources can be largely overcome — and virtually immediately,barring unforeseen weather catastrophes. Accordingly, the smartmanager will do what he can with age and genetics, and focus hardon supplementing nutrition. To see why, put yourself in the followingsituation, and then ask, “What would Dale do?”

Let’s say you’re a race car driver who’s nearing the end of a race.You know it will take you one full tank of fuel to finish, but your gastank is almost empty so you make a pit stop to take on more fuel.Which of the following actions during your pit stop offers the fastest,most direct results: (A) installing a larger gas tank in your car or (B)filling the tank that’s already on the car? Obviously, (B) will get you toyour immediate goal with the shortest delay. If you want to extendyour car’s range for future races, then certainly install the larger tank.But do that next; for now, filling the existing tank will get you to thefinish line, and with as little delay as possible.

�e Whitetail Institute239 Whitetail Trail • Pintlala, AL 36043

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

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

FUEL

And when you’re filling the tank, whether for a NASCAR race or anantler-growth race, remember that it will take racing fuel to get full per-formance. Like a race car engine tuned for racing fuel, the nutritionalaspects of antler growth are also specific and narrow, and you won’t getfull performance if you rely on low-octane pump gas. Let’s break it down. Protein. Entire books have been written about the nutrients involved in

antler growth, and explaining their complex interaction is beyond thescope of this article. For our purposes, we’ll narrow it down to this: themain nutrients involved in antler development are protein, minerals andvitamins, and of these, protein is king. Antler growth starts with the velvetantler, which is 80 percent collagen (a protein), and a hardened antler isstill about 45 percent protein. When you take into account that the antler-growing window only lasts for about 200 days, you can see howimportant it is that deer have access to lots of protein if they are tohave an opportunity to max-out on antler size.

MOTHER NATURE’S LOW-OCTANE PUMP GAS

Protein. Just as a race car’s engine likely won’t run well onlow-octane gas, deer usually can’t get anywhere near theprotein they need to maximize antler size just from whatMother Nature provides. Generally, deer need about 16percent to 18 percent dietary protein. Natural foodsources, though, generally offer 10 percent protein orless (usually less). Palatability. After spring green-up, some natural forages can

quickly become too tough and stemmy for deer to effectivelyutilize. Like cattle, deer are ruminant animals that can utilize awide variety of natural forages. Unlike cattle, though, deer aresmall-ruminants, meaning that they can only utilize specific parts ofplants within a very narrow palatability range. You don’t have to bea scientist to see that deer are built to process only the most ten-der forages. Just compare a cow’s muzzle and mouth to a deer’s.As grazers, cattle can digest tough, stemmy forages, and they have awide, flat mouth well suited to mowing off pretty much anything theycome across. Deer, though, are “browsers” or “concentrate selectors,”meaning that they select only the most tender parts of plants, and theirnarrow, sharply pointed muzzle, long tongue, and front of their mouths(incisors only on the bottom, and a hard pallet on top) are suited to nip-ping off carefully selected parts of a plant. Availability. Consider that right when a buck is well into growing his

early (velvet) antler, Mother Nature’s gas station may not even be open. Inmany parts of the country (especially the further North you go), naturalforages can take a while to present themselves in substantial quantitieswhen the antler-growing process begins, and they can be exhausted or oflow palatability well before it ends.

In most cases, natural food sources are of sufficient nutritional contentand availability for deer to grow antlers and live normal lives. Trying tomaximize antler size on natural food sources alone, though, is like trying towin NASCAR race when all you have is low-octane fuel—and you don’thave enough of it to even get the car to the finish line. The solution isequally clear: get racing fuel in sufficient amounts for us to cross the finishline as quickly as possible.

POWERPLANT: PROTEIN RACING FUEL FOR ANTLER GROWTH

If you want to get “full performance” from the antler-growing engine,then you’ve got to give your bucks the racing fuel it was designed for, andenough of it. When you’re racing to maximize the size of the antlers yourbucks will be carrying next fall, fuel them with PowerPlant. It’s designed to

get more antler-building protein into your bucks than any other annual for-age product the Whitetail Institute has tested. Protein. First, No other competing product the Whitetail Institute has

tested produces as much tonnage of high-protein forage during the 200days of spring/summer antler growth as PowerPlant. Period. Palatability. Second, PowerPlant is specifically designed to be highly

palatable to deer and stay that way—even after it establishes and matures.The key lies in the type of legumes included in the blend: they’re true “for-

age” varieties. Certainly deer will eat agri-cultural soybeans and can benefit fromthem nutritionally, but like a race car you’llbe able to push antler growth as high aspossible if you provide your bucks with aforage specifically designed for the unique

needs of deer. The forage-type legumes in PowerPlant(soybeans, Lablab and peas) are quite dif-ferent from their agricultural cousins. At

PowerPlant’s heart is a forage soy-bean, which is superior to agri-cultural-type soybeans in anumber of ways when used asa deer forage. For example, un-like agricultural soybeans,which grow a trunk that be-

comes stemmy with lignin as itmatures (making it much lesspalatable to deer), the forage


PLANTING DATES

for Imperial PowerPlant™

� May 20 - June 30

� May 1 - June 30

� April 1 - May 31

Plant PowerPlant during the dates shown foryour area once soil reaches a constant (day andnight) temperature of at least 65°F.


soybeans in PowerPlant grow as vines, which stay more tender and highlypalatable to deer. Also unlike agricultural soybean varieties, once PowerPlantis established, it can regenerate as deer feed on it. The addition of smallamounts of sorghum and sunflowers to PowerPlant maximizes the growthrate and foliage production of the vining legumes by allowing them toclimb instead of running along the ground. As a result, PowerPlant growsinto a thick “jungle” of succulent, protein-rich forage that deer will oftenbed in as well as prefer as a forage. Availability. Third, PowerPlant establishes and grows quickly, providing

the huge amounts of protein bucks need during formation of the velvetantler and later to help maximize the size of their antlers. And PowerPlantis designed to keep on producing tons of high protein—even into the fall inmost areas.

FINAL POINTERS

Order Early. Each year, the Whitetail Institute prepares its springPowerPlant supply based on demand forecasts. Sometimes the Instituteforecasts demand pretty well. In three out of the last four years, though,demand has exceeded expectations, and some customers who wantedPowerPlant but delayed ordering went without. So, be sure to orderPowerPlant early. You’ll find early-ordering discounts here in WhitetailNews (Page 62). Take advantage of them now.Planting Dates. The recommended planting window for PowerPlant in

your area is shown on the back of the product bags. Planting maps arealso available on-line at www.whitetailinstitute.com under the Productslink. Be sure you wait to plant PowerPlant until soil temperatures reach aconstant temperature, day and night, of at least 65 degrees. If you’re notsure when that is in your area, then contact your County Agent or a localfarm-supply store to find out when farmers will be planting their agricul-tural soybean crops this spring. Then, plant your PowerPlant at the same

time, or even a week or two later. Weed Control. Weed competition is rarely a problem with PowerPlant

once it matures because by then its foliage is so thick that virtually no sun-light can reach the ground. Even in its early growth stages, PowerPlantusually grows quickly enough that weeds usually don’t present a signifi-cant problem. If you plan to plant fallow ground that’s heavily infested withgrass or other weeds, or you’re otherwise concerned that grass or otherweeds may compete heavily with PowerPlant during its early growthstages, then you might consider including a Roundup-type herbicide intothe planting instructions (available on the product bags and also atwww.whitetailinstitute.com). Here’s how: Before spring green-up, add anylime recommended by your soil test (if a soil test isn’t available, then addone ton of lime per acre), and disk or till the lime into the top few inchesof the seedbed. Then, wait until grass and weeds have emerged and areactively growing again. Once weeds are actively growing again, spray thesite with a Roundup-type glyphosate herbicide solution. (Tip: AddingSurefire Seed Oil to the spray solution can help the herbicide work evenbetter. Surefire is available from the Whitetail Institute.)

After you spray, wait until both of the following have occurred beforeyou plant: (A) at least two weeks have passed since you sprayed, and (B)soil temperatures have reached a constant temperature of at least 65degrees (F). Once both have occurred, go ahead and fertilize and plantaccording to the Whitetail Institute’s published planting instructions. Whenyou plant you’ll be disturbing the top inch or so of the seedbed to coverthe PowerPlant seed with a light layer of loose soil. Even so, it’s highlyunlikely that disturbing just the top inch or two of soil will bring enoughdormant weed seed to the surface to compromise the performance ofPowerPlant.

Order your PowerPlant now, and give the bucks on your hunting groundthe best opportunity to grow the biggest antlers they can. You’ll be gladyou did next fall and winter. W

Meteorologists must not turkeyhunt. Well, maybe some of themdo, but not most. If they did,

they’d surely lobby their respective stategame agencies to ensure that spring turkeyseason opened when the weather was warmand comfortable. If you’ve turkey huntedmuch, you know that’s not always the case.

I experienced that firsthand last spring, when Wisconsin’s second turkeyperiod coincided with howling winds and sub-freezing temperatures.Although I didn’t enjoy dressing like I was on a late-season duck hunt, I wasfairly optimistic.

Sure, the birds would still be wadded up in large winter groups. Yes, theyprobably wouldn’t gobble much. And of course, I wouldn’t be able to sitfor more than an hour or two without being miserable. However, a friend’sforesight had given me an ace in the hole: an early-season food source.

EATING WHAT’S ON THEIR PLATE

Many folks underestimate the importance of food for turkey huntingbecause turkeys aren’t very picky at the buffet. Just ask Lovett E. WilliamsJr., one of America’s best-known turkey biologists.

“Turkeys are among the most resourceful feeders, consuming hundredsof different kinds of insects, other small animals and plant parts, includingalmost everything that is edible and some things that are not,” Williamswrote in Wild Turkey Hunting and Management.

At various times of year, turkeys prefer seeds, insects, grasses, leaves,waste grain, and hard and soft mast. Throughout much of spring, summerand fall, they have abundant food. However, as any wildlife farmer knows,natural chow can be scarce in late winter and early spring, so turkeys willseek out the best food sources in their home range. Often, the best optionsare logging roads, wildlife openings and food plots with the year’s firstgreen shoots of vegetation. Turkeys use openings throughout the year, butwhen those openings represent the best food option early in spring, theycan congregate there en masse.

“Grasses and clovers are good plants to use in your wildlife openingsand are especially important to wild turkeys,” according to the NationalWild Turkey Federation. “They offer excellent foraging and brood habitatfor adult wild turkeys and turkey poults. These plants can produce a largeamount of seed, which benefit mature birds, and attract hordes of insects,the essential element of a young turkey's diet. Additionally, grasses andclovers help control erosion when planted on roads, logging decks and fal-low fields.

“With little maintenance, grasses and clovers planted together will pro-vide several years’ worth of high-quality habitat for wild turkeys and otherwildlife.”

That’s what my friend had figured the previous year, when he plantedseveral food plots specifically for turkeys. The plots double as great white-

By Sam ParrishPhotos by Tes Randle Jolly


ALWAYS KEEP THE MUZZLE POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION www.mossberg.com www.mossberg.com Made in the USA

The Only Pump Action Adjustable TriggerSelect models feature the revolutionary Lightning Pump Action Trigger System — the fi rst and only user-adjustable pump action shotgun trigger (adjusts down to under 3 lbs).

NEW Turkey THUG® SeriesThe exclusive guns of Mossy Oak’s Turkey THUGS TV show. Includes models with top mounted rail, TRUGLO® dot sight, and Break-Up Infi nity® full dip camo.

Hardcore VersatilityDeveloped for use with 12 gauge 2¾" – 3½" factory loaded shotshells.

Over Fifty Turkey Models AvailableChoose from a wide variety of Turkey models across our 500, 535 and 835 product lines.

Mos

sber

g 83

5® U

lti-M

ag®

Mos

sy O

ak® T

urke

y TH

UG

® S

erie

s –

12 G

auge

Field-Proven Performance.When day breaks and that elusive tom answers your call, nothing out-performs Mossberg® 500®, 535 ATS™, and 835® Ulti-Mag® pump action shotguns.

Field-Proven Performance.When day breaks and that elusive tom answers your call, nothing out-performs Mossberg® 500®, 535 ATS™, and 835® Ulti-Mag®

pump action shotguns.

Field-Proven Performance.When day breaks and that elusive tom answers your call, nothing out-performs Mossberg® 500®, 535 ATS™, and 835® Ulti-Mag® pump action shotguns.

tail habitat, of course, but he locates them in areas where early-seasonbirds will use them heavily.

“Well-managed feeding cover should be located near favored seasonalroosts,” Williams wrote. “Aldo Leopold called this juxtaposition — an exer-cise in geometry.”

CAMPING OUT AT THE FOOD

The food plot I’d chosen to hunt opening day was tucked neatly beneatha massive hardwood ridge and was bordered on the other side by a creek.Several large winter flocks had roosted in the tall oaks and hickories muchof the winter, and based on the tracks and scratching in the food plot,they’d found a favorite early-spring food source. And with winter-likeweather entrenched over Wisconsin, I figured an easy early-season foodsource would attract hens — and that a gobbler or two might follow.

I didn’t hear any roost gobbling that morning, but I’d counted on that.Actually, that made my decision to camp out at the food plot even easier.It made little sense to move and try to locate a turkey in the open Aprilwoods if they weren’t talking.

An hour passed with no action, and I started to long for the warmer daysof late spring turkey hunting. Just as I was about to shift my weight andget some blood back in my toes, a blue head popped up from the creekbottom on the other side of the plot. Several more followed.

“Hens,” I thought. “No longbeard, though. I wonder where he’s at.”An ear-splitting gobble from farther up the creek bottom provided my

answer. He was following the hens to the field. I dared not move with the hen flock so close. The birds pecked at the

green shoots in the plot and slowly filtered past me onto the open hard-wood ridge. After they had disappeared from sight, however, the gobblerstill hadn’t showed, so I clucked and purred lightly on my slate.

Sure enough, drumming filled the air, and I looked up to see the birdslowly walking and strutting into the food plot, following the path the henshad taken. I slowly shifted my gun to the left and counted down the dis-tance until he was at 40 steps. Then, I squeezed the trigger and droppedthe gobbler in his tracks.

CONCLUSION

As I picked up the long-spurred gobbler, I thought about the simplicityof the hunt. Sure, it hadn’t been a classic morning full of gobbling action,but the quiet wait had been well worth it. When conditions aren’t ideal,turkey hunters must adapt, and food plots give a great early-season fall-back plan.

I hope my buddy puts that plot in again this year. In fact, I think I’ll helphim do it. W


The new Turkey Skinz™ are a fully feathered cloth skin/cape layered with real turkey feathers. This system completely wraps your existing decoy in realistic and natural appearing feathers. We all know feathered decoys are more effective but the cost has been prohibitive until now. Turkey Skinz™ are the solution at a fraction of the cost of a “stuffer” so bring that old decoy to life and sit back and enjoy better results on your next hunt.

THE REALISM OF A “STUFFER” WITH THE PORTABILITY OF A TRADITIONAL DECOY

- Natural Reflective Luminescence

- Fools Even the Wariest Gobblers

- 100% Natural Turkey Feathers

- Enhance Your Current Decoys

- Collapsible & Portable

- Quick & Easy Set-Up

989.435.3879www.awayhunting.com


WBy Wilson Scott

Photos by Brad Herndon

hitetail Institute forage

products are considered by experts

to be the gold standard of the food

plot industry. The reason is product

quality and much has been written in

these pages about the Institute’s

exhaustive product development,

real-world testing and product

preparation. You might not have

realized, though, that the Institute’s

commitment to product quality extends

even to its planting-date recommendations

and planting instructions, so don’t cut

corners with either. In this article, we’ll

explain why it’s so important that you not

depart from the Whitetail Institute’s

recommended planting process, including

our recommended planting dates and

published planting instructions.

FORAGE SELECTION

The key to getting optimum performance from your forage plantingbegins with our first “don’t skip” step: Make sure you select the rightWhitetail Institute forage product for each site. Factors that should affectyour choice include physical characteristics of the site and whether youwant the forage to perform year-round, for one fall and winter, or for onespring and summer. Each of these factors can vary from plot to plot, andyou’ll need to consider them all to select the correct forage for each site.

Physical factors include rainfall, soil type and slope, equipment accessi-bility and sunlight. Let’s take soil type and slope as an example. ManyWhitetail Institute forage products perform well in similar soil types andslopes, but there is a limit. Consider Imperial Whitetail Clover and ImperialWhitetail Extreme, which are at the opposite ends of the moisture-require-ment spectrum. Imperial Whitetail Clover is designed for good soils thathold moisture, while Extreme is for good or lighter soils as long as the siteis well drained. Neither may perform as well as designed if it is planted ina plot with a soil type and slope that’s ideal for the other. Let’s take equip-ment access as another example.

All Whitetail Institute perennials and most Whitetail Institute annualsshould be planted in a seedbed that has been prepared with, among otherthings, ground tillage. If your site isn’t equipment-accessible, then yourseedbed-preparation efforts will be limited, and that can negatively affectthe performance of Whitetail Institute perennials and most of its annuals.However, that doesn’t mean that you are out of luck. Rather, you just needto make sure you select No-Plow, BowStand or Secret Spot, which arehigh-quality forage products specifically designed to flourish with minimalground preparation. In fact, no matter what planting situation you’re fac-ing, with very few exceptions, the Whitetail Institute has a forage productspecifically designed to meet your needs. It’s easy to determine whichproduct to plant in each of your sites. Each Whitetail Institute forage prod-uct states the soil type it’s designed for right on the bag.

An article to help you select the correct forage for each site is also avail-able at www.whitetailinstitute.com under the “Products” link. And remem-ber — if you still have questions, our highly knowledgeable in-house con-sultants are just a phone call away.

PLANTING DATES

Once you select the correct forage for each site, the next “don’t skip”step is to make sure you know when to plant it. Each Whitetail Institute for-age product is designed to be planted within a specific window of datesduring the spring, fall or both, and every Whitetail Institute forage productcomes with its own planting date map right on the back of the bag. Thesame planting maps are also available on-line atwww.whitetailinstitute.com. You can see an example on page 11 of thisissue.

HOW SHOULD I USE THE PLANTING-DATE MAPS?

Let me assure you the Whitetail Institute went into considerable detailto set the planting dates for each product. If you were to compare theplanting-date maps for several Whitetail Institute forage products, you’dnotice that while the dates for planting certain products are the same forsome areas, the maps for other products may have different sets of plant-ing dates for different regions within the same state. Even so, weather pat-terns can vary a bit from one year to the next, and we know that our cus-tomers are more in tune with current weather patterns in their particulararea than we can be. So, to use our planting maps to best advantage, plantnot only within our published planting dates for the product you’ve select-ed, but plant once the ideal conditions arrive during those dates.

With Whitetail Institute perennials, you can fudge a bit and plant a little

before or after the arrival of ideal conditions (as long as you are still withinthe planting dates). Whitetail Institute perennials, for example, are coatedwith Rainbond, a proprietary polymer seed coating that actually absorbsup to 200 times its weight in water from the soil, and keeps it right next tothe seed as it germinates and starts to grow. If conditions are dryer thanideal when the seed is planted, the coating can also help the seeds survivelonger without rain than raw seed. With other products, though, you mustwait until ideal conditions arrive (within our published planting dates)before you plant. An example is PowerPlant. Because PowerPlant containssummer forage legumes (soybeans, Lablab and forage peas), it should notbe planted until soil temperatures reach a constant (day and night) tem-perature of at least 65 degrees. If you plant PowerPlant, or any summerbean or peas before that, there’s a good chance the planting will suffer.Beans and peas are among the most fragile of all seeds; if you plant themin cool, moist soil, they can rot in as little as one day, so be sure you don’tplant before soil temperatures have reached 65 degrees, regardless ofwhether you’d still be within our published planting dates if you plantedearlier.

PLANTING OUTSIDE OUR RECOMMENDED PLANTING DATES:POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

If you plant outside our recommended planting dates, does that meanyour forage planting will automatically fail? No, but the risk will certainlybe elevated. One reason is that the forage roots may not mature in time tohandle extreme weather and that’s just with normal weather patterns —how often in your area has hot/dry or cold weather arrived earlier thanusual? When most seeds germinate, part of the seedling’s root systemmust develop before the growing plant appears above ground. WhitetailInstitute perennials develop comparatively substantial root systems under-


Applying fertilizer on pH neutral soil is essen-tial. Otherwise, you maybe wasting money.


ground before they start to grow above ground in earnest, and plantingtoo late in the spring can leave the forage too immature to handle the heatand drought of summer. Likewise, if you plant after our fall planting dates,you run an increased risk that the forage might not be able to handle ahard freeze that arrives early, or that the plants won’t be at their optimumwhen cold weather arrives.

Sometimes, customers call to ask if it is okay to plant outside our pub-lished dates because the weather in the area “has been” mild. We point outthat what’s important is not what the weather has been, but what it will be.It’s what’s coming that matters, and forecasting the weather is obviouslyan inexact science.

So, rather than planting outside our dates, it is a better idea to wait toplant until your next planting window, and then use the interim time to doa good job of preparing the seedbed, i.e. liming, weed control, etc.

PLANTING FALL ANNUALS IN SPRING

Like all Whitetail Institute forage products, each fall annual is scientifi-cally formulated with multiple forage components in specific ratios tocomplement each other, providing top performance from the planting dur-ing the seasons for which it is designed. If you plant them in the spring, thecool-season components may be damaged or killed by the hotter, dryerweather of late spring and summer.

As is the case with the planting date maps, planting instructions for eachWhitetail Institute forage product is printed right on the back of the prod-uct bag and are also available on-line at www.whitetailinstitute.com.

WHY WHITETAIL INSTITUTE PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS ARE SO SHORT

Don’t skip or cut corners with any step in the Whitetail Institute’s pub-lished planting and maintenance instructions. To see why, consider our

perspective in drafting planting instructions for our products. Everything we do at the Whitetail Institute is done with our field testers

in mind, and we know that long, complex planting instructions are the lastthing our customers want to deal with. We also believe that overly detailedinstructions would actually be a disservice to our field testers. One reasonis that customers who’ve been with us awhile already have a feel for thefiner details. Another is that the questions that arise from folks new to foodplotting are so broad that an all-inclusive set of instructions would take upthe whole back of the product bag.

To provide planting information in a way that will be the most useful toall our customers, we keep the published planting instructions for eachproduct as short as possible. Then, we provide informational backups tothe written instructions in several forms. These include immediate accessto highly knowledgeable in-house consultants through our toll-free num-ber, (800) 688-3030, during business hours, responsive emails that areinformative and timely, and our DVD, Producing Trophy Whitetails, whichwe include with seed orders by customers who haven’t already received acopy. And unlike other companies who charge for “customer support,” theWhitetail Institute offers these services free to its customers. By structur-ing our planting instructions in this way, every field tester (whether expe-rienced or new to food plots) has the basic information he needs in thepublished instructions, plus several avenues to get quick, knowledgeableinformation if he still has questions.

The best way to approach planting instructions is to realize that everystep in the instructions is important, or it wouldn’t be there.

SOIL TESTING, SOIL PH AND LIME

The planting instructions for all Whitetail Institute forage products(including the full-preparation instructions for No-Plow, BowStand andSecret Spot) advise you to get a laboratory soil test if at all possible. As an

Quality Control Specialist since 1997

alternative, the instructions say to add one or two tons of lime per acre ifno soil test is available.

First, making sure that soil pH is neutral (between 6.5 and 7.0) is the sin-gle most important thing you can control to ensure that your planting willbe successful. Most fallow soils have low, or “acidic” soil pH (below 6.5),and when those soils are planted without raising soil pH first, fertilizer iswasted because nutrients are bound up in the soil and inaccessible to theforage plants. As a ballpark, if you plant in a soil pH of 5.0, you’ll be wastingmore than 50 percent of the fertilizer you put out. In monetary terms, thatmeans that for every $100 spent on fertilizer, at least $50 will be wasted.

The best way to make sure your soil pH is in the neutral range (and if not,then how much lime you need to add to the seedbed to raise it) is a labo-ratory soil test. High-quality laboratory soil tests are available for about $10from the Whitetail Institute, agricultural universities and County Agents.Again, be sure you use a soil test kit that actually sends soil off to a quali-fied laboratory for testing — that’s the only way to be sure you’ll be addingexactly the amount of lime (and fertilizer) you need without wastingmoney on lime and/or fertilizer you really don’t need.

SEEDBED FIRMNESS AND SMOOTHNESS (BEFORE SEEDING)

Our next “don’t skip” step might be better described as a make-sure-you-understand step: Before you put out small seeds, make sure theseedbed has been smoothed to eliminate any cracks the seeds might fallinto. That can be done with a cultipacker (roller) or a home-made dragmade with a piece of chain-link fence with concrete blocks on top foradded weight.

Seedbed firmness and smoothness prior to seeding are very importantfor any forage requiring a prepared seedbed. Seeds are referred to aseither “large seeds” or “small seeds,” and as you’d guess, that describes theseed’s physical size. For example, large seeds include oats and beans,which are much bigger than tiny clover, chicory and brassica seeds.

The difference in size makes how you prepare the seedbed prior toseeding extremely important. Unlike a seedbed for larger seeds, which cangenerally be planted after disking or tilling provided the soil is not tooclumpy, a seedbed must be thoroughly smoothed before planting smallseeds. Small seeds must be planted on or very near the surface of theseedbed. If they fall into a crack or are otherwise buried more than about1/4-inch or so, they won’t have enough energy for the seedling to push upto the surface, and they’ll die. Larger seeds should be covered by a rela-tively thin layer of loose soil.

SEEDING RATES

Try not to put out more seed than the Whitetail Institute recommendsfor the product you’ve selected. Whitetail Institute seeding rates havebeen calculated based on exhaustive research data at the WhitetailInstitute’s Certified Research Stations as well as by Field Testers acrossNorth America to ensure that they are optimum for that specific product.Every Whitetail Institute forage product comes with the recommendedseeding rate right on the package. Going substantially over our recom-mendations on seeding rates can actually cost you. You’ll be spendingmoney to buy extra seed you really didn’t need — and in some cases it caneven compromise the quality of your stand.

As for stand quality, think about one square yard of your seedbed.Within that square yard, you have only so much room for forage plants togrow and fully mature their roots. If you crowd that space with too manyforage plants, that can cause the plants to battle for root space. Verycrowded situations, can cause the roots to be stunted and can result inlower drought resistance and smaller plants above ground. How to seed. A question our in-house consultants are often asked is,

“The seed rate is so low — how do I put such a small amount of seed outon my whole plot?” To make sure you buy only the seed you need and to

plant it to ensure broad, even coverage, we recommend using a shoulderspreader.

First, set the gap in the spreader to the correct size opening. The high-quality Earthway shoulder spreaders available from the Whitetail Instituteactually have a chart on them that shows what setting to use for differentsizes of seed. For other shoulder spreaders, set the gap by eye — specifi-cally try to set it so that it looks like there’s no way enough seed will comeout. In short, if the gap looks a hair too narrow, then you’re likely right onthe money.

When your gap is set, put one-half the seed allotted for the plot into thebag. For example, let’s assume that you’ll be planting one acre of ImperialWhitetail Clover, for which the recommended seeding rate is 8 lbs. peracre. To start with, put only 4 lbs. of seed into the bag. Then, put that seedout walking north/south, and leaving 12 feet between each pass. Then,repeat, putting the other half of the seed out while walking east/west. Thatway you’ll have broad, even coverage with no gaps, and your forage plantswill have room to grow.

SHOULD YOU COVER THE SEED?

Whether or not the seed should be covered and, if so, how, are addition-al “don’t skip” steps. Or, more accurately, they are “don’t fail to understand”steps. Here’s what you need to know in a nutshell: Large-Seed Products. PowerPlant, Pure Attraction and Whitetail Forage

Oats Plus include large seeds. These should be covered by a thin layer ofloose soil. Small-Seed Products: All other Whitetail Institute forage products are

small-seed products. A. If you used a cultipacker (roller) to smooth and firm the seedbed

before broadcasting your seed, then cultipack once more after seeding topress the seed down against the firmed surface of the seedbed.

B. If you used a weighted drag-type implement to smooth the seedbedbefore broadcasting your seed, then do nothing further after you put theseed out. It will naturally settle right where it needs to be.

Notice that in neither case are you “covering” small seeds.


A soil test is anessential step for aproperly managed

food plot


PERENNIAL-FORAGE MAINTENANCE

Finally, don’t forget to follow the WhitetailInstitute’s published maintenance instructionsfor Imperial perennial forage stands. The mostimportant of these concern grass control andmowing. Grass Control. Since most grasses tend to

survive and reproduce through their root sys-tems, controlling them in food plots is usuallybest accomplished with a selective herbicide.The Whitetail Institute offers Arrest, a selectivegrass herbicide that can be sprayed to controlgrass in any Imperial perennial stand, and in anystraight clover or alfalfa stand. The Institute alsooffers Slay, which is more a broadleaf-weed her-bicide but which will control a few of the heaviersedge-type grasses. Slay can be sprayed onestablished (sufficiently mature that at least twoof the trifoliate leaves have unfolded) ImperialWhitetail Clover, and on any other straightclover or alfalfa. Before deciding to use Arrest,Slay or any other herbicide it is imperative thatyou check the label to be sure that (A) the her-bicide will control the grass or other weedsyou’re facing and (B) do so without harmingyour forage plants. Mowing. If possible, try to mow established

Imperial perennials a few times in the spring,and if you can, also in late summer or early fall(but, of course, not when the plants are stressedsuch as by excessive heat or drought). There aretwo reasons:

First, mowing can help perennial forageplants remain even more lush, nutritious andattractive; much like pruning a bush, mowingforage plants can help them produce thickerfoliage, and produce it at lower levels on theplant.

Second, mowing before the forage plantshave a chance to flower allows them to retainthe substantial energy and nutrients that areexpended when a plant flowers. Mowing canalso help break the reseeding cycle of upright,annual weeds. Again, to get that benefit youneed to mow before weeds flower.

This is true of all Imperial perennial stands,except Extreme, which should be allowed toflower, and for the flower and its seeds to dry atleast once a year before mowing. MowingExtreme after it flowers and the flowers dryhelps re-seed the stand, and mowing helps scat-ter the seeds very effectively. To know when tomow Extreme for reseeding, watch the flowers.They’ll turn lavender, and then brown. Oncethey’re brown and dry, mow the plot.

For more information about these, or anyother matter relating to Whitetail Institute prod-ucts, food plots in general, contact the WhitetailInstitute’s in-house consultants at (800) 688-3030. W

Once hunting season is over,it can be easy to forgetabout our perennial food

plots. If possible, try to avoid thattemptation because controlling grassand weeds in perennial forage standsis important, simple, and pays off in awide range of ways, especially for thenext hunting season and for years tocome. The Whitetail Institute’s Arrestand Slay herbicides are excellenttools in any weed-control arsenal,and they’re specifically designed withfood plots in mind.

WHY SPRAY PERENNIALS FORGRASS AND WEEDS?

The answer is simple: we need to sprayperennials for the same reason we change theoil in our cars — maintenance is easy, but nec-essary if we want our food plots to last as longas they were designed to last. And like carmaintenance, there are two big reasons tokeep grass and weeds in our food plots undercontrol; because it maximizes performance,and it saves us money in the long run. Nutritionally speaking, spring and summer

are extremely important times in the lives ofdeer. That’s when bucks are growing antlers,and does are pregnant and, later, producingmilk for their newborn fawns. Each of theseprocesses takes huge amounts of nutrients,especially protein, and it takes high-perfor-mance forages to make sure they have all the

protein they need. Whitetail Institute perenni-als are, in fact, high-performance forages.They’re designed to provide huge amounts ofprotein and remain highly palatable. If youwant your perennials to remain as lush, nutri-tious and attractive as they’re designed to be,though, you’ll have to do your part, and thatincludes controlling grass and weeds. Also, just as keeping our cars maintained

will save money in the long run, keepingweeds and grass in check can maximize thelife of perennials. And that can really pay off.One of the main reasons for planting perenni-als in the first place is that they’re designedto last for multiple years from a single plant-ing, which means you save the expense ofhaving to replant every year. And be sure youunderstand — failing to control grass andweeds will shorten the life of your perennialsjust as not changing the oil in your car willshorten its life.


By Whitetail Institute StaffPhotos by Whitetail Institute


“The number one priority in maintainingperennial food plots is controlling grass. Ifyou don’t control grass in a timely manner,

it can take over the plot in a hurry.”— Wiley C. Johnson, III, Ph.D.

Of all the information Dr. Johnson hammeredinto our brains, none was as often-repeated asthis one. If you want your perennials to last aslong as they should, you must control grass andweeds. Arrest and Slay are excellent tools forkeeping grass and weeds in check. If you’vewondered whether they are right for your par-ticular planting situation, this article should giveyou the information you need.

INTEGRATED WEED MANAGEMENT

“When maintaining perennial foragestands, herbicides should be considered as

one tool within an overall weed-controlplan. The overall plan should be integrated,

meaning that it should include cultural,physical (or mechanical) and chemical

weed control measures as appropriate tothe forage being maintained and the

weeds you want to control.”— W. Carroll Johnson, III, Ph.D.Whitetail Institute Weed and

Herbicide Scientist

As we get started, realize that no herbicide isgoing to be the answer to every weed and grassproblem. Instead, as Dr. Johnson advises, herbi-cides should be considered one tool within an“integrated” plan to control weeds by attackingthem from as many different angles as appropri-ate in the situation. “Cultural” weed controlmeans keeping the forage itself in good shape— healthy, and vigorously growing, making itharder for weeds to compete. “Physical (ormechanical” weed control means taking physi-cal action against weeds, for instance by mow-ing them or pulling them up by hand.“Chemical” weed control, of course, means her-bicides.

When it comes to formulating an integratedweed-control plan, each situation will be differ-ent. That’s why Dr. Johnson said “… as appropri-ate to the forage being maintained and theweeds you want to control.” In some cases, aweed-control plan may include all three meas-ures — cultural, physical and chemical. In others,only two or even just one may be the optimumapproach.

Below, we’ll explain how to determinewhether a herbicide is appropriate for yourintended use and, if so, how to mix the spraysolution and apply it correctly. We’ll start with afew preliminaries you’ll need to know.

GENERAL HERBICIDE INFORMATION

Herbicides are chemicals that “control” (kill)weeds or “suppress” them (keep them at bayenough to minimize their negative effects incrops), and they are described as either “non-selective” or “selective.” Non-selective herbi-cides kill or damage any plant they enter. Anexample is glyphosate, the active ingredient inmany Roundup brand herbicides and genericequivalents. “Selective” herbicides kill or dam-age some plants (weeds) without harming oth-ers (crops). Examples include the herbicidesoffered by the Whitetail Institute, Arrest andSlay.

THE HERBICIDE LABEL IS YOUR BEST FRIEND

The herbicide label is the only source of infor-mation concerning the selection and use of theherbicide that is absolutely certain to be cor-rect. It would be hard to over-stress how impor-tant it is that you consult the herbicide label inall matters relating to the use of any herbicide.If you don’t follow the label information andinstructions exactly, you may get no activityfrom the herbicide or even damage your forageplants — any number of results, and none ofthem are good. So again, read and follow alllabel instructions on any herbicide. The labels

Ensure the success of your food plots.The Whitetail Institute line of herbicides protect your investment by making sure that the plants you have socarefully planted can compete with grasses and weeds for nutrients and water. Arrest kills most grasses, but

won’t harm clover, alfalfa, chicory or Extreme. Slay eliminates broadleaf plantsand weeds, and is designed for clover and alfalfa. Both herbicides areextensively field-tested and can be easily applied by 4-wheeler or tractorsprayer. Easy and effective protection for your crop.

TREATED UN-TREATED

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

Research = Results™®

800-688-3030whitetailinstitute.com

will tell you whether or not the herbicide is appropriate for your intendeduse, how to mix the spray solution, apply it, and dispose of any leftoversolution — everything you need to know about the herbicide. To get theinformation you need from the label in order to correctly decide whetheror not to use it, you need to understand how the labels are set up. As wego through that, it might be helpful if you pull up the Arrest and Slay labelson your computer so that you can refer to them as you read along. TheArrest and Slay labels are available online at www.whitetailinstitute.com/products/herbicides.html.

SELECTIVE HERBICIDES FOR FORAGE MAINTENANCE

The herbicides appropriate for maintaining existing forage stands are“selective” in that they are designed to control weeds without harming for-age plants. However, no readily available herbicide is appropriate for use incontrolling all types of weeds in all types of forage stands. Instead, as we’llexplain in more detail below, you have to first make sure that the selectiveherbicide you choose will (1) control the specific weeds you are facing, and(2) do so without harming the specific forage plants you’re maintaining.

That’s because herbicides work by interfering with one or more criticalparts of the weed’s life and/or reproductive process, and weeds surviveand reproduce in many different ways. Also, different weed types mayappear very similar but have very different life and reproductive processes.To make matters even more difficult, some weeds and forage plants liveand reproduce in ways so similar that no readily available herbicide willcontrol the weeds without harming the forage plants.

If you’re confused by herbicides, don’t feel bad. You’re certainly notalone. You’d have to be a weed-and-herbicide scientist to understand allthe technical details of exactly how each herbicide works. The good newsis that you don’t have to understand all the technical details because thatwork has been done for you, and all you need to know is the comparativelysimple, step-by-step process that has been set up for you to take advan-tage of it.

ARREST AND SLAY

Arrest and Slay are selective herbicides offered by the Whitetail Institute


A hunter’s paradise and world class fishing

Call 1-877-849-0767 or visit www.alabamablackbeltadventures.org

A h u n t e r ’ s w o r l d c

s p a r a d i s e a n l a s s fi s h i n g

n d

Arrest and Slay are selected herbicides offered by the Whitetail Institute of North America and specifically designed

for controlling grass and weeds in food plots.


and specifically designed for controlling grass and weeds in food plots.Arrest is designed to control most kinds of grass, and it is labeled for usein any Whitetail Institute perennial forage stand, any other straight cloveror alfalfa. Slay is designed to control many kinds of broadleaf weeds and afew heavier grass types, and it can be used in established stands ofImperial Whitetail Clover, and any other straight clover or alfalfa. Both arewithin the family of herbicides referred to in the industry as “small-weed”herbicides, which are designed to provide optimum control of labeledgrasses and weeds that are still in “seedling” stage (young — before rootshave matured).

SHOULD YOU USE ARREST AND/OR SLAY IN YOUR FORAGE STAND?

Remember what we said earlier? Selective herbicides work by interfer-ing with a grass or weed’s life or reproductive processes, and although twotypes of grass or other weeds may look very similar, their life and repro-ductive processes may be quite different. That’s why herbicide labels arespecific as to grass and weed type — the information the label gives fordifferent types of grass and weeds is not the same. Step 1.When deciding whether Arrest and/or Slay is right for your situ-

ation, your first step is to specifically identify the grass or other weedyou’re facing. For example, identifying an unwanted plant as “grass” isn’tenough; you have to identify it more specifically as “Johnsongrass” or“Orchardgrass” or “Crabgrass”, etc. If you’re not sure exactly what a grassor other weed is, you can usually get it identified easily and quickly by yourCounty Agent. Alternatively, you can e-mail detailed, close-up digital pho-tos of the top of the weed, its stem and foliage, and its roots to theWhitetail Institute. When preparing photos, make sure you take themagainst a white background such as an old pillowcase or bed sheet, andagain, make sure the photos are clear and detailed. Step 2. Specifically identify the forage plants you want to maintain in

your food plot. If you’ll be maintaining a Whitetail Institute forage, this stepis quick and easy. As we said earlier, Arrest is safe to spray (as directed bythe label) in any Whitetail Institute perennial forage stand. Slay is safe tospray in stands of Imperial Whitetail Clover that are “established” (mean-ing that newly planted clovers must have grown to a height of three inchesand have all their leaves unfolded before you can safely spray them with

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

the Slay solution). For other forages, specificallyidentify the forage plants just as you did thegrass or weeds in Step 1, and consult the herbi-cide labels.

HOW TO MIX THE ARRESTOR SLAY SOLUTION

If you’re to this stage, then you’ve alreadygone through Step 1 and found that the label onthe herbicide you’re going to use says that theherbicide (1) will control or suppress the grassor weeds you’re facing, and (2) do so withoutharming your forage plants when used accord-ing to the label’s instructions.

MIXING INSTRUCTIONS GENERALLY

On the herbicide label, look next to the nameof the grass or weed you’re trying to control.There, you’ll find a chart telling you exactly howmuch water and herbicide to use for each spe-cific grass or weed type, and whether that rateneeds to change if the grass or weed is olderthan seedling stage. On the Slay label, you’ll alsosee that adding a surfactant or agricultural oilinto the spray tank at the time you mix the Slaysolution is required for Slay to work. TheWhitetail Institute recommends Surefire SeedOil for this purpose.

A great way to make sure you get the correctamounts of each component into the spray tankis to start by adding all the water specifiedexcept a gallon, then adding the specifiedamounts of herbicide and any adjuvants such asSurefire Seed Oil and/or ammonium sulfate, andthen adding the last gallon of water.

SUREFIRE SEED OIL(MANDATORY FOR SLAY,

RECOMMENDED FOR ARREST)

Again, the herbicide label will also tell youwhether or not a surfactant or agricultural oilshould be put into the tank with the herbicideand water when the spray solution is mixed, andthe Slay label says a surfactant or agricultural oilis required for Slay to work. Although the Arrestlabel says that surfactants and oils are notrequired for Arrest to work, the WhitetailInstitute strongly recommends adding an oil tothe Arrest spray tank when dealing with peren-nial grasses, or grasses that have mature roots.In such cases, adding an oil to the Arrest spraysolution can have a noticeable effect in increas-ing the action of the herbicide. The WhitetailInstitute specifically designed Surefire Seed Oilfor use with Arrest and Slay. Oils tend to makethe herbicide solution much more active thansurfactants do and also help the herbicide pen-etrate the plant’s leaf, and they can be eithervegetable-seed-based or petroleum-based.Surefire Seed Oil is a vegetable-seed-based oil,

and it also contains an anti-foaming agent tohelp the user properly mix the herbicide spraysolution.

AMMONIUM SULFATE(OPTIONAL FOR SLAY)

The Slay label says that high nitrogen liquidfertilizers such as ammonium sulfate “may beapplied” as part of the Slay spray solution. Inother words, it’s okay to include them in the Slayspray tank, but not mandatory. The purpose forwhich such fertilizers are added to herbicidespray solutions is to combat the negativeeffects of hard water on a herbicide’s efficacy —to help buffer this effect and allow the solutionto stay longer in a form that will provide opti-mum control. If you decide to add ammoniumsulfate to the Slay spray tank, make sure it is“spray grade” so that it will flow through yoursprayer nozzles without clogging them.

WHEN TO SPRAY ARREST AND SLAY

“The main issue in deciding when to sprayArrest is how old the grass is — you needto spray it as soon as grass appears and

starts to actively grow.”— Dr. Wiley C. Johnson, III, Ph.D.

Dr. Johnson had a knack for breaking downinstructions simply so that we could get the keyinformation stuck in our brains. It may help,though, to explain a few of the key pointsbehind his instruction.

HERBICIDE UPTAKE

Generally, most herbicides enter grass andweeds in two ways: “foliar uptake” (through theweed’s leaves), “root uptake” (into the weed’sroots), or both. Arrest is a foliar-uptake herbi-cide. Slay is a foliar-uptake and root-uptake her-bicide.


Although Surefire Seed Oil is not required for Arrest to work, theWhitetail Institute strongly recommends adding an oil to the Arrest

spray tank when dealing with perennial grasses.


For a foliar-uptake herbicide like Arrest to enter a plant, the plant mustbe actively growing. Here’s a simple explanation of when grass is “activelygrowing” that anyone who regularly mows a lawn will readily understand.Think about early spring when you see your lawn taking on a slight greentint. At that point, your lawn is waking up, but it is not yet “actively grow-ing” for our purposes. Next, think about a few weeks later when you seethe grass getting taller and wonder if your lawn mower is going to start.Now, the grass is “actively growing” — the grass is getting taller, and doingso quickly. Other factors that may affect active growth are seasons, exces-sive heat, drought, and mowing.

The same is true of the foliar-uptake aspect of Slay. It allows Slay to con-trol weeds that are actively growing, and its root-uptake aspect allows itto keep controlling new weeds that sprout from dormant seeds after youspray.

FORAGE ESTABLISHMENT

Arrest can be sprayed on any Imperial perennial no matter how young itis. With Slay, though, you need to wait for newly planted plots to get goingbefore you spray. Specifically, the Slay label says that newly planted cloveror alfalfa should not be sprayed until at least the “second trifoliate stage”(until after the new clovers grow to at least three inches and have all theirthree leaves unfolded).

OPTIMUM CONTROL OF YOUNG WEEDS

Like most herbicides, Arrest and Slay control young weeds better thanmature weeds. For optimum control, try to spray Arrest and/or Slay whileactively growing grasses and weeds are still young — as a rough ballpark,before they grow to a height or length of about 6-12 inches.

SAFETY FIRST

All herbicide labels provide solid advice about the importance of wear-ing protective clothing when handling and applying herbicides. The mostbasic important items include chemical-resistant gloves, eye protection,long-sleeve shirt, long pants, and boots. Even though Arrest and Slay areamong some of the least toxic herbicides, be sure to follow the label’sadvice about protective gear — they’re on the label for a reason.

Often, the food plots we spray aren’t near a potable water source, soremember to bring along what you need anytime you’ll be spraying yourfood plots. Whenever Dr. Carroll Johnson applies herbicides, he carries a“possibles bag” that includes several gallons of potable water for clean-up,and emergency bathing in the event of a spill or exposure due to a rup-tured spray line, as well as soap, household ammonia, an eye-flushing kit,and extra personal protective clothing. Dr. Johnson considers ammonia“indispensable when using a sprayer of any type.” Mix one quart of ammo-nia per 25 gallons of water and flush the sprayer with the mixture to cleanthe sprayer, ensure optimum sprayer performance, and minimize the risk ofherbicide contamination that might injure desirable plants on a subse-quent spray trip.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Hopefully, this article has helped clear up any confusion you may havehad about herbicide use in maintaining existing forage stands. Again, theherbicide label is the only official source of information about Arrest, Slayor any other herbicide. The Arrest and Slay labels and an FAQ are availableon the Whitetail Institute’s website at www.whitetailinstitute.com/prod-ucts/herbicides.html. And remember, if you still have questions after read-ing the Arrest or Slay label, call the Whitetail Institute for advice before youspray. W

Robert Ellis — GeorgiaI use Cutting Edge mineral in spring and sum-

mer during the antler growing season and fawningseason. The county I hunt in Macon County, Ga.,has been a number one trophy county in Georgiafor many years. There are some very good ge-netics in the herd. These good genetics andWhitetail Institute products helped produce thenice 160-class buck I took this past Oct. 17. Thisbuck was the most frequent mature buck at mymineral site for the last three years from thetime I first saw him on camera when he was athree-year-old until this year at five years old.Whitetail Institute products work for me and Iwill continue to use them.

Mike Meisberger — IndianaWe started using Whitetail Institute products

about six years ago and have been extremelyhappy with the results. On our 150-acre farm inIndiana we have approximately six acres of foodplots. The majority are in Imperial WhitetailClover (approx. four acres), the remaining twoacres are a mix of Alfa-Rack, Extreme and Win-ter-Greens.

Deer use the plots year round, and they are amagnet for deer activity. Not only do we seemore deer, but body weights and bucks’ antlersize are getting better each year. The photo at-tached shows my last four bucks killed. All on or

near Whitetail Institute food plots on our prop-erty.

We have tried several different seed companiesand varieties but none seem to have the attrac-tiveness of Whitetail Institute products. Thankyou for the products Whitetail Institute and welook forward to using them in the future.

Steve Forrest — MaineWe own a 50-acre woodlot in rural Maine. It’s

overgrown farmland with 60-plus-year-old secondgrowth mixed stands of mature pine, maple, oaketc. Other than acorns, there is not a lot toattract deer from the surrounding properties.Hunting during the past 10 years had really gonedownhill. A friend had been planting food plotswith good results and recommended WhitetailInstitute’s Imperial Whitetail Clover.

Two years ago, we cleared two half-acre plots.The results from the soil samples I sent in to theWhitetail Institute’s soil testing lab were quicklyreturned with instructions for the proper amountsof lime and fertilizer to apply. We prepared asinstructed and planted Imperial Clover. The landwas extremely acidic, so the first year before thelime completely kicked-in, the clover came alittle slow, but the deer still hit the clover thatgrew. The next year the plots filled in thick andgreen. It was impressive. And boy did the deerlove it. We have trail cams set up, and filmed sixbucks, along with the does and fawns, whichfeed daily on the plots.

This year, we cleared five acres and plantedfour in Imperial Whitetail Clover and one in PureAttraction. The deer are here to stay. As I writethis letter we have 18 inches of snow coveringthe ground, and the food plots look like sheeppens. Soon after the first frosts, they startedeating the oats and brassica in the Pure Attractionand are still digging through all that snow to getat the clover.

This past November rifle season my 16-year-

old son shot this 140-inch buck in the first halfacre clover plot we planted the year before. I’mnot sure if he or I was more excited. It surely wasrewarding to take such a nice animal from ourland. The buck weighed 202 pounds field dressed,and his shoulder mount will grace our home toremind us of that special morning.

Before we started planting Whitetail Instituteproducts I was becoming discouraged with thehunting on our land but now I’m obsessed withthe plots and watching the results. Good foodand cover is the key to having deer in an area.It’s only been two years now, but I can alreadysee the results, and it can only get better. Thanksto Whitetail Institute and its products.

Phil Roberts — Michigan

No doubt about it, any Whitetail Instituteproduct will increase deer activity. Any hunterwho uses trail cams should be using these prod-ucts. However, they may have to get a biggermemory card because of all the pictures!

I hunt in Michigan, and it’s no secret that for abuck to live to be a mature trophy in this state,he has to be extra smart and cautious. I bowhuntextremely hard and I use Whitetail Institute prod-ucts on a couple pieces of property to increasethe odds. I have been fortunate to harvest sixtrophies in the last three years all with a bow.

Regardless of harvesting deer, it is just an ex-cellent way to improve the habitat for whitetaildeer in any area. And after all the satisfaction


that magnificent animal brings to outdoor en-thusiasts why not give back to it. It’s my way ofsaying thank you.

Dennis Terry — ArkansasI have been using Imperial Whitetail Clover for

more than 10 years. I currently maintain fourseparate plots. The first year I planted I wasamazed at the amount of time the deer spent inthe plot. I began planting the clover on anotherlease about four years ago and was delightedby how the turkeys also used the plots duringspring. I’ve gotten many videos of birds on theplot.

I’ve tried a lot of things during the past 30years, and nothing pulls the deer and turkey inlike Imperial Whitetail Clover. The picture is of a12-point taken on an Imperial Whitetail Cloverplot. Great product!

Tom Vig — MinnesotaI raise whitetail deer and have used products

from the Whitetail Institute as a means of ensuringthe best quality forage for my deer. For the pastseven years, my deer have benefited greatlyfrom highly nutritious forages including ImperialWhitetail Clover, Chicory Plus and Alfa-RackPlus. I thank Whitetail Institute for its dedication

in producing quality forages and give them muchof the credit in helping my deer achieve theirgenetic potential.

Bob Jekel — Missouri

I tried several types of clover such as red,sweet and ladino, but the deer preferred ImperialWhitetail Clover. After the third year of ImperialWhitetail Clover, grass started showing, so weused Arrest, and it worked great. Our deer herdhas doubled with noticeable heavy-bodied bucks.

Lee Schmidt — Kansas

This Kansas buck scored right at 190 inchesand was shot near an Imperial Whitetail Cloverplot. The food plots have been very good to us.We shoot at least two bucks and two does everyyear, and they keep getting bigger. Thanks White-tail Institute for all your help and advice.

Michael Unser — Illinois

I have been using Whitetail Institute productsfor several years now and swear by them. Thequality of deer on our food plots has increasedsince using these products. The average bodyweight has increased considerably in bucks anddoes. The core of my food plots is ImperialClover, and I plant Winter-Greens or Extremearound the edges. This year, we have alreadyharvested four nice bucks off of these food plots,two during the Illinois youth season. My 12-year-old cousin Jamie harvested his first buck ever, anice 8-pointer and my 14-year-old son Craig har-vested a nice buck with 13 total points and abody weight of 190 pounds that was feeding inan Extreme food plot. Then during the first gunseason, Jamie’s dad, Mark, who was deer huntingfor the first time ever, harvested a nice 11-pointerthat tipped the scales at 208 pounds. Then totop off an already great season Jamie the nextday harvested his second buck of the year; verynice 9-pointer. All of these deer were harvestedin Whitetail Institute food plots. Then on thefinal afternoon of Illinois’ shotgun season, my

(Continued on page 60)


“I grew up in a family that enjoyed theoutdoors,” says Janice Maxfield. “As a child,I fished with my brothers but it wasn’t untilI met Joel that I got into bow-hunting. Weweren’t dating long before I realized if Iwanted to spend time with him, I bettertake up bow-hunting because that waswhat he spent all of his time doing.” Thingshaven’t changed much in the last 20 years.

Both Janice and Joel work for MathewsArchery. Janice is the new accounts man-ager, and Joel is the vice president of mar-keting. Since they work for Mathews, theyprobably get to hunt more than the aver-age person. Even though Janice has beenable to bow-hunt big game across thecountry, one of her favorite bow-huntingmemories is when she tagged her first doemore than 20 years ago.

Janice recalled, “Joel and I often huntnear each other but not in the same stand.That was the case on this particular hunt. Iwas in the stand by myself and he washunting another area. We were dating; Iwas 18 years old. When Joel pulled up topick me up after hunting, I was alreadydown from my stand waiting for him. Heassumed I got cold and quit hunting. Whenhe found out that I had shot a deer, he wasso excited. He picked me up, hugged me,and twirled me around in a circle.”

Years have passed since Janice killedthat first doe. Through the years, her pas-sion for bow-hunting has grown. Janiceand Joel have as much passion for bow-hunting as anyone I have ever seen. Havingspent some time with both of them, I cantell you that Janice is as hardcore as anybow-hunter you will find in the woods.

“I love bow-hunting and the sport ofarchery. I think shooting a bow and bow-hunting are fun” she said. “I like being inthe woods and enjoying the solitude thatcomes with it. I like the fact that bow-hunt-ing season is long so I don’t feel rushed likeI do when I’m gun hunting and there areonly a few days to fill my tag. I also likebeing able to travel to different states tobow-hunt. Since the bow seasons are solong in most states, there is plenty of timein the fall to travel around and hunt.”

Janice gives a lot of credit to Joel for allhe does to prepare them for the fall season.


By Tracy BreenPhotos by the Author

Long before husband and wife bow-huntingteams were part of the outdoor TV landscapeand long before there were outdoor

programs dedicated to getting women involvedin the outdoors, Janice Maxfield was bowhunting.Janice fell in love with the sport when herboyfriend and future husband Joel Maxfield,introduced her to the sport.

5/26/11 1:47 PM

“Joel loves bow-hunting and preparing for thehunt. He spends a lot of time scouting andhanging the stands which makes it easier forme,” Janice explained.

According to Joel, he helps but he doesn’thave to hold her hand.

“Janice has been bow-hunting a long timeand doesn’t really need my help. I spend a lot oftime on the road in the fall and she goes out onher own and bow-hunts,” Joel said. “After allthese years, one of the things that amazes meabout Janice is her unique style of bowhunting.There are times she calls me and tells me sheshot a buck. I start asking her questions aboutthe shot or where she is hunting. When sheexplains herself, I think to myself, ‘I don’t think Iever would have done it that way, but wow!Great thinking.’ She just has a way of getting thejob done.”

Long before Mathews Archery, Joel co-ownedan archery pro shop and Joel and Janice partic-ipated in a local archery league. Janice says thatis where she fine-tuned her archery skills.

“Joel has always been a great teacher but thelocal archery league we participated in yearsago had a few women that were shooting in theleague. Many of them took me under their wingand gave me a woman’s perspective on archeryand bow-hunting. I think that really helped mewhen I was younger,” Janice noted.

One thing is certain: Janice, like many bow-hunting fanatics, has taken her fair share of tro-phy bucks and is calm and collected in theprocess.

“I don’t often score the bucks I take. That isn’tthe most important thing to me. I have takenbucks as big as 150 and like most hunters, I have

to work very hard for the bucks I get. Many ofthe deer I have taken, I shot on the last day ofthe hunt or even the last half-hour of a hunt,”she said. “I am very patient and can wait if I haveto. If you want to kill big bucks, you have to letthe smaller bucks pass by and wait for the bigones. I think I do a good job at that.”

There is no question that women, in general,are more patient than men ... and that is alsotrue in the woods.

Janice and Joel have a son, Andy. Just like hismom and dad, Andy caught the bow-huntingbug.

“One great thing about our family is we cango on hunts together. Joel spends a lot of timeon the road hunting in the fall,” Janice said.“Andy and I meet up with him every chance weget so we can hunt together as a family. Andyhas taken a number of different animals with abow including whitetails and bear. Recently Joeltook him on a bison hunt and he got a bisonwith his bow. That was really cool!”

Like all of us, Janice has a few deer huntingstories that stick out in her mind that she willalways remember.

“A few years ago, my parents died a fewmonths apart. My dad died in August and mymom died in December. I killed one of mybiggest bucks that year in November before mymom died. My dad had just passed away and Ididn’t feel like going on a hunt, but I went any-way. I tagged my buck on the first day of myhunt in Kansas. Joel and our son, Andy, werethere so it was very memorable as a family. Irarely tag out on the first day so it was very spe-cial. It was like my dad was there with me. Joelfilmed the hunt, which made it special because

we rarely hunt side by side. Usually someoneelse is filming my hunts. I have now taken sever-al bucks out of that stand.”

Janice recently took a mule deer buck atalmost 60 yards. That hunt was also very mem-orable.

“I have spent most of my time hunting white-tails so going out West to hunt mule deer wasfun. Spot-and-stalk hunting is a lot differentfrom sitting in a tree stand. We had a few blownopportunities during those six days before Iactually scored, but in the end, I got a nice buckand had a great time,” she said.

Joel, Janice and now Andy have becomefamiliar faces on Mathews TV, a show hosted byDave Watson on the Outdoor Channel. Being onfilm has added a different dynamic to bow-hunting for Janice.

“Being on film can be tough,” Janice said witha laugh. “Sometimes when I am being filmed Ihave to pass on shots I would usually takebecause the camera man doesn’t have a goodview of the buck. Other times we have to quitearly because of low light. Filming for TV isn’talways fun, but I will say it can be fun to lookback at footage and relive a certain hunt. Ittakes away from the solitude a bit but over thelast few years of being filmed, I am getting usedto it and am fine with being on film now.”

When Janice started bow-hunting, Joel set upa bow for her that was designed for a man. Allthe gear she used was tailored towards men.Times have changed and Janice believes that isa good thing.

“When I got into bowhunting, there weresome women in the sport but not many. Overthe years, I have taken women under my wingand introduced them to the sport. It is mucheasier getting into the sport for women than itwas 25 years ago. Now there are bows designedfor women,” Janice said. “I think that is greatand I always encourage women to get involvedin archery and bow-hunting. It’s a great sport forthe entire family.”

In a day and age when so many bow-huntingfolks want to be hunting celebrities and seetheir faces plastered all over television, it isrefreshing to interview people like Janice andJoel. Both of them love bow-hunting, not fame.Janice is an accomplished bow-hunter who isn’tone to toot her own horn. In fact, she doesn’ttalk much about her bow-hunting accomplish-ments unless others ask. The Maxfield family hasbuilt a life around the sport of bow-hunting andwere just as passionate about bow-huntingbefore they worked for Mathews Archery. Youmight see Joel, Janice and Andy on TV but thatis not what is important to them. Spending timetogether doing something they are passionateabout is what is important to them. Bowhuntingis one of those unique sports that can bring afamily even closer together. It certainly has forJanice, Joel and Andy. W


Janice Maxfield, Joel, her husband, and Andy,their son, enjoy time afield as a family.

www.groundbusters.com (717) 509-7100


By Dean Weimer Photos by the Author

Planting food plots in spring is a superior optionfor hunters looking to offer up an

established, attractive, and nutritional food sourcefor their deer in the warm season and beyond.

After all, bucks in particular need toreplenish lost reserves from their skeletalsystem and overall physiology as a result

of the stress-heavy process of antlergrowth/calcification, in conjunction with the rig-ors of the primary rut, followed by the gruelingwinter months in the middle and upper latitudesof the northern hemisphere.

Food sources, natural and agricultural, havebeen depleted at a time when deer need themmost during the cold winter months. Does, too,are coming out of winter and are entering theirmost stressful period of the year, all the whilecarrying future members of the herd. Therefore,a highly nutritious food source that is availableas early in the new season as possible is veryimportant to help alleviate the problems men-tioned above.

There are many reasons why planting inspring is perhaps the best time, and in this arti-cle we’ll take a look at the top reasons to do so.Perhaps the best reason to plant food plots inspring, especially those warm-season varietiesof legumes like Imperial Whitetail Clover,Imperial Alfa-Rack, and others, is because thatperiod leading into spring is tailor-made for plotpreparation.

PREPARATION

The window for establishing a quality base foryour plots is much longer in the early seasonthan it is at any other time of the year. Later onextremely dry conditions can be a food plotkiller. We’ll touch more on this further on. In latewinter, weeds, grasses and other types of foodplot forage competition are still in their dorman-cy, and this is a great time to till up the soil andbegin the process of addressing the needs ofyour soil.

This can be done in the northern latitudes assoon as your soil is thawed and dry enough toget your machinery in your fields. The sooneryou can get your lime in the soil the better. Thisis why getting your soil samples in as soon aspossible is so important. Planning your lime andfertilizer purchases ahead of time is alsoextremely helpful. Another advantage earlypreparation has is that dormant weed seeds canbe stirred up into the topsoil to allow them togerminate and begin growing prior to the actualplanting of the food plot seed.

That way you can stop many broadleaves andgrass plants as you can spray them just beforethe planting of the preferred species. Or, if you’drather, you could simply continue to disc yourplot several times, effectively minimizing com-petition without chemicals in the weeks prior toplanting.

This can greatly aid the control of such plantslater on in the growing season when rain andthe sun’s more direct rays can be focused onyour food plot plants, and not their competition.

To be sure, weeds and grasses can be an issue,at least to a certain extent, but killing many ofthem early on can help tremendously.

TESTING. ONE, TWO, THREE

Arguably, the best time to soil test is at leastseveral weeks before the planting of your cho-sen food plot species. Soil tests can even betaken in late winter when the ground is still cold,and even a bit wet.

You don’t want to send mud in for a soil test,but a little moisture in the sample isn’t going tohurt anything. Interestingly enough, it is theextremely dry samples that can actually causemore false test information than wet ones.

This past spring I sent a soil test into theWhitetail Institute in March. It was cold the dayI drew the sample and the plants were still

brown. I put the sample on a piece of plastic inmy garage for a few days and let it air drybefore I sent it in.

Getting the lacking nutrients and lime mixedinto the sub-surface soil is also critical for plantsthat will be rooting down into this zone in thecoming months, thus benefiting plant and deeralike. It amazes me how many well-meaningfood plot enthusiasts skip these vital steps priorto starting their new, springtime plantings.

Skipping these early steps is like a seriousfishermen buying the best rods, reels, line, andtop-dollar fishing lures only to buy the cheapestsnap swivels you can find.

If you’re serious about improving your forageand overall habitat for your deer, and are willing

to spend good, hard-earned money on WhitetailInstitute’s quality seeds, then you owe it to your-self and the deer you’re hunting, to skip no stepsin the entire process. It’s definitely worth theextra time, money, and effort.

STARTING FRESH

All the ingredients are starting to cometogether for the ultimate springtime food plot,and so far we’ve discussed the proper steps totake while waiting on the proper planting time-frame. While waiting on the planting date it isvery important to get the freshest WhitetailInstitute seed that you possibly can. Make sureyou buy seed that has a current test date on thebag. If you find an untagged bag then it’s bestto steer clear of it. And it’s not just the seed thatneeds to be ultra-fresh. You also want to makesure those seeds have the freshest coatings.

All Whitetail Institute legumes are pre-inocu-lated with microbial Rhizobium bacteria so thatgermination is maximized, and later on to helpproduce maximum amounts of nitrogen forthemselves. The fresher that inoculant, the bet-ter off your individual plants in your plot will be.Recently the Institute has begun to also addRainbond to all their coated seeds. Rainbondholds 200 times its weight in water around theseed to improve seedling survival and reducefalse germination from lack of moisture. This isjust another aid in helping the survival of all yourplants, which will only help those food plots inthe future.

Perhaps the best time to plant a legume likeImperial Clover in my part of Indiana is fromabout the beginning of April to mid-May. In fact,this is a good timeframe to plant your new plotsin many areas of the middle latitudes. In myneck of the woods a springtime frost isn’t out ofthe question in early to mid-April, but cloverseed is very hardy and will withstand somecolder temperatures.

If you live in more southerly latitudes be sureto read the optimum dates for planting yourplots on the labels of your products. There is awindow for planting for each of the Institute’sproducts that is specific for each region, orstate/province.

What I like to do is have the fresh seed readyto plant, and when all of the other steps havebeen taken care of I’ll be ready to go sometimeinside of this important window of planting.Make sure that you are planting as early as pos-sible within the planting window suggested onyour seed package.

MAKE YOUR BED

It’s an old cliché: “Make your own bed, and liein it too.” OK, so we aren’t discussing humanbehavior here so much. But, it’s super importantto prepare your seed bed correctly to get the


“A benefit of establishing a quality

food plot several months ahead of

deer season is the power of the

planting to draw deer to your

property. The amount of

nutritious forage that a properly

maintained plot can provide to a

deer herd can’t be overstated.”

most out of all the work you’ll be doing up tothis point in time.

After you’ve disked the seed bed severaltimes, and/or sprayed it with a glyphosate-typeherbicide, it’s now time to prepare that bed foryour seeds. This is another area in which manywell-meaning food plotters can make or breaktheir efforts.

When you are completely ready to put theseed out, it’s time to get the dirt ready one lasttime before the actual seed broadcasting. A cul-tipacker is really key in this instance. You can getaway with using some type of homemade drag,but if you can borrow, or rent a cultipacker you’llbe better off in the long run. Before planting thefirst seed, you should cultipack the plot. Getthat plot bed firm and uniform for your bestresults.

After this you are ready to broadcast theseed. I’ve found that a hand spreader worksbest on plots about an acre, or smaller. Theseplots are small enough and you can pinpointyour broadcasting efforts more easily.

For larger plots a pull-behind, ATV-mounted,or other type broadcaster might save you somelegwork. It’s critical to follow Whitetail Institute’srecommended per-acre seeding rates. Whenyour seed has been planted it’s time to cultipackit one more time. Once that is finished you’reready for Mom Nature to do her part.

RAIN ON ME

Generally, spring offers the right amounts ofrainfall to get a new food plot up and goingproperly. Having your particular field ready togo when the season’s first rains begin to harborin spring’s new growth is critical to getting yourplot in as good a shape as can be expectedbefore going into the summer’s dry period.

Taking all of the necessary steps ahead of therains of April, May, and also June will no doubtput the finishing touches on the perfect foodplot. Getting Imperial Clover to root down effec-tively before summer's dry spell is key in gettingthe plot to become as drought tolerant as it isdesigned to be. After your new plot starts togrow, and the deer start to devour your offer-ings, you will finally understand what all thehard work was for. And believe me, those deerwill come and eat this new, nutritious food itemthat hasn’t been available to them before.

ADDED BENEFITS

Another benefit of establishing a quality foodplot several months ahead of deer season is thepower of the planting to draw deer to your par-ticular property. My personal favorite reason toplant food plots is the sheer amount of nutri-tious forage that a properly maintained plot can

provide to a deer herd. This really can’t be over-stated.

It’s amazing to me how much a food plot thatoffers up something different to an area’s deercan really bring them to your property and keepthem there more of the time.

For me personally, it is very rewarding to giveback to the animals I hunt, and it is aestheticallypleasing to actually see them eating from a foodplot that I have painstakingly created for them.When you realize that your plot can also be uti-lized in a deer hunting strategy as well, it is justicing on the cake.

SUMMING IT UP

Spring is perhaps the best time to plant a newfood plot throughout much of the whitetail’srange. With proper preparation, planning, andtiming you will be well on your way to produc-ing the ultimate plot.

Paying attention to all the details in the stepsto building an awesome food plot will go a longway in reaping the benefits that will come fromthe effort. Putting forth maximum effort andtime will definitely help in your quest for the ul-timate hunting on your slice of paradise. And itfeels good to give back and ensure that yourdeer will have great nutrition for the next severalyears. W


Bob Richardson — IllinoisIt wasn’t a coincidence that we saw “The

Picket Fence Buck” that evening. Our trail cameraphotos showed the buck was using our Winter-Greens food plot for several weeks. This typicalgiant pushing 200 inches Boone & Crockett hadbeen visiting almost nightly with two smallerbucks.We set up that evening on a trail we knew the

buck used to travel from his bedding area to thefood plot. Like most mature bucks, his patternwas to stage in the woods until darkness thenwork his way into the Winter-Greens after dark.Food plots, and the bucks we hope to attract

by using them, are serious business to us. Throughhard work, determination and sticking to a gameplan, we make our property more attractive todeer and also draw them from neighboring prop-erties. With does filtering onto the property andplenty of food to go around, mature bucksusually aren’t far behind.For the past five years, we have planted

Imperial Whitetail Clover, Winter-Greens andChicory Plus. Our clover grows all year and is es-pecially popular with the deer in the early season.The Winter-Greens don’t get much attentionearly, but they turn sweet after the first frost anddeer hit them hard late in the season.This is my zone — late season, big Illinois

bucks and Winter-Greens! For the past five years,I have killed my biggest bucks, and this pastseason was the icing on the cake. The PicketFence Buck — he got his name from that widepalmated main beam with eight points on eachside — the 8-inch-10-inch points stacked up oneach side of his rack and lined up like a picketfence. A deer of a lifetime! A full season of hard work was about to come

together. The big buck’s routine appetite wasabout to get him in trouble! With the light fading,my camera man gave me the signal — he was onthe buck and rolling. With a deep breath Isqueezed the trigger on my muzzleloader andknew the bullet hit home.When we walked up to him, The Picket Fence

Buck was every bit as stunning as we thought,with palmation on his main beams and a roughscore of 200 inches. What a deer!Through meticulous planning, hard work and

a little bit of good luck, I landed the buck of mylife. And there is not a better feeling than puttinga new, hard-earned trophy on the wall. ThanksWhitetail Institute for the food plot productsthat helped him grow his impressive antlers andbring him down the trail I was sitting on.

Terry Smith — Nova Scotia, Canada

Enclosed is a picture of my 11-point bow killtaken over an Imperial Whitetail Clover foodplot. I have been using Whitetail Institute productsfor three years. I have 12 acres of food plots andI will continue to use Whitetail Institute productsin all my food plots. I was watching this buck fortwo years and finally had the opportunity to geta shot at him at 31 yards. This is my largest bowkill ever. I have been seeing more deer, healthierdeer and larger racks. This spring, we are imple-menting 30-06 Minerals as well for six sites onour property. The customer service from e-mailsI’ve sent to Whitetail Institute or when I havecalled has been a great help, and it’s great toknow that when you call, someone answers thephone and can answer your food plot questions.Keep up the great work Whitetail Institute.

Randall Roark — IndianaMy hunting group and I are very blessed to

hunt 742 acres in north-central Indiana. We have10 to 12 acres of Whitetail Institute food plotsplanted. We also have four 30-06 Mineral licks

spread across our farm.We have been practicing let them go, let them

grow for eight years now. I harvested the buckin the photo on one of our food plots. We haveseen more big bucks and more deer overall sinceusing Whitetail Institute products.We have taken 8 big bucks to date. We had a

fantastic season this past year. We harvestedfour bucks that ranged from 130 inches to 160inches. Things are looking bright for the futureas well.Great things do happen when you provide

quality food plots and you don’t take smallbucks. It will work if you can be patient. Shootthe does for meat and let the small bucks walk.Thanks Whitetail Institute for great products.

Chad Hardt — North DakotaFive years ago, I planted a brand of clover

other than Imperial Whitetail Clover. It grew well,


but it wasn’t attracting deer like I had expected.The next year, I planted a small plot of ChicMagnet about 50 yards from the clover. I wasvery impressed to see that the Chic Magnetwould be loaded with deer, while the clover wasempty. So two years ago I planted a couple ofacres of Imperial Whitetail Clover. After it was acouple of inches high I was getting pictures ofdeer in it, sometimes a half dozen in one picture.Since I have been planting Whitetail Instituteproducts I have been getting trail cam picturesof nice bucks all summer and fall, not just duringthe rut. Also, the last two bucks I have shot weremy first Pope & Young bucks scoring 134- and148-inches. One of them was shot in the clover.This year I planted Tall Tine Tubers and fiveweeks later they were a foot high! Everything Ihave planted from Whitetail Institute has hadexcellent results. I will without a doubt be plantingmore Whitetail Institute products next year.

Joseph Milenkovic — OhioSeveral years ago, a childhood dream of mine

came true! I have been an apprentice/juniorhunter since the ripe old age of four. I havemany early photographs of me standing next toone of the deer my Dad harvested in Woodstock,New York. By the time I reached my teen yearsmy dad had harvested many nice bucks andalso a 500-plus pound black bear. Being in thewoods and watching my dad harvest all of theseanimals hooked me on hunting. With my fastpaced life in New York, moving to Florida, starting

a career and raising a family I had to put thispassion on hold.Fast forward 30 years and there I was bidding

on a 60-acre farm in north-eastern Ohio butliving in southern Florida. I had located this areathat I knew had good genetics for whitetails andwas also in my price range. I purchased theproperty. It had 45 acres of woods and 15 acresof open land where food plots could be planted.After doing some research and talking withfellow hunters, I learned about the Whitetail In-stitute and its products. For the past five-plusyears I have gradually improved the land byusing Imperial Whitetail Clover, No-Plow andChicory Plus. Living out-of-state makes plantingsuccessful food plots a challenge. However, Slayand Arrest herbicides have aided greatly with

weed control. I am very impressed with all of theWhitetail Institute products in addition to thesimplicity of use. Being a “city boy,” this farmingbusiness is new to me. With the help of theseproducts, my 60-acre farm has become my“horns of plenty” and the envy of my neighbors.To date (since I bought the farm five years

ago), we have harvested 11 bucks, all being 8points or more. Last year was our best so far. MyDad harvested a 10-point buck that scored higherthan any buck he ever killed in his 50-plus yearsof hunting (photo 1). My brother also killed a 10-point buck, and my 18-year-old son killed hisfirst buck, a beautiful 8-point. The next generationof family hunters is well on his way, and I couldnot be more thrilled! I also harvested my biggestbuck to date. It was a 10-point that grossedalmost 159 inches (photo 2). It has matchingsplits on the G-2s that are 6 inches each and areattached to G-2’s that are almost 12 inches. That morning, I dropped off my brother at his

stand and decided to hunt a new stand I had putup just below my largest food plot planted withImperial Whitetail Clover. First light came andwent with no movement. It was a beautiful morn-ing but cold. On stand for nearly two hours, I de-cided to stand and stretch. While looking behindme I noticed a young 8-point sneaking throughthe brush at 30 yards. He walked beside my stand and I was admiring

what a nice young deer he was when my eyescaught movement about 100 yards in front ofmy stand. As I glanced that way I saw a monsterbuck that I immediately knew was a shooter. Hewas watching this young 8-point walk in his di-rection. I glanced back to see where the 8-pointwas and then re-focused on the monster buckwhen I saw what I believed to be him walking inthe opposite direction of my stand, and I lostsight of him. I immediately hit my grunt tube. All of the sudden I saw this massive rack stick

up over a hill 50 yards in front of me. The buckwalking away was a different buck. The big buckcontinued to walk in my direction, getting towithin 15 yards. I let my arrow fly and was confi-dent I had hit my mark. The buck sprinted upthe hill behind my stand. I sent some text messages to my brother and

a friend and told myself to give the buck sometime. I lasted about 10 minutes and couldn’t takeit any longer. I climbed down my tree and foundmy arrow. It was a clean pass-through, and thearrow was covered with sign indicating a goodshot. I decided he could not have gone far so Istarted walking up the hill looking for him. Afterwalking about 50 yards I was startled when Isaw a deer begin running up the hill. As the deercrested the top of the hill where the food plot islocated, I could see the massive rack silhouettedagainst the skyline. My stomach sank thinking I kicked up my

�

�


(Continued on page 53)


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

Weeds — the Great Thief of Food Plots

Thirty-four years ago I took my firstweed science class at AuburnUniversity; AGY 434. I struggled —

mightily. Yet, that class pointed me down thecareer path and eventually to my currentvocation. The instructor was famous for mul-tiple choice exams, with the answer choicesranging from A through M. A through Ewould be technical choices. F through Mwould be infuriating statements like A, B,and maybe D but never C. Students are high-ly vulnerable to intimidation, and I frequentlylost sight of the fundamental weed sciencelessons being evaluated. One exam in particular dealt with losses

that weeds cause. Although the questionswere ridiculously nit-picky, the conceptsbeing tested were actually very simple. Thisis certainly the case with weeds and the loss-es they cause in food plots. The point to thispersonal testimony is to encourage growersnot to dwell on the "what-ifs" when makingweed control decisions and focus on thesimple concept that weeds are the greatearly-season thief of food plot productivity.

EARLY-SEASON VULNERABILITYTO WEEDS

To begin this discussion, consider thestage of food plot development when for-ages are most susceptible to losses fromweeds — the establishment period. All for-age species, particularly perennial legumes,are slow-growing as seedlings and vulnera-ble to weed competition. This vulnerabilitymight be expressed as slower crop develop-ment and even stand reduction as weedscompete with forages for sunlight, water andsoil nutrients.Refer to the data presented in Table 1.

These trials were conducted in Pennsylvania,with the data presented being part of a larg-er data set. The abbreviated data set is asimple comparison of early-season alfalfagrowth between plots with weedy volunteeroat controlled with sethoxydim (Arrest) anda non-treated control. Weed control meantmore alfalfa leaflets, greater survival afterseeding (pereniation), and greater overallforage yield compared to alfalfa with noweed control. This equates to more nutri-

tious forage to attract and sustain the deerherd when weeds are controlled early-sea-son. This phenomenon was also studied by

weed scientists with Oregon State Universityand USDA-ARS (Table 2). Newly seeded alfal-fa was maintained weed-free with hand-weeding for varying periods the first 260days after establishment. At the end of the260-day period, above ground weed andalfalfa growth were collected. Obviously, thelonger weeds are controlled in seedling alfal-fa, the greater the alfalfa yield. Closer studyof the data shows that the critical period ofearly-season weed control for maximumalfalfa yield was about 170 days after seeding— nearly six months. Weed control for 170days after seeding alfalfa increased yield by268 percent compared to alfalfa yield with noweed control. Using labor-intensive hand-weeding weed control in food plots is notpractical and that is why we use selectiveherbicides like Slay and Arrest. Regardless ofhow weeds are controlled, this data isirrefutable documentation of the importanceof early-season weed control. All of this makes sense and is completely

intuitive. Early-season weed control isabsolutely essential to forage crop establish-ment, particularly when conditions are aus-tere. While these studies were conductedwith alfalfa across a wide geographical range,the general relationship is fundamental forany forage crop and location. Similar studies were recently conducted in

Pennsylvania and those studies producedgenerally comparable results. However, therecent trials had an additional variable — theeffect of baseline weed populations on theimportance of early-season weed control.Weed control in sites with heavy weed infes-tations needed to begin immediately afterseeding alfalfa, while weed control at siteswith lower weed infestations could bedelayed a few weeks. This has direct implications on how we

choose food plot sites and the intensity ofweed control. In cases where food plot man-agers know or strongly suspect serious weedproblems, weed control must be proactiveand aggressive, beginning even before theforages are seeded. Pre-plant or site-prepa-

ration weed control is a recommended strat-egy to lower baseline weed densities beforeseeding the forage. This includes frequentstale seedbed (pre-plant) tillage and fallowapplications of glyphosate to kill emergedweeds. This will be further discussed in afuture article.A practical consideration that further vali-

dates the importance of early-season weedcontrol is the opportunity to control smallweeds at a stage of growth when they arevulnerable to herbicides. Selective herbi-cides such as Arrest and particularly Slay arefar more effective on small (seedling) weedsthan large weeds. Not only is early-seasonweed control important to prevent forageyield losses, selective herbicides performbetter by targeting seedling weeds com-pared to later applications to larger weeds.

MAXIMIZING FORAGE COMPETITIONWITH WEEDS

So far, this discussion has focused solelyon how early-season weeds decimateseedling forages. Forage crops that areadapted to the region, properly managed,and growing under good conditions arecapable of competing on near-equal termswith weeds. Outside of unpredictable grow-ing conditions, the practices used to preparethe seedbed and sow the forage directlyaffect the uniformity and quality of the for-age stand. Voids or skips in the forage standpromote weed infestation. After all, weedsare opportunists. My full-time job as a weedscientist includes research and outreach pro-grams to serve organic growers and weedcontrol is their biggest production challenge.In organic crop production, there are fewcorrective weed control options and culturalpractices are a widely used preventativeweed control tool. In that sense, weed con-trol in food plots is conceptually the same asin organic crop production. Simply stated,let the crop’s innate competitive ability dothe ‘heavy lifting’ by suppressing early sea-son weed growth. This benefit is captured byusing sound forage crop production prac-tices that ensure an optimum and uniformcrop stand.To summarize these points, I could not


resist using this tool — a multiple choice question:What best describes the most effective technique to manage

early-season weeds and minimize losses in forages planted in foodplots?

A. Choose a forage species that is adapted to the region.B. Use pre-plant tillage and herbicides to reduce the baseline

weed density.C. Uniformly sow the forage at the recommended seeding rate.D. Use an appropriate selective herbicide to control small weeds

in seedling forages.E. All of the above.

PremiumDeer Feedwith 20% ProteinResults is a complete deerfeed scientifically formulated toprovide maximum nutritionalbenefit to deer throughoutthe year. Results is de-signed to help maximizerack size in bucks, improve thequantity of milk production in does, in-crease birth weights and growth in fawns, andpromote overall herd health. Here are some of the specificbenefits Results provides: Helps Maximize Antler Growth!� 20% Protein to Help Maximize Antler Growth.� Contains Vital Minerals and Vitamins.� Helps Bucks Devote More Nutrition to Antler Growth Earlier in

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

ruminant digestive system of deer. � Contains macro minerals, micro minerals and vitamins in the correct

forms and ratios deer need to help maximize genetic potential.Extremely Attractive to Deer!� Crunchy texture deer prefer.� Contains scent and taste enhancers including Devour, which drives

deer wild.Maximum Flexibility in Delivery Systems!� Can be use in most spin-type feeders,

trough feeders, and gravity feeders.� Rainshed™ Technology — Moisture resistant.� Pelleted form reduces waste.

Results is a trademark of Whitetail Institute Pintlala, AL.Devour is a trademark of Whitetail Institute Pintlala, AL.

RainShed is a trademark of Southern States Richmond, VA.

The Whitetail Institute239 Whitetail Trail • Pintlala, AL 36043

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

Research = Results™

®

Table 1. Effect of weed control with sethoxydim on alfalfa growth and yield, eight months after

seeding in Pennsylvania1.

Shootlength (in.)

Leaflets(no./plant)

Perenniated(%)

Alfalfa foliage yield(lbs./A)

Sethoxydim(Arrest®)2

3.7 10.9 65 2390

No weedcontrol

4.0 8.5 62 390

1Stout, W. L., R. A. Byers, K. T. Leath, C. C. Bahler, and L. D. Hoffman.1992. Effects of weed and invertebrate control on alfalfa establish-ment in oat stubble. J. Prod. Agric. 5:349-352. 2Herbicide applied 19 days after seeding alfalfa to control volunteeroat.

Table 2. Effect of duration of weed control on seedling alfalfa growth, Prosser, WA1.

Duration of weedcontrol2

(days after seeding)

Above-ground dry matter nine months after

seeding (lbs./A)

Weeds3 Alfalfa

no weed control 6440 1380

8 5730 2160

15 4760 2420

22 3090 3290

36 2400 3340

65 960 4330

170 420 5080

193 116 4840

214 44 5130

235 18 4560

260 (full season weedcontrol)

0 4720

1Fischer, A. J., J. H. Dawson, and A. P. Appleby. 1988. Interference ofannual weeds in seedling alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Weed Sci.36:583-588.2Alfalfa seeded in August and weeds controlled with handweedingfor a maximum of 260 days. 3Weeds were a composite of a cool season annual grass (downybrome) and cool season broadleaf weed (tumble mustard). Thecombined weed density averaged 44 weeds/ft2.Dillehay, B. L., W. S. Curran, and D. A. Mortensen. 2011. Critical pe-riod for weed control in alfalfa. Weed Sci. 59:68-75. W


Most of us have probably consideredkeeping a logbook at one time oranother but have just never gotten

around to it. Quit procrastinating, and starttoday. You’ll never regret it, and your hunting isguaranteed to get better.

WHY KEEP A LOGBOOK?

President Harry Truman once said, “The onlything new in the world is the history you don’t

know.” While Truman wasn’t referring specifical-ly to deer hunting, he certainly could have been.History really does repeat itself, and that’s espe-cially true with creatures of habit like deer.That’s why being a student of “deer history” onyour property makes sense if you want to stackthe odds of success in your favor. Most of us can remember a few big items that

generally affect our hunting success, forinstance that bucks tend to move more duringthe day as the rut approaches and that weatherpatterns can affect deer movement. However,

most of us forget finer details over time, and it’sin the study of those details that can yield someextremely useful information. A logbook is sim-ply your own written history of your deer-man-agement efforts, structured in a way that allowsyou to retain and analyze those details to spottrends you can use to your advantage. To see what I mean, try this little test: Think

back several years to a hunt on which you or afriend took a nice buck. You likely rememberwhen and where on your property he was killedand the size of his rack. You may even remem-

Write Your Own Hunting History —Logbook is a Tool For Success

By Whitetail Institute StaffPhotos by The Whitetail Institute

ATTRACT, HOLD AND GROW BIGGER DEER. Whitetail Institute products include the only plant varieties ever scientifi cally developed specifi cally for deer and can only be found in Whitetail Instituteproducts. These food plot products have been exhaustively tested all across North America under real-world conditions to ensure

performance in a wide range of climates.

Whitetail Institute Perennials will:

• Save you money by lasting up to 5 years

• Provide high protein year round for bigger antlers and a healthier herd

• Attract and hold deer year aroundScan this with your smart phonefor even more information

For additional informationvisit whitetailinstitute.com,or call (800) 688-3030

ber if the weather that day was warm or cold,and rainy or clear. Now ask yourself this: “Doeshaving just that information increase my odds ofsuccess in the future?” For most of us, theanswer is, “Perhaps, but not a whole lot.” But,what if you had a written record of that buck’sharvest showing that the buck was taken at 8:15a.m., the temperature had just dropped 10degrees due to the arrival of a cold front blow-ing in from the northwest, your hunting buddieshad also noticed a sharp increase in deer activi-ty, the buck exhibited physical signs of being inrut, the acorn crop that year was sparse, and thebuck was chasing does in a food plot planted inImperial Tall Tine Tubers? And what if you haddetailed information like that going back severalyears for each deer harvested or sighted onyour property that showed the same trend: asthe rut approaches in years when acorn cropsare low, deer activity in your food plots spikesthe morning after the arrival of a cold front. Seeany information that you could use?

WHAT DATA SHOULD YOU RECORD?

There’s no limit to the amount and variety ofdata you could include in your logbook. It makessense, though, to include only information thatwill help you identify useful trends. Beyond that,additional information may actually muddy thewater. While each situation is different, and onlyyou can decide what information is important toyour situation, I’ll give you a few ideas. Some ofthese will be obvious while there may be someyou haven’t considered. Especially in the foodplot section.

“DEER” SECTION

Buck Harvest. Record the antler size and ageof each buck taken during the hunting season.By comparing average data from one year tothe next, you can gauge the improvement ofyour bucks’ rack sizes at specific ages. Also not-ing the date and exactly where the buck waskilled, and whether he shows signs of being inrut, can help you narrow down seasonal move-ment patterns. General Deer Harvest. Recording the sex,

weight and age of each deer taken (bucks anddoes) can give you a solid picture of whetheraverage weights are improving, and if theyaren’t, then you know you need to do somethingto improve it. At the end of the season, calculatethe average weight of does harvested. If aver-age doe weight isn’t increasing, it may indicatea need to improve the quality and quantity ofavailable forage on the property, that the num-ber of does on the property needs to bereduced, or both. (Of course, be sure to followall game laws if you decide you need to thin thenumber of does on your property. The wildlifeand conservation agencies in many states offer

programs by which managers can obtain licens-es to harvest additional does in areas wheredeer density is higher than optimum.) Weather. For each record of a deer harvested

or sighted, also note the date, time and moonphase, and weather-related information such aswind direction, temperature, rainfall, barometricpressure and weather-front information. Youmight find that trends in deer activity start toappear, for instance a general increase after thearrival of cold weather as deer move more insearch of food, or a sharp increase with anabrupt arrival of cold weather or immediatelyafter the end of a long streak of bad weather orafter a sharp increase in barometric pressure. Deer Sightings. Consider logging each buck

and doe you and others see on your propertywhether you’re hunting or just riding around.Also be sure to note whether the deer was nearor using a food source such as mast or a foodplot when sighted, and what that food is(acorns, Imperial Whitetail Clover, etc.) Natural Food Sources. Some natural food

sources, for example acorns, can fluctuate fromyear to year from abundant to insufficient. Sincethis cycle can be somewhat regular, dependingin part on weather, having data going back sev-eral years can help you get a better of idea ofhow available that food source may be in futureyears. A forecast of natural food availability canhelp you narrow your stand options during theearly hunting season. Photographs. Trail cameras can be a huge

help in narrowing down deer travel corridorsand which bucks are using what trails, and inconfirming that a young buck you passed onlast season is still alive and has matured into awall-hanger. Also, toss a camera in your pack before a

hunt, and keep one with you at all times whenyou’re on your property. The reason is easy tounderstand: We’ve covered data on deer har-vests, deer sightings, natural food sources andfood plots. Now consider how much having aphoto as a visual reference in each case will addto your log book. And the camera doesn’t haveto be a big-time SLR with a long-range lenses(although if you have one and don’t mind haul-ing it around, then all the better). If you’re oldenough to remember the early days of trail cam-eras, think how cloudy and grainy their imageswere, and yet the pictures they took were still“good enough” to be extremely useful. Many oftoday’s cell phones come with cameras thatproduce higher quality photos than some ofthose early trail cameras. Buck Survival. Of course, there’s no way for

most of us to tell exactly how many bucks areon our property, and which ones, survived thehunting season. There is a way, though, to con-firm that a specific buck did survive: check yoursanctuaries for his sheds after the close of hunt-ing season.

Setting aside parts of your property as sanc-tuaries (thick areas that offer deer food, waterand cover, and that you do not violate duringhunting season) can be a great way to bringdeer, especially mature bucks, to your propertyand hold them there. Bucks shed their antlerssometime during February or March, although itcan occur a bit earlier or later. Entering sanctu-aries then won’t spoil them for next season, andthe sheds you may find are proof positive thatthe deer that shed them wasn’t killed during thelast hunting season.

“FOOD PLOT” SECTION

Just as keeping detailed information aboutthe deer on your property can benefit you downthe road, including a section about your foodplots can help you get the most out of them.Even so, structure your food plot section differ-ently from your deer section in one key way:keep a separate section for each food plot. Separate Section for Each Food Plot. Notice

that even though you keep data in multiple cat-egories for each deer killed or sighted on yourproperty, all the information in each category(temperature, mast production, rut, etc.) is ana-lyzed together to spot trends. With food plots,each food plot should be treated as a separate,stand-alone part of your logbook because eachplot is unique in terms of soil type, slope, equip-ment accessibility, and other factors importantto forage selection and maintenance. Soil type,for example, plays a big part in how the soil pHwill stay up in neutral range. Also, some sitesmight be accessible with tillage, mowing andspray equipment (needed for perennial plantingand maintenance), while others may not (moresuited to annual plantings). Forage Selection. Just like most of us can’t

remember the finer details of a hunt that’s a fewyears old, we may have trouble rememberingexactly what was planted in each of our foodplots in years past. For each plot, include infor-mation on what forages have been planted inthe plot, and when you planted them. ManyWhitetail Institute forage products can thrive insimilar soil types and slopes, and managerscommonly plant combinations of these side-by-side in a single food plot. Keeping detailed infor-mation about which forage your deer prefermost at what time of the year can help youadjust your forage selections for a particularfood plot to maximize its attraction power. Soil Test Reports. Performing a laboratory

soil test of the soil in each of your food plots isthe single most important factor you can con-trol to assure that your forage planting will growwell, and that you won’t waste any money onexcess lime and/or fertilizer purchases. If possible, decide what forage you’ll be plant-

ing early, and note that on the soil-test submis-sion form. That way the laboratory can precisely



tailor its recommendations for that particular forage type. (Here’s an arti-cle that provides more information about how to select the correct foragefor each site: www.whitetailinstitute.com/HowtoSelecttheRight-Forage.pdf) If you have your soil tested without specifying the forageyou’re planning to plant, don’t worry. The Whitetail Institute’s in-houseconsultants can help you understand and adjust the recommendations inyour report for the forage you’ll be planting. If possible, have a qualified soil-testing laboratory test your soil several

months in advance of planting. That way, if your soil pH is low, the limeyou’ll add to the seedbed as recommended in the soil-test report will haveadditional time to work. Also, because a laboratory soil test is so precise,it can save you money by assuring that you don’t spend a dime more onlime and fertilizer than the plot needs for optimum forage growth. In fact, it’s a good idea to perform a laboratory soil test any time you are

considering buying lime or fertilizer. When you’ve applied lime and fertiliz-er according to the report’s recommendations, though, don’t throw the oldreports away. Instead, stick them in your logbook. Later, you’ll be able tocompare each soil-test report for a particular plot and gauge whether itmay be time to test the soil again to be sure that the soil pH and soil nutri-ents in the plot remain at optimum levels.

HOW TO USE YOUR LOGBOOK TOYOUR ADVANTAGE

We’ve already discussed how to use the data in each section to ouradvantage by spotting trends in each. By going further and cross-referenc-ing the trends you spot in the deer section with the historical data in yourfood plot section, you’ll complete the picture. Will that guarantee thatyou’ll bag a deer every time you hunt? Of course not. But you’ll havestacked the odds more heavily in your favor that the stand you choose fora particular hunt will be the right one. W

CALL TOLL FREE

1-800-688-3030OR MAIL YOUR ORDER TO:Whitetail Institute239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043FAX 334-286-9723

ALL YOURS FOR ONLY $18999(Please add $19.00 shipping/handling/insurance.)

Special discount rates are available on bulk orders of Imperial Whitetail 30-06™ Mineral/Vitamin Supplement, 30-06™ Plus Protein and all Cutting Edge™ nutritional supplements.

PLUS… a FREE 2-yearsubscription to “Whitetail News” and a FREE DVD

“Producing Trophy Whitetails” —60 minutes on how you can produce top quality

deer on your hunting land.

ONLY$18999

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

YOUR RECIPE FOR HUNTING SUCCESS

• No partial orders can be accepted• No substitutions please• Orders filled on a first-come first-

served basis• Offer may be withdrawn without notice• Limited quantities available

SAVE ONBULK ORDERS!

®

The Ultimate Bow Hunt for World Class Whitetails.

Rocky Branch Outfitters

Illinois is known for itʼs monster whitetail deer, andour guided hunts take full advantage of this fact byhunting managed privatelands. We grow mature trophy bucks using Imperial Whitetail Products.Call today to book a huntin a true bowhuntersparadise.

Exciting spring turkey hunts are also available.

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

Bob Walker / Walkerʼs Game Ear

Childhood experiences oftencause behaviors that stickwith us for the rest of our

lives. For example, I have this weirdquirk that involves eating items onmy plate in a systematic fashion,finishing each portion before I moveto the next. What influenced thisdietary methodology is the fact thatI was forced to try everything thatwas offered and I had to clean myplate completely. I know whatyou’re thinking; torturous, medievaleven, but no matter how heinousthe food (we are talking things likedandelion greens and cookedparsnips) I was forced to eat whatwas put in front of me.

No chicken nuggets or instant mac andcheese back up, either. These things weren’teven in the vocabulary at that time. So, I devel-oped a plan where I would start with the item Idisliked the most and moved in progressionaround my plate leaving what I liked the bestuntil last. That way I used hunger as an aid toaccomplish this ghoulish task. Years later Iwould learn that, while still torturous, the forcefeeds of certain foods was done to make sure Iactually ate something nutritious instead of justwhat was tasty to a youngster. Who knew thatspinach was more nutritious than chocolatechip cookies? Nearly every package of food plot seed, deer

mineral or attractants will say that inside thatpackage you will find a product that deer will bedrawn to uncontrollably. Of course, what elsewould you expect it to say? If it said somethinglike, “This product is packed with nutrients, deerdon’t like it much, but it’s really nutritious” Idoubt too many bags would leave the store.Speaking of nutrition, nearly all deer productswill also promote some kind of nutritional bene-fit. So, you may wonder if you are buying a nutri-tion product or an attractant — or buying both.

These are very good questions and ones we willexamine in order to help you determine nutri-tion vs. attraction. The first thing to determine is the definition of

nutrition and attraction. A nutritional product isone whose primary function and purpose is tosupply specific nutrients to deer in order toimprove the quality of the herd. The primaryrole of an attractant is to draw deer to a specificspot or a specific area by using flavors and aro-mas that deer prefer over other flavors and aro-mas. These definitions seem somewhat simplis-tic, but regardless it is important to continuallykeep them in mind when analyzing products.

ATTRACTANTS

Because of the definition we are using, theattractant category can contain nearly an infi-nite number of products. For simplicity’s sake,however, we can further divide the category intofeeding and non-feeding type attractants. Non-feeding attractants are primarily pheromone-based scents that either contain or mimic urineand/or glandular secretions of estrous does orrutting bucks. Scents that contain or mimic gen-


By Matt HarperPhotos by the Author

The author focuses on nutrition andattraction to grow and harvestbucks like this 170 bruiser.

Just like the protein found in Whitetail Institute food plot products, minerals and vitamins are an essential part of the growth matrix of any deer, especially a buck. Hardened antlers are comprised largely of mineral, approximately 55 percent, and most soils in North America lack one or more of the minerals vital toantler development. When you consider that a buckre-grows antlers each year, you can understand why they require such high level of minerals in their diet. If you want your deer to thrive and help them reach more of their genetic potential, then mineral and vitamins supplementation is vital. Whitetail Institute mineral and vitamin supplements are extremely attractive to deer. They are also developed bynutrition experts and are professionally formulatedto provide the best nutrition possible for your deer.to provide the best nutrition possible for your deer.

239 Whitetail TrailPintlala, AL 36043

(800) 688-3030 whitetailinstitute.com

eral deer urine would also belong to this subcat-egory. Because this article pertains mostly tofeed/food attractants we will not spend anytime diving into non-feeding attractants anydeeper, but as you can imagine, there is noshortage of opinions and theories on this partic-ular subcategory—enough to write several arti-cles. Feed/food attractants contain or mimic fla-vors and scents of food stuffs that are thoughtto be preferred by deer. Acorns, corn, apples,salt, persimmons, molasses, berries (of all vari-eties) are just a few of the most common fla-vors/scents that are used, but the list of culinarydelights that profess to bring deer running is vir-tually endless. While there are arguably otherfeed/food flavors and scents that attract deer,most are primarily based on the attractionpower of sweet or salt. Undoubtedly deer areattracted to sweet food sources. Apples, berriesand molasses all have one thing in common andthat is a high sugar content. The reason for theattraction power of sugar is not definitive, butan examination of a deer’s taste buds wouldshow a high percentage of sweet receptors. Anadditional thought is that sugar is high in energywhich could make the food source more attrac-tive if you prescribe to the thought that deerinstinctively know what food sources are high inenergy.This particular theory gains some believability

when you consider highly attractive foodsources such as acorns, corn and soybeans.These food sources are not particularly sweetnor do they have an overly high salt content.They are, however, packed with energy in theform of oils or carbohydrates and, in the case ofsoybeans, are also high in protein. My personalopinion (remember I said opinion) is that deerdo not necessarily know what food sources arethe best for them to eat based on nutrition.Perhaps, instinct is really a learned behavior thathas evolved over time. Regardless, it isirrefutable that deer are attracted to hard mastand grains no matter the reason.Salt is another very common substance used

to attract deer. The reason behind the attractionlies at a cellular level. Cells maintain osmoticpressure largely by maintaining a proper bal-ance of sodium and potassium. A balance ofthese two minerals must be maintained for nor-mal cellular health and function. In spring, whenfresh new vegetation is growing, the plant mate-rial is typically very high in potassium and low insodium. This causes deer to crave sodium whichis a natural bodily reaction to try and maintainthe sodium/potassium balance. Salt is sodiumchloride, thus the attraction power of salt in thespring and summer. When plants begin to mature, the potassium

level drops and the deer’s attraction to salt alsodrops. That is why most salt-based attractantsoften lose their draw in the fall and winter. Whenusing attractants, the key thing to remember is


The Basics of Mineral SitesBy Matt Harper

“Simply open and pour on the ground” are the instructions you will find on many deermineral products on the market today. Have you ever tried doing exactly that? Didyou have success? My guess is that if I asked 100 people these questions, the answers

would be mixed at best, and even the ones who had some success don’t realize with a bit morethought and planning, their mineral sites would be far more productive. The first step in creating a successful mineral site is to choose a mineral product that will

accomplish the goals in your management plan. First you need to differentiate between a min-eral product and an attractant. While attractants bring deer to a specific spot, that is mostoften all they do — attract. A properly designed deer mineral will not only attract deer but pro-vide them with both macro and micro-minerals, as well as critical vitamins. These are the crit-ical nutrients that improve antler growth, doe lactation, fawn growth and improve overall herdproduction. After selecting the appropriate product, your next step is site selection. First, don’thide the mineral site from the deer. What I mean by that is to locate your mineral sites in areasthat deer frequent. I try to find deer trail intersections where two or more trails bisect eachother. I won’t just create the site right on the trail as I do not want to do anything that will causedeer to change their trail movement patterns. Instead, move four to six feet off the trail to cre-ate the mineral site. Also, the site needs to be located in an area that you want deer to fre-quent. If the mineral site is working, visiting the site will become part of their routine, so I wouldrather have a mineral site deeper into my property than close to a neighboring fence line. Keepin mind that you will be frequenting the spot to check trail cameras, replenish the site etc., soavoid creating sites in bedding areas and focus on travel corridors. Finally, sites should belocated inside of cover where deer feel comfortable instead of open areas. One of the most vul-nerable times for a deer is when it is eating, so you don’t want to create a situation where deershy away from a mineral site because they do not feel comfortable. Another recommendation, especially when beginning a mineral program, is to try multiple

sites. Depending on the deer population I recommend one site per 40 acres, but to begin with,I would create maybe three or four in 40 acres. Even with good planning and good site selec-tion, there are some locations where deer simply will not use a mineral site. So by applying asmall amount of mineral in three to four locations, you will allow the deer to tell you whichspots they prefer. After a period of time, replenish the site that is used the most and abandonthe others. Once a site is well established I will put 20 pounds or more down to decrease thefrequency in which I return to replenish the site. Also, I normally err on the side of creating moremineral sites as opposed to having fewer sites. More sites mean less competition for your herd.

Even when deer dig a hole in the ground,it doesn’t necessarily mean they are get-

ting the nutrients they need.


that they are designed first and foremost forattraction purposes. If you pour some salt or asalt-based attractant out and see the deer dig-ging a big hole in the ground, don’t think thatyou are automatically improving antler growth,doe lactation or any other production function.While there is some nutritional benefit in termsof potassium balance, salt (sodium) does verylittle if anything for antler growth. Calcium,phosphorus, magnesium and trace mineralssuch as copper and zinc are much moreinvolved in antler growth. Further, most sweet-based attractants have limited to no nutritionalvalue. Aside from the energy the sugar provides,little nutrition is derived.What about putting out corn or acorns you

might ask? Certainly there is nutritional valuewith these items, but you mainly provide onlyone nutrient—carbohydrates—which don’t cre-ate balanced nutrition. Further, in most attrac-tion situations, too little is used to really provideeven enough carbohydrates to call it a nutritivesource. So, if the main purpose of the product isto attract, it likely is an attractant only. Forexample, if a “deer mineral” contains primarilysalt (more than 50 percent), then it should beconsidered an attractant. Yes, if there are a fewother minerals in the mix, it may provide some,and I stress SOME, nutrition but not enough forme to call it a nutritional product. I am not say-

ing that using an attractant is wrong, if that isyour only goal. Just do not expect much, if any,nutritional benefit.

NUTRITION

All products whose primary function is one ofsupplying nutrients to deer would qualify as anutritional product. That does not mean thatthey all provide the same level of nutrients andfor that matter the same types of nutrients. It issimply that the goal in the design of the productis first and foremost to increase the nutritionalplane of the deer herd. To get a better under-standing of this, we should first start with themost common nutrients used in food/feed sup-plementation for deer. Protein has long been abuzz word in deer nutrition as it is involvedheavily in antler growth, and because mostregions of the country contain natural browsethat does not meet deer protein needs toachieve maximum antler production. A growingantler is up to 80 percent protein and even ahardened antler is 45 percent which leaves littledoubt as to why protein is often supplementedeither through food plots or feed supplements.Keep in mind, however, that antler growth is notthe only derivative of protein. Muscle growthand doe lactation are just a couple of the laun-dry list of protein functions.

Minerals are another nutrient family that coin-cides with the topic of deer nutrition. Mineralsare divided into two groups — macro and micro.Common macro minerals are calcium, phospho-rus, magnesium, potassium, sodium and chlo-ride. Common micro minerals are copper, zinc,manganese, selenium, iron, iodine and cobalt.All of these minerals perform a multitude of vitalfunctions, but the ones most discussed areantler growth, doe lactation and fawn growth. Interms of antler growth, it is important toremember that each year a buck will regrowwhat would amount to a large percentage of itsskeleton in the form of antlers. Hardened antlersare 55 percent mineral so it should be easy todraw the conclusion that minerals are vital forantler growth. Minerals, however, perform manyother functions including immunity, epithelialintegrity, blood formation and enzyme activityjust to name a very, very few.Vitamins are often overlooked but nonethe-

less important. In particular fat-soluble vitaminsA, D and E are vitamins that are not produced inthe rumen via microbial populations like most Bvitamins and are often supplemented in nutri-tional products. These vitamins are involved in ahost of functions such as immunity, blood trans-port and reproductive health. The final nutrientfamily we will discuss is energy, which is notnecessarily a nutrient but a derivative of nutri-

Exclusive from the Whitetail Institute

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

CALL TOLL-FREE1-800-688-3030

or writeWhitetail Institute

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

• No partial orders can be accepted• No substitutions please• Orders filled on a first-come-first-served basis• Offer may be withdrawn without notice• Limited quantities available

• Imperial 30-06™ Mineral one lick (5 lbs.)• Imperial 30-06™ PLUS PROTEIN™ one lick (5 lbs.)• Cutting Edge™ INITIATE™ one site (5 lbs.)• Cutting Edge™ OPTIMIZE™ one site (5 lbs.)• Cutting Edge™ SUSTAIN™ one site (5 lbs.)

ALL YOURS FOR ONLY $49.99(Please add $6.95 shipping/handling/insurance)

Producing Trophy Whitetails60 minutes on how you can produce topquality deer on your hunting land

Special discount rates are available on bulk orders of Imperial Whitetail 30-06™ Mineral/Vitamin Supplement and 30-06 Plus Protein.Plus…

FREEDVD!

®

We OfferSMALLER SIZESOf Most Seed ProductsCall 800-688-3030

For Details

Scan this code with your Smart Phone

to find more information aboutWhitetail Institute products.

ents. Energy is needed for nearlyall bodily functions and certainlyis vital in growth and body main-tenance. Energy can be pro-duced from several sourcesincluding protein, but the mostcommon are carbohydrates andoils/fats. The key to understanding true

nutritional products is that thatthey are designed to supplementa deer’s diet that may be lackingin one or more nutrients, therebydisallowing the deer to reach fullgenetic potential. For instance,as previously stated, most partsof the country contain naturalbrowse that is lower in proteinthan what is needed for optimalantler growth and doe lactation.To remedy this, a food plot canbe planted that contains highquality, high levels of protein tohelp balance out the deer’s diet.Likewise, most parts of the

country have soils that are deficient in one ormore minerals. Therefore, a mineral supplementis used to help supply the lacking minerals.Maybe you live in an area where winter canbring harsh climate conditions and a lack offood for your deer herd. Energy is vital at thistime of year in order to maintain body weightand strength to deal with the cold weather.Using a feed supplement or food plot that con-tains high amounts of energy could help to pro-vide deer with the nutrients they need to seeanother spring and see it in good condition.

NUTRITION AND ATTRACTION

If you ask most deer hunters, they would saythat they want to provide their deer with sup-plemental nutrients to improve the overall qual-ity of the deer herd. While this is most likely anhonest answer, if they see little usage of thisproduct and deer are not attracted to the prod-uct, it will likely be the last time they purchasethat product no matter how good the nutritionalquality of the product may be. Frankly, the truthis that if the deer are not attracted to the prod-uct, it really doesn’t matter what nutrition it pro-vides because obviously the deer have to eatthe product to receive the nutrition. Back to myopening comments, even though dandelionsgreens may be packed with nutrients, if yourstomach turns each time you smell them, it real-ly doesn’t matter their level of nutritive value.The answer to the question of how to combineattraction and nutrition lies in the design of theproduct.For example, when researchers at the

Whitetail Institute were developing the revolu-tionary food plot product Imperial Whitetail

Clover, the focus was on both protein contentand attraction. Several different clover varietieswere tested for attraction and protein and thevarieties that showed the best characteristicswere interbred to produce an F2 generation ofclover. This process was replicated several moretimes to eventually result in the only cloverproduct bred for deer specifically to provideunequalled attraction and nutrition. Anotherexample from the Whitetail Institute of combin-ing nutrition and attraction is the Cutting EdgeOptimize nutritional supplement. This product isdesigned to be used in the spring and summerto supply mineral and protein. You might thinkthat this product is high in salt but Optimizecontains less than 17 percent salt. Instead,Optimize is loaded with vital minerals such ascalcium, phosphorus, trace mineral and protein

and contains a proprietary attractant that is aresult of a blend of various scents and flavors.

CONCLUSION

My taste buds have apparently changed as Igot older. I actually like spinach now and manyof the other foods that bunched up my facewhen I was a kid (I still don’t like dandeliongreens). I am not sure that this was a result ofacquired taste through force feeding or becauseI realized I had to learn to like it to get betternutrition. What I do know is that most of thetime there is a definite difference between thefood you should eat and the food you like to eat,i.e. nutrition vs. attraction. What I have figuredout is that the best plan of action is to focus onfoods that I like and are highly nutritious. There

is absolutely no differencewhen it comes to deer nutri-tion. Find a product that willattract deer like a magnet andprovide quality nutrition andyou have achieved the best ofboth worlds. W

A high-quality protein sourcesuch as Imperial Clover canattract and provide the nutritionthat allows deer to thrive and doit on your property.

Using a product that contains attraction andnutrition can give you the best of both worlds.



Send Us Your Photos!Do you have a photo and/or story of a big buck, a smallbuck or a doe that you took with the help of Imperialproducts? Send it to us and you might find it in the FieldTester section of the next issue of Whitetail News. Sendyour photo and a 3 to 4 paragraph story telling how youharvested the deer and the role our products played to:

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

(Continued from page 41)

wounded buck. I walked back to my tree standdejected. I could see my brother walking towardme and he asked, “Did you find him”? I told himthat I thought that I had kicked him up andwatched him run up the hill out of sight. Heasked me to show him where I had shot thedeer. When we got to the spot he looked at the

arrow and started on the blood trail. The trailshowed decent sign and as we continued towalk it was evident the deer was mortally wound-ed. We found my buck 125 yards from where Ishot him. The buck I had seen run up the hill wasnot mine but another beautiful buck who wasalso in the area. I could not believe my eyeslooking at this massive 10-point I had just har-vested. My brother and I were high-fiving andwere soon joined by a friend and neighbor whowere also hunting in the area.Being an assistant police chief in a city in

southern Florida, life is full of stress, and I seethe dredges of society daily. It is a dream cometrue that I can hop on a plane and within a fewhours be at my “horns of plenty” farm awayfrom the rat race. The Whitetail Institute hasgiven me the tools to help make this dream a re-ality, and I am grateful and so are my family andfriends who also benefit from this farm. ThanksDad for blazing a trail into the outdoors, andrest assured, I’ll do my best to continue the tra-dition with my boys! I thank God every day forblessing me the way He does.

Brad Lamb — IowaWith only 40 acres to manage, products that

work like Whitetail Institute products are priceless.This 10-point bow kill scored 167-5/8. Previousyear sheds found scored 140s. There’s the prooffor me.

Simeon Layfield — West Virginia Before we started using Whitetail Instituteproducts we were getting 8 points that scored80 to 100 inches. After using Whitetail Instituteproducts we started seeing bigger and biggerbucks. We knew we would get a Pope & Youngbuck soon. This year we got a 149-inch 8-pointand a 136-inch 10-point as well as two 8-pointsthat were about 120 inches each. Enclosed is aphoto of the 149-inch 8-point that my son gotwith his bow. This is in a county in West Virginiathat kills thousands of bucks each year butalmost never gets a buck this big. Also, my sonjust ordered two bags of PowerPlant after wesaw how well the wildlife used it last year. W

Thomas Pickens — MichiganWe have been using Imperial Whitetail Clover for almost 10 years now. We have added a couple of

acres each year. We have seen the health of our herd bloom ever since. The bucks get bigger racksand we have a low mortality rate for our young deer. They visit our four 30-06 Mineral sites daily. Wehave tried other products in the past but the deer will walk right through those plots and feed in ourImperial Whitetail Clover. I am planning to add some Winter-Greens and Tall Tine Tubers to my foodplots. Enclosed are some pictures of the deer we have harvested off our property. We have taken acouple of really nice bucks each year. Using Whitetail Institute products along with thinning (culling)our doe herd has helped us create a deer hunting paradise. My dad, Terry Pickens, on the right inphoto, took his deer with gun, and I have taken all of mine with a bow. Left to right the deer scores 10-point 143-inch, 8-point 133-inch, 8-point 136-inch, and 9-point 132-inch.

10ReasonsFoodPlotsFail

By Brad HerndonPhotos by the Author

Don’t quit!Success is failure turned inside out,The silver tint of the clouds of

doubt,And you never can tell how close

you are,It may be near when it seems so far. So stick to the fight when you’re

hardest hit, It’s when things seem worse, that

you must not quit.

This simple poem writtenby an anonymous authorhas been around for

years, and it has special meaningfor me because every time I readthis poem which is hanging onmy office wall, its wordsencourage me to never quit, tonever give up. And to me itmeans to never give up in allaspects of life; attitude, ethics,morality, hunting, fishing, and,yes, even when working withfood plots for wildlife.


Do your food plots correctly, and you may findyourself phoning friends to tell them about the

great buck you have killed.

PowerPlantSpring / Summer Blend

No-PlowFall / Winter Blend

Forage OatsFall / Winter Blend

Pure AttractionFall / Winter Blend

Winter-GreensFall / Winter Blend

BowStandFall / Winter Blend

Secret SpotFall / Winter Blend

Tall Tine TubersFall / Winter Blend

For additional informationvisit whitetailinstitute.com,or call (800) 688-3030

Scan this with yoursmart phone for evenmore information

• Attract and hold deer on your property in fall and winter and/or spring and summer

• Can be planted in remote areas inaccessible to heavy equipment

• Includes seed varieties scientifi cally developed specifi cally for deer and are available only in Whitetail Institute products.

• Produce tons of high protein forage for improved antler development and a healthier herd

There are few, if any, deer food plot managerswho have not, at some time, had a food plot fail-ure. I know I have. Sometimes when one looks atthe money and effort it takes to put in a plot, afailure may implant some negative thoughts in aperson’s mind. In fact, all the effort might notseem worthwhile, and the wildlife manager mayconsider chucking away the whole quality deermanagement plan. This is where those “don’t quit” words enter

into play. Actually, while disappointing, a foodplot failure is a short-term setback and by sim-ply studying what caused the failure this samemistake can most likely be avoided in the future.And by studying what has caused the failure offood plots among a quantity of deer huntersnationwide, many mistakes can be avoided andluscious, nutritious food plots will be the normfor you in years to come. In the rest of this article, I will list 10 reasons

why food plots either have poor production, orcompletely fail. Some of what I list may seemrepetitious to you old-timers who have put infood plots for many years, but keep in mind

there are thousands of deer hunters who areputting in food plots for wildlife for the first timeand this is new and important information tothem. And even us old timers can benefit from arefresher course. Let’s get started.

10 REASONS FOOD PLOTS FAIL

Reason # 1 — The food plots don’t get put in. I thought long and hard before listing this as

the number one reason food plots fail, and Ibelieve in my area this ranking is correct. Whilethe plots fail for reasons such as ones I will listlater on, the simple fact remains that no foodwas available in food plots for the whitetails inthe area. The failure to get the seeds in theground is caused by two primary factors: Lackof equipment and lack of money. Let’s see whatthe possibilities are in this area. With enough ambition and time, you can take

a weed eater and a rake and put in some kind oflittle plot. The location can be trimmed by hand,and then Roundup applied to kill down remain-ing vegetation. Pelletized lime and fertilizer can

be applied by hand, the ground worked up tosome degree with the rake, and the seeds plant-ed. Cost is minimal for this plot, but believe me,putting in a food plot this way gets old in ahurry, and the size of the plot is limited due tothe amount of labor required to do the job. The next step up, equipment-wise, is the

ATV/UTV. Big ATV/UTV’s can do a pretty goodjob of pulling the various kinds of equipmentbuilt for them that are now on the market, suchas sprayers, seeders, mowers, plows, discs, etc.However, if you add it all up, quite a bit of moneyhas been invested, possibly more than $10,000.That’s quite a chunk in our down economy, andyou still don’t have the best equipment to han-dle the job. In addition, if your lease is some distance

away, a trailer will have to be purchased to haulthe ATV/UTV. Hitches and possibly a biggervehicle may also need to be purchased. The best option for working up food plots is a

tractor, complete with all the equipment. Somegreat small tractors now are on the market thatcan be purchased, complete with all accessories


Do things the right way and this is what anImperial Whitetail Clover food plot can look like.


needed for food plot work, for under $30,000.Still, to the average Joe, that’s a lot of money, sobuying an old used tractor and implements usu-ally is considered. By going this way, initial costis reduced substantially, but repairs can be sub-stantial from time to time. Many years ago Carol and I started leasing

ground in an adjoining county about 40 minutesaway from our home. For the first three years, Iconsidered all of the ways of planting food plotsI have listed above and I ended up taking noaction at all. Therefore, I had three years of foodplot failures because they were never planted. At that time a friend of ours who lived near

our lease bought a medium-sized tractor withall the implements to work his 60-acre farm, andI talked to him about putting in our food plots.He was more than willing to help us out, sotoday we pay him $50 per hour to do our foodplot work — mowing, spraying, plowing, disking,cultivating — whatever is needed. Counting ourpayments to him as well as seed, fertilizer andlime costs, we spend about $750 per year onour three plots, which we can well afford. Each of you starting out in quality deer man-

agement will have to make some decisions inregard to equipment. If you can’t work up theground and plant the seeds, you will not have afood plot. It’s that simple. Certainly if you have a great income, you can

go with the best equipment. If money is tight,then perhaps used equipment would work best.Borrowing a friend’s equipment is always a pos-sibility, of course, but from my conversationwith others, this isn’t always the most depend-able, timely method of getting seeds in the soil.Or perhaps our hiring-it-out method might workfor you.

Reason # 2 — Too many deer. My home state of Indiana just had another

record whitetail harvest, for the third year in arow. For most states, record harvests are thenorm because the deer herd continues toincrease in size. There are exceptions, of course,usually due to some disease killing off a largeportion of the deer herd, but they are rare. With an overpopulation of deer you can do

everything perfectly as far as working up, plant-ing and maintaining your food plot and still havea crop failure. Here is a personal example. One year we planted oats in a plot that had

been carefully prepared. The rain was timelyand the oats came up in abundance. However,due to other hunters in the region refusing toshoot doe, our property had far too many white-tails regardless of our efforts to shoot more doe.Deer from neighboring properties simplyreplaced what we shot. From the time the oats came up the deer hit

them hard, and several weeks later the oatswere still at ground level. I actually watchedwhitetails carefully smell the ground and thenpull out an oat stem from among the grass inthe plot. Obviously this wasn’t a complete cropfailure, but it was close to one because ofextreme over-browsing. Certainly the tonnageon this plot was dismal and the hunting resultswere not nearly as good as they should havebeen. The solution? Shoot doe and the deer popu-

lation down to or under the herd’s carryingcapacity.

Reason # 3 — No soil test is taken. You read this in almost every issue of

Whitetail News: Take a soil test. Regardless ofthis good advice, many deer hunters still do nottake a soil test to monitor the condition of theirsoil. Or, they may take a soil test one year andthen not take another one for several years. A soil test should be taken every year in order

to determine what your soil might need, and todetermine what type of fertilizer, and howmuch, should be applied for the particular typeof seed you are planting. In soil terms, pH means“potential of hydrogen.” It measures the acidity(sourness) or alkalinity (sweetness) of the soil.While it may seem you can just pour fertilizer onyour plot and it will do well, this isn’t the case. If

You’re invited to fish America’s most famous private bass watersNoted outdoorsman and B.A.S.S. founder Ray Scott is making a long-time personal dream come true. As a proudsupporter of his home state’s new initiative — Alabama Black Belt Adventures — he is opening his personallakes, his home and guest accommodations to a limited number of anglers to enjoy great fishing and gracioussouthern hospitality.

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.

Named “Best Bass Lake” in America by “Outdoor Life” Magazine

Availability is very limited. Bookings on first-come, first-served basis.

Call 800-518-7222Visit us on the web at

www.rayscottbassretreat.com

Your all-inclusive Trophy Bass Retreat package includes:• 3 nights lodging • 2 full days of fishing • Airport pickup• All meals provided with relaxed family-style dinners• Comfortable accommodations with private baths • Boats available or bring your own • Two miles of private, scenic jogging road • Secluded pool• Lodge area with large fireplace and big screen TV • And many other amenities

Bookings: All lodging is based on double occupancy with private baths. Booking and fishing is in pairs only.There is a maximum of eight guests. Booking groups of four in the Presidents Guest Cabin is a recipe for fun andfellowship.Bass is good business: The guest cabin for four — or the whole facility for eight — is perfect for incentiveand reward trips or tax-deductible corporate team building.

Be sure to inquire about the limited number of Ray Scott’s trademark marketing seminars, “From a FishingHole to a Pot of Gold” personally conducted after fishing hours by the Bass Boss himself. Or call to book thewhole lodge and customize your own tax-deductible marketing and motivational agenda with Ray.

CALLFOR SPECIAL DAY

RATES

a soil is too acidic, and most of it is, the fertilizercan’t all be utilized because the nutrients of thesoil are bound up against individual soil parti-cles and can’t get into a plant’s system. Take asoil test every year.

Reason # 4 — No lime is applied to the plot. As mentioned above, a soil test should be

taken every year. Almost always a soil test rec-ommends that lime be added to the soil. Insome areas, such as mine, bulk agricultural limeis cheap. In other regions, however, bulk ag limeis expensive. Pelletized lime is also available inbags, and its cost is even higher. Despite the soiltest, the high cost of lime often discourages themanager from adding this much-needed prod-uct and the food plot production suffers signifi-cantly because of this lack of action. You must add the recommended amount of

lime to your plot, and you should monitor ityearly in order to have outstanding food plotsfor your deer and other wildlife.

Reason # 5 — No weed control is carried out. You never entirely get rid of weeds, regard-

less of whether you spray or burn the plot,because thousands of weed seeds lie deepwithin the soil. That being said, you can controlweeds to a big degree. For example, if you havea perennial plot and grass starts to be a prob-lem, a grass herbicide especially formulated canbe used to kill out the unwanted grass. Arrest isa herbicide for grass that works well withImperial Whitetail Clover, Alfa-Rack, and mostother perennial products. Slay, meanwhile, killsout unwanted broadleaf plants while not harm-ing Imperial Whitetail Clover, and many otherfood plot plantings. Also, simply mowing a plot that may be plant-

ed in clover, alfalfa, and some other perennialproducts, will usually result in the weeds beingsubdued due to the new food plot productgrowth.

Reason # 6 — Improper planting of seeds. Most of us who have been in the quality deer

management business for a while have learnedthis lesson the hard way. When planting, mis-takes can be made two ways: The seeds areplanted too deep, and the seeds are planted tooshallow. With clover, alfalfa, turnips, and several other

plant types, the seeds are tiny and need to beplanted basically on top of the ground and cer-tainly no deeper than 1/4-inch. Typically, thosenew to food plots want to make sure the seedsare deep enough and they may disc the seeds into make sure they get a good stand. This usuallyresults in a large quantity of the seeds beingburied too deep and they never come up. Conversely, larger seeds like oat need to be 1

to 1-1/2 inches deep. Put them on the surface, orvery shallow, and you will get a sparse stand.

And if no rain comes for several days, theturkeys and other birds in the area may eat all ofyour seed and you will get no stand at all. Plantall seeds exactly as per the instructions on thebag, regardless of how much work it is.

Reason # 7 — Lack of rain. From 2001 until 2009 we had three droughts

here in southern Indiana and our food plotsactually did fairly well in each of them. Last fall,though, we had one rain immediately afterplanting our plots, then no rain for roughly threemonths. We had close to a complete food plotfailure. Drought is beyond our control.

Reason # 8 — Soil is too wet. While a drought can cause food plots failures,

planting in areas too wet can likewise prove dis-astrous. Low-lying river and stream regions thatflood yearly are always a risk, especially forperennial products, and I’ve seen many hunterswho gamble planting these wet, mucky regionsand have lost entire crops. If you must take a risk on these regions, be

sure to plant appropriate products there.Moreover, lean toward products such as ImperialWhitetail Clover since clover loves poorlydrained soils, and avoid products like alfalfa thatthrive in drier, well-drained soils.

Reason # 9 — Incorrect fertilizer. Different plants require different fertilizers.

Clovers produce their own nitrogen, so they donot need a fertilizer with nitrogen in it. Extreme,Tall Tine Tubers and other brassica productsmeanwhile, require a lot of nitrogen, so fertilizercontaining nitrogen is essential to their success.By all means use the fertilizer ratio recommend-ed from your soil test or follow the general rec-ommendations on the bag of the product youare planting. This is critical to high forage pro-duction in your plots. I recommend purchasing your fertilizer early

in order to get the exact blend that you need.I’ve seen several hunters wait until the lastminute to get their fertilizer, only to find outwhat they need is sold out. Almost always thesehunters take whatever fertilizer is available andtheir results are not as good as they should havebeen. It’s also worth mentioning that fertilizer has

gone up considerably over the past few yearsand several hunters have told me they put onjust half as much as recommended in order tosave money. Again, this results in a considerablylesser amount of forage production in the plots.Put on the recommended amount of fertilizer,regardless of the cost or plant fewer plots.

Reason # 10 — Crop is not rotated. Clover and is a perennial, meaning it grows for

several years without replanting. When properlycared for, a good clover plot will last three to

five years and sometimes longer. In these cases,the crop generally does not have to be rotated.There are other types of food plot products,however, that do need to be rotated. Brassica isa good example. If a plot is planted in brassicas for several

years in a row, problems will begin to show upsuch as clubroot, leaf spot, white rust, turnipmosaic virus, root rot, etc. Over time, these dis-eases and insects may cause a complete cropfailure. Brassicas should be rotated every yearand certainly at least every two years.Regardless of what product you plant, youshould carefully research how often the cropneeds to be rotated in order to stay healthy. So there you have 10 different problems you

may encounter that can cause a diminished foodplot crop, or complete failure. Consider what Ihave said, do more research, and get back outthere and work in the dirt. And always remember,no matter what happens, don’t quit! W

A good way to monitor if the deerare excessively browsing your foodplot is to install a small exclusion cagein each plot.

Without question, money is a factorin many decisions made concerningquality deer management. If you havefour food plots you want to put in butbecause of a limited amount of moneydecide to save by skipping on lime, orputting a lesser amount of fertilizer onthe plots, please reconsider. Instead,do just two or three plots, and do themright, and you will have better huntingresults in the long run.


Photo by Whitetail Institute

CAPSAll our Whitetail Institute caps andvisors are made from top qualitycotton, and feature detailedembroidered logos and graphics.

Caps: $9.95, Visors: $8.95(Please add $5.50 for shipping and handling.) Beige Logo Cap Hunter Orange Logo Cap Black Logo Cap

Camo Logo Cap Pink Ladies Logo Cap Camo Logo Visor Beige Logo Visor

SHORT & LONG SLEEVE TEESAll our Whitetail Institute tees are made from 100% preshrunk cotton, and feature screen-printed back and breast pocket designs. Short Sleeve Tees: S-2X: $13.95, 3X: $16.55, 4X: $17.85, 5X: $19.15; Long Sleeve Tees: S-2X: $15.95, 3X: $18.55, 4X: $19.85, 5X: $21.15(Please add $5.50 for shipping and handling.)

Back Design

Back Design Back Design

Front Breast Design

Front Breast Design

Front Breast Design

Whitetail InstituteOfficial Logo Short & LongSleeve Tees

Available sizes:S-XXL, 3X, 4X, 5X

Available colors:White

Whitetail Institute SkullShort & Long Sleeve Tees

Available sizes: S-XXL, 3X, 4X, 5X

Available colors: Black, Green, Burgundy

Whitetail Institute Bigger is BetterShort & Long Sleeve Tees

Available sizes: S-XXL, 3X, 4X, 5X

Available colors: Brown, Green, Yellow (not available in long sleeve), Black

W H I T E T A I L I N S T I T U T E A P P A R E L

Call Toll Free To Order: 1-800-688-3030 or Mail Your Order With Payment To:Whitetail Institute of North America, 239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043, Fax Orders To: (334) 286-9723

older son, Cody, harvested a nice doe in the Im-perial Clover, and I was able to close out theseason by harvesting a nice 10-pointer weighingin at 200 pounds. Thanks to Whitetail Institutefor the products. Thanks very much.

Pete Olson — MontanaI’ve been

using ChicMagnet forfour years. It isthe only prod-uct that I canget to grow innorth centralMontana, andthe deer loveit. We only get

10 inches of rainfall a year, and it still grows. Sizeof bucks has been increasing every year.

Rick Pierson Sr. — Pennsylvania

Whitetail Institute food plot products havetaken my hunting area to the next level. Moredeer, and the deer are spending more time onmy woods lot. More does leads to more bucks.I’m seeing bigger bucks as each year goes by.30-06 Mineral is awesome too. My son, Rick Jr.,is in the photo with a 12-point he took.

Roy Snyder — VirginiaSince my purchase of my own land here in

southeast Virginia, I have been planting ImperialWhitetail Clover. In the last seven years I’ve takenfour mountable bucks scoring 125 to 194 4/8Boone & Crocket gross (picture included). Thislast and largest deer was on my food plot with adoe and was taken on Nov. 18 last season. Thisparticular farm is only 48 acres. My children and

I practice QDM, and we pass on all small deer,and we reduce the hunting pressure until the rutbegins.

P.S. We have also taken several gobblers eachspring season. Thank you Whitetail Institute fora great product.

Lawrence Giles — MississippiWe have always taken plenty of deer off of

our property (240 acres) but never anything tobrag about. By the third year of using ImperialWhitetail Clover, I took a really nice 8-point buck.It was my best deer by far in more than 25 yearsof hunting. I’m convinced that Imperial WhitetailClover had a lot to do with my success! ThanksWhitetail Institute, and keep up the good work.

P.S. it scored 135, not big by some folk’s stan-dards but a truly great trophy for me.

Jim Boyce — West VirginiaI took this picture and several others, from my

tree stand last season, and I let him walk. He waswith a doe, and as hard as it was to do, I let himwalk so he could pass on his genes. I’m reallyseeing a huge improvement in antler growthand body size the five to six years I’ve beenusing Whitetail Institute products. I honestlynever thought I’d see deer of this caliber in thisarea. I saw a deer four days ago that was biggerthan this one. It might be the same deer with an-


(Continued from page 31)

other year ofgrowth. I’m re-ally excitedabout what’shappening onour property.

I plantedWinter-Greensfor the firsttime this pastyear, and Ican’t believehow well it did

and how the deer came to it every night. Thesame was true with the No-Plow I put out. I’vehad Imperial Whitetail Clover out for quite sometime. Thanks Whitetail Institute for the productsand the good results.

Robert Adrian — WisconsinI live in northwestern Wisconsin, where there

is no farm land. I have 88 acres, and most of theland around here is timberland and gets huntedhard, so I needed a way to keep more deer onmy land. I started making food plots five yearsago. I have three that are about 1/4-acre andtwo that are about 1 acre. I wanted the two plotsthat are an acre to be a perennial plot so I usedImperial Whitetail Clover. That worked great. Myonly problem was trying to keep the deer out soit could grow more. This year, I changed thesetwo plots to an annual so I could add a lot oflime to make my soil pH better and I plantedPowerPlant. It looks great. I wanted an annualplot on my smaller plots so I used Winter-Greenswhich was awesome, No-Plow and Secret Spotwere great too. I have two spots that I use 30-06 Mineral and 4-Play blocks and the deer are atthese spots year round. To sum everything up,the best thing I ever did on my 88 acres was touse Whitetail Institute food plot seed and minerals.I draw in so many deer from the public land andhold them on my land. I have so many peoplethat have seen my plots and say theirs don’tgrow like mine and I tell them one thing: Use

Whitetail Institute seed. Here is a picture of abuck I got last year during our gun season. Ishot him on his way to my Winter-Greens plot.This is the eighth buck I got like this one in thefive years of planting food plots.

Gilles Beasse — Quebec Canada

I would like to thank Whitetail Institute fortheir great products! On my 230-acre property Inow have five food plots with Imperial WhitetailClover, Alfa-Rack, and Winter-Greens. I was bornwith only one hand, and these products havehelped me succeed. With a lot of hard work andperseverance I have killed many P&Y bucks.

Here are pictures of three bucks I, my girlfriendand a friend shot last year.

Brian Taylor — VirginiaPure Attraction lives up to its name. I killed

this 11-pointer with a muzzleloader the first morn-ing I hunted over our food plot where Pure At-traction was planted. He came in looking fordoes. He was just standing at the edge of theplot scanning it up and down. Luckily, I didn’t re-alize how big he was until after I found him. Formy first time ever it was ground shrinkage in re-verse.

This was a special kill for me. My dad taughtme to hunt, but after I was old enough to go on

my own, he stopped going. A few years ago, hestarted saying, “If I had somewhere I could go sitwith you, I would like to go but I’m not climbingany trees or freezing to death.” My uncle cut apiece of timber on the farm that used to be theirgrandparents farm. The property has a powerline that bisects it. I thought what a perfect spotto put a tower stand because it was easy walkingdistance for my father who has bad knees. Wegot permission from my uncle to “do whateveryou want,” and my mother made arrangementsto have a tower stand for two built and placedon the edge of the power line.

Then the fun began. My father is in the loggingbusiness, so we went out and pushed out a foodstrip about 115 yards long to form a T with thepower line. The first year we planted WhitetailInstitute products and tried a little bit of everythingbut had limited success because of the poorsoil. Last year we decided to do it “right.” Wedisked the food strip and had a truck comespread lime on it. We disked again and plantedthe Pure Attraction and applied fertilizer. Weplanted it the last week in August and then itdidn’t rain for three weeks. We were worriedwhether anything would come up but after goodrains at the end of September the plants startedcoming up. By November and the start of muz-zleloader season, we had a lush, pretty foodplot. It had grown better than we could haveimagined.

I just want to thank Whitetail Institute formaking such a good product and for the timethat I get to spend with my dad planting andhunting our strips. He has gotten such a joy outof how good his plots look, and I cherish thetime we get to spend together working andhunting over them. I am hoping that maybe thisyear’s big buck comes by for him, and I canwrite another letter about his trophy. W

Send Us Your Photos!Do you have a photo and/or story of a big buck, a smallbuck or a doe that you took with the help of Imperialproducts? Send it to us and you might find it in the FieldTester section of the next issue of Whitetail News. Sendyour photo and a 3 to 4 paragraph story telling how youharvested the deer and the role our products played to:

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



SAVE BIG With Whitetail NewsIMPERIAL WHITETAIL® CLOVER YOU SAVE $50.00

Suggested Retail: $279.95 (36 lbs. - 4.5 Acre Planting)

Price with coupon: $229.95Please send ____ 36 lb. quantities of Imperial Whitetail® Brand Clover (With Insight).TOTAL Including shipping and handling $_______

Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213

Please add $18.00 for shipping and handling for each 36 lbs. ordered. (Canadian residents call for ship-ping charges.) Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

IMPERIAL “CHIC” MAGNET™ YOU SAVE $50.00

Suggested Retail: $139.95 (9 lbs. - 3 Acre Planting)

Price with coupon: $89.95Please send _____ 9 lb. quantities of Imperial “Chic” Magnet™.

TOTAL Including shipping and handling $_______

Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213

Please add $7.00 for shipping and handling for each 9 lbs. ordered. (Canadian residents call for shippingcharges.) Please enclose with shipping and payment information or give code on phone orders.

IMPERIAL NO-PLOW™ YOU SAVE $40.00


Price with coupon: $109.95Please send _____ 50 lb. quantities of Imperial NO-PLOW™ Wildlife Seed Blend.


Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213


IMPERIAL EXTREME™ YOU SAVE $60.00

Sugg. Retail: $289.95 (46 lbs. - 2 Acre Planting)

Price with coupon: $229.95Please send _____ 46 lb. quantities of Imperial EXTREME™ Seed Blend.


Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213


IMPERIAL ALFA-RACK PLUS™YOU SAVE $60.00


Price with coupon: $229.95Please send _____ 33 lb. quantities of Imperial Alfa-Rack PLUS™

Alfalfa-Clover Blend.TOTAL Including shipping and handling $_______

Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213


IMPERIAL CHICORY PLUS™ YOU SAVE $60.00


Price with coupon: $229.95Please send _____ 28 lb. quantities of Imperial Chicory PLUS™.


Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213


IMPERIAL WINTER-GREENS™ YOU SAVE $70.00


Price with coupon: $169.95Please send _____ 24 lb. quantities of Imperial Winter-Greens™.


Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213


IMPERIAL TALL TINE TUBERS™ YOU SAVE $70.00


Price with coupon: $129.95Please send _____ 24 lb. quantities of Imperial Tall Tine Tubers™.


Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213


IMPERIAL WHITETAIL EDGE™ YOU SAVE $60.00


Price with coupon: $229.95Please send _____ 52 lb. bags of Imperial Edge™.


Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213


NEW!


For Details

IMPERIAL DOUBLE-CROSS™ YOU SAVE $70.00


Price with coupon: $229.95Please send _____ 36 lb. quantities of Imperial Double-Cross™.


Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213


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.


Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213



DISCOUNT COUPONS - Order Today!

Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213

* 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 Discover

Credit Card#: _______________________________Exp. Date:_______

Signature: ________________________________________________

▲

IMPERIAL CUTTING EDGE™ Nutritional SupplementsYOU SAVE $26.00

Suggested 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 $_______

Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213


“KRAZE” Flavored Deer Attractant YOU SAVE $40-$65

Suggested 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 $_______

Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213

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 $_______

Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213

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 $24.00

Suggested 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


Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213

Please add $5.00 for shipping and handling for EACH Block or $10.00 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 $_______

Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213

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.

Acorn OBSESSION “Super” Deer Attractant YOU SAVE $20.00 - $35.00


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

TOTAL $___ ______

Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213


IMPERIAL MAGNET MIX™ YOU SAVE $20 to $35


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

TOTAL $_______

Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213


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 $_______

Savi

ngs

Code

: WN213


FREE

FREIGH

T!

NEW!

FREE

FREIGH

T!


For Details

Brooklyn Hollon — AlabamaOn the afternoon of

Jan. 22, my dad tookme to a new piece ofproperty we had justleased. Dad and mybrother Rhett hadseen several bucks theweek before, so wewere really hoping Iwould get a goodchance at a rackeddeer. Dad took me toa shooting house on along, narrow fieldbetween a cut-overand some thinned outpines. We saw several does early in the hunt, and thenlate, a good buck stepped out in the back of the field.I got ready for the shot, and just before the buckstepped into the pines, I fired. My first thought was Imissed, but my dad assured me I had made a goodshot. The buck ran into the pines but he made it onlyabout 50 yards. The 120-yard shot with my 7mm-08was right in the shoulders. My first buck and he had asmall drop tine! I think my brother is jealous.

Gavin Eurish — IllinoisI sat in the stand where a friend had a 160 class 8-

point come out two years ago and there were five bigscrapes around it. There were six deer in the beanfield to my left. After about 20 minutes of watchingwhat would be my buck chase does in the field hedecided to follow a doe over to his scrapes. I took ashot at him from about 10 yards but the nock on myarrow fell out and sent the arrow flying in the wrongdirection. He ran about 200 yards, but I stayed still,and the doe stayed out in front of me. All of a suddenI saw him turning around and coming back to thatdoe. He came in to about 30 yards, and that’s when Ishot him. He weighed about 275 pounds and had twotines broken off of his main beam. That’s okaybecause I got my first whitetail.

Howard Smith — Vermont

I have been using Whitetail Institute products formany years with great results! This past rifle seasonhere in Vermont, my sweetheart shot her first deer!This was her first year hunting and thanks to WhitetailInstitute’s great products we had more quality deerto choose from than ever before. It took me almost 10years before I shot my first buck on my property andthat was a scrawny three pointer. Then I discoveredthe Whitetail Institute and tried Imperial WhitetailClover. The rest is history! I have since tried manyWhitetail Institute seed blends and have seen radicalchanges in deer quality on my property. More deer,bigger deer and better racks. Here is a picture of mySweetie with her first deer! Thank you so muchWhitetail Institute for all the hard work developingsuch a great selection of wonderful products!

Barry Valk — WisconsinI had to pass on a story about my son Tim's first

youth hunt in Wisconsin. Just to give you a little back-ground about him as he is unique in a lot of ways. Heis an 11-year old very modest boy who is extremelykind and never shows very much emotion. He is avery responsible and a straight A student in school. InWisconsin every year for the past few years, theyhave what is called a youth hunt where a child fromthe ages of 10 to 15 can go rifle hunting with an adultwithout going through hunters’ safety. You get a bucktag and a doe tag for $7 and this past weekend wasthe youth hunt. So, with that being said here is his/ourstory from this last Saturday.

I have two Whitetail Institute food plots. The firstone is on my top field where I have 1.5 acres ofChicory Plus which I planted four years ago andabout .5 acres of Winter-Greens. This food plot is on

a 10-acre field where thefarmer has corn plantedand I have an insulatedblind where we stand. Myson Tim and I were in thestand around 6 a.m. onSaturday. Temperaturewas around 65 degreeswith a 20 mph wind (notvery good conditions forhunting around here).Around 6:30 a.m. when itstarted getting light wesaw a 6-point buck whichwas out in the field eatingChicory and clover andaround 6:45 a.m. he moved over in front of our blindat eight yards eating Winter-Greens. My son shot himat eight yards and the buck only ran 20 yards. I amenclosing a picture of his buck. It is not a huge buck,but at age 11 it's a monster, and Tim held my 30-06and shot it by himself. It gets better as the day goeson.

Not that shooting a 6-point buck wasn't a greatachievement, but it was to be Tim's day. I coach histackle football team and we had to be back at noonfor his game. At his game we won 16-6 against a pret-ty good football team. However, it was Tim's turn tobe our halfback for the first half on Saturday. and heended up scoring both of our touchdowns and a 2-point conversion. One touchdown run was for morethan 65 yards and he ran the ball right up the middle.

However, it doesn't end there. That afternoon wewent back out hunting to try and fill his doe tag onmy bottom food plot where I also have another blind.There I have one acre of Pure Attraction and one acreof Winter-Greens mixed with some beans. Also, thefarmer put a row of beans all around the outside ofmy food plot and another nine acres of beans he hadplanted to the right of the food plot. We sat theremost the afternoon into the evening, and as eveningapproached we watched a 2-1/2-year-old doe workher way from 168 yards away from one of the foodplots all the way through to the Winter-Greens untilshe was only 20 yards broadside from the blind. Tim

took the gun and shotthe doe right throughthe front shoulders,and the doe onlywent 10 yards anddropped in the foodplot. Totally amazing!What a day for a veryproud dad and son. Iwant to send thanksto Whitetail Institutefor the awesomeproducts from a veryhappy dad! W


The Future Of Our Sport

SEE IT IN ACTION AND WATCH QUICK KILLS AT RAGEBROADHEADS.COM

LEARN MORE

INTRODUCING THE NEW RAGE X-TREME OUR MOST LETHAL BROADHEAD EVER.

EXTREME 2.3+ INCH CUT FOR DEVASTATING ENTRY

WOUNDS AND MASSIVE BLOOD TRAILS.

EXTREME SHOCK COLLAR™ FOR

OPTIMUM BLADE RETENTION

AND DEPLOYMENT.

FOR 60 POUND DRAW

WEIGHTS AND UP.

EXTREME LEADING BLADE HONED TO

SURGICAL SHARPNESS.

EXTREME SWEEPING BLADE ANGLE

MAINTAINS KINETIC ENERGY

LONGER AND PENETRATES DEEPER.

EXTREME SINGLE-BEVEL BLADES

IMPROVE BONE AND TISSUE CUTTING

PERFORMANCE.

M

The new IQ ® Bowsight’s revolutionary Retina LockTM Technology will dramatically extend your effective range!

Patent #5,850,700. Other patents pending.

www.iqbowsights.com

“I thought I was a pretty good shot. Then I shot an IQ Bowsight. My groups are now as tight at 50 yards as they were at 20 yards.”

Larry Woodward Heartland Productions

“IQ eliminates torquing and eliminates the need for a peep sight.”

Pat Reeve Driven TV

“The most beneficial piece of equipment I carry.”

Casey Keefer Back Country Quest TV

“If you see the Retina Lock you know you are dead on.”

Babe Winkelman Outdoor Secrets

“IQ gives you instant feedback that shows you even the slightest misalignment.” Tom Miranda Expert bowhunter

“With IQ my groups are tighter, especially at longer distances. Two thumbs up!”

Jay Gregory The Wild Outdoors

Instant feedback at a glance

Center the dot for a perfect shot!

”

Available in 4 and 7 pin models Right and Left handed

Anchor Point

Anchor point just 1/4” high

Bow Torque

Over 5”off at

20 yds

Bow is torqued just 1/4”

Over 10”off at

40 yds

Over 5”off at

20 yds

Over 10”off at

40 yds

Perfect Alignment

Perfect ShotPerfect

Form

SEE IT IN ACTION AND WATCH QUICK KILLS AT RAGEBROADHEADS.COM

LEARN MORE

INTRODUCING THE NEW RAGE X-TREME OUR MOST LETHAL BROADHEAD EVER.

EXTREME 2.3+ INCH CUT FOR DEVASTATING ENTRY

WOUNDS AND MASSIVE BLOOD TRAILS.

EXTREME SHOCK COLLAR™ FOR

OPTIMUM BLADE RETENTION

AND DEPLOYMENT.

FOR 60 POUND DRAW

WEIGHTS AND UP.

EXTREME LEADING BLADE HONED TO

SURGICAL SHARPNESS.

EXTREME SWEEPING BLADE ANGLE

MAINTAINS KINETIC ENERGY

LONGER AND PENETRATES DEEPER.

EXTREME SINGLE-BEVEL BLADES

IMPROVE BONE AND TISSUE CUTTING

PERFORMANCE.

whitetail news vol 21.3

Documents