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Mike Schuller – Pennsylvania ..My brother Randy and I have seen excellent results in a very short time. Trail cam photos revealed many large antlered bucks in our food plots that many guys don’t think exist in our neck of the woods...... |
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Robert Raybourn – Missouri ...I took an eleven point on November 18th in Johnson County during the Missouri firearms season. The buck green scored 172 6/8 gross and 166 3/8 net. A broken brow tine dropped the buck under 170. Still a monster! Total weight was approximately 255 pounds. The buck was dropped in a field that had Imperial Whitetail Clover planted in it. My dad planted it years ago and the bucks are getting bigger and bigger every year! Awesome product...... |
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Fred Dotson – Missouri We had a great year in Missouri with 21 bucks taken this year and all were over 120 class. We are using Extreme and other products from Whitetail Institute and getting results. We will be planting more this spring and look forward to the next year’s results as we should really see the management results in full force.  Kevin Kramer-Indiana 
I plant Imperial Whitetail Clover, and I’ve noticed bigger bodied deer, more massive racks and more bucks in the area. I have won the big buck contest two times in six years in our county. The hunt: I was thinking I had messed up a good opportunity when I grunted in a nice 120 class 8-point, and let him walk by at 30 yards, I was hoping that I wouldn’t regret my decision at the end of the season. Little did I know that 10 minutes would change everything. When the monster buck, that I nicknamed Caribou, jumped the fence into the field 150 yards away, I didn’t need binoculars to tell it was him. Caribou was walking parallel, and when I grunted at him, he stopped and was looking across the field, then I saw what he was waiting for, a 1 1/2-year-old 6-point. Both of them met together and they started walking my direction. That was a sight I will never forget. The 6-pointer came 10 yards behind my stand. While Caribou was eating in the fence row, the massive 12-pointer went up to the fence where he was hidden by honeysuckle. I knew he was at a spot where they jumped the fence so I decided to draw my bow and wait when he landed on the other side. I was ready. I bayed like a doe. It stopped him cold in his tracks, I judged the distance at 25 yards, so I aimed a little high with my 20 yard pin behind the shoulder and touched off my release. Caribou had Whitetail Clover available his whole life. Caribou field dressed 218 pounds and scores 180 1/8 Pope & Young non-typical. Thank you Whitetail Institute. Editors Note: The Buck of the Month is a buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester. It is not necessarily the largest buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester, but an excellent buck that is part of an excellent story. The Buck of the Month story can also be found on our website and could be featured in our magazine, Whitetail News. To submit entries for our Buck of the Month, send picture and story to "Buck of the Month", Whitetail Institute of North America, 239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043. Entries can also be emailed to
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 Brad Harm – Nebraska My wife and I bought 35 acres in 2004 so I would have a place for myself and my daughter Allison to hunt. The first year my daughter and I cleared two spots for food plots, we cleared out the trees and scrubs by hand and broke the ground by hand. We also planted all the seed by hand. I wish I had known about your product back then. I had no luck getting anything to grow. So this past year I planted Whitetail Extreme and it came in very well. It was planted on a side of a hill that had very poor soil conditions. I am very happy with the product. It came in thick and full. I harvested the biggest deer ever in my life this fall in the Extreme plot. It was a 10 x 10 non-typical with double brow ties and a 4 inch drop tine with massive thick beams. It was green scored at 193 1/8 and it weighed 240lbs. I planted my lower food plot with Winter-Greens and it came in thick and full and the deer loved it too. All I can say is thank you Whitetail Institute for making these products. I will always be using your product in the future. Editors Note: The Buck of the Month is a buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester. It is not necessarily the largest buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester, but an excellent buck that is part of an excellent story. The Buck of the Month story can also be found on our website and could be featured in our magazine, Whitetail News. To submit entries for our Buck of the Month, send picture and story to "Buck of the Month", Whitetail Institute of North America, 239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043. Entries can also be emailed to
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Shawn Price – Illinois The Extreme grew very well in some poor soil and attracted more bucks than we had ever seen in the entire area. Some of these deer were giants. Both body weight and antler size improved dramatically. 30-06 Minerals very simply – deer love this stuff. We’re getting some serious results from Imperial Extreme and 30-06 products. Both the deer in the photos are Pope & Young whitetails taken with Bow & arrow. The deer in the dark picture weighed 197 lbs field dressed. The daylight deer weighed 186 lbs. Editors Note: The Buck of the Month is a buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester. It is not necessarily the largest buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester, but an excellent buck that is part of an excellent story. The Buck of the Month story can also be found on our website and could be featured in our magazine, Whitetail News. To submit entries for our Buck of the Month, send picture and story to "Buck of the Month", Whitetail Institute of North America, 239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043. Entries can also be emailed to
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Richard Hunt – Ohio Deer graze like sheep in Imperial Whitetail Clover and Alfa-Rack. In most cases you can set your watch by their visits. More buck activity during rut. Early spring to late fall I also see daily usage on my 30-06 mineral and 30-06 Plus Protein licks. I got cam pictures of 31 different bucks in one season using the mineral as well as does and yearlings. Also like clockwork. Editors Note: The Buck of the Month is a buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester. It is not necessarily the largest buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester, but an excellent buck that is part of an excellent story. The Buck of the Month story can also be found on our website and could be featured in our magazine, Whitetail News. To submit entries for our Buck of the Month, send picture and story to "Buck of the Month", Whitetail Institute of North America, 239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043. Entries can also be emailed to
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 Frank Ellis – Missouri I wouldn’t know where to start on how our deer herd has improved over the last four years. We owe it to harvesting a lot of does, trying to be selective on the quality of bucks that would be taken and Imperial Whitetail Clover. In late August we had five bucks visit one food plot at 12 noon. (see pic 1). During the archery season my cousin Richard and I both harvested very nice 9 pointers from the property. We decided to stay out during rifle season but on the last Saturday my brother Chad called me asking to try it on Sunday morning. As I was curious I agreed to let him in. The phone call came at 8am saying he took a 10 pointer. The impressive fact of this 10 pointer was the shot he made and the fact that he had nearly 40 inches in mass. We hadn’t seen this on any 3 ½ year olds before using Imperial Whitetail Clover. I killed my best bow kill ever, a 166 inch 11 pointer. Richard has also killed a 152” monster. But the best was yet to come. Opening day of our youth deer hunt found me and my 9 year old daughter in a ground blind waiting for daylight and as soon as we could see the clover we could see this five pointer eating his breakfast. After one shot she killed her first deer. Chad took his 11 year old daughter to the same ground blind the next morning where she also killed her first deer with one shot. These two deer are probably the greatest trophies taken in mine and my brother’s eyes, which couldn’t have been done without great food plots. This was a weekend none of us will ever forget. I also guided my 15 year old son to his first buck a nice 9 pointer. I use to say “it would be nice to even see deer like these” and now we say it is nice to kill deer like that. This is owed to hard work, good management, and great food plots. We work hard every year and some people say were crazy, some make jokes about us because we are so into the deer, my wife even says September 15 starts divorce season but we love it and wouldn’t change a thing. (maybe a little more rain here and there) My name is Frank Ellis and I am a Whitetail Institute customer for life. Enclosed you’ll find photos of some of the deer mentioned. Editors Note: The Buck of the Month is a buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester. It is not necessarily the largest buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester, but an excellent buck that is part of an excellent story. The Buck of the Month story can also be found on our website and could be featured in our magazine, Whitetail News. To submit entries for our Buck of the Month, send picture and story to "Buck of the Month", Whitetail Institute of North America, 239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043. Entries can also be emailed to
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. Whitetail Institute Buck of the Month
Matt Wastler – Missouri ...We immediately saw great things begin to happen on our land. It was very rewarding to know that we were contributing to improving the health of many species of animals on our property, including turkey and deer. As you can see from the pictures........... |
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Editors Note: The Buck of the Month is a buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester. It is not necessarily the largest buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester, but an excellent buck that is part of an excellent story. The Buck of the Month story can also be found on our website and could be featured in our magazine, Whitetail News. To submit entries for our Buck of the Month, send picture and story to "Buck of the Month", Whitetail Institute of North America, 239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043. Entries can also be emailed to
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.
Whitetail Institute Buck of the Month
Frank Garrison – New York ...Extreme is my steady ally! Year in and year out, it’s low maintenance. The deer don’t lie. Winter-Greens? “Buy it, plant it, grab a kid, and observe the whitetail.” If you could get everybody to use it once, you would not have to advertise! Enclosed is a picture of a 168 inch 12 point killed on an Extreme plot and an 11 point killed on Winter-Greens........... |
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Editors Note: The Buck of the Month is a buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester. It is not necessarily the largest buck harvested by a Whitetail Institute field tester, but an excellent buck that is part of an excellent story. The Buck of the Month story can also be found on our website and could be featured in our magazine, Whitetail News. To submit entries for our Buck of the Month, send picture and story to "Buck of the Month", Whitetail Institute of North America, 239 Whitetail Trail, Pintlala, AL 36043. Entries can also be emailed to
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. ***Reprinted with permission from www.whitetailinstitute.com ***  | ***Reprinted with permission from www.whitetailinstitute.com Q: When is the best time of the year to spray Arrest? A: Arrest is designed to offer optimum control of “seedling” grasses. By that, I mean grasses that are growing vigorously, but that have not matured to the point that they’d be more than 6-12 inches tall if left un-mowed. Arrest can still control grasses that have matured beyond that point, but it may be more difficult, in some cases requiring that you use a higher concentration of Arrest in the spray solution, apply it more often, or both. To save money, it's best to spray Arrest right when grasses are just starting to grow, but before they mature. If that’s hard to figure out, here’s what I do. On my lease, I know that I will have to spray to control grass in my perennial plots. To gauge when it’s time to spray, I just watch my lawn. Often, it appears to me once my lawn greens up each spring, it can be another week or two before it starts growing well. So, each spring I wait until my lawn greens up, and then I keep an eye on it. Once I see it starting to vigorously grow again, I know it’s time to go spray my perennials with Arrest. I’m as guilty as others, though, in occasionally putting things off too long. Thankfully, controlling more mature grass with Arrest is still possible. It just requires a higher solution rate, and it may also require two applications a month apart. |
 ***reprinted with permission from www.whitetailinstitute.com *** Q: Does Whitetail Institute offer any forage products that are Roundup-ready? A: Roundup-ready technology has been an awesome breakthrough for farming. However, food plots are a somewhat different animal, so we elected not to use Roundup-ready plant varieties in Imperial blends. There are three reasons. First, many of the plant types we use in our blends are either unavailable or prohibitively expensive in Roundup-ready form. As this point, Roundup-ready technology is only economically available in harvest-type plant varieties designed for hay production or commercial yields of corn, soybeans, etc. While we use some such “ag type” plant varieties in our blends, we also use true forage-type plant varieties that can perform much better than ag varieties when used as a growing forage for deer. For example, ag-type soybeans may not produce anywhere near the foliage tonnage, be as palatable or survive heavy grazing as well as true forage-type soybeans such as the beans in our PowerPlant blend. Second, consider that one thing that makes Imperial forage products as bullet-proof as possible is that they are blends of different types of plants. That’s because a single plant variety will rarely if ever provide everything we demand from our products across the board, including such things as attractiveness to deer, high nutritional content, drought resistance, cold hardiness, tonnage, palatability, seedling vigor, disease resistance, protein, etc. Blends can help eliminate the weakness that can be inherent in any one variety – IF – they are the right mix of varieties! Our exhaustive research and testing assures our customer that our blends do contain the best possible mix of components to assure that the product will deliver top performance across the board. Third, other proven methods for dealing with grass and weeds in food plots already exist. What you should do is prepare your seedbed properly according to our published instructions, and then perform the little amount of perennial-forage maintenance we recommend each spring. As for preparing a proper seedbed, consider PowerPlant for example. PowerPlant should not be planted until well after late spring frosts have passed, and soil temperatures have warmed up to a constant 65 degrees or higher. That doesn’t happen in most areas until well after weeds and grasses have re-emerged in the spring. Accordingly, if you expect grass and weed competition to be excessively heavy, just spray the site with Roundup a couple of weeks before you plant. Also, other tried-and-true methods exist for controlling grass and weeds in perennial food plots. These include selective herbicides and cultural practices. The Whitetail Institute currently offers two selective herbicides for perennial maintenance. Arrest can be used to control most kinds of grass in any Imperial perennial blend and in any other clover or alfalfa. Slay will control most kinds of broadleaf weeds, and it can be used in Imperial Whitetail Clover, and any other clover or alfalfa. (Slay should not be sprayed on any Imperial forage other than Imperial Whitetail Clover.) Cultural practices include mowing Imperial perennials a few times in each spring, and if possible once again in the fall to prevent flowering. This can help control many of the annual weeds we face, and it also helps keep Imperial perennials even more lush, attractive and nutritious.
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***reprinted with permission from www.whitetailinstitute.com Q: I just recently planted a new food plot with Imperial Chicory Plus. It is coming up now, but I am also getting some grass coming up with it. How soon can I apply Arrest to control the grass? I have used Arrest before on other plots with great results but since this plot is so new, I’m not sure how soon I can use it. A: Arrest grass herbicide can be used to control most kinds of grass in any Imperial perennial plot without regard to how young the forage is. However, be sure to follow each step correctly, and exercise common sense. First, be sure that the grass you want to control is one that Arrest is designed to tackle. Chances are, Arrest will control it, but always check the label first to be sure. Once you have determined that Arrest is appropriate to spray on the forage in your plot, and that it is labeled for controlling the kind of grass you want to control, don’t delay – once grass emerges and starts to grow, mix your Arrest spray solution according to label instructions, and spray Arrest as soon as you can! As I have often heard our experts say, “When it comes to maintaining an Imperial perennial plot, your number-one priority should be controlling grass.” Arrest is designed to work best on seedling grasses (those that have not matured above 6-12”), so for best results, spray as soon as you can after grass emerges. Controlling older grasses is still possible with Arrest, but it may be a bit harder, take multiple applications and require the addition of adjuvants to the spray solution. Remember, Arrest is a foliar-contact herbicide, meaning that the grass must be actively growing for it to take the herbicide in. Accordingly, don’t spray Arrest when grasses are not actively growing, for example before spring green up, after grass begins to go dormant in the fall, or if excessively dry or hot weather has slowed grass growth. Mowing also tends to put plants in shock for a short while, so if you mow first, wait two weeks or until you see new growth before spraying. Finally, even though it is okay from a chemical standpoint to spray Arrest on Imperial perennial forages when they’re very young, you don’t want to drive over forage seedlings that have just barely emerged and break their tiny roots. Always remember to use common sense. |
***reprinted with permission from www.whitetailinstitute.com Q: I planted Imperial Whitetail Clover in sandy soil on a sloped plot in Michigan. Even though I had a soil test done and followed it's lime and fertilizer recommendations, the plot has struggled. Any idea why? A: Yes. I believe the most likely problem is that you planted Imperial Whitetail Clover in a soil type for which it is not intended to be planted. Each Imperial forage blend is designed to perform best in a specific type of soil and slope. Unlike Imperial Whitetail Extreme, which is designed to be planted in the conditions you mentioned, Imperial Whitetail Clover is designed to be planted in heavy soils that hold moisture well because it is shallow rooted. All of our forage blends are designed to handle as broad a variety of soil types and slopes as possible, but even Imperial blends have their limits as to what they can tolerate. That's why we are so careful to clearly list the type soil each of our blends is designed for right on each bag. Soil testing will tell you what to add to your soil to adjust its nutrient levels. But, it can't change the nature of your soil (e.g.: heavy or light, moisture-holding or highly drained, etc.) or choose your forage for you. Once you choose the correct forage for the soil type and slope of the plot site you will be planting, then you'll be ready to send in your soil for analysis. Collect your soil sample, specify what forage you'll be planting by checking the appropriate block on the form in your Whitetail Institute soil test kit, and then send both to the lab. The lab will then analyze the sample to determine what you need to add to the soil in the way of lime (to raise soil pH if necessary) and fertilizer for that particular forage. And again, when you are filling out the soil-sample form that comes with your Whitetail Institute soil test kit, be sure to check the appropriate block beside the forage you intend to plant so that they lab can tailor it's lime and fertilizer recommendations for that specific forage blend. That's the only way they can tailor their recommendations to the specific forage you will be planting. ***reprinted with permission from www.whitetailinstitute.com December 2008 Q: I planted a new plot of Chic Magnet two weeks ago. The plants are starting to break the surface, but the ones that are up are only about 1” tall or a little more. Also, the ones that I see are in patches throughout the plot, and I don't see anything much yet in the other parts. Is there anything I can do to speed things up? A: If your Chic Magnet was planted according to our planting instructions, your Chic Magnet is within normal growth parameters. Be sure to fertilize the plot again once your Chic Magnet reaches 3-4” tall with 100 pounds per acre of 33-0-0, 34-0-0 or equivalent high-nitrogen fertilizer. The planting instructions for Imperial perennials appear on the back of each forage bag and are also available on-line at www.whitetailinstitute.com. My bet is that you did a good job of following our instructions, since your Chic Magnet appears to be coming in well after two weeks. However, I did want to mention our planting instructions because they caution planters not to drag over, or otherwise cover, Imperial perennial seeds after planting. Dragging the plot after seeding can in some cases push soil over the seeds, covering them too deeply to survive. A classic sign of that is a plot that has some thick areas and others that are very thin. Again, though, I am assuming that you did not cover the seeds when you planted. I f that's correct, then your Chic Magnet seems to be growing as it should. Remember that Imperial perennials are specifically designed for deer foot plots, and one of the goals toward which we bred our forage plants was to have them exhibit early vigor as seedlings. Imperial perennials establish extremely quickly, but the process does not happen overnight. When gauging the progress of your plot's early growth, there are several things to keep in mind. Imperial perennials have to do a LOT right after they germinate. One of the biggest tasks the seedlings have to perform is starting the process of establishing their root systems, a process they will start before the plants appear above the surface. Remember that Imperial perennials develop substantial root systems, and the reason is simple – we designed them that way. Any time a plant has to flower (make seeds), the process takes a LOT of nutrients and energy out of the plant. Accordingly, we designed Imperial perennials to sustain themselves through their root systems rather than relying on reseeding. That’s also why a standard step in our perennial-maintenance instructions is to mow Imperial perennial plots in the spring and fall to prevent the forage plants from flowering – doing so helps keep Imperial perennials even more lush, nutritious and attractive. If you take all of these things into account, you’ll see that your Chic Magnet is actually developing quickly as designed; it has germinated, and it is now exhibiting the early plant vigor designed into the blend. You should now see the plot begin to thicken up as more of the Chic Magnet plants begin to break the surface. Again, remember that our planting instructions for Imperial Chic Magnet call for applying 33-0-0, 34-0-0 or similar high-nitrogen fertilzer to the plot once your Chic Magnet reaches 3 inches in height to further boost forage growth. If you would like to ask Big Jon a question and maybe have it posted here in a future edition, |
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November 2008 ***reprinted with permission from www.whitetailinstitute.com Q: Do you have to use as much pelletized lime as you would agricultural lime to raise soil pH the same amount? A: Opinions vary on whether one must use the same amount of pelletized lime as it would take to equivalently raise soil pH with bulk agricultural lime, but the experts we have consulted suggest that one may use a weight of pelletized lime that is 70-75% of what the bulk lime recommendation would be and get the same effect. The key to understanding this is in knowing that lime works to raise soil pH by particle-to-particle contact; a particle of lime must touch a particle of soil to neutralize it. The “fineness” of lime is expressed in "screen size", which just means the fineness of the mesh the lime particles will pass through. The finer the lime grains in a pound of lime, the more individual grains there are, and the more grains there are, the more dirt particles they will touch and neutralize (IF you work the lime into the soil properly and thoroughly). Remember that the pellets in pelletized lime are not all lime. They are much smaller lime particles rolled up into little clay balls so that they will go through a broadcast spreader. The actual pieces of lime that are in the balls are actually of smaller screen size than the lime particles in granular bulk lime. What that means is that there are more “pieces” of actual lime in pelletized lime than there is in an equivalent weight of the more coarsely ground agricultural, or bulk lime. That brings me to a tip about using pelletized lime that you are planning to disk in. Remember that I said the pellet consists of lots of little lime particles rolled up into clay balls? Try taking one of the pellets and leaving it in your driveway over night. Over night, the ball will break down, and in the morning you will find a little pile of powdered lime where you left the pellet. In the same way, it is a great idea to broadcast pelletized lime one afternoon, but wait until the next morning to disk it in. That way, you are disking in the separate lime particles, not the whole pellet, and with vigorous "stirring" with your disk, you will get better particle-to-particle contact. They key to raising soil pH with either bulk or pelletized lime is to work it into the soil thoroughly. As I often heard the former Director of Plant Breeding for Institute, Dr. Johnson, often say, “Lime pretty much stays where you put it. You HAVE to disk it in thoroughly if you are going to raise soil pH.” So, when you disk in your lime don’t just make one pass. Instead, think about making pancakes - if you put pancake mix in a bowl and then the water, and then make only one pass around the bowl with the spoon, most of the water will not reach the mix. However, if you stir vigorously and in multiple directions, the mix will be much better. Same thing with lime - the better you disk in (multiple passes as different directions), the more particle-to-particle contact you will achieve with the soil. Another good tip is to disk the lime into the soil only within the first six inches (or even less if you are planting a relative shallow-rooted plant like Imperial Whitetail Clover) and then disk the last ton in only in the top three inches or so. When preparing to plant Whitetail Institute forages, it is not necessary to disk in your lime any deeper than that, and by doing so, you will be decreasing the effectiveness of the lime by mixing it with more dirt than you have to. Personally, when I want to lime a new plot site, I start six months before I intend to plant and disk in the amount of bulk lime required by my soil test. Then, I add 800 – 1,000 pounds of pelletized lime right on top of the soil when I plant. By doing it this way, I get the top four to six inches of soil up to proper pH by the time I plant, and the additional pelletized lime on top gives an extra pH kick to the surface of the soil where the seeds will be germinating. |
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October 2008 Q: I just received my new bag of Pure Attraction I ordered. I read through the planting directions, and it says to lightly cover the seeds. I thought that Imperial blends were NOT supposed to be covered up. Am I wrong? Should I cultipack or drag my plot after putting out my Pure Attraction seed? A: First, good job reading the directions! They’re there for a reason. Think about it – we want the process of planting our forage blends to be as simple as possible. That being the case, you can understand that every step that we do put in our instructions is critical. One of the most important steps is the one you noticed – whether or not to cover Imperial seeds when you plant them. All Imperial blends except Pure Attraction and Power Plant are designed to be broadcast spread and not covered up. In contrast, our Pure Attraction blend should be LIGHTLY covered with about ¼ – ½ inch of loose soil. Again, the thin layer of soil that covers your Pure Attraction seed should be left loose. Since a cultipacker would firm the soil, not leave it loose, a weighted drag or a light, spike-tooth type harrow may be a better choice for finishing the Pure Attraction plot after seeding, since a cultipacker would pack the soil that covers the seed. In summary, once your seedbed is prepared, fertilized and otherwise ready for your Pure Attraction seed, smooth the seedbed with a drag, broadcast the Pure Attraction seed, and then lightly drag, or harrow the seed with a light, spike-tooth harrow, just under the surface about ¼ - ½ of an inch deep. Do not cultipack or otherwise firm the soil once you have covered the seed. If you would like to ask Big Jon a question and maybe have it posted here in a future edition, CLICK HERE ***reprinted with permission od www.whitetailinstitute.com *** |
Sept. 2009 Q: I want to clear an old field using Roundup. It is basically grown over with grass/weeds. WhicRoundup should I use? I notice some have a weed prevention component. A: Great question! Roundup® is a trademarked brand that appears on lots of different herbicide products, and not all of those products are chemically the same. Also, herbicide manufacturers regularly change herbicide components and percentages in their products, and sometimes only very slightly. That’s why when you’re shopping for a herbicide to help clear a new site of weeds before you plant, you should look at the specific active ingredients on the herbicide label instead of just looking for a product with a certain brand name. If you are going to use a herbicide to help control weeds and grass in a site before planting, use a herbicide product whose label shows that its percentage of glyphosate is very high, in the range of 41% glyphosate or higher. At the time I write this, Roundup’s high-gly product is Roundup Weed and Grass Killer Super Concentrate (50.2% gly) in the purple-and-white jug. When you’re shopping for a high-gly herbicide, start at your local farm supply store instead of a home-supply chain. That’s because most home-supply chains carry lots of herbicides, but only with a fraction of the glyphosate you need for food-plot site preparation. Examples are the pre-mixed, “ready-to-use” products that come in a plastic spray jug (usually under 10% gly) and even Roundup Weed and Grass Killer Concentrate (18% gly). Your local farm supply store is likely to have Roundup Weed and Grass Killer Super Concentrate (50.2% gly) as well as a wide variety of generic equivalents. Also you may notice that some herbicide products that contain glyphosate also contain other active ingredients such as imazapic, triclorpyr, diuron or diquat. Some of these additional active ingredients provide “pre-emergence” control of weeds that appear after spraying. As such, they are generally inappropriate for use in seedbed preparation, since in addition to providing residual control of weeds they can also negatively affect forages planted shortly after spraying. Thankfully, that’s not something that most of us have to worry about, since most of us aren’t licensed herbicide applicators, and none of the high-gly herbicides available over the counter (without an applicator’s license) contain these extra active ingredients . So, when shopping for a herbicide to control weeds in a site before planting, go to your local farm supply store, and start checking herbicide labels. Look for a herbicide whose label shows that its active ingredient is glyphosate, and that the concentration of glyphosate in the product is high, in the range of 41% or higher. Any such herbicide product with such a high level of glyphosate that you can buy without a herbicide applicator’s license will do just fine. ***reprinted with permission from www.whitetailinstitute.com |
August 2008 ***reprinted with permission from www.whitetailinstitute.com Q: I am just learning about food plots, and I have a question. It seems to me that the more seed I put out on my plot, the more plants I’ll have growing there, and so the more forage the deer will have. That would be a good thing, correct? A: Great question! It’s one I hear a lot, and the answer is, “probably not — it might even REDUCE the performance of your planting!” Think about it — let’s consider just one square yard of plot. Within that area, you only have one square yard of seedbed to sustain forage plants. That’s all the room the plants you’ll be growing there will have in which to sprout, grow, and become as healthy, vigorous, and as drought, heat and cold-tolerant as they were designed to be. If you try to grow too many plants within that one square yard of seedbed, the plant roots won’t have enough room to grow as big as they otherwise might have. Smaller roots can result in LESS heat and drought tolerance, and because smaller roots can inhibit the growth of the forage plants, perhaps even LESS available forage. For optimum results, stick to the recommended seeding rates as closely as you can. Our forage blends are so efficient that with many of them it takes a very small amount of seed to plant a plot. ImperialWhitetail Clover, for example, should be planted at a rate of only eight pounds per acre, and “Chic” Magnet at as little as three pounds per acre. Obviously, these forage blends are extremely efficient, but that can make it hard to stick to the correct seeding rates and not run out of seed for the plot too quickly. Here’s a tip to help you be efficient in seeding these blends. Start by determining the size of the food plot you will be planting (e.g.: 1/10th acre, 1/2 acre, 3 acres, etc.). Next, choose the correct Imperial forage for your application based on anticipated rainfall levels, intended planting method (with or without ground tillage equipment), how heavy the soil is and the plot’s drainage characteristics. Once you decide on what forage you’ll be planting, you can look right on our website, on the front of our forage bags, or call our consultants to determine how much seed you’ll need for that plot. Once your seedbed has been prepared according to our recommendations for planting the product you have chosen, plan on planting the seed with a shoulder- type broadcast spreader if possible. Unlike other spreader types, a shoulder-carried broadcast spreader will allow you to keep your hand on the spreader bag as a constant gauge of how much seed the spreader is putting out, and how much you have left in the bag at any given time. Also, consider only putting 1/2 the amount of seed required for the plot into the spreader and trying to cover the whole plot with it. Then, put the other 1/2 of the seed in and cover the whole plot with it again, but from a different direction on the second pass. That may be the best way to ensure that you get broad, even coverage without overloading the plot with seed. Again, seeding rates for Imperial forage blends are shown right on the front of the forage bags and are also listed on our website, www.whitetailinstitute.com. Our highly trained, in-house consultants are also standing by to answer your calls at (800) 688-3030, ext 2, any time between 8 a.m. — 5 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday 
I believe it was Forrest Gump’s mother who said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Isn’t it satisfying, though, when that one chocolate you pick out of the box just happens to be your favorite. Sometimes hunting is like that, too. My love for hunting started early. I was raised in the country and hunted small game, upland birds and varmints with my Dad. The fact that the three oldest kids in our family were girls did not stop us from hunting, fishing, driving combines and tractors and various other activities often reserved for the male gender in other families. We now live on a small farm in the middle of Kansas with a large pond and a meandering river. Deer and wild turkeys are abundant. My hunting memories are a special part of me; so getting my kids started hunting means more than just taking time out to get it done. It’s somewhere between a “keen desire” and “instinctual behavior.” That objective has now been met for all of my kids now that Tom, my youngest, was old enough to deer hunt this year. It’s almost a daily activity here; deer hunting, that is. Besides spotting and keeping track of deer activities on our 58 acres, I like to help insure that they stick around for the “fun stuff.” Planting trees and shrubs attractive to deer is an ongoing process, as well as maintaining a food plot planted with Imperial Whitetail Clover from the Whitetail Institute. As hunting season approaches we spend more and more time watching and patterning the deer. The first Imperial Clover patch was planted in 2002. It is somewhere between 2 and 3 acres. It has improved each year. We had planted a different kind of clover the year before and it didn't grow at all. This year we actually pastured a few horses on the food plot for a while this summer. They mowed it flat. We took them off around the first of September and within a couple weeks the Imperial Clover was a foot high again and the deer moved right back in. We have taken a number of deer and turkeys in the food plot. And now I’d like to tell you the story about my son’s first deer. Since this was the first year Tom was going to be old enough to hunt, I wanted to do everything I could to ensure that he had a successful hunt. We had often talked about other kids and their experiences. Tom didn’t think he wanted to shoot “the biggest buck” his first year. He was afraid that if he didn’t get a big buck the next time that he might be disappointed in years to come. I reassured him that if he got a monster buck he would probably be hooked on hunting regardless of what happened in the future. He thought maybe he would like to start by just getting a doe for his first deer, as his brother and sister had done in the past, or maybe a small buck. I told him that would be fine with me, but if that monster did happen to step into his sights, don’t forget to pull the trigger. In the days before his hunt I spent time watching our Imperial Clover patch from our platform tree stand where his hunt would take place. Since Tom was in school he wasn’t able to do a lot of the spotting with me. Mostly I saw does and their babies in the Imperial Clover on a daily basis. This was good, I thought. Where there are does, the bucks will follow. Finally I managed to see an odd young buck in the Imperial Clover. I knew I would recognize this buck if I ever saw him again. He had a rather small but very upright, narrow rack with main beams that almost touched in the front. There was something else strange about this fellow, too. As I looked at him with my binoculars, or “Nocs” as Tom calls them, I could see a very prominent black circle on the left side of his face between his eye and ear. I looked at it for the longest time but for the life of me I couldn’t tell what the heck it was; an injury, a growth of hair or perhaps only a stain or some mud. At any rate, he was a strange looking deer that I hoped Tom would be able to remove from the gene pool. I gave Tom a call and told him I had found his buck. He got more and more excited about the idea as I described the deer to him. I told my fiancé, Mike, that I had picked out a buck for Tom. He said he hoped I hadn’t gotten Tom too excited about that buck because you “never know what you’re gonna get.” He also reminded me how we have been hunting a certain large buck ever since we moved here, and no one has managed to get him. Now, with hunter’s education behind him, shooting practice completed and his rifle sighted in, all Tom had to do was wait for the special youth weekend so he could hunt. When that morning arrived we were ready. Tom was curiously calm. He didn’t seem near as excited as my other kids had been on their first hunt. I didn’t think much about it. We gathered our gear; Tom with his gun and me with my camera and “Nocs.” It was still dark, so we slowly worked our way to the clover with the help of a flashlight. As we reached the last gate before crossing into the Imperial Clover I heard something. I pointed the flashlight toward the sound. Holy cow! Eyeballs everywhere! The Imperial Clover field that Tom and I needed to cross in order to reach our stand was filled with deer! With the sound of our approach they all ran to the hedgerow on the north edge of the field. The clover patch is about 100 yards wide and 175 yards long, so they didn’t run far. I didn’t want to spook them any more than I had to, but I did want Tom to have the advantage of hunting from the stand, so we continued toward the stand. I told Tom to stick close and I kept the flashlight pointed at the deer so they would see the light rather than our forms as we walked along. I was surprised they all stayed right there in the edge of the woods, within 50 yards of us. As we made the last turn toward the stand a young deer hopped out of the hedge right in front of us. We stopped. It was only about 30 yards away, between the stand and us. I kept the light on it. I was afraid to keep walking because I didn’t want to spook them all so much that they would take off up the river for the day. Instead, I made a clicking with my mouth, kind of like you would when you want your horse to speed up a tad. The fawn ignored me. I decided to wave the light of the flashlight just a little. That did it. He took off back into the hedgerow and stayed there with the other deer the whole time Tom and I climbed into the stand and waited for the morning light. Ah, now I could relax. It’s such a wonderful feeling to be in the woods with the trees and stars overhead and deer all around. It gives me a feeling of peace and serenity I cherish. What a morning. As the sky slowly started to lighten Tom and I could see deer playing in the Imperial Clover. One would cross one way, then another the other way. We watched a doe and her baby meander back and forth. One particular fawn was so funny to watch it was hard to keep from laughing. He walked straight toward the pasture directly away from us. He was watching one of the horses grazing on the other side of the fence. The little fawn couldn’t have stretched his ears any farther listening to and watching the horse. He stomped his feet. What a little tough guy, still in spots. As the fawn turned and headed back across the Imperial Clover he offered us a perfect shot. I told Tom to take him if he wanted. His reply was, “No, I think I’ll wait.” Uh oh, I thought. I hope Tom is not going to be the type who can’t pull the trigger when the time comes. We waited and took the liberty of talking in a whisper. Tom was concerned that he might not make a good shot, or that he might not hit it at all. Half jokingly I told him, “One sure way to always get a deer is to slow your projectile down to 55 mph and put headlights on it.” We worked so hard at stifling our laughter I’m sure the stand was shaking. Two large does appeared at the edge of the woods. Both offered a good shot. I told Tom he could take either one. Once again, no, he wanted to wait. Now I really was starting to wonder. This was the kid who was worried because he didn’t want to shoot too large of a buck for his first deer. Now he didn’t want to take a fawn or a doe. We waited. As the clock ticked on, I was beginning to think I was going to have to take a break and perhaps continue our hunt later that evening. Oh, well, if he doesn’t get a deer, at least he had already had a great morning with lots of deer activity. I’d give it 30 more minutes. Another deer stepped out to the edge of the field, but it didn’t give us much of a shot. I wasn’t even sure Tom could see it, as I was watching it through a “window” in the trees. I raised my ‘nocs and realized this was the strange little buck I had spotted the week before. Yes, it was unmistakable. Slowly and quietly I said, “Tom, there’s your buck.” Suddenly the kid who was so nonchalant earlier perked up. “Really! Where?” he said. “Move over here… I think you can see him from here,” I replied. “Oh, Mom! My heart’s going 90 miles and hour,” Tom said back. “Just take your time and make sure you’ve got that crosshair right where you want it then squeeze the trigger,” I said to calm his nerves. BANG! As I watched the buck folded and took off. I could see the deer was hit hard. The thing I couldn’t see was where the heck he went. Two jumps and he was out of sight due to all the trees. By then, Tom was a bundle of adrenaline, wondering about his shot and where the deer went. On the other side of the hedgerow was a soybean field. I knew he had taken off into the beans. Tom and I walked to where the deer stood when he shot. Yes, there was a little blood, but not much. We could follow the tracks, but which ones? There were deer tracks going every which way. It was a whitetail dance hall. We were able to follow the blood trail about 50 yards, being careful to mark the trail as we went and trying not to obscure what little blood we could find Scanning the field we could not spot the deer, and I had no intention of traipsing back and forth through the beans that were so near to harvest. He must have run back into the woods. We combed through the woods to the south of where we last saw him, but couldn’t find a trace. It was thick woods with briars, tangled vines and loaded with poison ivy. As much as I hated to, I told Tom let’s wait until Mike got home in an hour or so. We made our way back to the house to cool off and rest By the time Mike got there I had thought about where the buck must have gone. I was able to walk straight to the deer, which was in the woods to the north. We breathed a sigh of relief. Tom took hold of the deer’s antlers and looked them over. He was the same upright 8-point for sure, with a few small kickers and one side of his main beam somewhat palmated and nearly crossing in the front. The black spot on the side of the bucks face turned out to be an extremely large black mole attached to the buck’s skin. Tom gave the buck a few good, confident pats. His smile told me he was a happy boy.“I was really excited,” he told me. “I felt like I did something really good. I wanted to do this really bad for a long time and I finally got to. It was really neat to get the exact deer I went after. The Imperial Clover patch helped make sure there were a lot of deer to choose from.” What a feeling of satisfaction. Another deer hunter was born and Tom managed to pull exactly what he wanted out of that box of chocolates I believe it was Forrest Gump’s mother who said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Isn’t it satisfying, though, when that one chocolate you pick out of the box just happens to be your favorite. Sometimes hunting is like that, too. My love for hunting started early. I was raised in the country and hunted small game, upland birds and varmints with my Dad. The fact that the three oldest kids in our family were girls did not stop us from hunting, fishing, driving combines and tractors and various other activities often reserved for the male gender in other families. We now live on a small farm in the middle of Kansas with a large pond and a meandering river. Deer and wild turkeys are abundant. My hunting memories are a special part of me; so getting my kids started hunting means more than just taking time out to get it done. It’s somewhere between a “keen desire” and “instinctual behavior.” That objective has now been met for all of my kids now that Tom, my youngest, was old enough to deer hunt this year. It’s almost a daily activity here; deer hunting, that is. Besides spotting and keeping track of deer activities on our 58 acres, I like to help insure that they stick around for the “fun stuff.” Planting trees and shrubs attractive to deer is an ongoing process, as well as maintaining a food plot planted with Imperial Whitetail Clover from the Whitetail Institute. As hunting season approaches we spend more and more time watching and patterning the deer. The first Imperial Clover patch was planted in 2002. It is somewhere between 2 and 3 acres. It has improved each year. We had planted a different kind of clover the year before and it didn't grow at all. This year we actually pastured a few horses on the food plot for a while this summer. They mowed it flat. We took them off around the first of September and within a couple weeks the Imperial Clover was a foot high again and the deer moved right back in. We have taken a number of deer and turkeys in the food plot. And now I’d like to tell you the story about my son’s first deer. Since this was the first year Tom was going to be old enough to hunt, I wanted to do everything I could to ensure that he had a successful hunt. We had often talked about other kids and their experiences. Tom didn’t think he wanted to shoot “the biggest buck” his first year. He was afraid that if he didn’t get a big buck the next time that he might be disappointed in years to come. I reassured him that if he got a monster buck he would probably be hooked on hunting regardless of what happened in the future. He thought maybe he would like to start by just getting a doe for his first deer, as his brother and sister had done in the past, or maybe a small buck. I told him that would be fine with me, but if that monster did happen to step into his sights, don’t forget to pull the trigger. In the days before his hunt I spent time watching our Imperial Clover patch from our platform tree stand where his hunt would take place. Since Tom was in school he wasn’t able to do a lot of the spotting with me. Mostly I saw does and their babies in the Imperial Clover on a daily basis. This was good, I thought. Where there are does, the bucks will follow. Finally I managed to see an odd young buck in the Imperial Clover. I knew I would recognize this buck if I ever saw him again. He had a rather small but very upright, narrow rack with main beams that almost touched in the front. There was something else strange about this fellow, too. As I looked at him with my binoculars, or “Nocs” as Tom calls them, I could see a very prominent black circle on the left side of his face between his eye and ear. I looked at it for the longest time but for the life of me I couldn’t tell what the heck it was; an injury, a growth of hair or perhaps only a stain or some mud. At any rate, he was a strange looking deer that I hoped Tom would be able to remove from the gene pool. I gave Tom a call and told him I had found his buck. He got more and more excited about the idea as I described the deer to him. I told my fiancé, Mike, that I had picked out a buck for Tom. He said he hoped I hadn’t gotten Tom too excited about that buck because you “never know what you’re gonna get.” He also reminded me how we have been hunting a certain large buck ever since we moved here, and no one has managed to get him. Now, with hunter’s education behind him, shooting practice completed and his rifle sighted in, all Tom had to do was wait for the special youth weekend so he could hunt. When that morning arrived we were ready. Tom was curiously calm. He didn’t seem near as excited as my other kids had been on their first hunt. I didn’t think much about it. We gathered our gear; Tom with his gun and me with my camera and “Nocs.” It was still dark, so we slowly worked our way to the clover with the help of a flashlight. As we reached the last gate before crossing into the Imperial Clover I heard something. I pointed the flashlight toward the sound. Holy cow! Eyeballs everywhere! The Imperial Clover field that Tom and I needed to cross in order to reach our stand was filled with deer! With the sound of our approach they all ran to the hedgerow on the north edge of the field. The clover patch is about 100 yards wide and 175 yards long, so they didn’t run far. I didn’t want to spook them any more than I had to, but I did want Tom to have the advantage of hunting from the stand, so we continued toward the stand. I told Tom to stick close and I kept the flashlight pointed at the deer so they would see the light rather than our forms as we walked along. I was surprised they all stayed right there in the edge of the woods, within 50 yards of us. As we made the last turn toward the stand a young deer hopped out of the hedge right in front of us. We stopped. It was only about 30 yards away, between the stand and us. I kept the light on it. I was afraid to keep walking because I didn’t want to spook them all so much that they would take off up the river for the day. Instead, I made a clicking with my mouth, kind of like you would when you want your horse to speed up a tad. The fawn ignored me. I decided to wave the light of the flashlight just a little. That did it. He took off back into the hedgerow and stayed there with the other deer the whole time Tom and I climbed into the stand and waited for the morning light. Ah, now I could relax. It’s such a wonderful feeling to be in the woods with the trees and stars overhead and deer all around. It gives me a feeling of peace and serenity I cherish. What a morning. As the sky slowly started to lighten Tom and I could see deer playing in the Imperial Clover. One would cross one way, then another the other way. We watched a doe and her baby meander back and forth. One particular fawn was so funny to watch it was hard to keep from laughing. He walked straight toward the pasture directly away from us. He was watching one of the horses grazing on the other side of the fence. The little fawn couldn’t have stretched his ears any farther listening to and watching the horse. He stomped his feet. What a little tough guy, still in spots. As the fawn turned and headed back across the Imperial Clover he offered us a perfect shot. I told Tom to take him if he wanted. His reply was, “No, I think I’ll wait.” Uh oh, I thought. I hope Tom is not going to be the type who can’t pull the trigger when the time comes. We waited and took the liberty of talking in a whisper. Tom was concerned that he might not make a good shot, or that he might not hit it at all. Half jokingly I told him, “One sure way to always get a deer is to slow your projectile down to 55 mph and put headlights on it.” We worked so hard at stifling our laughter I’m sure the stand was shaking. Two large does appeared at the edge of the woods. Both offered a good shot. I told Tom he could take either one. Once again, no, he wanted to wait. Now I really was starting to wonder. This was the kid who was worried because he didn’t want to shoot too large of a buck for his first deer. Now he didn’t want to take a fawn or a doe. We waited. As the clock ticked on, I was beginning to think I was going to have to take a break and perhaps continue our hunt later that evening. Oh, well, if he doesn’t get a deer, at least he had already had a great morning with lots of deer activity. I’d give it 30 more minutes. Another deer stepped out to the edge of the field, but it didn’t give us much of a shot. I wasn’t even sure Tom could see it, as I was watching it through a “window” in the trees. I raised my ‘nocs and realized this was the strange little buck I had spotted the week before. Yes, it was unmistakable. Slowly and quietly I said, “Tom, there’s your buck.” Suddenly the kid who was so nonchalant earlier perked up. “Really! Where?” he said. “Move over here… I think you can see him from here,” I replied. “Oh, Mom! My heart’s going 90 miles and hour,” Tom said back. “Just take your time and make sure you’ve got that crosshair right where you want it then squeeze the trigger,” I said to calm his nerves. BANG! As I watched the buck folded and took off. I could see the deer was hit hard. The thing I couldn’t see was where the heck he went. Two jumps and he was out of sight due to all the trees. By then, Tom was a bundle of adrenaline, wondering about his shot and where the deer went. On the other side of the hedgerow was a soybean field. I knew he had taken off into the beans. Tom and I walked to where the deer stood when he shot. Yes, there was a little blood, but not much. We could follow the tracks, but which ones? There were deer tracks going every which way. It was a whitetail dance hall. We were able to follow the blood trail about 50 yards, being careful to mark the trail as we went and trying not to obscure what little blood we could find Scanning the field we could not spot the deer, and I had no intention of traipsing back and forth through the beans that were so near to harvest. He must have run back into the woods. We combed through the woods to the south of where we last saw him, but couldn’t find a trace. It was thick woods with briars, tangled vines and loaded with poison ivy. As much as I hated to, I told Tom let’s wait until Mike got home in an hour or so. We made our way back to the house to cool off and rest By the time Mike got there I had thought about where the buck must have gone. I was able to walk straight to the deer, which was in the woods to the north. We breathed a sigh of relief. Tom took hold of the deer’s antlers and looked them over. He was the same upright 8-point for sure, with a few small kickers and one side of his main beam somewhat palmated and nearly crossing in the front. The black spot on the side of the bucks face turned out to be an extremely large black mole attached to the buck’s skin. Tom gave the buck a few good, confident pats. His smile told me he was a happy boy.“I was really excited,” he told me. “I felt like I did something really good. I wanted to do this really bad for a long time and I finally got to. It was really neat to get the exact deer I went after. The Imperial Clover patch helped make sure there were a lot of deer to choose from.” What a feeling of satisfaction. Another deer hunter was born and Tom managed to pull exactly what he wanted out of that box of chocolates I believe it was Forrest Gump’s mother who said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Isn’t it satisfying, though, when that one chocolate you pick out of the box just happens to be your favorite. Sometimes hunting is like that, too. My love for hunting started early. I was raised in the country and hunted small game, upland birds and varmints with my Dad. The fact that the three oldest kids in our family were girls did not stop us from hunting, fishing, driving combines and tractors and various other activities often reserved for the male gender in other families. We now live on a small farm in the middle of Kansas with a large pond and a meandering river. Deer and wild turkeys are abundant. My hunting memories are a special part of me; so getting my kids started hunting means more than just taking time out to get it done. It’s somewhere between a “keen desire” and “instinctual behavior.” That objective has now been met for all of my kids now that Tom, my youngest, was old enough to deer hunt this year. It’s almost a daily activity here; deer hunting, that is. Besides spotting and keeping track of deer activities on our 58 acres, I like to help insure that they stick around for the “fun stuff.” Planting trees and shrubs attractive to deer is an ongoing process, as well as maintaining a food plot planted with Imperial Whitetail Clover from the Whitetail Institute. As hunting season approaches we spend more and more time watching and patterning the deer. The first Imperial Clover patch was planted in 2002. It is somewhere between 2 and 3 acres. It has improved each year. We had planted a different kind of clover the year before and it didn't grow at all. This year we actually pastured a few horses on the food plot for a while this summer. They mowed it flat. We took them off around the first of September and within a couple weeks the Imperial Clover was a foot high again and the deer moved right back in. We have taken a number of deer and turkeys in the food plot. And now I’d like to tell you the story about my son’s first deer. Since this was the first year Tom was going to be old enough to hunt, I wanted to do everything I could to ensure that he had a successful hunt. We had often talked about other kids and their experiences. Tom didn’t think he wanted to shoot “the biggest buck” his first year. He was afraid that if he didn’t get a big buck the next time that he might be disappointed in years to come. I reassured him that if he got a monster buck he would probably be hooked on hunting regardless of what happened in the future. He thought maybe he would like to start by just getting a doe for his first deer, as his brother and sister had done in the past, or maybe a small buck. I told him that would be fine with me, but if that monster did happen to step into his sights, don’t forget to pull the trigger. In the days before his hunt I spent time watching our Imperial Clover patch from our platform tree stand where his hunt would take place. Since Tom was in school he wasn’t able to do a lot of the spotting with me. Mostly I saw does and their babies in the Imperial Clover on a daily basis. This was good, I thought. Where there are does, the bucks will follow. Finally I managed to see an odd young buck in the Imperial Clover. I knew I would recognize this buck if I ever saw him again. He had a rather small but very upright, narrow rack with main beams that almost touched in the front. There was something else strange about this fellow, too. As I looked at him with my binoculars, or “Nocs” as Tom calls them, I could see a very prominent black circle on the left side of his face between his eye and ear. I looked at it for the longest time but for the life of me I couldn’t tell what the heck it was; an injury, a growth of hair or perhaps only a stain or some mud. At any rate, he was a strange looking deer that I hoped Tom would be able to remove from the gene pool. I gave Tom a call and told him I had found his buck. He got more and more excited about the idea as I described the deer to him. I told my fiancé, Mike, that I had picked out a buck for Tom. He said he hoped I hadn’t gotten Tom too excited about that buck because you “never know what you’re gonna get.” He also reminded me how we have been hunting a certain large buck ever since we moved here, and no one has managed to get him. Now, with hunter’s education behind him, shooting practice completed and his rifle sighted in, all Tom had to do was wait for the special youth weekend so he could hunt. When that morning arrived we were ready. Tom was curiously calm. He didn’t seem near as excited as my other kids had been on their first hunt. I didn’t think much about it. We gathered our gear; Tom with his gun and me with my camera and “Nocs.” It was still dark, so we slowly worked our way to the clover with the help of a flashlight. As we reached the last gate before crossing into the Imperial Clover I heard something. I pointed the flashlight toward the sound. Holy cow! Eyeballs everywhere! The Imperial Clover field that Tom and I needed to cross in order to reach our stand was filled with deer! With the sound of our approach they all ran to the hedgerow on the north edge of the field. The clover patch is about 100 yards wide and 175 yards long, so they didn’t run far. I didn’t want to spook them any more than I had to, but I did want Tom to have the advantage of hunting from the stand, so we continued toward the stand. I told Tom to stick close and I kept the flashlight pointed at the deer so they would see the light rather than our forms as we walked along. I was surprised they all stayed right there in the edge of the woods, within 50 yards of us. As we made the last turn toward the stand a young deer hopped out of the hedge right in front of us. We stopped. It was only about 30 yards away, between the stand and us. I kept the light on it. I was afraid to keep walking because I didn’t want to spook them all so much that they would take off up the river for the day. Instead, I made a clicking with my mouth, kind of like you would when you want your horse to speed up a tad. The fawn ignored me. I decided to wave the light of the flashlight just a little. That did it. He took off back into the hedgerow and stayed there with the other deer the whole time Tom and I climbed into the stand and waited for the morning light. Ah, now I could relax. It’s such a wonderful feeling to be in the woods with the trees and stars overhead and deer all around. It gives me a feeling of peace and serenity I cherish. What a morning. As the sky slowly started to lighten Tom and I could see deer playing in the Imperial Clover. One would cross one way, then another the other way. We watched a doe and her baby meander back and forth. One particular fawn was so funny to watch it was hard to keep from laughing. He walked straight toward the pasture directly away from us. He was watching one of the horses grazing on the other side of the fence. The little fawn couldn’t have stretched his ears any farther listening to and watching the horse. He stomped his feet. What a little tough guy, still in spots. As the fawn turned and headed back across the Imperial Clover he offered us a perfect shot. I told Tom to take him if he wanted. His reply was, “No, I think I’ll wait.” Uh oh, I thought. I hope Tom is not going to be the type who can’t pull the trigger when the time comes. We waited and took the liberty of talking in a whisper. Tom was concerned that he might not make a good shot, or that he might not hit it at all. Half jokingly I told him, “One sure way to always get a deer is to slow your projectile down to 55 mph and put headlights on it.” We worked so hard at stifling our laughter I’m sure the stand was shaking. Two large does appeared at the edge of the woods. Both offered a good shot. I told Tom he could take either one. Once again, no, he wanted to wait. Now I really was starting to wonder. This was the kid who was worried because he didn’t want to shoot too large of a buck for his first deer. Now he didn’t want to take a fawn or a doe. We waited. As the clock ticked on, I was beginning to think I was going to have to take a break and perhaps continue our hunt later that evening. Oh, well, if he doesn’t get a deer, at least he had already had a great morning with lots of deer activity. I’d give it 30 more minutes. Another deer stepped out to the edge of the field, but it didn’t give us much of a shot. I wasn’t even sure Tom could see it, as I was watching it through a “window” in the trees. I raised my ‘nocs and realized this was the strange little buck I had spotted the week before. Yes, it was unmistakable. Slowly and quietly I said, “Tom, there’s your buck.” Suddenly the kid who was so nonchalant earlier perked up. “Really! Where?” he said. “Move over here… I think you can see him from here,” I replied. “Oh, Mom! My heart’s going 90 miles and hour,” Tom said back. “Just take your time and make sure you’ve got that crosshair right where you want it then squeeze the trigger,” I said to calm his nerves. BANG! As I watched the buck folded and took off. I could see the deer was hit hard. The thing I couldn’t see was where the heck he went. Two jumps and he was out of sight due to all the trees. By then, Tom was a bundle of adrenaline, wondering about his shot and where the deer went. On the other side of the hedgerow was a soybean field. I knew he had taken off into the beans. Tom and I walked to where the deer stood when he shot. Yes, there was a little blood, but not much. We could follow the tracks, but which ones? There were deer tracks going every which way. It was a whitetail dance hall. We were able to follow the blood trail about 50 yards, being careful to mark the trail as we went and trying not to obscure what little blood we could find Scanning the field we could not spot the deer, and I had no intention of traipsing back and forth through the beans that were so near to harvest. He must have run back into the woods. We combed through the woods to the south of where we last saw him, but couldn’t find a trace. It was thick woods with briars, tangled vines and loaded with poison ivy. As much as I hated to, I told Tom let’s wait until Mike got home in an hour or so. We made our way back to the house to cool off and rest By the time Mike got there I had thought about where the buck must have gone. I was able to walk straight to the deer, which was in the woods to the north. We breathed a sigh of relief. Tom took hold of the deer’s antlers and looked them over. He was the same upright 8-point for sure, with a few small kickers and one side of his main beam somewhat palmated and nearly crossing in the front. The black spot on the side of the bucks face turned out to be an extremely large black mole attached to the buck’s skin. Tom gave the buck a few good, confident pats. His smile told me he was a happy boy.“I was really excited,” he told me. “I felt like I did something really good. I wanted to do this really bad for a long time and I finally got to. It was really neat to get the exact deer I went after. The Imperial Clover patch helped make sure there were a lot of deer to choose from.” What a feeling of satisfaction. Another deer hunter was born and Tom managed to pull exactly what he wanted out of that box of chocolates *reprinted with permission from www.whitetailinstitute.com 
Spring Nutrition Be ready for wide-ranging conditons When conducting research, unexpected results often occur, bringing about scientific advances that had little to do with the original research goal. Several years ago, the Whitetail Institute was developing a winter nutritional supplement. When it was realized just how much the nutritional needs of a whitetail deer vary depending on the time of year. This variance stems from the dramatic physiological changes a deer goes through in a year. A buck's nutritional needs change as they grow antlers and then shed them, and gain and lose body condition from spring through winter. Does undergo changes in nutritional requirements as they move through the cycle of gestation, fawning, lactation and breeding. In the next three issues of the Whitetail News, we will look at each season of the year and the specific nutritional needs of each. We will examine the determinants behind these nutritional needs and what you can do as a deer hunter and manager to help give your deer herd what they need to thrive. Varying Spring Conditions The first thing to understand about spring is it's a general time that can produce wide-ranging conditions. Even though the word “spring” pertains to March through June, conditions at the beginning of this period are typically far different than what they are three weeks into June. So when you analyze spring nutritional requirements, they will follow the same course and vary from early spring to late spring. Spring conditions also vary depending on the region of the country. For the purposes of this article, we will look at spring from the vantage point of the middle of the country from North to South. Adding or subtracting a month or two will give you the conditions in your region. Early spring can be one of the most stressful periods in terms of nutrition. In many parts of the country, green-up has not yet occurred and might not for several weeks. Food sources such as waste agricultural crops, mast crops and browse have all but been exhausted from use through winter. This is the time when body conditions are at their worst. Liken a deer’s body condition in early spring to that of the energy reserves of a marathon runner in the last two miles of the race. The question is will body condition and the short food supply hold out until green-up occurs. Making problems worse is the dramatic swings in weather during early spring. March and April can bring 70-degree weather or produce tremendous snowfalls, or even worse, ice storms. Early spring is also typically wet and muddy, which when combined with the lingering cold temperatures of winter, will cause further stress on deer. Mid- to late spring begins a time of plenty in the deer world. Green-up is occurring and both natural and planted food sources are beginning to produce fresh, highly nutritious food sources for a deer herd. Intake normally increases during this phase of spring for deer to take advantage of these food sources and regain body weight lost in winter. Changing Nutritional Needs During winter, deer enter a semi-hibernation state, during which their metabolism slows, intake decreases and nutritional requirements are generally at the lowest for the year. However, when spring arrives, all of the aforementioned functions increase dramatically. The increased demands are caused by a need to regain weight lost during winter. Bucks commonly lose a high percentage of their body condition, dropping in body weight by as much as 25 percent or more. This body weight must be regained before most nutrients can be used for new antler growth. The most important nutrient to accomplish this is energy. Energy can come in many forms but is primarily derived from carbohydrates, fats and oils. At the same time, protein needs begin to increase as new antlers begin to form at the pedicles. Low levels of protein in a buck’s diet during early antler growth can negatively effect the overall growth of the antlers as compensatory gain is a not a characteristic of antler growth. Mineral and vitamin requirements for bucks begin somewhat low in early spring but increase rapidly in mid- to late spring as antler formation continues. The nutritional requirements for does follow a similar pattern as the bucks but for different reasons. Although does might need energy to regain lost body weight, they also need energy for growing a fetus or two in the womb. During spring, does are in their final trimester of gestation, which accounts for nearly 60 percent of fetal growth. This rapid fetal growth requires high amounts of energy. Without this energy the fawns could be aborted or more possibly born at a small body weight, which is highly correlated to fawn mortality post-birthing. Protein requirements also increase because of fetal growth, as well as mineral and vitamin needs. In late spring, after the fawns are born, a doe’s nutritional requirements for all nutrients peak because of lactation. Doe milk is very nutrient dense — much more so than cow’s milk. Does require high amounts of nutrients to produce adequate quantities of milk to support her fawns as well as take care of her own bodily needs. Lowered milk production results in smaller yearling deer weights, which have been shown to correlate to lower maturity weights and decreased antler growth. Final Spring Checklist The key to nutritional management no matter the time of year is to understand the nutrients needed by your deer herd at that time and to identify which of these nutrients is not being supplied naturally. For example, energy and protein are needed in large quantities in early spring; but before green-up, these nutrients are in very short supply from natural food sources. It was this very thinking that led to the development of Cutting Edge Initiate, which is a supplement designed for the pre-greenup period of early spring. Initiate contains highly concentrated levels of energy and protein formulated to supplement the specific early-spring nutritional needs of bucks and does. When green-up occurs, mineral and vitamin needs increase, and the need for supplemental energy decreases as mass quantities of carbohydrates can be found in new growth vegetation. At this time, a product such as Cutting Edge Optimize, Imperial 30-06 or Imperial 30-06 Plus Protein can be used to supplement the higher nutritional demands for minerals and vitamins. Food-plot management is also critical for spring. Even though you cannot change the weather to make spring green-up hasten its pace, there are a few things you can do to produce faster growth and larger quantities of forage when green-up occurs. First, fertilization of your plots in the spring helps ensure faster growth and more new growth. Second, if you have not checked you pH in some time, get a soil test in early spring. You might find that you need to add more lime to your plot, which will help your plot be more productive and higher in nutritive value. Finally, make sure that you have adequate amounts of perennials, such as Imperial Whitetail Clover, Alfa-Rack Plus, Chicory PLUS and/or Extreme as part of your food plot plan. Perennials supply your deer with nutrient-rich vegetation immediately after green-up. Annuals, on the other hand, will take much longer as you will need to work the food plot, plant and then allow time for growth. This is not to say that you should not use annuals. Just make sure perennials remain a large part of the overall program. *reprinted with permission from www.whitetailinstitute.com
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