Dear Whitetail Institute…

By Brett Van Hoveln

I have been an avid deer hunter for more than 20 years. I bought my first farm in western Illinois in October 1996 specifically to hunt the trophy bucks that Illinois is known for. This property was no different than any other farm in Illinois. It had all the basics: food, water and cover. So when November rolled around, I sat in many different stands for three weeks wondering why the best buck I saw was a year-and-one-half-old eight-point.

I was in the heart of big buck country with all the basic ingredients every deer could ask for, or so I thought. So where were all these huge bucks that western Illinois is famous for? What was wrong? I did not overhunt it; I was extremely scent-conscious; I hunted 25 feet or more off the ground; and there were no signs of trespassers. I was not doing anything any different than what had been successful for me in the past 12 years. In fact I was more conscious about every move I made.

After two long months of sitting in treestand after treestand wondering if I had made a big mistake buying ground so far away from where I lived, I decided to make the long drive back over and hunt it one last time. This snowy, icy, freezing day taught me one of the most important lessons about deer hunting that I have ever learned.

As I arrived at the property I could see that the area had considerably more snow than I had back home in central Illinois, and it had been there for a couple of days. My plan of attack that afternoon was to go and hunt the only food source on my property. It was a three-acre picked soybean field, that just happened to connect to another 30-acre picked soybean field of my neighbors, which in turn connected to yet another 100-plus-acre picked soybean field belonging to yet another farmer.

When I pulled into the lane I was happy to see that I was the only human that had been there. I thought this might be the night to finally have a chance at a real whopper. My hopes soon faded away like the blowing snow when I staggered through the deep snow for almost a half-mile to reach the field. When I looked across the field I saw a beautiful blanket of deep snow completely undisturbed. Although it was a beautiful sight, it was not what I expected. I had hoped to see deer feeding in it. Heck, I would have been happy to just see deer tracks in this field. There was nothing but smooth undisturbed snow. By now I was thoroughly disheartened after hanging a treestand where I could also watch my neighbor’s field that night.

As I sat there freezing and questioning my sanity, while looking all around at the pretty snow-covered fields and woods, I realized that it all looked the same. Come to think of it, the last 10 or 15 miles of my trip here all looked the same. Snow fields and timber separated by roads. The entire county looked the same so why would many (or any) deer want to come to my property when everything was the same as far as you could see? My property was no different in terms of what it had to offer the deer at this time of year than my neighbor’s or his neighbor’s ground. As you probably have figured out by now, this hunt ended without a single deer sighting. Before climbing out of my treestand though, I was determined that this was never going to happen to me again. Not the getting skunked part that can happen to the best of hunters from time to time. But the part where my property was the same as my neighbors was never going to happen to me again. I take my hunting too seriously to allow that to happen.

I knew I needed something to plant that would offer the deer something nobody else around had, therefore making my property special to them. That is when I started researching food plots. I remembered back in 1988 a friend of mine named Larry Sandage bought a bag of Imperial Clover from the Whitetail Institute of North America and had good results on his property with this seed. But me being the slow learner that I am, I decided the deer in Illinois did not need that stuff. Everyone, including me, told Larry he was crazy for throwing his money away on something called a food plot when our whole state is one big food plot.

Boy were we wrong. Look at how food plots have exploded in the hunting industry. I challenge you to open one magazine and not stumble over an article with the words “food plot” in it. Now, who was it that started this multi-million dollar industry? Oh, I remember, it was those crazy people at the Whitetail Institute. Folks, whether you like it or not, food plots are here to stay and keep getting better every year and the Whitetail Institute kicked this whole thing into motion almost 20 years ago. They not only stepped way out on a limb, but they jumped off the limb and into the market with one of the best products ever – Imperial Whitetail Clover.

I hate to think how many more big bucks I could have had on my wall if I had started using that crazy new product back then.

In the spring of 1997 after several phone calls to the Whitetail Institute’s help line, a bag of Imperial Clover was on its way to my farm. I planted this in my three-acre picked bean field and it grew almost instantly. That spring I killed my first turkey on the farm after watching it feed in the food plot for nearly 10 minutes. That same fall, I put my motion sensor camera up on the edge of this field, and got numerous pictures of several very mature bucks along with flocks of turkeys in the field. During the fall of 1997 I was not able to hunt my property very much because my daughter was born a little earlier than expected. But the few times I was able to get over there, I saw and videoed several shooter bucks, and I almost closed the deal on one particular 150-inch animal 50 yards from the Imperial Clover field.

This was so much more than I could have hoped for. I could not wait for the 1998 season.

Included in this article are the results of my 1998, 15-minute hunt over my Imperial clover plot. The eight-point buck was shot after 15 minutes of sitting in my stand overlooking the clover field. He was walking out of the woods straight into the field when I dropped him in his tracks.

Later that winter I returned to the field for one last hunt. Just like the year before, there was about eight inches of snow on the ground. Although I did not harvest anything on that night, it was well worth the drive. I saw and videoed deer and turkeys digging through the snow and kicking it up like a snow blower to get at the Imperial Clover. Remember, the year before there was not a single track in this same field, let alone a sighting. It just goes to show that even one bad night hunting can teach you a lesson you will never forget. It sure taught me that I will never have a year that there won’t be a food plot on my farms.

Since 1997 I have expanded my farms and my food plots.

One spot is like an overgrown pasture where I paid a guy to bulldoze the property and clear it. I put down potash and lime, then disked it two or three times and broadcast the Imperial Clover and Imperial Alfa-Rack and let the rain soak it in. I put more potash in the next year, as well. I’ve got real dark rich bottom ground soil. My Imperial Clover is extremely thick and lush. It looks beautiful.

But I also have areas where Imperial Alfa-Rack is needed because of highland and fast-draining soils. I have almost two acres of the Alfa-Rack. I just want to give deer a variety of stuff.

I have tried several other food plots brands. I have video proof of deer walking right through these other name-brand food plots to eat in the Imperial Whitetail Clover. As complicated as the food plot choices get, it is nice to know that some original things still can’t be beat.

Also included in this article are pictures of some of my better bucks taken in or near food plots from the Whitetail Institute. One particular buck is my favorite. He grosses 164 7/8 B&C as a basic eight-pointer with three sticker points. I have numerous pictures, video and sheds from this deer since 2001 when I first bought the 750-acre farm. I passed him as a 140-inch eight-point buck in 2001, and my poor friend George Huston missed him on video with a bow in 2002. I was fortunate enough to harvest him on video Nov. 13, 2003.

He was 6 ½ years old at the time he was shot. He was walking right to my two-acre Imperial Clover field that morning when I shot him with my Mathews bow. In the picture notice how tall and green the Imperial Clover still is in November. There is nothing else that green at that time of the year. No wonder the deer like it so much. This particular deer lived the last three years of his life enjoying Imperial Clover.

Also take notice of the buck that, as far as I know, is still alive. The photo was taken Aug. 5, 2005.

The good Lord allowed me to harvest a magnificent creature on Oct. 3, 2005, on video. From what I understand, it is the largest recorded wild whitetail ever taken on video. It was supposedly the largest bow kill in North America that year. It grossed nearly 243 inches as a 28-point buck. It was shot and videoed as it left a food plot. This taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of small food plots amidst the vast amounts of agriculture fields throughout the great state of Illinois. So on that cold December day back in 1996, I learned a hard but rewarding lesson about how to make my property pleasantly different and attractive to the local deer herd that call my place their home.

I like to hunt over my food plots. On the plots surrounded by timber I hunt the trails going to it. I never go through the food plot to get to the stand. I never let my scent blow into the food plot. It’s completely surrounded by timber so I have stands set up around it so I can hunt it with every wind.

Thank you Ray Scott, Wiley Johnson and the entire staff of the Whitetail Institute for having the courage and foresight to pioneer what is a huge industry in today’s hunting world. So many hunters have been rewarded by harvesting animals that might not have grown or been taken without your help. Keep up the great work!