It’s Pure Attraction! New Blend Provides One-Two Punch

By Jon Cooner

Institute Director of Special Projects

            If you’re looking for an annual planting that will establish quickly and deliver a one-two punch for the early and late hunting seasons, look no further than the Whitetail Institute’s newest forage product, Imperial Pure Attraction. 

When our Field Testers asked us to develop a fall forage blend that would provide rapid growth, attraction and abundant forage in both the early and late seasons, we were listening.  After exhaustive research, development and testing, the Institute is proud to offer its newest forage blend, Imperial Whitetail Pure Attraction for the one—two punch of early and late season.

The first punch of Pure Attraction is its early season plants, which establish and grow very quickly.  These include WINA Winter Peas and the Institute’s incredible new WINA-Brand Forage Oats.  These early season varieties also offer extremely high sugar content.  Our Certified Research Stations from Florida to Saskatchewan have consistently reported that WINA oats outperform all other oat products on the market – bar none!

Later in the fall, when temperatures drop and natural food sources become scarce, Pure Attraction’s second punch, Whitetail Institute forage brassicas, provide an incredibly attractive, winter-hardy food source that keeps food plots productive throughout the fall and winter.

And even though WINA Oats are intended to provide exceptional early season attraction, our researchers have reported that they are also unmatched in graze tolerance, surviving heavy grazing through the late winter as well.

As soon as Pure Attraction hit the market this summer, it started flying off the shelves.  Our distributors and dealers have reported strong sales, and this trend has been mirrored in our in-house sales.  While we are extremely grateful for the loyalty our Field Testers continue to show us, we are not hugely surprised by the immediate success of Pure Attraction.  That’s because our Field Testers would not buy our products if they did not know one thing – that Whitetail Institute products work, and they work because the Whitetail Institute will not release a new product until it has proven through rigorous testing that it will satisfy its harshest critics – the Whitetail Institute itself.

As it does before releasing any product, the Whitetail Institute exhaustively researched, developed and tested the Pure Attraction blend before it was announced.  Our development efforts started in-house, and when the test blend was nearly finalized, testing moved to the Institute’s Certified Research Stations, which number over 100 and stretch from Florida to Saskatchewan.  These researchers reported what we expected – that the New Pure Attraction blend outperformed every comparable blend on the market. 

 From the far north to the deep south, our Certified Research Stations reported uniformly superb results with the new Pure Attraction blend.  Here are just a few of the comments we received during testing:

In Maine, a Certified Research Station reported, “Pure Attraction is awesome.  The blend seemed to click with my soil and the deer.  Another great product!”  And in Michigan, a Certified Researcher reported, “The deer ate the Pure Attraction to the dirt.  The WINA-Brand oats and winter peas came up first and then the brassica.  The deer hit the WINA-Brand oats and winter peas first.  As of November 18^th, both plots had been grazed low, but the plants were still green.” 

The same results were observed in the central U.S.  A Missouri Certified Researcher reported that the new Pure Attraction blend was “among the most attractive he had ever planted,” and in Virginia the result was the same.  “The Pure Attraction blend is extremely winter-hardy and lasted through the winter.  It really grew well the whole time too—even though it was heavily grazed, it continued to provide food for the deer during the cold weather.” 

In fact, these spectacular results were observed across the U.S., even in the deep south where an Alabama Certified Research Station reported similarly impressive findings.  “The deer completely mowed the Pure Attraction plot down.  Even so, it continued to provide forage and grew well all through the winter.  Deer were in the plot every night.”

The Institute’s Certified Research Stations include some of the most experienced forage and habitat specialists available.  Once such researcher, renowned expert Ken Eastman of Wildlife Habitat Consultants in Vermont, gave the new Pure Attraction blend a number-one rating.  “In our experience in testing a broad range of oat products currently available on the market, it is our belief that deer heavily prefer the oats in Pure Attraction over all other oat products we have ever tested.  Even the turkeys ate the WINA Brand oats before they seeded out, which they did not do with the other oat products. Pure Attraction is going to blow all existing oat products right out the market.”

If you have been looking for a drought-tolerant annual blend that will establish quickly, offer the attractiveness of high sugar content not only in the late season but also in the early season, and keep going even with heavy grazing, Pure Attraction is the answer.  Pure Attraction is designed for fall planting during the same dates as the fall-planting dates for Imperial perennials, and it is even easier to plant since it does not require the sort of deeper ground tillage required for planting some perennial blends. 

Optimum soil pH for Pure Attraction is 6.5 or higher, and if lime must be added to raise soil pH, it need be tilled only into the first inch or two of soil.  Also, smoothing the seedbed prior to planting Pure Attraction is not as critical as it is with many perennial blends.  Just leave the surface of the soil loose, and once you broadcast Pure Attraction, drag over the seed very lightly to seat it into the soil. 

Fertilize Pure Attraction with 400 pounds of 17-17-17, 20-20-20 or equivalent fertilizer per acre at planting.  If possible, also apply 100 pounds of high-nitrogen fertilizer such as 33-0-0, 34-0-0 or equivalent 30-45 days after planting to boost forage growth even further.    

You’ll be amazed at how quickly your deer will hit Pure Attraction.  And if you really want to be amazed, place a wire exclusion cage in the plot when you plant.  That will allow you to monitor how heavily the deer are grazing the Pure Attraction by comparing the difference in the Pure Attraction’s height inside and outside the cage. 

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