NY
Field Tester
I first heard of Ol’Boy, as
Bud Alger is known, years ago when I began fishing Lake Ontario for trout and
salmon. The charter captains in western New York would constantly contact this
guy on their VHF radios to find out what lures he was using, what color, type,
depth, speed, etc. If the pros valued his advice that much, I thought I’d
better call him too.
At
any rate, those contacts blossomed and we soon became friends based on our
common interests. They don’t call him Ol’Boy for nothing. Bud Alger is 82
years young and still a hard man to keep up with.
He’s
a joy to talk with because of his many experiences. In World War II Bud was a
crew member on a B-29 that flew 26 bombing missions from Guam to Japan. He was
decorated several times, including the Distinguished Flying Cross. It’s also
fascinating to hear him tell of his deer hunting experiences – his true
passion. Ol’Boy has been hunting deer since he was 16 years old, at which time
the only outlet in New York was in the Adirondack Mountains.
When
we first met, Ol’Boy invited me to hunt deer with him in Pennsylvania. While I
saw some nice bucks there, nothing compared to what I had at my own camp in New
York’s Finger Lakes area. Eventually I persuaded Ol’ Boy to join me at my
camp.
It
doesn’t hurt that Bud is in the custom plowing business in Orleans and Genesee
counties and, having been a farmer all his life, really knows what deer like to
eat. When he heard about me using Imperial Whitetail Clover, he said I was
wasting my money. Any giant white clover would do the same thing he said.
But
after hunting my land, the Ol’ Boy has changed his mind. He is now an avid
supporter of both Imperial Whitetail Clover and 30-06 Minerals. I also use
No-Plow in certain plots as well as Magnet Mix to get things started. In fact,
Bud likes Imperial Whitetail Clover so much that he wants me to clear some more
land so we can plant some more.
Rest
assured that the Ol’ Boy has shot many deer over the past 65 years of hunting,
but he says he has never seen such a great place to hunt as well as observe deer
all year long. He firmly believes that the deer have no reason to leave my
property. They have food, minerals, water, cover and very little hunting
pressure. As a matter of fact, he says the special clover and minerals are
drawing deer from my neighbor’s properties.
When
I bought the property in 1988 it held very few deer. Most lived on surrounding
farms and would occasionally pass through my land, usually at night. Now, thanks
to the Whitetail Institute of North America’s research programs and products,
we have a deer paradise.
Last
year, four hunters took three 8-pointers and a 12-pointer that scored 151 7/8.
Last November, we all got nice 8-pointers, the largest being one the Ol’ Boy
dropped at 120 yards (measured) with his 20-gauge shotgun.
Many
thanks to the Whitetail Institute of North America for its research and fine
products.