Vet Makes Scientific Product Choices
I have always been a wildlife enthusiast, conservationist and hunter, but now with added science and knowledge, I’m enjoying whitetail management on my own 217-acre farm. In 1997 I purchased one of the few remaining dairy farms that went out of business in our county. Heavy grazing and farm management had depleted deer browse, but the cropland did give deer some nutrition.
I knew very little about whitetail management until I went on a hunting trip to Alabama where I was introduced to a management system of food plots.
I also learned the importance of managing doe populations, which was easy here in Ohio because of the doe gun-season regulations. I discovered that buck-to-doe ratio management coupled with a quality and quantity nutrition program was a powerful combination. Add to this the genetics of southern Ohio deer and allowing young bucks to reach their potential and we had to have a successful formula.
We started using Whitetail Institute products in 1999, and my first experience was with a plot of Imperial Whitetail Clover. The deer ate it so fast I had to rethink the size and number of my food plots. I learned the concept of utilizing two types of plots—some for bulk nutrition and other smaller plots to attract and funnel deer for hunting opportunities.
This was especially important when youngsters were involved. We developed shooting hutches, and one in particular was a 4- by 8-foot box, 20 feet in the air on a ridge top that was once an apple orchard. Instead of clearing the entire ridge as a food plot, we cut 20- to 40-foot-wide shooting lanes from the corners—front, back and sides of the hutch— in a 360-degree wagon wheel fashion. We planted a variety of forages in these lanes, including Imperial Clover, No-Plow, Alfa-Rack and Extreme. The areas that remained were rich in honeysuckle, crabapple and multiple other species of brush and browse.
Tall trees were removed to allow sunlight to reach the browse and the plots. The mature bucks that were reluctant to step out into a large plot in daylight hours felt more at ease in these narrow shooting plots. In general all the deer would bypass a corn feeder and preferred to graze these areas. That made great shooting opportunities for our young hunters. It allowed them time to observe deer behavior, pick the right deer, scan the heads for buttons and make clean shots.
The shooting box also allowed the kids to move because they have to move but also shielded sounds and scent. Plenty of snacks, hand and feet warmers, grunt tubes, binoculars, bleat cans, rattling antlers and hand-held video games have all been a part of the hunt. My motto is, “Keep them warm, dry, fed and busy.”
On the rare occasion that we didn’t see deer, and the kids got bored, we quit. We never forced a kid to sit miserably in a stand for a sport that is supposed to be fun. Forcing them to sit is the best way to get a kid to grow up hating hunting. When it stops being fun, we stop doing it.
This past Ohio youth hunt was just one of our many success stories. Not only did all five kids get deer, one 8-pointer was Bradley Endicott’s first deer ever and what a trophy. I heard yahoos and screams of jubilation from Brad and his dad from a half-mile away. Bradley’s dad was quick to point out, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime buck for many people, and many hunting shows on television harvest bucks of lesser quality. Bradley could hardly speak over his excitement. It was surreal. He kept reciting the event and couldn’t believe that the buck was actually his.”
Thanks to Whitetail Institute and quality deer management we have seen an increase in buck numbers, rack size and hunting opportunities for our youngsters.
I chose Whitetail Institute products because veterinarian sales and pharmaceutical representatives hound me frequently, and I have to choose the best product for my animal patients.
I have learned to look at the scientific research behind the product, the length of time it has been in use on the market and its successes and failures, including side effects, before making a choice. This selection process was the same filter I used in choosing Whitetail Institute products. I read every publication, magazine article and watched every television program or video I could to learn about the products before purchasing. I also learned to pay close attention to the instructions on how and when to plant. These, plus soil testing, lime and fertilizer instructions, are critical to any food plot success.