Ken Eastman - Vermont

Habitat Consultant Chooses Imperial Clover

For 25 years Ken Eastman of Vermont has worked in the field of wildlife habitat enhancement. Clients, usually deer hunters, call Eastman and hire his consulting services. He visits with the client, studies the landscape, soils, available forages and habitat, looks at surrounding land and submits his recommendations. Many clients are interested only in deer nutrition, so Eastman makes a lot of suggestions on food plot products.

“Up here (in New England),” Eastman explained, “farmers used to plant clover for cattle. Clover was the base food and it (supported) a lot of deer. But now many farms are gone and the ones still here don’t plant clover anymore.

Eastman gets a lot of business from hunters who simply want to see more deer on their property. His clients, from all over the New England states, often experience low deer densities. So Eastman goes in looking for ways to attract and hold more deer on the properties.

“You plant Imperial Whitetail Clover and the deer will come,” Eastman stated without hesitation. “I recommend Imperial Clover whenever I can. It’s so much higher in protein than native clover and the deer love it. It puts a lot of weight on the deer.

“And when I look for potential food plots, I like to plant a lot of small plots rather than one big plot. The deer feel more secure. They usually only have to run 25 yards to get to cover. In a big plot, the deer aren’t that close to safety.”

One of Eastman’s clients typifies the results of Imperial Clover.

Steve Hopko deer hunts on 100 acres not far from Hartford, Conn. For 11 years Hopko and his wife rarely saw a deer on the property. And in that time, they never harvested a deer on the parcel.

Three years ago Eastman recommended the Hopkos plant three acres of Imperial Clover and a little Alfa-Rack. This past season proved the worth of the Imperial products.

“They never shot a deer in 11 years,” Eastman said. “But this year Steve shot a 225-pound 10-point and killed a 155-pound 8-point with a bow. And his wife took a 216-pound 8-point. Their neighbor got a picture of an even bigger buck.

“They never really saw any deer until they planted the clover.”

Hopko also saw other healthy bucks after he filled his tags. Not bad considering deer were nearly non-existent on his property prior to planting Imperial Clover and Alfa-Rack.

Steve Hopko of Stratford Springs, Conn., holds a 225-pound 10-point he shot last season. Hopko and his wife also harvested two 8-points. For over a decade, Hopko didn’t have deer on his property and never shot a deer on the 100-acre parcel. Then three years ago, the Hopkos started planting Imperial Clover, and now the hunting is excellent.