Pete Clark - Arkansas

PowerPlant Improves Herd Quality

Editor’s note: This is a story we received from Pete Clark, a Whitetail Institute field tester from central Arkansas .

We have been using Imperial Products for three years on our lease and have been very pleased with the results. We planted PowerPlant for the first time last summer. The deer loved it, and the antler growth was phenomenal. The results of the PowerPlant are seen in my 8-year-old son’s first buck.

Arkansas has a three-day gun hunt after Christmas. We call it the Kids’ Hunt; I have two boys (8 and 13 years old), and my hunting partner has two boys (9 and 14 years old). The boys are out of school during the Kids’ Hunt, and it gives us a great chance to gear up for the last hunt of the season.

The dates last year’s hunt were Dec. 26, 27 and 28. We hunted the first two days and made it home for church on Sunday. My 8-year old son, Dale, hunts with a single shot .243. He killed his first deer (a doe) the day before Thanksgiving. On Dec. 26, he took a beautiful buck. The holidays were very good for him.

The morning of the Dec. 26 was uneventful. We didn’t see any deer. When we returned to camp for lunch, the other hunters had not taken any deer but they had seen a few does. The afternoon hunt was a little better. At about 5:10 p.m. a doe and two yearlings came out at 250 yards on my side of the stand, which was a little too far Dale’s marksmanship. 

The deer were moving into a draw that circled around to his side of the stand. Dale asked if the doe might come out on his side, and I told him to watch closely. About 15 minutes later he said Dad there SHE is. I looked out his window and there was a deer at about 65 yards. Darkness was coming on fast and all we could see with the naked eye was a deer. When I raised my binoculars I knew Dale had found something special. I didn’t want to make him nervous so I told him that it was HER and he could take her. I was nervous enough for the both of us, and I didn’t want to tell him what he was really shooting at. Dale was having a little trouble finding the deer in the scope, and I was thinking, “Oh, no, if I shoot this deer no one will ever forgive me for shooting him instead of letting Dale shoot him.” 

This only took 15 to 20 seconds, but it felt like an hour. Dale got the deer in the scope and made an excellent shot. The deer traveled about 15 yards after the shot. When I told him his doe was actually a big buck, he got very excited. We loaded the deer up on the 4-wheeler and hauled it back to camp. Everyone in camp was excited.

The deer gross scores 134 1/8. He only has a 12-inch spread but has 22-inch main beams. This is the highest scoring deer killed in our camp in 15 years, and this was after the first year of PowerPlant.

We planted three acres of PowerPlant last year and seven acres this year. The PowerPlant was planted on April 17 and is doing well.                

We can’t wait until next season.