When I was much younger, I looked forward to my birthday. In fact, it was a neck-and-neck race between my birthday and Christmas morning. Now that I have aged, the excitement about turning a year older seems to have lost some of its luster. On my past couple of birthdays, I actually had to be reminded it was my birthday, and when I was reminded, I wished that I had been left in oblivion.
On
the other hand, I've found that anniversaries tend to follow a different
emotional curve with the passing of time. With each new year comes an
increasing appreciation for the accomplishment of reaching another milestone.
This year, 2008, marks the 20th year the Whitetail Institute has been in the
business of providing deer hunters with products they need to improve their
deer herds and hunting experience. As we look back at those 20 years, one
glaring consistency is the Institute's unwavering focus on research. Research
is the backbone of the Whitetail Institute and one of the main reasons why a
20-year anniversary is possible. From the beginning, research was the
foundation of the philosophy behind the Whitetail Institute. Ray Scott, founder
and president, was not only an avid fisherman but also an avid hunter. For as
long as he could remember, Ray planted greenfields on his hunting property.
This was a common practice used to supply a food source that would attract deer
out of Southern pine plantations into an area where the cross-hairs or the
broadhead could find its mark. Through the years, Ray noticed that deer seemed
to prefer
certain types of food sources.
With
that in mind, he went to the local feed-and-seed store and bought several types
of forages and planted them on his property. During hunting season, he studied
which fields consistently attracted the most deer. Though Ray didn’t realize it
at the time, he was conducting a type of research that would later be used by
the Institute to perform revolutionary research trials called “cafeteria
testing.”
What
Ray discovered was that deer on his hunting property consistently preferred
clover fields to other types of forage. With this newfound knowledge, Ray theorized
that if clover was preferred over other forages, deer might prefer a certain
species of clover over other clovers. Realizing that almost all clover varieties
on the market were designed for domestic livestock, it became apparent to Ray
that he would need to develop a new clover variety designed specifically for
deer. Ray had never been one for doing things halfway, and his clover research
method was no different. He sought the professional help of world-renowned
plant geneticist Dr. Wiley Johnson, a plant genetics professor at Auburn
University, who was recognized for developing many clover varieties still used
in the agricultural market. His research was in the area was second to none.
Ray approached Johnson with one simple goal: “Develop a clover variety to meet
the specific needs of a whitetail deer.” Ray proposed to Johnson that the
clover type should be not only the most attractive to deer but also contain a nutritional
profile that would supply important nutrients needed for improved antler
growth, increased body weights and overall deer-herd improvement. The idea that
a forage should not only be attractive to deer but also of specific nutritional
benefit to them was a new twist that had never been considered before. Until that
time, forages had only been planted to attract deer. Now, Ray and Johnson were
working on a product to both attract deer and provide them valuable, specific
nutrition. The idea of the food plot was born. To begin his research, Johnson
started with over 100 clover varieties from all over the world, each containing
characteristics and traits that applied to specific nutritional needs and
browsing preferences of deer. Although each variety had favorable attributes,
none combined all the deer-specific characteristics. Testing was conducted on
each variety to identify characteristics such as nutrient content, hardiness,
ease of establishment, cold and heat tolerance, disease and drought resistance,
longevity and, of course, attractiveness to deer. Varieties that exhibited the
best characteristics were crossbred to produce new strains. Those new clover
types were then tested and evaluated based on the same criteria. The new clover
types with the best traits were again crossbred. That procedure was repeated
over seven years until a clover strain was eventually developed that contained
all the traits ideal for deer food plots. The resulting clover type was easy to
establish, drought and disease resistant, had an unsurpassed protein level
year-round (up to 35%), and provided unequaled attractiveness to deer. It was
called Advantage clover, and it became the first clover type genetically
selected for deer.
Johnson
continued working on clover crossbreeding, and a few years after the
introduction of Advantage, a new and even more drought-resistant clover type called
Insight was developed. Advantage and Insight remain the main components in
Imperial Whitetail Clover. To this day, no other food plot company has conducted
such in-depth and innovative forage research, and Imperial Whitetail Clover
remains the only clover food plot product specifically and genetically developed for whitetail deer. Research at the Whitetail
Institute is not limited to clover genetics. During the past 20 years,
researchers at the Whitetail Institute have developed other revolutionary
products, including Imperial Extreme, Imperial Alfa-Rack Plus and Cutting Edge
Nutritional Products just to name a few. The basic philosophy of Whitetail
Institute researchers is to identify a need in a deer nutritional program and
then develop a product to fulfill that need, even if it seems impossible at the
beginning. For example, researchers determined a need to develop a perennial
product that would tolerate with as little as 15 inches of annual rain. The
result was Imperial Extreme.
Through the years, the Whitetail Institute has followed a research
methodology that is unequaled in the deer-nutrition industry. The first step in
this methodology is a meeting of the minds. Whitetail Institute management and
staff get together with Institute researchers for a round-table discussion
about food plot forages, nutritional supplements and other needs of the
deer-nutrition industry. There is probably no other group that has as vast an
understanding of deer nutritional-management needs. The Whitetail Institute staff
talks to tens of thousands of deer hunters each month, which puts their
collective finger on the pulse of deer hunters and managers more than any other
company. From that round-table meeting, a research plan is devised for the
upcoming years.
Research begins in small enclosure pens at the Institute. First,
test products are tested in five 1- to 3- acre pens with captive deer. This pen
system lets researchers obtain data on deer and products being tested that
would otherwise be impossible to obtain, for example intake amounts, detailed
preference data and many other important research specifics. Greenhouse and
nursery fields are also utilized by researchers to determine test-forage
characteristics such as drought and disease resistance, hardiness and nutritive
value. These findings are then evaluated along with data collected from other
sources such as the pens. Test products that pass the small-pen stage then go
to semi-wild facilities for further trials. These semi-wild enclosures of 80
acres or larger contain captive deer, but the enclosed habitat is more like
wild deer habitat. Test products are again subjected to various testing
methodologies, and additional data are collected. After the semi-wild
enclosures, test products move on for testing on 100% wild deer. This stage
lets researchers collect product test data under real-world conditions. I
mentioned cafeteria testing, a procedure in which several forage varieties are
planted in a specific and duplicated pattern to determine characteristics such
as attractiveness, regrowth and total forage production. The wild deer areas
allow for very large cafeteria-style testing, such as 40 or more varieties replicated
four or more times in a field.
After the wild deer test comes the final phase, which is conducted
by field testers. Duplicated test samples are sent out across North America so
that the test products can be evaluated in a broad range of real-life conditions.
Up to 100 or more testers can be used in this phase, with all regions of
whitetail country represented. These field testers are sent “blind” test
products; specific content information is not disclosed so that the tests
remain unbiased. The testers also receive detailed instructions and report
forms for recording their findings and observations concerning the test products.
Once the Institute receives the report forms back from the
testers, all data concerning each phase of testing is evaluated in detail. If a
product does not get at least a 95 percent approval rating, it is put back on the
proverbial drawing board. Although this process is intricate and time
consuming, it also ensures that products released by the Whitetail Institute
have been tested beyond reasonable expectations, giving consumers peace of mind
that the product is the best that the Whitetail Institute can make it.
Research started the Whitetail Institute, and it remains the
Institute’s top priority. When the bows and guns are put away for another year,
researchers at the Whitetail Institute are still hard at work developing the
best deer-nutrition products in the world.
