Steven Hood - Illinois



A really bad start to last years Shotgun season ended up pretty nice.  I was a half-hour late to the woods, after forgetting my boots and tags, and was walking into my stand 15 minutes after sun up.  As I walked along the edge of my property to my stand, I was at least happy that I wasn't bumping any deer off our 3 acre plot of Alfa-Rack.
 I climbed into my stand, which is about 60 yards inside the tree line off our plot at 6:30.  At 6:50 the first deer of the day was coming up the trail from the south, heading straight to me, making a beeline for the plot.  After watching him come 40 yards closer, I pulled up at my first chance, and about 15 seconds later fired at 28 yards. He weighed 195 dressed, and gross scored 161 2/8" with a 20" spread.  This is the largest buck of my life.
My Alfa-Rack plot is in its 2nd year and doing great.  This was my first attempt at food plots, and is paying off with big dividends.  I will be putting in more plots in the spring and fall, and all will be Whitetail Institute products.