I have always hunted at the Salt Plains Lake here in Oklahoma. From the time I was old enough to get up with my grandfather and beat him out to the pickup, I have hunted this land. It’s our family heritage and is handed down from generation to generation. The land I hunt, our homestead, was passed on to me from my grandfather as it was to him from his father and so on. Hunting has always been an important part of our family—a way of bringing together generations for fellowship and remembrance of those before us.
On our particular piece of ground we are fortunate to have both whitetails and turkeys, as well as squirrels, rabbits, fox, bobcats, coyotes and you name it. The Salt Fork River borders me on the east and to the west is family land and land owned by the state. The entire area is a sanctuary for wildlife. There is no genuine need to feed the animals, however as a young boy hunting squirrels, I noticed that the ones hitting the feeders most often were the better ones to take when hunting.
So we began to experiment with different kinds of feed, ranging from millet to wheat and rye mix to sorgo sudan crosses for the deer and turkey. The deer really started to flock in for the grazing, but it wasn’t until I talked to a fellow from farther north that I understood that racks, and really great racks, were being grown by deer that had maintained a healthy mineral level. My grandfather already knew this from hunting mule deer in Colorado. The different kinds of forage and particularly the mineral content of the ground up there entitled the deer to larger racks. So I fooled around with some different ideas as to how to get the minerals into our deer, ranging from vitamin/protein blocks to molasses protein tubs to loose minerals.
It wasn’t until I put out the 30-06 Protein Plus Mineral Supplements that I could actually see the deer really go after mineral. It all started by stirring it in with the top soil and then just adding a little bit every now and again. Right away the deer started to make a hole, digging and pawing the ground to get to it. What a sight.
It was a warm, sunny day on Nov. 26, 2006 with a better than average wind blowing out of the south. I had not had the time to do any real prep work this year because I had just finished moving a couple of weeks earlier. So I went to my “old faithful” standby, arriving about 2 p.m. I honestly thought to myself “it’s just too warm and windy today; I won’t see any deer.”
I had been visited by a spike buck on his way to the ponds by 3 p.m. and by 3:30 p.m. I was enveloped in turkeys. I lost count at about 73 or so and estimated there to be about 90 turkeys with eight toms in the group. Soon after the turkeys had left the field I found myself too comfortable and fighting sleep. I have no explanation for waking up other than to think my grandfather must have given me a nudge as if to say “look there.” I slowly opened my eyes at 4:30 p.m. and just walking onto the southeast corner of the field was a big buck. I have shot nice deer in my life and been with others who have harvested nice deer, but this bruiser was magnificent. He walked about halfway up the fence in the field where I was, completely unaware of my presence. With careful aim and one hold of my breath, he was down on the spot. What a day, what a deer and what luck. I have never mounted a deer, but he’s going on the wall.
Needless to say in the future we will continue to put out the 30-06 Plus Protein Mineral Supplements. They really make a difference.
