By W. Carroll Johnson, III, PhD
In a rare demonstration of efficiency, I wrote the first draft of this article during March 2020, which coincided with the beginning of the pandemic. The terms COVID-19, social distancing and sheltering in place became part of our everyday lexicon.
This
unique feature will change the way you manage food plots.
■ by Whitetail Institute
Staff
With Plot Perfection, Whitetail Institute’s new food plotting app, soil testing has become more streamlined. The app is a one-stop shop for all your food plotting needs, including full integration with Whitetail Institute Laboratories for a smooth transition from field to app.
By Matt Harper
In sales, you constantly drive toward the last day of the fiscal or calendar year, when you know if you met or fell short of your goal. If you succeed, you’ll feel fulfilled as you look back at the effort and hard work it took to reach that point.
Soil pH is the most important factor you can control to ensure food plot success. Whitetail Institute Impact is a new tool for food plotters that increases soil pH without lime. It’s ideal for remote plot locations where liming isn’t an option, and to provide an immediate short-term boost to soil pH for optimum food plot growth.
In 2021, many food plotters learned the hard way about this common pest.
That prompted an obvious question: How can you combat this foliage-eating bug?
by W. Carroll Johnson III, Ph.D. Agronomist and Weed Scientist
By Bill Winke
I’ve been making poor-man’s food plots since 1995. They are made from small natural openings or semi-openings in cover or on the edge of the woods. The goal is to turn these hidden spots into productive staging-area food plots using only hand tools and no large equipment. I’ve tried several methods for making these plots and have reached several conclusions about what works best.
By Jody Holdbrooks
Bow season is staring us in the face in Alabama, and my food plots haven’t had a sprinkle on them. I’ve seen no bucks on my game cameras of any size. Sometimes, getting everything to work out the way you imagine is not in the books. Preparation is an important word for any hunter/land manager, but sometimes, no matter how much we prepare, we must rely on luck and experience.
I’ve long been a fan of brassica forages for deer, such as Winter Greens and Tall Tine Tubers, so I was particularly excited when Whitetail Institute introduced its exclusive radish variety — WINA 412 — a few years ago. It’s a critical component in the new annual blend Ravish Radish. I had tried a few generic radishes and found that deer were attracted to them, but I was anxious to plant this new variety, the only radish created to appeal to and nourish white-tailed deer.
Walking the aisles at your favorite sporting goods store, it’s easy to feel
overwhelmed and confused by the number of food plot products. Between crazy
claims — “Guaranteed to grow the biggest bucks!”— and paid celebrity
endorsements, it’s almost a roll of the dice whether your hard work and money
will pay off at the end of the growing season.
If you’ve read this before, pretend it’s the first time: It’s often said the world is run by lawyers. But I think marketers might have equal if not more influence on the world today.
For deer managers, taking care of and improving our properties is a labor of love — an all-consuming hobby and a passion that runs deep. You’ll probably identify so many projects to enhance deer habitat that time is the only constraint.
Adam Hays III has a knack for finding and killing the biggest whitetail bucks in the neighborhood — any neighborhood. In fact, he has dozens of Pope and Young bucks to his credit, including 10 that surpassed the 170-inch mark and four monsters that broke the 200-inch barrier.
If you considered the University of Alabama, Duke University and the Chinese Olympic ping pong team, what characteristic ties them together? All have been dominant in their respective athletic programs, consistently at or near the top year after year. The word commonly used for such success is dynasty. To be considered a dynasty, a team or organization must consistently be at the pinnacle of its endeavor and continually rise above its contemporaries.
Day after day, Wade Atchley sat at his food plot, watching hens and jakes come to feed. The gobbler, however, hung up in the timber off the plot. For eight consecutive mornings, the vicious cycle continued. Atchley flirted with insanity. He did the same thing daily expecting a different result.
Donnie Monroe knew he’d killed a special buck when he downed a 23-point whitetail that grossed 230-4/8 inches three days into Kansas’ early muzzleloader season.
By W. Carroll Johnson III, PhD
I had to earn several required merit badges to attain the rank of Eagle Scout. One was the nature merit badge. The assigned counselor was an esteemed horticulturalist from Auburn University; a native-born German who had a heart of gold and a Germanic brogue that unintentionally intimidated a teenager.
At last there’s a full-function app designed for food plotters. Whitetail Institute’s new PlotPerfection app lets you keep all your historical and planning information in one place at your fingertips. PlotPerfection works with iPhone or Android.
By Jon Cooner
Imperial Whitetail PowerPlant is a spring and summer annual mix designed to provide whitetails with massive amounts of highly palatable, high-protein forage when they need it most. PowerPlant is so good at fulfilling that role it’s the only strictly spring/summer annual for deer Whitetail Institute offers. But don’t overlook the additional benefits PowerPlant can provide beyond summer and into fall.
