Why Plant Food Plots for Whitetail?

By, Todd Amenrud            

Today’s land stewards and whitetail managers know what an important role food plots play in the drive towards healthy animals and bigger bucks. Food plots can transform deer management, even on small tracts, and make your hunting dreams come true. What’s the big difference between food plots and their native vegetation? Or, why couldn’t supplemental feeding have the same impact? Here’s why;           

It would depend upon whether you are in a nice plush agricultural belt or whether you were in, let’s say, rough mountainous terrain as to what your native vegetation would yield. On average, native vegetation will produce about 200 to 300 pounds of deer food annually at approximately 6% to 12% protein. However, if they actually consumed that much you would see a browse line about 6 feet high and the habitat would be destroyed. So they can only use about 100 pounds per acre without destroying the area.           

An average adult deer will consume 6 pounds of feed per day. 365 days per year x 6 pounds = 2,190 pounds of feed per year.  So, one deer can be supported on roughly 22 acres. However, body size, health and antler size are going to be well under their potential because of the poor average protein content of the native vegetation. Biologists agree that deer need about 16% protein to express their potential, especially during fawn rearing and antler growth.           

There are some that would argue that just dumping “deer corn” or protein pellets out makes everything alright. Corn, only has approximately 8% protein, so native vegetation is much better than corn. The carbohydrates that corn produce do have a place. But even if you are feeding protein pellets at around 20% protein, you still have to consider predation, disease transmission, legality, aesthetics, the amount consumed by non-target animals and the cost.           

Supplemental feeding is alright to do pending you do it right. But even if you do it right it is shown that no matter what you feed or how you feed it deer will only consume 20% to 25% of their diet from the supplemental feed. So you are not significantly increasing your property’s carrying capacity and you are not making a big impact on their nutritional intake either. You are still well below the 16% biologists say is necessary.           

There is no way that you can supply the amount or the quality of food that you can for the cost, then by planting food plots. Food plots are going to decrease the average home range size for each deer and in doing so it will significantly increase your property’s carrying capacity! Food plots are going to supply above the necessary 16% protein so your deer will have a chance to express their true health and antler growing potential.           

Remember we said that they will only consume 20% to 25% of their diet in supplemental feed. It is shown that they will consume approximately 75% to 80% of their diet in food plot crops! It is probably for two reasons, one, because it is more like browsing to them. Deer are naturally browsers. It is unnatural for them to stand at a feeder. Two, because of the quality of the forage. Food plots produce forage that is much more palatable and digestible then corn, protein pellets or native vegetation.           

The availability of quality summer forage may be the difference between just surviving and being able to expressing their true genetic potential. Think about the high protein milk that mother doe needs during the spring and summer. Think about the fact that some bucks may loose 30% of their body weight during the rut. The spring and summer is when their playing catch-up. If they don’t have to play catch-up then they can express their true antler growing capability.            There are many choices in commodity seeds that we have planted for whitetail over the years. However, be warned that even though they eat the rye grass or dwarf essex rape that you’ve planted for them, it may not be the best thing for them.            

Many people think that they can solve everything by supplemental feeding. Feeding may be alright for you to do, but regardless of what you feed or how you feed it, even if you do everything perfect, a whitetail will consume no more than 25% of their diet from the supplemental feed. Where a whitetail will consume as much as 80% of their diet from Food Plots!

Mossy Oak BioLogic has taken science from the technologically advanced forage producers in New Zealand and brought it here to the United States. The reason New Zealand is superior to us in this area is because of the “almighty dollar.” Two of the top three exports in their country are antler and venison!            

The New Zealand ranchers want forage that will grow huge bodies and big “bone” as fast as possible. Where for many years here in the US we’ve been cross-breeding and genetically manipulating our plants for particular desirable characteristics for certain end results - for instance, corn to produce ethanol, clover for bovine consumption, etc. The end result has never been geared for the four chambered stomach and the digestive system of a deer.  

In New Zealand they are 20 years ahead of us in producing forages for deer. The reason – the almighty dollar! Two of their top exports in New Zealand are antler and venison! They have huge deer ranches there and the ranchers want to grow big bodies and big antlers as fast as possible. They are so far ahead of us that you can actually go to college in New Zealand and get a specific degree in “Deer forage production.” Luckily BioLogic brings this technology here to the US for us to use.

Not only do BioLogic Blends have off the chart protein and nutrient content, but when a deer consumes them they actually gain benefit from the nutrition. The plants are meant to break down in a whitetails’ digestive system. Take ladino clover and soybeans as an example, 24% and 18% protein… When a whitetail eats those plants it doesn’t mean they gain access to all of that protein. They have different enzymes and bacteria in their stomach and break things down differently. When you feed a whitetail you’re not actually feeding their gut, you’re feeding the bacteria in their gut.           

Food plots are not only important towards the health goals that you set, they’re also important to help you with your harvest goals. The use of a harvest plot containing very attractive blends during the hunting season can make it much easier to fill your tags. You may not be able to knock over Pope & Young animals right in the middle of your food plot, you might harvest him 200 yards away. But the food plot was the reason he was coming and the focal point of the hunt. If you do things right, and don’t put a lot of pressure on the spot, you CAN sit on the edge of your food plot and harvest Pope & Young bucks.       

Aside from helping you to grow healthier deer and bucks with bigger antlers, food plots also make it much easier to harvest animals during the hunting season. Here, the author poses with a nice buck taken from one of his food plots.

 

 

As said, there is no way that you can supply the amount or the quality of food that you can for the cost, then by planting food plots. Food plots will help your herd health, help your bucks express their true antler growing potential and make your hunting a lot easier.

Choose What to Plant Carefully

By, Todd Amenrud

            Planting food plots for whitetail is becoming more and more popular. Many people question “what to plant” - not only wondering which type of plants to go with but also which brand. This can be an expensive venture especially if you don’t take the time to become educated and do things right. Let me save you some time and money.

            It is generally best to plant a food plot that is a blend of several types of seeds. Plots that consist of just one type of seed (mono plots) are at much higher risk for failure. They typically do not perform as well in a wide variety of soil types, are more susceptible to heat and drought and are usually more prone to have disease and pest problems. If a mono plot experiences just one of these problems, it affects the entire plot because there's only one type of plant in the field. You're essentially "putting all your eggs in one basket" if you plant just one type of seed.

            A little known fact is that in New Zealand they are about twenty years ahead of us when it comes to deer nutrition. The reason for that is “the almighty dollar.” Two of the top exports in New Zealand are antler and venison! They are so far ahead of us that you can actually go to college in New Zealand and get a specific degree in “deer forage production.” They have huge deer ranches there where they raise red deer, elk and whitetail. These deer ranchers need forages that put on big body weights and grow "big bone" as fast as possible.

            Most all of the plants that I used to plant were meant for livestock or human consumption. Sure a whitetail will eat some of them but it's not the ultimate whitetail food.  If you are starving and someone offers you a round steak, sure you’ll eat it. But if you are offered the choice between a round steak and fillet mignon, I know what I would choose. Take ladino clover as an example - around 24 percent protein. However, when a whitetail consumes this plant that doesn't mean they're getting 24 percent protein. A whitetail has different enzymes and bacteria in their stomach and they break things down differently than bovines or humans.  When you feed a whitetail, you're not actually feeding their gut, you're feeding the bacteria in their gut.

            A company called BioLogic brings this science to the United States and takes it a step further with extensive research on their numerous test facilities here in the US. It depends on your management goals as to what would be the best thing to plant. Do you want to attract deer? Do you want to grow bigger antlers and healthier deer, or both? On the properties that I manage throughout the Country I have very good luck all of their whitetail blends. Each provides a different aspect towards my management goals.

            No matter what you plant, I suggest never to “put all of your eggs in one basket.” I want different plants that mature at different rates that will leave something palatable for them throughout the year. Planting both annuals and perennials is important. If you’re just planting annuals, with spring annuals by the time they become palatable to the whitetail you’re missing out on the two most important antler growing and fawn nurturing months of the year. With late summer/fall planted annuals you miss the entire period.

            Planting food plots is definitely one part of the hunt that I truly enjoy. I call it “part of the hunt” because ultimately I use the plots to grow bigger, healthier deer and to attract and hold them during the hunting season.  If you choose what to plant carefully you can actually grow your own big bucks and make hunting them much easier.

        Always leave them something

Whether your goal is attraction or nutrition variety is a key. Even if you just take the four month period during hunting season, during this time temperatures are changing, plants are changing, a whitetail’s needs are changing, etc. To do well at consistently attracting whitetail to a food plot you need to provide the variety necessary to cover their needs regardless of the conditions.

Management of a Hunting Season  

by Kevin Anderton 

If you are a hunting fanatic, and if your reading this you probably qualify, I am sure you have read many times in articles like this about how to ‘kill that big buck’.  Articles galore on ‘how to hunt the rut’, how to hunt the pre-rut, how to hunt the post-rut, and how to hunt the peak of the rut have put us in a bit of a rut.  I can’t tell you the times I have read about hunting the buck of my dreams between the bedding area and the feeding area, easier said than done for the most part.  Don’t get me wrong, many articles of that type have been both entertaining and informative.  The great thing about ‘Farming for Wildlife’ is that we now have a resource showing how to first produce ‘that big buck’.

            The reader of “Farming for Wildlife” has a deeper appreciation of what it takes to manage their land and how to best put together a hunting strategy for their land.  Just as we have a strategy for growing wildlife; warm season plantings, (BioMax, LabLab, etc) cool season plantings, (Maximum, Outfitters Blend, Full Draw, etc…) timber thinning, and controlled burns to name a few.  We should have an overall hunting strategy that takes into account three basic needs.  Harvesting our does, hunting our mature bucks, and managing our time afield are the main categories we as managers need to address.  The assumption made in most of the popular hunting magazines of the day are that each hunter is only attempting to hunt trophy bucks no matter what time of the season it is.  Let’s face it, hunting that trophy buck is great but the smart wildlife manager knows that there is a time and place for trophy hunting and a time to concentrate on the doe segment of the herd.  Hunting trophy bucks involves hunting in thicker cover area for much of the early season which is not always the best way to take does.  Finding the right balance between our job as a wildlife/land manager and hunter is what this article is meant to address. 

Doe Harvest:

This is almost always our most crucial need for maintaining a healthy deer herd especially on lands that have overpopulation in the deer herd.  Even in well balanced and managed herds there is always a need to take at least as many does than bucks and often as much as three times as many.  So how do we do this while achieving the most hunter satisfaction during our time in the woods?  It is now a well known aspect of deer management that taking your does out of your herd early in the season is better in every respect.  It leaves more food in the woods for the remaining deer and reduces the availability of estrous does which make your bucks work harder to find ‘hot’ does.  By the time hunting season opens the fawns are able to take care of themselves and not dependent on mothers milk.  Typically the deer seasons start with bow season in mild to warm weather.  If there is ever a hard time to see mature bucks walking around this is it.  Unless the bucks are still in their summer time pattern (warm season food plots in late afternoon) they are primarily staying in their core area rubbing trees and preparing for the rut.  Use this time to hunt does areas, typically nearer food plots though not necessarily on them, and more open browse areas in the woods.  Bucks will unconsciously yield the better forage areas to doe groups helping to foster fawn production.  This is nature’s way of propagating the species.  This is a good strategy for the first few weeks of the deer season.  I like to spend most of the month of October using this strategy where I hunt in west Tennessee.  Don’t get me wrong, if a great mature buck comes by I’ll be glad to take him but my focus is on accomplishing balancing my deer herd structure and that almost always means taking does early.    

Mature Bucks:

When the weather starts to turn cold, usually around the first to second week of November in my neck of the woods, its time to focus on mature bucks.  Although I probably haven’t reached my lands number or my clubs quota of does at this time and I will still gladly take one, but my concentration is on buck areas, rub lines and scrape lines.  This is the classic chasing phase of the rut and a great time to be in the woods.  This is the time we tend to see the smaller bucks sparing and chasing does.  I won’t attempt to tell you how to hunt mature bucks that are entering the chasing phase of the rut there are countless hunting shows and articles on how to do that.  What I do want to share with you is the focus that we, as wildlife managers, should have at that time of year.  Remember our goal is to achieve the maximum benefit from the land for wildlife and consequently enjoyment for ourselves.  The natural result is bigger deer, more turkeys, more ducks, squirrels, rabbits, quail, or whatever your goal is.  Therefore now is the best time to reap the benefit of a well managed deer herd, mature heavy antlered bucks!  I try to keep my focus on the buck segment of the herd throughout the rut while keeping in mind where we are in terms of our doe harvest.  I may not shoot a doe that has mature bucks pursuing her but I will be glad to take her after I have seen her walking undisturbed for a  period of time.  As stated earlier, controlling the doe segment of the herd is the most important part of our hunting management.  It is also best to take most of the does before the breeding phase of the rut takes place.  You will find that after a short period of time, as little as two years, you will see some very handsome young bucks and even a few heavy antlered bucks moving around.  This aspect alone makes the hunting experience very enjoyable and worthwhile and with continued proper management it only gets better from here.      

Managing our time: 

This is without a doubt the most important part of being our own wildlife manager as a landowner, lease holder, or hunting club member.  It is also the most difficult to categorize.  We all have different jobs and time constraints.  Some of us can hunt whenever we want to and some of us can only hunt on weekends.  Although each person’s situation is different the key is to find the right balance between enjoying your hunting and achieving satisfaction in managing the property.  Certainly, it is easiest to schedule time around what has traditionally been the rut in your area, but from a management perspective be sure and schedule some needed time early in the season even if it means missing some of those late November/early December hunts.  Make spending time on your land a priority for you and your family.  This is a great heritage to pass down to future generations and a wonderful way to keep your family together for generations to follow.  Part of this may seem like a job, especially if you are a large landowner trying to manage a property with only a few hunters but like anything worthwhile is takes a little work.  By using an effective harvest strategy along with an effective planting strategy your land will yield results in a very short period of time and for years to come.