Have you had a great looking plot go completely nocturnal by mid season? On many occasions, food plotters focus solely on providing a great food source but lack proper access to their stand locations. Other factors include security from roads, breaking up food plots to create continuous buck movement, and less stress on does when feeding in the plot. Here are a few examples of ways you can use screens on your property to increase security and deer movement. Entry/Exit Strategy Tree stand entry and exit strategy is a huge part of slipping into your stand undetected from whitetails in your food plots. It only takes a handful of mistakes for a mature whitetail to figure out your food source...
Mineral For Whitetails Minerals have been on the market for Whitetail Deer for years. From salt blocks to granular mineral, you can find many variations in your local sporting good section. Do you even need to use mineral for whitetail deer? Lets take a look at what's the best bang for your bucks! The Big Question One of the biggest arguments you'll find on social media is: "What mineral should I use?" This question generally ends up in a war on whether its worth the money to use mineral period. Then the next popular response is a home made mineral loaded with salt or other popular minerals that have the same principles. Salt does a great job at attracting...
With food plot season quickly approaching, lets take a look at the most common food plot mistakes and a few quick tips to avoid them! Not having a weed free seed bed. If you're creating a new plot, we suggest 2 qt per acre of glyphosate in a 25 gallon sprayer in the spring. After about a week, work the soil. Wait another 4 weeks and spray any new vegetation with 1 qt per acre of glyphosate, then seed and cultipack. Not testing soil pH. Soil pH should be as close to 7 as possible and tested at least every 2 years. Planting seed at the wrong depth. It is critical to know proper seed depth prior to planting. Always...
Frost Seeding by definition is spreading seed on frozen ground and allowing the freeze and thaw cycle in early spring to provide good seed to soil contact. This makes for an easy and attractive way to plant clover plots throughout the Midwest where the freeze and thaw cycle typically begins February 15-March 15. Here are a few notes pertaining to frost seeding. *Frost seeding a current standing perennial clover plot is a great way to recharge your current plot! While many clover stands can last 3-5 years, frost seeding is a great way to add fresh, new growth to your current stand! *Frost seeding into a fall annual plot is a great way to establish a spring plot! With most...
Hinge Cutting Hinge cutting is somewhat considered the new ''sexy'' habitat strategy in the whitetail woods. With many hunters grabbing saws and aimlessly cutting any tree without any strategy involved, it has become a hot topic on internet forums. Here are a few tips and tricks we tend to share with our clients who ask about hinge cutting! Should I Hinge? The #1 question we receive when on a property visit is "Should I hinge cut?" I would say 50% of properties I see in northern Indiana could utilize hinge cutting. Here are some things we look for when deciding on hinge cuts: -Can you see all the way through your woods in January? If so, you clearly have a...
