Brent Van Hoveln — Illinois Photo 1 shows one night of hunting on my farm over Whitetail Institute food plots. We harvested three mature does and two mature bucks in and around the food plots in one afternoon. All hunts were captured on
Larry Dasch — Michigan This 16-point buck, approximately 160-inches (official score pending) was taken by our 12-year-old daughter, Larkyn Dasch, with a muzzleloader on Sept. 26 on our 360 acre farm in the Michigan youth hunt. The shot was at about 60-70 yards from an elevated
video. If people like to video their hunts and deer in general, there is no better way than to do it over food plots. The deer aren’t just passing by quickly on a nearby trail. They are out in the wide open hanging around eating and just being natural. This gives you plenty of time to get your camera on the deer and get focused. It also allows you extra time to study the animal before deciding whether or not to harvest it. Food plots are a great addition for people who want to better manage their property and be selective about the deer they harvest, because they allow you to better observe your herd before making a hasty decision. Photo 2 is of my son Kyle Van Hoveln’s first Muzzleloader buck. This was a 6-year-old, 155-inch 14point buck that we had filmed several times over the past couple of years in and around our food plots. On this night, we were hunting a staging area just inside the woods from our 2-acre PowerPlant field. I harvested a mature doe with a pistol and in less than 10 seconds after shooting her, my son saw this brute walk right under our stand and he was able to make a perfect shot with his muzzleloader. This hunt will always be a special one for me because not only did I shoot my first deer with a pistol, and my son shot his first buck with a muzzleloader, but all this happened to fall on my birthday, thus giving me the best birthday present a father could ask for. These deer are pictured in a 4-year-old patch of AlfaRack in mid-November in Illinois. This plot has pro-
22
WHITETAIL NEWS / Vol. 18, No. 3
have seen a dramatic affect in the amount of good bucks on my property. Thanks Whitetail institute!
duced tons of forage for my deer over the years. I have really got my money’s worth from this planting, not to mention the deer we have harvested in and around these plots. Photo 3 shows my good friend and co-owner of one of my farms Mike Kemp. This is Mike’s muzzleloader kill from last year, a 155-inch 11-pointer. Mike is no stranger to big bucks and food plots, as he manages to tag at least one every year from his same stand overlooking a field of PowerPlant. By the time the Illinois guns season rolls around the deer on our farms have almost mowed off our PowerPlant to the ground, but as you can see in some of our videos, the deer still come out to eat the very last bits of plants that are left before the winter hits. This field of PowerPlant has always been a consistent producer of big bucks for us every season. Thank you Whitetail Institute for taking the time to research what whitetail deer really like to eat and what is nutritious for them as well. I would encourage anyone who has some type of tillable ground available to them to plant a food plot from the Whitetail Institute. They make so many different products for a wide range of soil conditions that you are bound to find something that will work in your area. “It will change the way you hunt.”
blind. Dad was a lot more nervous than Larkyn. We have practiced quality deer management (let the small bucks walk, and provide 20-plus acres of Chicory PLUS, as well as Winter-Greens, beans, corn, and alfalfa) for about eight years.
Mike Kreidermacher — Minnesota
Curtis Gregory — Kentucky This photo shows one of the three deer that we harvested on my farm this past deer season. They all three were coming off the Whitetail Institute products. Since I have been working with Whitetail Institute products I
Since we started using Imperial Whitetail Clover and Alfa-Rack the improvement in the amount of buck activity and size of the bucks has been great. Also by being able to hold the deer on our property we are making the neighbors jealous. They are asking what we’re using and we are referring them to Whitetail Institute products. Alfa-Rack and Imperial Whitetail Clover are being used equally and we’re able to find a lot of sheds in the winter. Thank you Whitetail Institute for the great products. The 12-point green scored 168 Boone & Crockett and the 8-point green scored 1415/8. These two deer were shot 200 yards apart the same night checking does around the Imperial Whitetail Clover and Alfa-Rack plots. www.whitetailinstitute.com