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Potential
Association deer hunter applicants sometimes ask about the Association's efforts at
developing deer habitat most notably food plots, their size, number and composition believing deer hunting
is always better over a food plot than on natural or existing deer habitat.
This Association does
not develop any deer habitat enhancement such as food plots and those that have planted
deer plots fully
understand why this is so. All of our deer hunting is on wild game and natural deer
habitat and in this case our deer habitat has plentiful food sources so much so
it becomes a limited concern.
Our best deer hunting is in the 45% to 50% agricultural land use region.
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The tractor pictured is plowing a Brome Prairie Grass hay field under
during the fall to prepare it for disking and later spring wildlife habitat planting.
This is a nine acre field and an uncounted number of hours and over 40 gallons
of diesel were consumed in the plowing effort alone. This does not count the
disking time, pre-seeding herbicide spraying time and cost, seed cost or post
seeding herbicide spraying time and cost. Now compare that cost of time and
dollars to the annual membership dues and it should be clear the membership dues
pay for what we advertise, that is, deer hunting on private land that we lease for its
deer habitat quality, not a game farm. This particular picture comes from one of
the Association's staff's personal farm where he is turning a pasture/hay field
over into quail nesting cover. |
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Pictured
is a
clover alfalfa mixed food plot at one acre in size, a deer habitat enhancement -
or so we thought. It took two seasons to
develop the rich carpet of succulent growth and 3 to 5 cuttings a summer to
maintain it from flowering and sustaining the 5 to 10 inch height to ensure its
deer attracting capability throughout the year. It was reseeded with 50 pounds of
seed in spring and again in the fall to maintain its coverage. The seed average cost was
$1.20/pound for one year or a $120 plus the cost of time and equipment. An
experiment on one of this Association's staff's personal farm. Turned out great
for turkey hunting and did nothing for deer habitat, especially during the deer
season. |
The costs of developing and sustaining even a one acre deer food plot should be
evident and if the Association were to develop a 100 such acres that would be an
additional $12,000, not counting transportation, equipment costs and hourly
wages.
It is far more cost effective to lease the right kind of deer habitat rather than
attempt to create it with food plots.
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The same food plot as pictured above later that winter during the
firearms deer season when we would like the greatest productivity and what we have is a field
of nothing as the clover/alfalfa mix all went dormant and did not withstand the seasonal
weather change. |
What we offer is first hand experience with the land and the productive deer habitat
that naturally exists rather
than an organization that seeks to impress with appearances.
See an example of
agriculture land deer food plots.
Father
and Son Memories
 Dustin
Raines at 18, the son of Mike, harvested this trophy deer.
This deer was harvested off of natural
habitat as were all the whitetails on this website. Agriculture
Deer Hunting
Framers
do much to supply deer with food sources throughout the year. This is an
alfalfa field of over 50 acres surrounded by a wooded creek bottom with water.
The picture comes from the first half of archery deer season. The three necessary elements of food, water and cover in one tight area
providing the needs for more than just a few deer through the entire winter.
Big woods deer hunters find the abundance of food in the central mid-west a new
experience and a reversal of the deer habitat they frequently find in their home
state in the northern, eastern and south east United States. The deer habitat in
those regions consists of large wood forests with limited food sources. The
reverse exists in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa and demonstrates to us the precedence
order for trophy whitetail deer habitat is first food then cover.
The Common Food Plot
A winter wheat field that can be found repeated many times over in Iowa,
Missouri and Kansas.
Winter wheat remains green and is the must succulent to deer food available
during the entire deer season. This field at 210 acres and runs long a number of
wooded drainages and small wood patches within a rather large watershed well
known for its trophy whitetail deer. Unlike in a big woods state where a 1/2
acre deer food plot concentrates the deer pattern, in the central midwest our
large agricultural land use region diffuses the deer pattern that is based on
food. |
