When you ask most avid whitetail deer hunters what states are well-known for consistently producing record class deer, most will ring off Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and probably Texas to round out the top 5. Many times Nebraska is left out of the ranking and is commonly referred to by many as a sleeper state when it comes to deer hunting. The same phrase I also find true when the subject of planting food plots in Nebraska comes up either with a perspective new client or talking with people at outdoor shows that I attend. Up until the last few years, I would say that very few whitetail hunters in the state of Nebraska have actually planted food plots on their property for the sole purpose of attracting and growing larger, healthier deer. Surprisingly, still to this day when every hunting commercial or outdoor magazine is literally saturated with how to articles on planting food plots, food plot seed sales, and new/used food plot equipment designed especially for your atv, I still find individuals that are hesitant to try, or even put any thought into just how beneficial planting food plots on their property can be to improve their deer hunting success. At various outdoor shows, I have noticed a real distinct separation that exists between the different age classes of hunters that I visit with about planting food plots. Commonly, the younger generation of hunters today are fortunate to be able to grow up in an era when the whitetail deer population is at an all time high which allows for what I call selective harvest. Young bucks are allowed to grow up and mature to show their true genetic potential, while the harvest of does has become an increasingly popular management practice to keep deer numbers to the lands carrying capacity. The younger generation of hunters takes planting food plots and habitat management to extreme levels these days and considers food plots one of the most important aspects of their deer hunting success. I find it very rewarding to visit with young adults, some even in their early teens about how their own food plot plantings for deer turned out and the success they have had by planting them. On the flipside for the older generation of hunters, going back 40+ years or so, deer were far and few between, commonly inhabiting river bottom regions only. The common saying of If its brown its down was a common practice when antler size and the harvest of mature bucks only, took a backseat to the more important matter of putting food on the table and feeding a hungry family. Food plots were non-existent back in that time period, and land managed just for whitetail deer hunting like it is today would’ve surely drew a big laugh and a lot of criticism. Fast forward to today, and the food plot industry has turned into an annual multi-million dollar business throughout the country. Pay attention to the increasing number of record book bucks that are shot every year by hunters, many with strict management programs on their properties. You can’t help but believe that proper food plot programs and other sound management programs that include year round high protein forage and the harvest of only mature bucks and monitored doe harvests have had nothing to do with their success. The ever increasing number of food plot seed company’s that have sprung up in the last few years is unbelievable. Even in the past couple years here in the state of Nebraska, new company’s have started selling their own deer nutritional products. Planting food plots for deer on your property is a very labor intensive job no matter how much high-powered food plot equipment you own. There is plenty of truth that goes with the saying of, you get what you put in when it comes to food plot plantings. I feel that many first timers put too much emphasis on which food plot seed blends to buy and too little emphasis on lime and fertilizer requirements of your soils. Also, general food plot maintenance during the hot summer months can really suffer and be put on the back burner behind more fun activities that require less work. Food plots are not something you just throw down the seed and walk away and expect to have positive results without further input.
Seeing the results and success that I was having on my own property for the past 10-12 years and realizing that very few if any of the other local hunters realized the benefits that planting food plots on their properties could produce, I started my custom food plot planting, food plot equipment and food plot seed sales company in Nebraska just a few short years ago to fill a certain void that was present in my part of the country. Today I cater to not only landowners looking to enhance their hunting success by utilizing food plot plantings, but also with the ever increasing hunting leases in Nebraska that are rapidly gaining popularity. Deer hunting lease rates in Nebraska are relatively cheap compared to other neighboring states that can see lease rates that run in the $30 to the low $40 dollars per acre! In my area of the state, a deer hunting lease rate will average around that $5 to $9 dollars per acre with exceptional whitetail producing ground going for a higher dollar amount. Times are definitely changing in the hunting industry with many hunters that once had prime ground to hunt deer on for free, find themselves losing it to big paying clients for exclusive whitetail hunting rights. Any landowner in the state of Nebraska deals with extremely high property taxes and many find it increasingly tough to come up with more money every year to pay land taxes that are due. It just makes sense for local farmers or ranchers to accept huge offerings of money from individuals interested in leasing their land for exclusive hunting rights to help keep the family farm prospering. I currently work with landowners that lease their ground out for hunting and help them to get top dollar in their area because of one reason, food plot plantings. Property that has properly planted and managed wildlife food plot plantings on it brings top dollar in the Nebraska hunting lease competition that occurs today. Food plots planted on leased hunting property have a distinct advantage over properties where plantings are nonexistent. Hunting property that has several strategically placed food plots generally aids in much better deer movement which results in better deer hunting results, which in turn increases the value of the lease for the landowner. When a certain property continually harvests high-scoring mature bucks year after year, competition for the hunting rights on that property gets fierce and payments go up.
On a lot of the smaller 50 to 60 acre hunting property’s that I supply custom food plot services with in Nebraska, most of the properties have an abundance of cover for bedding areas, a good water source close to the bedding areas, but are lacking one important part of the whitetail equation which is food. What good is it to have deer bedding on your property but crossing onto your neighbors land during daylight hours to feed in his food plots and possibly risk getting shot. Food plot plantings can and will help deer and more importantly mature bucks from leaving your property till after legal shooting light is over. Also, if I had to choose between one contiguous 5 acre food plot planting vs. 5 one acre food plots scattered throughout the property and more importantly around the known bedding area. I would choose the scattered one acre plantings every time because by spreading those plantings around your property, you are forcing that mature buck to have to check out each one of those food plots for does vs. just circling downwind of your single food plot to check all does on the field before deciding that none of the does smell right and move off of your property in search of other does. Also, another benefit of having several scattered food plots on your property allows multiple stand locations for various wind directions and also helps to keep from tipping that mature buck off from knowing he’s being hunted. I might add that knowing which phase of the rut that the whitetails are in, in your area is equally important to successful deer hunting close to food plots. The seeking phase of the rut is in late October, and is by far my favorite time to be in the woods and hunting the travel routes from the bedding areas to those smaller food plots. Mature bucks are on their feet more, cruising for that first estrous doe of the season, but their patterns are still pretty consistent during this time period in late October vs. the full blown rut during the middle of November. One final thought is that a lot of the recreational land that I custom plant food plots on in the state of Nebraska is ground that has pretty poor soils. A lot of the properties are comprised of sandy soils that will produce very little high-protein forage naturally that will attract and benefit the deer herd which makes it a challenge for growing certain varieties of food plot forage. But, by planting certain blends of food plot seeds that will thrive in these less desirable soil types, such as Antler King’s Fall/Winter/Spring Blend, buckwheat, or even Antler King’s Honey Hole, and also by adding regular applications of Antler King’s Plot Max soil conditioner to those sandier soil food plots. By doing this, we are building those soils up by increasing the organic matter in the soil, which improves the soils ability to hold moisture better while further increasing the available nutrients for your growing plants to provide more food plot tonnage per acre of nutritious feed for your deer and better deer hunting for you.
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