Making My Dream a Reality

By Hank Tassitano, Virginia Photos by the Author

s an avid hunter, my dream was to own a piece of land that provided great hunting opportunities. So, over the years I have bought and sold a few

tracts of land as investments and to also hunt. My ultimate goal was to eventually find the perfect hunting property. After buying my third property I realized finding the perfect place was just a dream and if I wanted good hunting, I would have to make improvements to the land I owned.

This third property was in the mountains and not the most ideal to work with as I found out. I didn’t have any open ground or much in the way of flat land. So I had some equipment come in to clear two of the ridge tops in four different spots. The soil was thin on those mountain ridge tops with plenty of rocks. So, working the soil was a chore and also a bit rough on my rototiller.

Once I had my openings, I did some homework to see what might grow best in these new plots. I read some basic information about planting food plots and that a soil test was recommended as a first step. I bought one of those soil meters and followed the instructions for testing. The test showed all the soil in all four plots was fine, with a pH of 6.

I fertilized and seeded but had mixed results with how my plots grew. I had a feeling I did something wrong. So, I read as much as I could get my hands on and happened to get an issue of Whitetail News magazine from a buddy of mine. The amount of information in that one publication was a real eye opener for me. I decided to get the results I wanted with my plots I would need to follow the advice I read on creating better food plots.

The first step I took was getting the soil test kits the Whitetail Institute sells and got the plots retested to see what their results showed. When I got the lab results back, they showed the pH of my plots was 5.5 which was the main reason my plants didn’t grow very well. I got to work and replanted my plots based on the recommendations on the lab reports I got back from Whitetail Institute. I was starting to realize there was more to planting good food plots than just throwing some seed on the ground. I decided to do some additional testing, so I bought seed from four different name brand seed companies, including Whitetail Institute, to see which brand grew better on my ridge top plots.

They all grew very well because of proper soil preparation. I put trail cameras on all four plots to monitor them. I found it interesting that one plot got hit the hardest, with deer in it all the time. I had one plot that I switched cameras on because I wasn’t getting any photos of deer in it, but it wasn’t a camera problem. The most active plot by far was planted with Whitetail Institute seed. That was eyeopening.

With this new understanding on how to plant effective food plots I was ready for my next land investment. I wanted to find a property that would be better suited to grow better food plots. The tract of land I found had plenty of thick cover and a water source, but lacked any open ground to plant. It also lacked much deer or turkey sign which had me concerned. But I felt confident enough that I could make the changes needed to make this marginal property into something good. We closed on this property in December which was a great time of the year to start mapping out where my plots would go. I started by walking every square inch of my property making notes and looking at my land and the adjoining pieces of land on Google maps. I then met with my neighbors and got permission to walk some of the adjoining properties. This gave me greater insight on how to set up my

The author plants a combination of annuals and perennials to ensure a year-long supply of quality food for wildlife.

new hunting ground. My work was cut out for me and I also realized it would have to be done in stages because of my budget.

The first summer my budget allowed me to hire a company to come in to build a road system throughout the property. This would allow for easy access with equipment for future food plots and also for hunting stand access. There was an overgrown open lane that was wide enough to plant that already existed on the property, so I cleaned it up and did a soil test. I planted Imperial Whitetail Clover for my first plot on the property.

As I anticipated, I saw only one young buck and a couple of does the first season of hunting. I didn’t anticipate seeing a whole lot, but it did make me wonder if I made a smart investment in this property. I was really hoping phase two of my plan, which was to open new ground for food plots, would start to pay dividends in the upcoming years.

That coming spring I got two 30-06 mineral sites established and the trail cameras showed a little more sign of life and gave me some encouragement. With the mineral sites done I contracted a company to come in and open up the areas for my food plots. This took much longer than expected so I didn’t get as much land opened as I originally planned. As always it came down to dollars and cents. So, phase three of my overall plan was to plant more food plots and when the funds became available, I would complete it.

With the initial plots opened and cleaned up I was ready to get the soil test done. Once I got the lab reports back, I bought the proper amount of lime and fertilizer recommended and now was ready to plant. I decided on Whitetail Oats Plus, Imperial Whitetail Clover and Tall Tine Tubers for my plantings. Because I followed the instructions carefully, my plots came in great for newly opened up woodland. I was excited to see all this new lush growth where thick pines once grew.

Once we got into October, I noticed an increase in does and also some 2-year-old bucks that started showing up in my new plots. The deer were finding this new quality food source that didn’t exist before. As the fall progressed so did the amount of deer sightings, including a couple of good bucks. I figured by next season the game would be on. Although there were many opportunities, no deer were taken the first two seasons to help let the herd build up. Proper management is not only planting but controlling our trigger finger.

One day while talking with the folks at Whitetail Institute I became aware of the value of planting for the spring/summer as well as rotating my plantings to avoid potential problems that can occur. This made me plan my plots out more carefully and I decided to split them up into sections.

Each plot would have a section of Imperial Whitetail Clover in it because it attracts game nearly all year and is the first thing to green up in the spring. The deer and turkey hit it hard from spring into winter which makes it the heart of all my plots. I also plant Chic Magnet in a couple of my plots with more thin soil because it will withstand the hot dry weather of summer better than clover does. Now, when I do my fall plantings, I will have sections of Whitetail Oats Plus, Imperial Whitetail Clover, Tall Tine Tubers, and Beets and Greens. My plots now have a yearlong supply of quality food for wildlife.

Getting into the third hunting season of my plan I saw even more deer showing up in my plots and at the mineral sites. Some of the bucks were looking very good. Now when I hunted, I was actually seeing more deer on my sits, including a decent number of young bucks. 64 WHITETAIL NEWS / Vol. 29, No. 3

The author’s wall is evidence that Whitetail Institute products work well.

One rainy afternoon while on stand I saw a buck walk into the plot I was watching and started eating the oats. It took me a few seconds to realize I was looking at my first mature buck I would get to shoot on this new property. What a thrill to take this 8-point buck after all the work I had put into the property. This buck was a trophy to me because it proved my hard work was paying off. Seasons four and five were when I really saw a real jump in the amount of deer and turkey using my property. The quality of bucks showing up was very exciting and some of them were very impressive. The deer were hitting the food plots and mineral sites on a regular basis now.

In the spring and fall I was seeing much more game and I was having great success hunting for deer and turkey. There is great satisfaction in knowing all the work and improvements you do on your land will make a difference in the quality of the experience you have in the outdoors.

Going in to season six I have high expectations and excitement to see what might show up this coming fall. With the past three seasons of success in killing mature bucks in the fall and big gobblers in the spring makes me feel good that my instinct to buy this place was correct. Better yet, knowing I have a resource of information from Whitetail Institute at my fingertips in case I have a problem, makes what I do easier.

The real excitement I get now is seeing all the wildlife that benefit from the plantings I do. With trail cameras set up on my place and pulling the photos of deer, turkey, rabbits, and bears has become an addiction and a passion. As a landowner and manager, you realize how hard work and careful planning can benefit all the wildlife on a piece of property, especially a piece that was void of much before. This property was not in a prime Midwest location. It started out as a marginal smaller piece of land here in the East. Habitat and wildlife management can work in any location. Give it a try. You too can have your dream become a reality. ^