Why You Should Be Planting Food Plots
By Todd Amenrud – Today’s whitetail managers know what an important role food plots play in the drive towards a healthy herd and bucks with bigger antlers. Food plots can transform deer management, even on small tracts, and make your hunting dreams come true. What’s the big difference between food plots and their native vegetation? Or, why couldn’t supplemental feeding have the same impact? Here’s why:
On average, native vegetation will produce about 200 to 300 pounds of deer food annually at approximately 6% to 12% protein. However, if they actually consumed that much you would see a browse line about 6 feet high and the habitat would be destroyed. So they can only use about 100 pounds per acre without destroying the area. Read more
The crash and clank of antlers is a sound that most hunters hanker to hear – it means we are within a reasonable distance of two bucks that are sparing or fighting. However, few hunters know how to use these sounds to their advantage and “rattle-in” a buck of their own. Bringing bucks close by rattling can be a huge rush! Timing, herd dynamics and creating authentic sounds are all important if you wish to bring bucks within shooting range. Hopefully after reading this you won’t want to leave your rattling antlers at home any more. 
Mariah Niewoonder of Greenville, age 14, is like a lot of kids and brutally honest. “Deer and turkey hunting are kind of slow,” she said. “You just sit there, and you have to be quiet all the time. Duck hunting is much more exciting, and you get to talk and move around.” Mariah and her dad, DNR Wildlife Division Southwest Field Operations Manager John Niewoonder, hunted public land in Ionia County. Mariah’s older brother shot his first duck in the same spot four years earlier. 