Millennium Buck Hut Review & Tips

Quick video review + some tips for longevity on your @millenniumstand Buck Hut Tower Blinds!

We’ve been using these stands for 3 seasons now and have learned a lot in the process. Great bang for your buck!

Summer Food Plots for Year-Around Success

Food plots…. Where do you start?

Food plots (more specifically the availability of human cultivated food for wildlife either intentionally or not intentionally) have been a hot topic in the land management side of whitetail hunting for over 25 years. It is no secret that the Midwest & North Central US with their giant agriculture fields have been notorious for the growth and harvest of big, mature whitetails for the last century. The prowess of the Midwest & North Central US does still continue to be undeniable. But why are we seeing other states such as Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Texas slowly start to creep up the ranks of B&C States?

As seen in the map, Boone & Crockett (B&C) whitetails being harvested slowly began to spread in frequency further and further into the heart of the country from 1980-2001. This could have been from an increase in the number of hunters or a change in hunting rules and regulations based on bag limit. It is something to note that in the early 1990’s the US whitetail deer population (along with mule deer, blacktail, and other similar species) was borderline hunted to extinction. This could cause the number of B&C harvests to be skewed for those early years. Thankfully, conservation and reintroduction of the species has brought the number of whitetails in the US back up to pre-1990 levels. It would be interesting to see these same B&C figures for 2001-present laid out in a similar map format.

The 1990’s taught us a lot about appropriate harvest numbers and whitetail conservation in general. Since the 1990’s, we have seen a more spread out number of states that have been on the top of the lists for B&C harvests per state. I would argue that the reason for this has been the popularization of whitetail-specific management practices since the 1990’s scare. Not only in the aspect of appropriate age of harvest but also of intentional habitat improvement.

Source: B&C Club

Source: Deerfriendly.com

In addition to stricter harvesting practices including the harvest of proper age class animals and male/female ratios, what is one way to ensure that you have the best possible Whitetail Rx to foster the healthiest deer herd on your lease/property? I would argue that year around high quality food sources is the answer. Many of times, the summer temperatures begin to creep up and we start thinking about summer sports or our favorite cove on the local lake to enjoy a cold beverage with close friends or family. Whitetails are often on the far back of our mind in the spring and summer months. In most areas of the country, the local whitetails do have good browse from wild sources during the “spring green up”. But if our goal is to truly form the perfect Rx for our herd, summer food plots can go a long way to help.

The spring months are a vital time in the life of a whitetail. It is during this time that fawns are being born and bucks begin to form the base of their antler pedicles. This is a very important time for the herd to have high quality browse. This not only fuels the fawns’ development via lactation but also forms a good base of nutrition for the male population to maximize their antler development for the following fall. The fawns will soon encounter their first disease season (such as mild EHD and others) and also be susceptible to predation until they are strong enough to run away. The mothers being able to provide the highest quality milk possible is the best way to protect the fawns through this trying time. There are many factors that help with proper nutrition such as supplemental feeding, wild browse, and thoughtfully planted food plots during the summer months.

In my opinion; an ideal summer food plot would be a plant that A) has a reasonable protein content in order to help with skeletal and body development, B) is able to produce a large amount of biomass in order to survive periods of heavy browse, C) has a high moisture content to help keep the herd hydrated throughout the hot summer months, D) has the ability to be disced/cultipacked on top of the fall crop to help build soil. My favorite seed that fits all of these criteria is quite simple: Buckwheat.

Buckwheat is readily available at most local seed stores and is typically reasonably priced. It is very drought tolerant and less affected by poor soil conditions in comparison to other popular seeds such as soybeans, peas, “summer specific whitetail blends”, etc. Buckwheat is known to be a great smother crop that will shoot up quickly after a controlled burn or discing. Because of this, it blocks sun from getting to native weeds or grasses and will outcompete them in your summer food plots.

If a one acre soybean crop is a 6oz filet mignon, a one acre buckwheat crop would be a 24oz cowboy cut ribeye. Buckwheat produces drastically more biomass per acre when compared to other common summer crops. It also will typically sit between 16-20% protein content which is ideal browse for whitetails in the summer months.

Another characteristic that makes buckwheat an ideal summer crop is the moisture content. Buckwheat is an extremely stocky plant that holds a tremendous amount of moisture in both its leaves and stems. This allows the whitetails to take in a large amount of water from their daily browse. In addition to the benefits to whitetail nutrition, one of the top reasons we have been using buckwheat is for it’s ability to be used in a no-till food plot program. Diving into no-till food plot theory could be an entire additional post. I think that Lindsay Thomas from QDMA did an amazing job of describing “no-till food plots” at the QDMA Whitetail Weekend in 2019. (If you are interested in this, I have included the link next to this section.)

For all of the above reasons, I feel that buckwheat is the perfect Rx for your summer food plots. It is easy to find, inexpensive, and resistant to summer drought & heat. Buckwheat is an unbelievable source of quality, protein-packed browse for your local herd throughout the summer months.

Cheers!

Whitetail Summer Food Plot Rx:

1. Early/Mid April (depending on planting schedule for your part of the country): Practice weed management via proper chemical treatments (glyphosate, arrest max, etc.) and/or prescribed burns.

2. During weed prevention and soil prep: Collect a soil sample and apply the necessary lime and fertilizer to get to recommended Ph and soil nutrient levels. Use cultipacker (use a good, high-quality cultipacker for this step. May be an upfront cost but well worth it…) or a light disc (if it is a newly established plot) to work lime and fertilizer into the soil.

3. Once all weeds are killed and fertilizer needs are met, wait for a good rain.

4. Just before a good, heavy rain; spread 50 lbs of buckwheat per acre. On newly established plots or ones with less thank ideal soil condition, it may be wise to bump this up to ~60ibs/acre to help smother our remnant weeds and provide more biomass to help with soil for your fall plant. As always, use a good quality cultipacker to ensure good seed/soil contact

5. Allow plot to grow until it is time to plant fall plots (ideally only 7-8 weeks). Be sure to not allow the buckwheat to go to seed. If it is getting close, mow down to keep it from seeding.

6. When it is time to plant fall plots; spread preferred fall blend right into the standing buck wheat, cultipack buckwheat stocks over fall seeds, then spray with appropriate amount on glyphosate (~2 quarts/acre) to get a good kill on your buckwheat. The spray is extremely important to ensure that all buckwheat & weeds are dead and also allow the decaying stocks to act as a natural fertilizer and moisture barrier for your fall seeds underneath.