N6243 Noble Court Black River Falls, WI 54615 Toll Free (888) ANTLER1 Fax (715) 284-7665 antlerking@antlerking.com Antler King © Online Home Products Catalog Specials FAQs Sweepstakes Links Where To Buy Order Online Dealers Partners Bigger Bucks • Healthier Deer Deer Program Elk Program Seminars Frequently Asked Questions Q: What should I plant? A: This certainly is a loaded question, and I really need more information on the goals of the individual, the layout of the property and surrounding properties, and if the landowner has other food plots on the property. If the landowner’s goals are simply to establish some plots to hunt over, especially during the gun firearm season, I might suggest they plant the ANTLER KING HONEY HOLE, or RED ZONE. If the landowner, has goals to manage his property to grow, keep, and ultimately harvest mature bucks on this parcel, then the planting picture will look much different. With this goal in mind, I know that we need to create a “year around” food plot program with the ultimate goal to always have food available for the deer herd on this property. Simply put, I never want them to run out of highly nutritious food because I know that if they run out of food, they will leave this property to look for food sources. Your goal should be to have a minimum of 5-10% of your property in food plots. With normal deer densities if you have less than 5% of your property in food plots, chances are very good that you will run out of food for your deer herd by fall. And, once you are out of food, goodbye to your deer. I really urge landowners to shoot for 10% of their property in food plots, so if you own 120 acres, shoot for a total of 12 acres in food plots. So, with this property in mind, I want to create a “year around” program that will need to include high protein spring summer and early fall forage along with high energy fall and winter forage plots. In this case, I would suggest approximately 60% of the 12 acres in high protein perennials such as Antler King’s TROPHY CLOVER MIX and MINI MAX (MINI MAX works great for logging roads and somewhat shady hard to reach openings in the timber). These seed mixes will offer the deer herd a high protein and energy rich diet during the spring summer and fall months which will be very important for maximum antler growth for the bucks and nutrients for the lactating does and fawns that are developing their skeletal systems. In this case, I have about 5 acres left of the 12 available to plant. I want to focus on fall and winter food sources for these remaining 5 acres. Fall and winter food sources for the deer family need to be high in energy whereas spring and summer sources need to be high in protein. Antler King’s HONEY HOLE, RED ZONE and FALL/WINTER/SPRING FOOD PLOT BLEND are all GREAT fall and winter sources. While the plants in these mixes may also be high in protein, they are all chocked full of energy. Energy laden food sources are so important for deer as they get ready for winter and certainly for the bucks as they try to replace weight that they have lost as a result of the rut. My goal is to always have food available for the deer family all year long. I never want to give them a reason to leave a property in search of alternative food sources. Q: Why do i need to take a soil test and what is the most important part of the soil test? A: A soil test will give you the current state of nutrients in the soil that you plan on using for a food plot. For example you may find out that you need little if any fertilizer. By far the most important component of the soil test is the ph level of the soil. The ph level in the soil will indicate the acidity or alkalinity of the soil. For the most part, everything that we want to plant for deer will grow the best at a neutral ph of 7.0, so that should be your goal when testing your soil?S ph and deciding how much lime to add to raise the ph level, add enough lime to raise that plot'S ph to 7.0. The ph is really the environment that the plant(s) has to live in. Many of the plants we want to grow for deer simply cannot germinate and thrive in low ph soils. To make this very simple, correcting the ph is as important to these plants as having oxygen available for us. Simply put, if we don'T have oxygen available to breathe, we will die-so, if you plant species that need a relatively high ph level in order to grow, and you ignore testing the soil for the ph level and try planting and get poor or no results, it could certainly be that the ph is too low for these plants. Q: I don't think that i have to test my soil because i have good black dirt. A: The color of the soil is not necessarily the indication of a low or high ph level. You need to test! Q: I am going to be planting on a plot that the farmer had planted to corn last year, and the corn grew well so i don't think I need to check the ph. A: Yes, you do need to check the ph-many crops that farmers plant (such as corn, soybeans, wheat, and rye) can grow in low ph soils, whereas clovers and other legumes we want to plant for deer need a high ph. Q: I put down plenty of fertilizer, so I don't need to check my ph and worry about putting down any lime. A: Wrong-fertilizer is plant food and will not raise the ph level of the soil-in fact if your ph is not at a 7.0, much of the fertilizer cannot be used by the plants and is wasted. With the drastic increase in fertilizer prices, take the time and effort to test your soil and apply the proper amount of lime. Q: How much lime do I need to add, how often do I need to spread lime, and can I just spread it on top of the soil without discing it into the ground? A: Your ph test will tell you how much lime to add. Be prepared to add several tons of lime. Generally it will take several tons per acre of lime to raise the ph-generally once you spread the proper amount of lime to raise the ph to a 7.0, you may not have to add lime again for 5 years or more and then it will probably not be as much as you had to add initially. Lime needs to be disced or tilled into the ground. Lime setting on top of the ground can blow away or take virtually forever to wash into the soil and raise the ph. Q: How do I check my ph? A: You can submit a soil sample to a fertilizer plant who in turn will send it in to a laboratory. Be prepared to wait a couple weeks to get the results, or you can use an instant ph soil test kit from Antler King. These kits allow you to test 4 different plots and it is a "Do it yourself." Within 20 painless minutes, you will know the ph level of your plots and most importantly, it will also give you the amount of lime you need to add to these plots. Q: What is PLOT MAX? Is it a type of liquid fertilizer? A: PLOT MAX is not a liquid fertilizer but a product that “amends or conditions” the soil. It interacts in the soil whereas liquid foliar fed fertilizers must be absorbed through the plant’s stem and leaves. PLOT MAX is in essence a soil “tune-up” that allows your soil to function at its greatest ability to produce forage. PLOT MAX raises the pH in the soil, raises Organic Matter, and allows for maximum aeration of the soil so that PLOT MAX helps “wet spots” in fields drain and dry fields retain moisture. Simply put, PLOT MAX is a must for someone that wants to raise the most succulent forage on their plots.