Hey BM,
Did you think you could get away from me coming over here?!

The QDMA has a QDM bible, it's called Quality Whitetails-probably more than you want to know. Next, they have their magazine that comes out I believe 6 times a year-another great source.

In all you do on your property think strategically. It's better to have 3, 1 acre plots, than 1, 3 acre plot. By doing this the deer will use your plots more often. The location of the plots is an important issue as well. You already have great food sources around you, so you are just offering another piece of the pie, not the entire dinner. You might want to look at your food plots as harvest plots, situated away from hunter/human travel, and stretegically placed to allow for quite entrance and exit routes, use of already occuring natural funnels or travel corridors, and secluded daytime feeding opportunities. Food plots also work best when irregular in shape, with uneven edges and narrow points to allow for undisturbed feedings.

Increasing daytime feedings on strategically located food plots may improve the overall health of your herd, but it sounds like you already have a very healthy herd. Have you tried mineral stations? Usually 1 per every 40 acres is recommended. Go with a good brand, produced specificaly for deer, not cattle. I use Prince, it comes in a 5 gallon bucket, but I'm sure Imperial Whitetail 30-06 is great, as well as some of the other well known deer brands.

If you are very serious, get professional help. The QDMA associaton can give you some contacts for some whitetail management experts. I had Mark Thomas, a QDMA board member, come to my property last summer. He was great! He is a forester and biologist-a rare combination, and is an expert in native vegitation management, herbacide control, herbacide development, camera sensus population counts, forest manipulation, habitat improvement, and strategic food plot placement. There are others as well-Dr. Grant Woods, and even Dr. James Kroll-maybe a bit pricey though! Once you have a basic long range plan in place, those guys can help you fine tune your plan into reality, and minimize long-term mistakes, such as native plant destruction, food plot location mistakes, and poor timber practices.

Food plots are a different science all together. Liming, fertalization, planting, tilling, cutting, maintenance, soil tests, and deciding what and where to plant, can't be learned overnight.

Develop a long range plan, don't expect huge changes overnight, and try to get some expert advice along the way to help fine tune your efforts.

Jeff...U.P. of Michigan.