The early October wind came from a perfect direction for me to hunt a new stand that I had placed the summer before. I wasn't sure what to expect from this new location, but sitting in a tree and watching Mother Nature's show was always worthwhile.

The author has personally tested numerous varieties of warm season native grasses to find out which ones best stand up to harsh weather conditions such as snow and high winds. Fields planted in these grasses make excellent whitetail bedding areas.

Back in May, I had planted 15 acres of native warm season grasses in three separate tracts on this property. These grass fields now stood 8 feet tall and appeared to offer the local deer a prime bedding area. The stand I was hunting was situated right in the corner of an 8-acre field containing these grasses. My elevated position gave me the perfect chance to see the entire field and gauge how well the whitetails were receiving their new bedroom.

After settling in, I started glassing the field with my Vortex optics, looking for bedded whitetails. Within minutes, I spotted the antlers of a buck bedded only 50 yards away. His rack blended perfectly with the tall grass, but my elevated position allowed me to catch the movement of his antlers as he swiveled his head.

By the time darkness ended my hunt, eight different bucks had risen to their feet and exited the bedding cover as they made their way to feed in nearby fields. Although none of them were old enough to interest me, I was impressed to say the least. Six months earlier, this field was covered in cornstalks. Now it was such prime whitetail bedding cover that it held one buck per acre!

THE HABITAT PUZZLE
Although I don't own a huge tract of land, I've been blessed with 120 acres on which I've been able to implement my management program. I've learned a lot of valuable lessons over the years, and I've been able to share many of those lessons with the readers of North American Whitetail, as well as with the clients who hire me to improve the whitetail habitat on their property. In their quest to create prime whitetail habitat and hunting opportunities, I've seen areas where both novices and experts have placed a lot of emphasis, and I've also seen areas they've totally ignored.

Food plots have become the rage in the whitetail hunting community. I think it's safe to say that today's whitetail herd is better fed than at any other time in history! In some cases, though, we've gone so far to the extreme in planting food plots that we have offered foods that deer won't eat.

I venture to say that anyone who has done even the most minimal amount of habitat work has probably tried his or her hand at planting a food plot. Food plots definitely have their place in the management picture, and they are an important piece of the overall habitat puzzle. But they are far from being the most critical piece, especially for the landowner/manager looking to improve hunting success.

GOOD COVER A MUST
Quality bedding cover is far and away the most important thing that any whitetail enthusiast can provide on his or her property. Think about it for a minute. Where does a mature buck spend the greatest amount of time during daylight hours? I'll give you a hint: It isn't in the middle of a food plot! A mature buck demands security, and he'll go as far as necessary to find it. It's nothing for a buck to wait in his sanctuary until dark and then walk two miles cross-country to a prime feeding location. He will leave huge tracks, rubs, scrapes and other sign near the feeding area that will increase the pulse of any hunter on the property.

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