ZERO- TO 150-BOONE AND CROCKETT POINT BUCKS IN THREE YEARS

Drury's Planting Regimen

Editor's Note: By intensely managing deer for three years, Mark Drury, the creator of M.A.D. Calls and co-owner of Drury Outdoors Adventures saw the 2,100 acres of land he owned and leased go from having few if any shooter deer to producing 150-class bucks. His amazing story demonstrates what quality wildlife management can do for a deer herd when sportsmen willingly invest the time and money to produce better bucks. In 2001, Mark of St. Peters, Missouri, and his brother Terry Drury harvested five bucks that scored 150 or more Boone & Crockett points from property almost completely devoid of deer three years earlier. Could you do this on the lands where you hunt?

After the first year's planting, the Drurys changed their planting regimen and started to plant soybeans and corn instead of soybeans and milo. "Of the 60 acres I plant, I'll plant 15 acres in corn and 30 acres in soybeans," Mark Drury explains. "I plant soybeans so heavily because of their high-protein content. I also plant Mossy Oak's BioLogic Clover, and in the fall of the year, I plant BioLogic's Fall Attractant. I want to make sure that I have plenty of green-growing plants, not only in the spring and summer, but especially in the fall and winter. I also plant winter wheat and oats that deer find extremely palatable."

Drury always has several crops in his food plots throughout the year, and he rotates his crops in the food plots at different times of the year. So, not only do the deer have highly-nutritious food in the food plots, they have a variety of foods available in each food plot. Making several plantings in a single food plot requires much more effort. But the benefit to the deer and the hunters, according to Drury, makes the effort worthwhile.

To learn more about Drury Outdoors Adventures, call (800) 990-9451, or go to www.druryoutdoors.com.

TOMORROW: THE FIRST 150-POINT BUCK