Whitetail Institute Pure Attraction Reviews??

[Garrett2006]

Has anyone on here planted Whitetail Institute’s Pure Attraction for their Fall food plot? Just ordered 4 bags of it to try & wandering if anyone has had good success with it. I have been told it does great in all soil type, of course that’s with the proper steps taken to achieve great results as well. Looking for maybe some pictures of it after it’s been planted. Thanks

 

[Rit]

http://habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/wi-pure-attraction.8073/

 

[yoderjac]

WTI sells some pretty good seed. The only downside is the extremely high cost on a per acre basis based on how they sell the seed. For folks who want convenience and are planting tiny plots, they have nice products for that niche. There is nothing particularly special about the seed. If cost is a factor and you are planting significant acreage, you'll do much better buying individual seed and mixing yourself. My advice is to ignore the name, all the advertising and everything on the bag except the seed tag. That tells you what is in the bag. In many cases you will find a high percentage of inexpensive common seed and a small percentage of their improved varieties in the bag. BOB seed companies name their product with a product name like "Pure Attraction". They can then vary the seed in the bag and the percentages from batch to batch based on economics of the seed they buy. So, it is hard to compare how well it will do based on the product name.

Keep in mind there is very few seeds that do well in all soils and climates. Most of the BOB seed is sold for a very wide consumer group. So, some seed in the bag may do well in some conditions and other seed may do well under other conditions. So, depending on the mix and your location it may be performing "well" for very different reasons. Of course, you may be paying for seed that is adding nothing as well.

The bottom line is that unless you are in a pretty close location and you both got seed from the same batch. The experience of others with BOB seed (pretty much any BOB seed) may be different.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[eclipseman]

Has anyone on here planted Whitetail Institute’s Pure Attraction for their Fall food plot? Just ordered 4 bags of it to try & wandering if anyone has had good success with it. I have been told it does great in all soil type, of course that’s with the proper steps taken to achieve great results as well. Looking for maybe some pictures of it after it’s been planted. Thanks

I agree with what others have said but only to a point. If you are planting 2 acres or less, then Whitetail institute pure attraction is a great mix. You will see the term BOB which means Buck On Bag seeds. Contrary to popular belief, Whitetail institute truly does make some experimentally improved seeds. Now are they improved to be worth the cost...eh I don't think so. I have used Frigid Forage and Whitetail Institute both of which are your typical BOB seed companies. Both grew very well assuming I did my part (proper timing, soil preparation, pH, and fertilizer). I have also made my own mixes using local coop seed which grew well. The problem I have is sometimes my local coop does not have what I need for my specific mixes and ordering seed from online seed stores can be almost as expensive as BOB seeds depending on shipping costs. When I was planting 10 acres with my father, it was imperative to get seed in bulk but now that im only planting a smaller 2 acre plot I just go with BOB seeds and call it a day. FYI...the newer frigid forage brassica mix comes with Kale which is pretty cool and im trying this year. Whitetail Institute pure Attraction is a mix of oats, Rape, PPT and I believe winter peas...The problem you face with this mix is you need to plant now basically for the brassicas to be nice and large for fall deer season, but now is a bit early for the oats. By the time the season starts the oats will likely be larger and stemy and deer don't really care for that. The good news is since it is a mix, the deer should in theory hang around and start eating the other stuff in the mix which is what I saw at my property.

 

[Rit]

It’s good to plant in strips or blocks for that very reason but it is a pain sometimes to plant twice.

 

[yoderjac]

I agree with what others have said but only to a point. If you are planting 2 acres or less, then Whitetail institute pure attraction is a great mix. You will see the term BOB which means Buck On Bag seeds. Contrary to popular belief, Whitetail institute truly does make some experimentally improved seeds. Now are they improved to be worth the cost...eh I don't think so. I have used Frigid Forage and Whitetail Institute both of which are your typical BOB seed companies. Both grew very well assuming I did my part (proper timing, soil preparation, pH, and fertilizer). I have also made my own mixes using local coop seed which grew well. The problem I have is sometimes my local coop does not have what I need for my specific mixes and ordering seed from online seed stores can be almost as expensive as BOB seeds depending on shipping costs. When I was planting 10 acres with my father, it was imperative to get seed in bulk but now that im only planting a smaller 2 acre plot I just go with BOB seeds and call it a day. FYI...the newer frigid forage brassica mix comes with Kale which is pretty cool and im trying this year. Whitetail Institute pure Attraction is a mix of oats, Rape, PPT and I believe winter peas...The problem you face with this mix is you need to plant now basically for the brassicas to be nice and large for fall deer season, but now is a bit early for the oats. By the time the season starts the oats will likely be larger and stemy and deer don't really care for that. The good news is since it is a mix, the deer should in theory hang around and start eating the other stuff in the mix which is what I saw at my property.

When I said "there is nothing special about their seed.", I did not mean to imply they don't have a few improved exclusively licensed varieties. The do. But there are competing improved varieties of the same crops that are just as good in general. However, all named varieties have their own set of unique characteristics. The question comes down to this: Do the specific characteristics of Variety A fit your particular situation and objectives better than the specific characteristics of Variety B and if there is a cost differential, is the difference worth it to you. That is why I say "Ignore the brand, hype, and packaging and look at the seed tag". The seed tag will tell you what varieties of seed are in the bag. You can compare the characteristics of specific varieties from there. In some cases, variety can matter a lot. Chicory is an example of this. Some chicory varieties have a very high tannin content and are not very palatable to deer while other are readily consumed. In other cases like cereal grains, deer (in my area anyway) don't even pay much attention to which cereal grain it is let alone variety of a specific cereal.

All BOB seed is expensive on a per/lb basis but some is much more expensive than others. One good example of this is clover. WTI has some great improved clovers, but they don't sell the seed outside a mix. Pennington has a great improved variety called Durana and they do sell it outside a mix. It is quite expensive compared to common clovers like ladino, but has some great characteristics that fit my situation and objectives well. I pay about $5/lb for it which is about twice the cost of ladino for me. The WTI improved clovers are sold in a mix. Much of the bag contains inexpensive annual clover (Berseem) and a small percentage of the bag is their improved varieties. When you subtract out the inexpensive common seed cost and look at the per pound cost of their improved seed, it is astronomical.

Having said that, cost is not always a determining factor. If you are planting 20 acres for QDM, seed cost adds up quickly and money spent on one aspect of QDM is money not available for another. If you are planting a small 1/4 acre plot for attraction, cost may not be a factor at all and buying and mixing individual seed for such a small plot is not worth the aggravation. BOB seed is a perfect fit for this niche. While the added cost you pay for the advertising, marketing, and fancy bag may be a high percentage, but the total cost for 1/4 acre is insignificant.

You make some great points about the limitations of mixes in general. I'm doing larger acreages, so I don't use BOB seed in general. Mixing your own does have some advantages. If you want large tubers, PTT can be planted first, and cereal grains can be surface broadcast at a later date. This isn't possible with a pre-mix.

Thanks,

jack