Whitetail Institute Oats Plus

[Appleman]

Has anybody tried Whitetail Institute Oats Plus? I would like to hear your feedback. This was the first season that we planted this product. We have an assortment of food plots on our 250 acre property that includes red and white clover, chicory, soybean, turnips, and apple tree plots. Of this list, soybean and apples have prevailed as a main attraction until the food ran out by mid-season on the property. Our deer densities are some of the highest in the Northeast, which makes it challenging to maintain a food source that will provide into late season. I was fortunate this past season to harvest a doe, seven-pointer, and black bear from one of the orchards. During rifle season in mid-November I shot a 181lb seven pointer in the soybean. By mid-November red clover, white clover, and soybean were exhausted. Apples hung around until late November but due to the drought conditions of the summer the apples dropped earlier then expected. Then there is the newest member of our food plot group, WI Oats Plus, and here is what we discovered:
During the last week of July we planted a bag of Oats Plus on a food plot located 1.25 miles to the back of our property located a short distance from the border of Quebec. Despite little precipitation after planting and being in sandy loamy soil the Oats flourished. By the time Archery season came around, the first week in October, it was thick and green. The game cameras showed good whitetail activity. During the three hunting periods we often saw deer visiting the oats. My son-in-law missed two deer (needs to practice), and my best friend harvested a doe. Similar deer visits were also seen in the clovers and soybean, until the food ran out. I passed on 3 bucks and numerous does in the oats. In spite of the Oats being 3/4 acres in size, half the size of the other food plots, it withstood heavy foraging. It was the last food plot standing by the mid-November rifle season., (exception: being the turnips which were just becoming palpable for deer to eat). Then came along muzzle loading season in early December. The oats still had a lot left to attract deer. Amazingly, the oats covered with snow were still dark green. During the early-December muzzle season, deer came to the oats most every afternoon just as if it were candy. A deer path down the middle looked more like a cow path. When the seasons finally came to a close in mid-December we made a visit after to the oat plot. The deer had heavily dug into the snow to forage. It looked like a war zone. We also would catch deer bounding off out of the oats.
I found WI Oats Plus it to be an excellent attraction for all seasons. I was very excited to witness for the first time a food plot that attracted whitetails, from beginning to end, and still offered more to eat in post season.
I would like to hear about your experience if you have used WI Oats Plus.

 

[meyerske]

I've also used it with good results. I'm sure there will be folks who will say that it's a rip off, but I only need 2 bags and it's convenient and works well. If I spend ~$40 too much every year, I'm OK with that.

 

[yoderjac]

"Rip off" is in the eyes of the beholder. Like all BOB seed for tiny plots where cost is not an issue, I'm sure it is convenient. Of course, it say something about a company when they advertise their product heavily and don't provide the seed tag on line. At least they are not trying to use the "brassica toxicity" argument like BFO was doing for a while. For my deer, cereal is cereal.

 

[Rit]

I haven’t planted that particular variety of oats but I know they eat the $8.50/ a bushel oats I have planted in the past just fine. Some good marketing spins on WI’s part by stating they found a secret special brand of oats that had to be removed from a forage test because the deer were grazing them too heavy.

The summary of what is in the bag says they also included winter wheat and Triticale but I couldn’t find a picture of the actual seed label to see what the percentages were.

 

[chummer]

I think the draw is for northern guys. I believe generic oats turn brown after they freeze. Your experience is what WI is selling, green oats into December. I use a lot of WI products for the amount I am planting price is not an issue. I have planted many different clovers and theirs blows everyone else away.

 

[yoderjac]

I think the draw is for northern guys. I believe generic oats turn brown after they freeze. Your experience is what WI is selling, green oats into December. I use a lot of WI products for the amount I am planting price is not an issue. I have planted many different clovers and theirs blows everyone else away.

Spring oats don't over winter here in my zone, but WR fills that niche quite well. For my deer, cereal is cereal. Each cereal grain is more attractive than the others when it peaks here, but I don't notice any overall strong preference differences between cereal grains.

Keep in mind that I believe "crop attraction" is overrated in general. It is my assessment that it is at least a second if not third order effect over other factors during hunting season here. Deer have an algorithm that constantly runs in there head that weighs food, risk, and sex. Sex generally wins when hormones elevate it, but food and risk are always present. Once hunting season begins in our area, deer become much more sensitive to risk. The location of the food plot relative to hunting pressure are much larger factors than relative "crop attraction". Our deer become more and more nocturnal as pressure increases over the season. Our seasons run from Oct through early Jan and go from Archery through Muzzleloader and finally into general firearm with each successive season having greater hunter participation.

So, if I have one cereal in one field that is slightly more attractive than another cereal grain in another field, any daytime use earlier in the season will be driven by the location of each field with respect to bedding and transition cover and relative hunting pressure. By the end of the season, attraction doesn't matter because the deer are eating from their favorite field well after dark.

Things may be different in other regions, but that is my experience.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[swat1018]

Do the WI oats every die off in your winters? I mix standard horse oats in with my rye, and is good to the first hard freeze.

 

[Appleman]

First year planting it. It is an annual so I expect to lose it come spring. It was nice and green until the last time I checked it about 2 weeks ago.

 

[Peplin Creek]

I have used this brand of oat in the past when I didn’t have a bunch of plots to plant. I now just by a bag of feed oats and and a bag of winter rye. What I will say is the WI brand does stay green longer. Mid-Late November. Deer seemed to like as well. For me I can plant feed oats and rye for the price of one WI oats plus bag which is why i stopped getting it. If I recall, the mix was pretty much all oats as well.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I planted it a number of years ago and the deer ate it well. I've been thinking of planting it again the past couple of seasons but cant justify the price. Maybe someday I'll give it a shot again.

 

[Appleman]

"Rip off" is in the eyes of the beholder. Like all BOB seed for tiny plots where cost is not an issue, I'm sure it is convenient. Of course, it say something about a company when they advertise their product heavily and don't provide the seed tag on line. At least they are not trying to use the "brassica toxicity" argument like BFO was doing for a while. For my deer, cereal is cereal.

One thing learned over the years deer react differently to various food sources depending on weather, time of year, hunting pressure, other food sources in surrounding area. Pure and simple we all have to experiment, learn, and decide what works best. We have in the past experimented with BFO and oat seed from Tractor Supply. I was neither impressed with these brands of oats. If the deer sightings and hunting success we had this past season is any indication how IWO will perform in the future, then I am sold on this product.

 

[yoderjac]

One thing learned over the years deer react differently to various food sources depending on weather, time of year, hunting pressure, other food sources in surrounding area. Pure and simple we all have to experiment, learn, and decide what works best. We have in the past experimented with BFO and oat seed from Tractor Supply. I was neither impressed with these brands of oats. If the deer sightings and hunting success we had this past season is any indication how IWO will perform in the future, then I am sold on this product.

I would suggest that deer sightings and hunting success are influenced by so many first order factors that second and third order factors like the attractiveness of a particular cereal grain variety over another are essentially non-contributors. Plant what makes you happy and you feel works for you, but don't delude yourself into thinking that one BOB product over another are driving factors in your hunting success. The only real success that are driving is the owners of the food plot industry companies. That doesn't mean the BOB seed does not fill an important niche for some food plotting situations.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I planted it in SE MN and the deer didn't care for it. They would randomly browse in it, but not any more or less than the cheap oats I bought at the co-op. I will say that year I experimented I had a lot of food plots and the deer had more options, so they didn't have to eat oats if they didn't want to and for the most part they didn't want to. They definitely preferred soybeans the most and the brassica blends were hit next after the beans were gone. I will say that the whitetail institute brassicas were preferred more than the cheap generic brassica seed though. The deer eventually ate all the brassicas, but hit the whitetail institute brassicas first.

Deer are goofy though, so they could do the exact opposite at a property 5 miles away. But based on those results from that test 5 years ago I've made soybeans the backbone of my plots.

 

[H20fwler]

I’ve tried the WI products off and on for twenty years and didn’t see much difference in use from feed store seed plots. I am in a very high agriculture area with plenty of winter wheat fields and no till ground for deer to eat on through the winter and after deer gun it isn’t common to see deer in the open again until mid winter.
I think a lot of the food plots work better where there isn’t thousands of acres of agricultural browes and waste grain to feed on. Deer seem to focus more on things that aren’t as common for them to get just anywhere like later hanging fruit or forage. Still after deer gun in late November early December they have been so harassed by road hunters and the orange army that they stay in cover most of the day.

 

[Northbound]

I planted the wi and feed mill oats side by side. Was hoping to see a difference but we had very hard frosts early that year and both where useless early. I know one plotter in upper Michigan that swears by them however I don't know that he's ever actually planted feed grade oats so likely just trying to justify his seed choice. I have seen his oats green under early snow, that could be that the snow comes early in the u.p. and insulated them?
I want to believe that they stay green longer, and I'd likely buy them just for the chance if they where as easy to get as going 4 miles down the road to feed mill for bin run oats. ..

 

[yoderjac]

I know things are different in each situation, but I have a hard time getting past the overall benefits of WR to worry about how long oats last. Handles poor pH and infertile soils, allelopathic effects on weeds, OM benefits to soil, ... in addition to being used by deer just like any other cereal in my area.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

As H20 said in post #14, deer are looking for certain things for various reasons. We can have beautiful green plots, but if acorns are available on the ground, deer will hammer the acorns with only "snacking" on the plots, and spot-checking for late-hanging apples or crabs. Acorns have more fat calories.

And if the orange army / gun fire has deer spooked, they'll adjust their feed preferences and times to insure safety. After gun season is over here, (and during it actually), deer will only come out after dark - no matter what food is out there. Our camp hasn't had good luck with fall-planted oats. They freeze out - as opposed to winter wheat and winter rye that stay green for us.

 

[Charles Clear]

After reading so many great reviews, I put some in this year. They didn’t touch it until January, which isn’t a bad thing, but for the price, I’m not too impressed. They are eating it though. Not hammering it. The nearby brassica, turnip, and radish plot is getting hammered though