Failure to plan is planning to fail. So, if you want the ultimate food plot, you will need to put together a plan that will lead to success.

Start with a soil test. By knowing what you have in your soil, you won't waste your hard-earned money on fertilizer you don't need, and seed that won't grow well in that type of soil.

After you get a soil analysis done, unless you know how to read the analysis, you should have a soil and seed consultant help you put together a plan of what to apply and what seed blend will do best in your soil.

Don't forget that Good Ground Grows Great Game. Antler growth expression is linked to good healthy living soil and nutrient-dense forage. After you have a soil test and see your limiting factors you can make the proper adjustments to help improve soil health.

Avoid using synthetic fertilizers and harsh chemicals and use diverse seed blends and natural fertilizers that will help feed the biology in your soil instead of killing it. Studies show that plant-derived fertilizers are taken up by plants more effectively than synthetic fertilizers and won't kill the microbes in your soil.

Deer are ruminants and like to browse on a diversity of plants and food sources. "Grow it and they will come" holds true if you have followed the steps of building the ultimate food plot.

Select the right seed blends for the soils; you can build soil while still providing a diverse food source for your whitetail deer, which is key to success. Timber stand improvement is also very important to help keep quality native browse there for wildlife.

Whether you are planting food plots or supplemental feeding, it is important to know what products can have the biggest impact on overall herd health and will make a difference in expressing more of the genetic potential of Whitetail deer and other wildlife.

Let's start with natural food sources, because studies show that the plants have higher percentages of digestible minerals than supplemental feed and minerals. So, if we plant food plots and take the proper steps of balancing the soil so the plant can take up the minerals and be a complete protein food source, this will ensure that the whole herd can express more of its genetic potential and build immunity to many of the diseases it will face.

Another way to enhance forage is by foliar spraying it with a fertilizer to directly inject the nutrients into the plants. For supplemental feeding, focus on minerals that are stable and balanced with the right ratios for free choice feeding. Vitamins in a free choice mineral mix are not stable and will break down rather quickly.

Avoid using a feed with high protein numbers, as most of those probably have urea in the feed as a source of protein. Crude protein in the 13-15% is ideal for free ranging whitetail deer and should have adequate fiber and fat content.

Quality native vegetation is very important to whitetail deer and a big portion of their diet. Enhance your browse by managing your timber with select cutting and doing some clear cuts to regenerate the forest. Foliar feeding native vegetation is also a great way to improve the browse quality.

Also consider prescribed burns if you can perform those on your property. This is a great way to re-mineralize your soils and regenerate forbs and natural browse. Always check your state and township laws before doing a prescribed fire.

Security is most important to mature buck over anything else, so having adequate cover can help you host more mature buck on your property. Switchgrass bedding areas are a great way to hold more deer on your property, and security around your food plots will help make deer feel more comfortable feeding in daylight hours.

We have all heard this term, and this especially holds true when it comes to hunting mature whitetails. There is a right place to put any Hunting Blind or tree stand, and this should be a part of every serious whitetail hunter's planning if you want to achieve success over your ultimate food plot.

Consider access as the most critical piece of the plan, because if you do not have good low-pressure access getting to and from your blind or stand location, you will burn out that stand very quickly. Knowing what the winds do and how the thermals travel on your property, along with knowing where the deer are bedding, is what will help you decide where to place the stand or blind.

Blinds that are designed to be quiet and can contain your scent will help put the odds in your favor. Bottom-entry blinds on the edges of food plots with screening in front and camo wrapping around the stand can be key to slipping in and out of the blind without educating the deer.

Depending on what state you hunt, you may need to adjust your strategy to bring that target buck within bow range. Some states allow baiting and attractants, and feed can bring them within range, but natural food sources or natural scents are still the most effective in fooling a mature buck.

Natural glandular scents are a great way to help draw a mature buck within range. Using glandular scents will make it as real as possible, and is what they are looking for over just plain urine scents which turn to ammonia within hours.

Making a mock scrape by using grape vine about ¾" thick is the ideal way of attracting bucks into range. Natural hemp ropes have been found to hold on to scent longer and have been effective attracting deer year-round.

Mineral sites and feeders are great ways to supplement on small acreage properties and urban areas.

You can only manage what you measure. You want to know what you are doing: improving soils (which in return will improve your whitetail deer herd, as well as the whole eco-system).

As a steward of these resources, we are responsible to monitor and make decisions based on results, and not some fancy marketing pitch. With trail cameras and lots of the tools we have available in this day and age it can help make our job easier.

Recording the weights and keeping good harvest records are important in knowing what the health of the herd is and how it's improving with your management techniques. We should consider using a stewardship journal to keep track of what we have done so if something works, we know how to repeat it.