Just ask anyone who likes to take trophy whitetail deer on a consistent basis what you can do to get a trophy of your own, and the answer will usually be the same: plant food plots. Jim Rinaudo of Shreveport, Louisiana is a mastermind in the ways of supplemental feeding for big whitetails. He’s logged hours upon hours studying what works and what doesn’t when trying to grow large whitetail deer, and the hard work that he and his fellow club members have done is beginning to pay off. “We have 1,800 acres in DeSoto Parish that we hunt, and we manage close to 500 acres with food plots and an 8-point rule,” Rinaudo stated.  ”I’m the type of guy who owned a tractor before owning a four-wheeler. I believe in food plots 100% for growing big deer and it’s starting to show.”

The morning of November 18th is when Rinaudo received his Master’s Degree in whitetail management; it came in the form of a buck that scored an astounding 179 6/8″. The typical 12 point was one that his brother called a “deer of a lifetime.” Knowing how deer can pattern the movement of people, and how busy the weekend can be, Rinaudo decided to hunt during the middle of the week to try to hopefully catch a big deer thinking he was in the clear. He got settled into his box stand that morning, fully knowing from trail camera pictures that good deer were in the area, but just how good was still yet to be seen.

This DeSoto Parish monster, killed by Jim Rinaudo, was a product of intense food plot management.

Rinaudo watched as a turkey came into the plot and started meandering though the clover that he’d planted. “I was watching the turkey, and all of the sudden he spooked,” Rinaudo said. “I knew there must be something in the woods close and knew I had better get ready.” No sooner had these thoughts ran through his mind, a big deer stepped into his shooting lane. “I got my gun up and out as fast as I could, and the deer came into the lane and looked at the turkey. He then smelled the ground where I had drug my scent rag, and just that fast was at the other side about to go into the woods,” Rinaudo stated. A well placed neck shot from his Remington Model 7600 pump .270 dropped the behemoth in his tracks.

Rinaudo slowly tried to process what just happened and started gathering his things to leave, when a doe stepped out just down from where the buck laid dead. “I decided to take the doe too,” he laughed. “It was ironic because last season I did the same thing with another good buck and a doe. We had pictures of this deer (pictured) last year but he wasn’t quite this big.”

Jim began telling me of his theories in food plot management, and I immediately felt like I was back in school. Except this time, I paid attention:

“I’ve read David Mooreland with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ book on growing big whitetails and Grow ‘Em Right By Neil and Craig Dougherty. We also get soil samples from the state before we even think about planting a food plot. Another good buck was taken just a few days after mine, and now the rest of our club, plus some surrounding clubs want to get together at the end of the hunting season so they can get on the same type of food plot management we’re doing on our 500 acres.”