I’ll tell you, as I learn more and more about land management and deer behavior, I can’t help but see the similarities between a deer’s mentality and a human's. For example, when we find a restaurant we like, we keep going back. Deer are no different; when they find a food source that meets both their nutritional needs and tastes like it came from a Paula Deen recipe book for deer, they're hooked.

The combination of taste and nutritional value is the philosophy behind Deer Trac—a new product that Foxworthy Outdoors and Helena Chemical Company have teamed up to create. Deer Trac makes any existing plant food source healthier, better tasting and more palatable.

Deer Trac is not a rice- or grain-based feed attractant. It's more like a fertilizer, made of all-natural ingredients, which are absorbed by a plant. It's kind of like a marinade for plants. Spread it on naturally growing food plots 10-20 days before you plan to hunt the area, get out the way and let it go to work. A little rainfall is all it takes to move the product into the soil profile so the plant can move the key trace elements into the plant tissue. It won’t mold or mildew, and won’t get eaten by nuisance animals such as hogs, coyotes, raccoons and other pests. Best of all, it stays active for 30 days, so you won’t have to disturb the areas it's applied to on a weekly basis like you would with other grain-based products. Deer Trac makes a land manager’s life pretty darn easy, and increases a bowhunter’s likelihood of slapping a tag on buck.

The clump of soybeans in the foreground were voraciously attacked because of Deer Trac.

We mostly bowhunt on the farm here in Georgia, but it has always been a challenge to get deer in bow range when hunting over a large food plot. Nothing is as frustrating as watching a deer feed on the other side of a field when the sun is setting on the day ... and your chances of a shot opportunity.

Here's where Deer Trac shines: Trials conducted at the Foxworthy Farm and several universities show that deer will bypass untreated areas to feed on vegetation Deer Trac has been applied to. It's like me at a buffet—I skip the salad bar and head straight to the crab legs and steak.

At the farm we've applied Deer Trac to isolated patches of vegetation right in front of our hunting stands. These treated areas are getting hammered by deer. When they enter the field each evening, they head directly to the treated zones.

My buddies in states where baiting is illegal keep telling me how happy they are to finally use a product to help influence a deer’s pattern. Because Deer Trac is taken up by the plant, it's not really a baiting product. Your food plots are the steaks; Deer Trac is just a little seasoning to make them more appealing. It's legal in most states, but just to be sure, check your local regulations.

I'm looking forward to sharing the results of using this product with you this season. Bow season has just arrived in Georgia, and you can bet I'll be perched in a tree overlooking a Deer Trac patch, bow in hand, waiting for the right buck to come along.

(Foxworthy note: Deer Trac comes packaged in a 10-pound bag that will treat a quarter acre and retails for $24.99. You can learn more about it right here, or contact info@foxworthyoutdoors.com.)