As a child, he often played hooky to fish, carrying his cane pole and cigar tin full of his favorite lures or freshly dug worms. His love of fishing would eventually lead him to found the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society¨ (B.A.S.S.¨) in 1968 which now claims over one-half million members.

In the process, Scott created a multi-billion dollar bass fishing industry and became determined not only to protect and preserve the fishing resource and the environment, but to improve them as well.

When Scott was first introduced to serious deer hunting as a teenager, he was literally hooked again. He has often said, "I make my money fishing and I spend it hunting."

He pursues excellence in hunting just as he did in fishing. And just as he became fascinated with improving the fishing environment and the quality of fishing, he became equally determined to improve the quality of deer and deer hunting in his home state of Alabama.

Scott loves to talk about the dynamics of food forage and fishing and its effects on a good fishery. In the same way, he zeroed in on deer nutrition as a way hunters and land managers could actively and positively play a role in the enhancement of their own whitetail herds and their total hunting experience.

Scott's legendary frustration with whitetail forage plantings led to his personal pursuit of a clover formulation specifically for whitetail deer. He took it upon himself to conduct an experiment with native and northern deer to see if genetics was indeed destiny and found that with proper nutrition, the southern deer almost caught up with their northern cousins in three years. The rest, as they say, is history.

Ray Scott grew up in Montgomery, Alabama with two brothers. He graduated from high school at Starke Military School which he attended on an athletic scholarship.

An excellent football player, he also participated on the local 13-year-old YMCA team. Scott managed to solicit football jerseys from the local pawnshop. As a reward, he was selected quarterback. Another 13-year-old named Bart Starr played guard.

After a hitch in the Army, Scott attended Auburn University and graduated with a degree in business. In the middle of a very successful career selling insurance, he went for broke and followed his dream of creating a national bass fishing tournament trail. His tournament concept led to the creation of a national bass fishing organization - the "Bass Anglers Sportsman Society" which he sold in 1986, serving as President for another 12 years.

He has been much recognized and highly honored for his work in conservation, the environment and boating safety. He is credited with popularizing and firmly establishing the concept of catch-and-release across the country.

(His biography BASS BOSS by Robert Boyle is available by calling 1-800-518-7222 or online at www.rayscott.net)

The Whitetail Institute Product Consultants & Staff

With the creation of the Whitetail Institute, Ray Scott was determined to provide whitetail nutrition like no other. But he also knew education would be the key to success of the innovative new products. These were not products that could just be thrown on the shelf of a large retailer.

That's why he decided to create a Product Consultant Staff that could advise customers not only on what to use, but HOW to use it. In the process, the consultants could also offer valuable information on everything from proper fertilization and soil testing to planting techniques.

All consultants have deer management backgrounds; and since the founding of the Institute they have created a virtual clearinghouse of information for deer hunters across the country, gathering first-hand information and passing it on to other hunters and managers.