Smokey

Seen: 2019-09-24 – 2026-06-28
103 references across 82 episodes

Timeline

What the hosts said

• Don states his farm has produced three 200-inch class bucks in recent years: Smoky at 206 inches, Male at 221 inches, and Doubting Thomas at 203 inches. 33:05 — CULLING BUCKS: Why Shooting 3½-Year-Old 8-Points Actually Works | Chasing Giants #310
• An audience member pointed out it took Don thirteen years between his first 200-inch buck and killing Smokey, undermining haters’ claims he used released captive deer. 77:32 — Faith, Hunting & Courage After Tragedy | Chasing Giants Podcast Ep. 290
• Don says Mel and Smokey are two perfect examples showing that without the right genes, age and nutrition don’t matter. 27:56 — Episode #269 - Genetics, Nutrition, or Age (which is more important)
• Terry recalled that in 2017 the food plot where Smokey and ‘the old guy’ were taken had to be entirely replanted in Deadly Dozen after that spring’s crop failed to drought. 4:03 — Episode 173 - Can you find joy in killing GIANT Bucks?
• Terry relayed that during a farm tour, someone asked Don whether Smokey stayed on the property because it was the only spot with switchgrass, prompting Don to reconsider. 8:46 — Episode #161 - Live from Last Master Class - Inside QuietKat E-Bike
• Don said Smokey was the only buck in his 30-plus years managing the farm that stayed year-round without joining a bachelor group. 9:07 — Episode #161 - Live from Last Master Class - Inside QuietKat E-Bike
• Don recalls Smokey, the 206-inch buck he shot in 2017, was probably the easiest mature buck he has ever hunted and killed despite being one of the biggest. 34:57 — Episode #85 - The Ones That Got Away… New Series by Don
• Terry recalls that Don shot both Smokey and a buck nicknamed Trump, bringing back both mounts that hunting year. 47:07 — Episode #85 - The Ones That Got Away… New Series by Don
• Don picked up taxidermy replicas of his bucks Smokey and Mel at Old Barn Taxidermy in Fort Madison, Iowa, and met fellow hunter John Mulligan there. 5:33 — Episode #79 - Bachelor Group Dispersal and Iowa Update
• Don’s combined 2017 antler score for Smokey and Trump was just over 400 inches, while his two 2020 bucks totaled about 406 inches combined. 38:47 — Episode #39 - SPECIAL EDITION - DON SHOOTS ANOTHER GIANT! 2 Bucks = 400”+ of Antler in 2020
• Don explained that every mature buck has a distinct personality, and this deer was completely different in temperament from either Trump or Smokey. 5:47 — Episode #35 - Don shoots his 3rd 200”+ Buck - The story of Mel - A 220” World Class Whitetail
• Terry noted that attendees of the master class will see where Smokey was killed and where Don and Terry saw the buck as a 216-inch deer without shooting him. 59:59 — Episode #35 - Don shoots his 3rd 200”+ Buck - The story of Mel - A 220” World Class Whitetail
• Terry describes seeing a Facebook user accuse Don of editing a photo of Smokey’s antlers to make them look bigger. 3:57 — Episode #15 - Passion vs. Discipline
• Local people claimed Don’s bucks Smokey and Trump were $10 pen-raised deer he had released rather than wild kills. 5:17 — Episode #15 - Passion vs. Discipline
• Terry notes Don’s land-consulting demand grew significantly after his 2017 harvests of the bucks Trump and Smokey. 52:45 — Episode #8 - Lock-down is about over. Great hunting the week of Thanksgiving
• Don shares that his dad joined him to recover a buck for the first time in thirty-eight years, during the Smokey hunt. 48:26 — Episode #7 - Hunting during lock down - Things do not always go easy in the “Real World”

Questions about this deer

• What do Don and Terry each consider their greatest accomplishment in the deer woods and in life outside of deer hunting? 48:24 — Episode #281 - How Don Tracks Giant Bucks Years in Advance
• Scott Hesselberg asked whether Don has ever let a buck live to 8-9 years old to see if it reaches a much bigger rack, as some hunting-industry figures claim happens. 58:28 — Episode #278 - Are Deer Getting Smaller?
• Brett Petty asks whether Don’s stance on switchgrass bedding would change if his isolated farm were instead surrounded by timber that had received TSI work. 52:55 — Episode #271 - Cool Wet Spring Concerns for Antler Growth and Nutrition
• Terry asks Don to trace Smokey’s estimated rack score from age two through the year Don harvested him. 22:24 — Episode #269 - Genetics, Nutrition, or Age (which is more important)
• Does Don have any funny stories about switchgrass fires that got away from him? 9:56 — Episode #262 - The Controlled Burn on Switchgrass GONE BAD!
• Terry asks if Don’s view on trail camera data has changed since the Smokey and Trump years, given he now uses cell cam intel to plan hunts. 29:54 — Episode #257 - Too Early to Shed Hunt - Show some compassion!
• Casey asks whether Don has noticed a difference in antler size between bucks that bed in switchgrass versus timber. 28:40 — Episode #229 - Final Thoughts on the Buck Named Babe and Cameras are Out!
• Ed from Albany, Georgia asks Don whether Babe is an easy buck or a tough buck to hunt. 50:05 — Episode 175 - June Food Plot Update
• Terry asks Don whether Babe travels as far as Mel did. 50:38 — Episode 175 - June Food Plot Update
• Jesse Vandenberg asks whether Don’s goal this year is to document and harvest his up-and-coming buck with potential to score 200 inches. 29:39 — Episode #165 - Farmers Planting Early Creates New Opportunities - EARLY SPRING
• Tom Campbell asked whether the new buck Don is chasing, called the Chasing Giant 200, is genetically related to Mel. 54:02 — Episode #163 - The Hype of Chestnut Trees…
• How long had Don hunted before realizing each buck has a distinct personality, and what triggered that realization? 7:38 — Episode #161 - Live from Last Master Class - Inside QuietKat E-Bike
• Do bucks and does prefer bedding in wooded cover or switchgrass differently? 63:05 — Episode #161 - Live from Last Master Class - Inside QuietKat E-Bike
• Terry jokingly asks whether Don smells his finger after getting Smokey’s deer lure on it while applying it to a rope scrape. 6:55 — Episode #148 - Are Bucks Shedding Antlers Early This Year?
• Terry asks Don to explain why he uses a sprayed herbicide path to funnel deer instead of a mowed path or another strategy. 3:50 — Episode #115 - Don’s Top Four Properties Visited This Year
• Trey asks whether Mel and Smokey were fawns born on Don’s farm. 37:49 — Episode #108 - Mind Blowing Deer Management with Dr. Bronson Strickland
• Larry Beachy asked how long Don managed his wild deer population before starting to cull younger bucks. 21:48 — Episode #105 Live from Shipshewana, IN - 2 Episodes in One!
• Alex Burrow asked whether large bucks avoid food plots with logs piled on the edges. 37:09 — Episode #105 Live from Shipshewana, IN - 2 Episodes in One!
• Jeremy Skinner asks if new bucks move into an area after another buck has been harvested there. 48:51 — Episode #79 - Bachelor Group Dispersal and Iowa Update
• Don asks Terry how likely it is that his two biggest bucks, Smokey and Mel, were related. 29:38 — Episode #48 - Antler Genetics (what is a super doe?) When Do Sheds Fall? And Peeing Out of Your Stand…
• Morgan Murray asks whether the buck’s annual home range shift happens consistently every year for every individual buck. 41:35 — Episode #24 - Don is glassing bucks at night while Terry tests Don’s idea of Saddle Hunting…
• Steven Pope asks how Terry and Don chose Smokey’s rack for the podcast t-shirt logo out of all the bucks they’ve harvested. 38:47 — Episode #7 - Hunting during lock down - Things do not always go easy in the “Real World”

Unofficial fan project. AI-synthesized from public episodes; may contain errors.