Episode #112 - Chasing Giants in the Big North Woods

Published: 2022-04-10
Episode page
Duration: 87 min

In this episode

antler-injury

• Was a mature buck’s big antler-size drop caused by a shoulder injury, or was it just age-related decline? 28:37

antler-peak-age

• At what age do most bucks reach their peak in antler development? 28:54

charity

• Terry announces that every dollar raised through the raffle goes back to the families supported by Lester’s Feet. 56:17

consulting

• Don gave two clients a plan designed to let them kill the biggest buck in their neighborhood year after year if they follow it. 13:51
• Besides hunting less and running more trail cameras, what have you started doing or learned that helps you kill giant bucks? 65:24

deer-aging

• How do you decide which bucks are worthy of harvest on new farms before you can build trail-camera history, or when a new buck moves in? 22:43

dixie-deer-classic

• Terry recalls his best memory from the Dixie Deer Classic was how phenomenal and kind the people at the show were, despite not liking trade shows. 71:35

fruit-trees

• Don recommends Gingerich Tree Farm as a good source for buying quality fruit trees. 55:03

lesters-feet

• Terry describes speaking with a mother, through Lester’s Feet, who has an autistic nonverbal four-year-old child she calls a handful and a blessing. 78:00

mast-nutrition

• Are certain mast tree species nutritionally better for deer than others? 49:47

mast-trees

• Do you plant mast trees mainly to hold deer on your property, or do you also hunt over them for mature bucks? 49:27

predation

• A client relayed to Don that wolves are extremely hard on game in the area. 20:36

prescribed-burning

• Terry recommends burning Miscanthus stands starting around year three since sales of the product have been booming. 42:02
• Don advises anyone nervous about burning tall Miscanthus to mow it down first so the resulting flames stay low. 42:30
• What wind conditions do you look for before a prescribed burn, and why start burning opposite the wind direction? 40:14

sacrifice

• Don states that killing big deer requires sacrifices even for owners of prime property, since ownership alone doesn’t guarantee results. 8:43

salvation-poem

• Don announces they have Mathews’ permission to close the podcast with Matt McPherson’s salvation poem, sung by McPherson himself. 76:44

sanctuary

• Don insists hunters must get target bucks bedding on their own property rather than allowing them to bed on the neighbor’s land. 5:53
• Don clarifies that a true sanctuary means total avoidance, not even a mowed path through it from one side of the property to the other. 7:07

weakest-link

• Don explains that while cover is the weakest link back home, in the bigger northern woods food becomes the weakest link deer need. 4:35

wildlife

• A consulting client told Don he has seen black bear, timber wolf, pine marten, and fishers all on his big-woods property. 20:02

youtube

• Terry announces that Don made two videos on the Chasing Giants YouTube channel about mast and fruit trees. 53:59

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (harvest) 8:16
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 20:57
• unnamed buck (history) 27:47
• unnamed buck (management) 31:27

Listener questions

Question: How do you decide which bucks are worthy of harvest on new farms before you can build trail-camera history, or when a new buck moves in? 22:43 — asked by Easton McNeil

• Answer: Don says if a buck looks mature with a rack worthy of his time he’ll shoot it, regardless of whether he later learns it was four or ten years old. 23:21
• Answer: Terry adds that on farms hunted for years, brand-new mature bucks rarely appear during the rut; most inventory can be traced back through prior photos. 23:59
• Answer: Don notes it’s extremely rare to gain permission on a brand-new property that already holds a true shooter buck. 24:33

Question: Was a mature buck’s big antler-size drop caused by a shoulder injury, or was it just age-related decline? 28:37 — asked by Levi Rosenthreader

• Answer: Don believes the injury caused the antler-inch loss, and confirms he has seen bucks bounce back in antler size after recovering from such injuries. 29:58

Question: At what age do most bucks reach their peak in antler development? 28:54 — asked by Levi Rosenthreader

• Answer: Don says bucks rarely peak before age six, usually peaking between six and seven years old. 30:20
• Answer: Don notes he has seen wild Illinois bucks hit their best rack as late as nine and a half years old. 30:28
• Answer: Terry frames the answer as a bell curve, noting exceptions exist but most bucks peak where the curve centers. 30:43

Question: What wind conditions do you look for before a prescribed burn, and why start burning opposite the wind direction? 40:14 — asked by Greg Schimberger

• Answer: Don says he wants a light but steady wind, avoiding variable wind that causes loss of fire control. 40:33
• Answer: Don explains he first burns into the wind along the downwind edge to create a firebreak before lighting the far side to burn with the wind. 40:46

Question: Do you plant mast trees mainly to hold deer on your property, or do you also hunt over them for mature bucks? 49:27 — asked by Sam Carrozza

• Answer: Don says he does hunt near some fruit trees, but the biggest reason for planting them is to hold deer on his property. 50:39

Question: Are certain mast tree species nutritionally better for deer than others? 49:47 — asked by Sam Carrozza

• Answer: Don says every food species has a different nutrient makeup, so diversifying mast and plot species lets deer balance their diet. 51:01
• Answer: Don adds a deer can balance its own diet as long as it has access to the range of plants it needs. 51:24

Question: Besides hunting less and running more trail cameras, what have you started doing or learned that helps you kill giant bucks? 65:24 — asked by Brandon Hurley

• Answer: Don says he now covers far more territory than ever before rather than focusing on just a few farms. 65:44
• Answer: Don explains he keeps buying more trail cameras and spreading them across more properties and states to locate rare giant bucks. 66:43
• Answer: Terry adds Don has honed in on annual buck patterns far more precisely, a skill built from running so many cameras. 67:44

Sponsors this episode

• QuietKat

Don discussed strategies for big-woods and food-plot deer management, arguing that in northern big woods food is the limiting factor while cover matters more back home, and that hunters need target bucks bedding on their own ground rather than the neighbor’s. He stressed sanctuaries must mean total avoidance and that killing mature bucks takes sacrifice even on great property. Listener questions covered judging unfamiliar bucks without camera history, buck age at antler peak (rarely before six, sometimes as late as nine and a half in Illinois), whether an injury explained a buck’s antler decline, prescribed-burn wind conditions and firebreak technique, and why he plants mast trees. Don said he now covers far more ground, runs many more cameras across properties and states, and has gotten sharper at reading annual buck patterns. Terry covered Miscanthus burning, fruit tree sourcing, and closed discussing Lester’s Feet and the Dixie Deer Classic.

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