Episode #116 - Broadhead Debate with Don Higgins and Joe Miles

Published: 2022-05-08
Episode page
Duration: 90 min

In this episode

birthday

• Don announces it’s listener Jeremy Skinner’s birthday and wishes him a happy birthday on air. 83:08

broadhead-debate

• Terry says the broadhead debate revealed just how old-school Don is, something he never expected. 81:48
• Don reflects that after debating people he likes, like Joe and Tony LaPratt, he wonders how he’d handle a debate with someone he didn’t care for. 82:07

cell-cameras

• Don believes for every mature buck killed because of a cell camera, five others get saved due to the human intrusion the camera causes. 19:13
• A friend told Terry that cell cameras actually cause more hunting intrusion, since hunters rush in on a last-minute picture in bad conditions. 18:08
• If Don set hunting laws, would he keep cell camera regulations the same or outlaw them during hunting season? 15:38

crossbows

• Don argues most crossbow users aren’t in love with the crossbow or with archery itself. 27:42

deer-attraction

• Don says deer clearly know and prefer plots planted with higher protein and fat content. 7:43

dicamba

• Don explains it’s illegal to spray dicamba after a certain date in some Southern states because nearby cotton fields can be wiped out by drift. 12:54

faith

• Don says the Holy Spirit gives each person a sense of right and wrong. 31:52
• Don advises focusing on helping others, living by the motto that being a blessing is how you get blessed. 34:55

family

• Terry says people would be amazed at everything his wife handles, including volunteering at school, church, and Lester’s Feet. 84:19
• Don recalls his family’s freezer being full of dead raccoons, possums, muskrats, and mink from checking his trapline as a kid. 87:21
• Don recalls that no matter how far they wandered hunting as kids, his mom was always the only one willing to come get them. 88:40

family-history

• Terry explains his mom is the daughter of Lester Schickland, who Lester’s Feet is named after, and the only hunter in the family. 84:53

fertilizer

• Terry says his biggest news of the week was finally acquiring enough fertilizer and lime, plus getting help sourcing herbicide. 3:33

food-plots

• Don expects his food plots to be planted by the next recording, citing an improving weather forecast after a stretch of rain. 3:08
• Don says their top priorities in advising food plotters are safety first, then ease of use, then maximum deer attraction. 13:33

gmo

• Don believes deer are less attracted to GMO trait-stacked crops, so the key is using a different chemical program on grain crops. 4:56

guest-hunters

• Terry notes that more bucks get shot by guest hunters on Don’s property than by Don himself. 26:13

herbicide

• Terry notes herbicide is hard to find, but Don pulled strings in Illinois to get him preemergent for both corn and beans. 3:44
• Terry says the Real World team will test different residual herbicides together this year. 3:54
• Terry believes the average food plotter still isn’t comfortable using herbicide chemicals yet. 8:44
• Terry recommends food plotters start by learning preemergent herbicides as their entry point into chemical use. 8:51
• Don cites Kyber herbicide, used at just one pint per acre on his soybeans, as an example of an efficient low-rate product. 9:35

herbicide-safety

• Terry warns that some herbicide chemicals are volatile enough to vaporize and drift onto a neighbor’s property after spraying. 11:58
• Terry notes that even very talented, skilled farmers have accidentally killed a neighbor’s crop through chemical drift. 12:11

hunting-blinds

• Are elevated hunting blinds with home comforts (‘outhouses’) ethical? 23:23

hunting-ethics

• Don states that ethics take over where the law ends. 30:39
• Terry says people in the hunting community are too quick to judge others for doing things differently. 32:35

hunting-success

• Don says that since 2017 he’s shot four of his top five bucks, and his businesses have exploded in growth over the last three years. 34:17

joe-miles

• Terry notes Joe Miles is a repeat podcast guest who has appeared at the Master Class and the Dixie Deer Classic in North Carolina. 1:12
• Don announces that Joe Miles will join the podcast for a debate on broadheads at the end of the episode. 1:05
• Don jokes that though he and Joe will never agree on broadheads, they do agree on politics. 1:42 (light moment)
• Terry notes Joe Miles is also a longtime Mathews shooter, like both hosts. 39:19
• Don says Joe has killed far more deer and game animals in the last three years alone than Don has in his entire life. 38:31
• Terry jokes that if Joe loses podcast followers over the debate, they’ll gain them, and vice versa. 81:40 (light moment)
• Terry says Joe has earned credibility through his kills and trophies, giving him confidence in his gear just like Don has in his own. 82:28

listener-shoutout

• Don shares that he heard Jeremy Skinner’s whole family listens to the podcast together every Sunday evening. 83:25

non-gmo

• Terry says he’s repeatedly seen deer hammer a non-GMO food plot product far more than GMO alternatives. 6:46

personal-growth

• Don credits the change to a shift in his heart, saying he’s become far less selfish. 34:39

podcast-announcement

• Terry announces they’re releasing the episode earlier, on Mother’s Day, as a birthday present for Jeremy. 83:53

resicore

• Scott told Don that after using Resicore as a pre-emergent on his NutriCrave corn last year, he never sprayed again and got the cleanest corn he’d ever seen. 10:28

technology

• Don worries a generation of hunters is losing basic deer-hunting skill and knowledge because of reliance on technology. 29:26

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (harvest) 38:48

Listener questions

Question: If Don set hunting laws, would he keep cell camera regulations the same or outlaw them during hunting season? 15:38 — asked by Ben Sweeney

• Answer: Don doesn’t think cell cams cost him mature bucks; he believes crossbow legalization has a much bigger impact than trail cameras in his area. 16:11
• Answer: Don says it isn’t his place to push his personal ethics about camera use onto everyone else. 16:41

Question: Are elevated hunting blinds with home comforts (‘outhouses’) ethical? 23:23 — asked by Fran Yates

• Answer: Don admits he personally has five comfort-equipped elevated blinds on his own farm. 23:59
• Answer: Don says he prefers a tree stand in cold weather but admits he’ll take the comfort of a heated blind when temperatures hit zero. 25:32

Sponsors this episode

• QuietKat

Terry and Don opened on food plot prep, discussing herbicide sourcing struggles, Don’s Illinois connections getting preemergent for corn and beans, and plans to test different residual herbicides. They debated GMO versus non-GMO plot products, with Don arguing deer prefer non-GMO chemical programs and higher protein/fat content, and covered herbicide drift risks and legality, prioritizing safety, ease of use, and attraction. The conversation shifted to ethics: Don’s view that cell cameras cause more intrusion than they cost in mature bucks, that crossbow legalization matters more, and that ethics and conscience fill gaps the law leaves. Don credited a personal shift toward selflessness with recent business growth and top-buck harvests since 2017. They previewed an upcoming broadhead debate with repeat guest Joe Miles, noted political agreement despite gear disagreements, wished listener Jeremy Skinner a happy birthday, and answered listener questions on cell cameras and comfort-equipped elevated blinds, which Don admitted using himself.

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