Episode #123 - How much does Don spend on batteries for trail cameras?

Published: 2022-06-27
Episode page
Duration: 71 min

In this episode

announcement

• Terry teases additional surprises and news coming later in the summer about expanding their efforts to help more people. 69:14

batteries

• Terry says he just received a shipment of 300 batteries at a really good deal price. 2:59
• Terry experimented with motorcycle or four-wheeler batteries in an ammo can running a 12-volt adapter up trees to power cell cameras, with really good luck. 4:30

customer-service

• Terry describes receiving an angry email from a Real World customer who used profanity seven times while complaining about UPS shipping charges. 40:11

feeders

• Terry says the biggest mistake feeder hunters make is having no way to exit the stand without spooking deer that come in near dark. 20:06
• Terry describes his neighbor and hunting buddy Patrick Simpson as one of the best at placing supplemental feeding areas in specific spots for effective access. 20:26

fishing

• Terry plans to drive to Destin, Florida with Austin Razor on Tuesday morning for a deep sea fishing trip during his coaching dead period. 11:51

lesters-feet

• Don plans to spend part of his upcoming weekend with Terry doing the Lester’s Feet drawing, taking a day out of his weekend for a good cause. 1:24
• Terry announces that Monday the 27th is the last day to buy Lester’s Feet raffle tickets online before sales close. 26:47
• Terry announces the Lester’s Feet raffle prizes include a new Chevy truck, a pole building, a new tractor, and 72 other prizes. 28:14
• Terry credits Midwest Land Group and Victory Chevrolet, including Chris Yates, for making large donations to Lester’s Feet last year. 28:42
• Terry announces that families seeking help from Lester’s Feet must submit a short form on the website to start a paper trail rather than the podcast reaching out directly. 68:04
• Don praises Terry as one of the busiest people he knows who still makes time to help others through Lester’s Feet. 70:19

listener-interaction

• Don got a text from listener Calvin Hurley with a radar screenshot predicting rain, confirming that Hurley listens to the podcast. 7:39

nutricrave-corn

• Don asserts that deer will choose NutriCrave-fed corn over regular ag corn without doubt, suggesting a business opportunity growing it for feeders. 18:22

personal-life

• Terry jokingly notes that Don’s wife Robin thinks he’s crazy for the lengths he goes to chasing deer. 8:40 (light moment)

politics

• Terry urges listeners to boycott Dick’s Sporting Goods and Field & Stream for pledging $4,000 toward travel costs for employees seeking abortions across state lines. 22:53
• Don says he almost included the Roe v. Wade decision in the podcast notes but decided to leave it out. 23:40
• Terry vows he will not spend another dime at Dick’s Sporting Goods. 25:33
• Terry says he now ranks Trump at the top for securing a Supreme Court justice appointment that enabled the Roe v. Wade reversal, calling it great for the country’s morality. 26:18

property-design

• Don says wind direction and access are the key factors in designing a property, noting some of his stands are only huntable with an east wind. 56:01

real-world

• Don states that Real World does not profit from UPS shipping charges. 40:46

seminar-tour

• Don announces the start of his summer seminar tour, beginning July 13 in Hamilton, Indiana, with stops continuing through several states in July. 57:22
• Don says his seminars will cover ultimate whitetail nutrition and food plots, followed by a question and answer session each time. 59:49

softball

• Don reports that Terry’s girls softball team won the championship after a tournament weekend. 9:47
• Terry explains Kentucky’s coaching dead period rule bars high school coaches from contact with athletes for two weeks each summer. 11:17

soybeans

• Don recommends no-tilling soybeans into standing vegetation, especially rye, as an establishment technique. 50:07
• Kelly Shanley asks why it’s important to get soybean plots to maturity for late-season pods, and what soybeans offer that a fall blend like Deadly Dozen doesn’t. 43:23

supplemental-feeding

• Don recommends hunters in Kentucky or Ohio plant NutriCrave corn to harvest and store for feeders since deer prefer it over regular shelled corn. 17:38
• Dustin asks whether to use a feeder instead of dumping bait on the ground, if feeders spook mature bucks, and whether to add mineral to supplemental feeding. 14:08
• Don asks whether Terry is growing NutriCrave corn to put in his feeders. 17:58

trail-cameras

• Don says he started testing his trail cameras yesterday, installing batteries and verifying his cellular cameras were connecting properly. 1:11
• Terry is cutting back his number of trail cameras this year since he no longer has scouting properties after giving up shared lease properties a couple years ago. 2:00
• Terry notes Cramford Manufacturing makes the screw-in camera mounts he uses and that the company donated items to the Lester’s Feet Auction. 5:49
• Don plans to get cameras out this week and host Steve Shields and website manager Bruce Carroll for video work related to an upcoming project. 68:52
• Ryan Norton asks whether Reconyx, once frustrated Don with poor customer support, is now standing behind their product since he now sells them. 31:25
• Terry asks Don how many Energizer lithium batteries he stockpiled before the season started. 2:18

velvet-season

• Terry says velvet season is one of the most anticipated times of year for him and Don. 1:02

wind

• Terry says a hunter’s experience changes drastically once they accept that wind is the most pivotal factor in deer hunting. 54:08
• Terry recalls Don’s master class teaching that bucks won’t move without a favorable wind, likening it to never going to bed without locking your front door. 55:02
• Andy from Rachel, West Virginia asks how often bucks j-hook out of their bedding to get downwind of the food source or their direction of travel. 51:51

Deer activity

• fork tine buck (harvest) 60:56
• Mel (sighting) 61:00
• fork tine buck (history) 61:53
• fork tine buck (history) 62:21
• fork tine buck (harvest) 62:57
• fork tine buck (harvest) 63:17
• fork tine buck (management) 64:58
• fork tine buck (history) 65:30
• fork tine buck (history) 65:57
• fork tine buck (history) 66:44

Listener questions

Question: Dustin asks whether to use a feeder instead of dumping bait on the ground, if feeders spook mature bucks, and whether to add mineral to supplemental feeding. 14:08 — asked by Dustin

• Answer: Don explains that supplemental feeding and baiting are different things; pouring corn on the ground is baiting, not supplemental feeding. 14:41
• Answer: Don says he prefers a gravity-fed feeder that dispenses through a tube rather than pouring feed on the ground. 15:50
• Answer: Don confirms Dustin should also use mineral supplementation alongside feed, since it provides trace elements deer may not otherwise get. 22:08

Question: Ryan Norton asks whether Reconyx, once frustrated Don with poor customer support, is now standing behind their product since he now sells them. 31:25 — asked by Ryan Norton

• Answer: Don explains he was upset with Reconyx because he had sent them dozens of emails about a product issue that went unanswered. 36:31
• Answer: Don says that after listeners told Reconyx about his complaints, the company now treats him noticeably better than before. 36:45
• Answer: Don claims he’s likely in the top 1% of all Reconyx dealers based on how many cameras he sells. 38:47
• Answer: Terry notes they’ve never received sponsorship from Reconyx, which may explain the harsh comments they made about the company. 37:29

Question: Kelly Shanley asks why it’s important to get soybean plots to maturity for late-season pods, and what soybeans offer that a fall blend like Deadly Dozen doesn’t. 43:23 — asked by Kelly Shanley

• Answer: Don explains that nothing else competes with soybeans’ protein content in winter, but the biggest draw is soybeans’ oil content, which helps deer stay warm. 45:59
• Answer: Terry adds that soybeans stay above snow and frozen ground in areas like Michigan, unlike other forages that get buried, keeping food accessible. 47:27

Question: Andy from Rachel, West Virginia asks how often bucks j-hook out of their bedding to get downwind of the food source or their direction of travel. 51:51 — asked by Andy

• Answer: Don says a mature buck that lacks a favorable wind will stay bedded until dark rather than risk moving to feed. 52:34
• Answer: Don adds that bucks often run the downwind edge of the food source with a quartering nose wind and hook out into the field. 53:09

Question: Terry asks Don how many Energizer lithium batteries he stockpiled before the season started. 2:18

• Answer: Don says he ordered over $800 in batteries a few months prior and spends roughly $1,500 to $2,000 a year on batteries and camera running costs alone. 2:52

Question: Don asks whether Terry is growing NutriCrave corn to put in his feeders. 17:58

• Answer: Terry confirms they bought a grain bin and are growing NutriCrave corn on a separate farm from where he hunts, to use for supplemental feeding. 18:06

Terry and Don opened with velvet-season camera prep, Don testing cellular cameras and Terry cutting back his camera count after giving up shared scouting properties, plus a batch of new batteries. Terry discussed the Lester’s Feet raffle, its remaining ticket deadline, prize list, and donor thanks, and shared political commentary urging a boycott of Dick’s Sporting Goods over its abortion-travel funding while praising the Roe v. Wade reversal. The pair debated supplemental feeding strategy, including gravity feeders versus ground baiting, mineral use, and growing NutriCrave corn as a preferred feed. They emphasized wind direction as the dominant factor in deer movement and stand access, and Don detailed his upcoming seminar tour on nutrition and food plots. Listener questions covered feeder spooking concerns, Reconyx customer service, soybean plots for winter protein and oil content, and buck j-hooking behavior downwind of bedding. Terry also recounted the multi-year story of a fork tine buck he tracked from an injury through recovery to a 2019 harvest.

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