Episode #128 - Watching Summer Velvet Giants!

Published: 2022-08-01
Episode page
Duration: 66 min

In this episode

amish

• Don worried he had offended people with a prior comment about Amish and hoped listeners understood he meant no disrespect. 23:54
• Don says he admires the Amish for their family values, community values, working together, and how well-behaved their children are. 24:22
• Terry says the Amish community shows humility and that many Amish listen to the podcast on Emtek even though the hosts rarely see them. 64:19

bachelor-groups

• Don has observed that roughly half the bucks in a summer bachelor group relocate to a different area once the group breaks up in fall. 13:45

bow-setup

• Terry plans to use a friend’s bow press on his newly received Mathews bow and spend about a month shooting and dialing it in. 65:18

church-security

• Nathaniel Bates asked how carrying a gun to church for defense squares with Jesus’s teaching to love enemies. 45:45

deer-nutrition

• Don explains an animal instinctively craves and seeks out whatever nutrient it is lacking. 43:13

family

• Don’s wife and daughters planned a family trip to a rented beach house in South Carolina right after he returned from his seminar tour. 1:29

fertilizer

• Terry advises there’s a balance between having enough food in a plot and over-fertilizing to the point deer won’t eat it. 38:48
• Don explains excess nitrogen raises nitrate levels in plants and makes them less palatable to deer. 39:13
• Tristan Reed also asked whether to spread fertilizer like triple 19 on growing food plots or leave them alone. 34:11

food-plots

• Listener Daniel King asked why Real World doesn’t sell an alfalfa food plot product. 22:43

humor

• Terry jokes that his physique comes from a lot of hard work and dedication to not working out. 44:53 (light moment)

hunting-partners

• Terry says he only trusts a couple of people, naming Patrick Simpson, as guys he’d ever share a hunting property with. 60:00
• Drew Perkins asked how to prioritize food plots, trail cameras, and stand placement across 2,000 shared acres. 53:44

hunting-pressure

• Don says deer tolerance for road traffic pressure has decreased so much over thirty years that finding a mature shooter buck by driving is now very difficult. 19:47

identity-theft

• Terry recounted that his wallet had been stolen, as he had told listeners the previous week. 3:06
• During a Cleveland-area fraud investigation, police pulled Terry’s driver’s license from an evidence locker and returned it to him. 5:05

lesters-feet

• Terry publicly thanked listener Brent Brookshire for submitting Lester’s Feet Foundation for a nonprofit grant. 32:07
• A $5,000 grant from America’s Farmers Grow Community came through for Lester’s Feet, thanks to Brent Brookshire’s paperwork. 32:27

ohio-property

• Tristan Reed asked for a status update on the Ohio property Don acquired and discussed earlier this year. 33:55

podcast-schedule

• Terry announced next week’s episode will be recorded later Sunday night and might not upload until Monday morning since both hosts are traveling back from vacation. 65:36

real-world

• Don predicts he’d be shocked if nobody associated with Real World kills a giant buck this season. 21:25

screening

• Terry notes Giant Miscanthus sales have risen sharply because landowners plant it along roads to block passersby from viewing their fields. 20:28

social-media

• Don adopted a personal policy of never sharing photos of a specific buck on social media until that buck is dead. 9:32

summer-scouting

• Don keeps a low profile while scouting and relies on his QuietKat to move discreetly through fields. 6:55
• Don rarely wears full camo while summer scouting, just a camo shirt and hat, because of the heat. 14:44
• For listeners who drive around glassing open ag country for deer, what are some tips and tricks for doing it effectively? 6:21
• Has anyone ever stopped Don along the road while he’s glassing to ask what he’s doing? 8:00

supplemental-feeding

• An anonymous Amish listener asked if a diverse food plot system can provide equal nutrition to supplemental feeding. 40:52
• Marvin Beachy asked for a feed with corn’s drawing power that is healthier for deer and affordable. 61:16

trail-cameras

• Don ties his trail cameras to the same trees and fence posts every summer because bachelor groups return to the same places year after year. 17:29

velvet-scouting

• For velvet footage Don stays much farther back from deer than he does while hunting, starting far away before slowly working closer. 11:51

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (sighting) 6:10
• Mel (history) 10:31

Listener questions

Question: For listeners who drive around glassing open ag country for deer, what are some tips and tricks for doing it effectively? 6:21

• Answer: Don says staying low profile is key, and his QuietKat e-bike has been huge for accessing fields discreetly. 6:55
• Answer: Don also seeks high vantage points, such as atop a grain bin with a Vortex spotting scope, to cover more acreage and spot shooter bucks. 7:34

Question: Has anyone ever stopped Don along the road while he’s glassing to ask what he’s doing? 8:00

• Answer: Don says no, because he immediately starts driving away like a normal farm truck as soon as he sees another vehicle approaching. 8:07

Question: Listener Daniel King asked why Real World doesn’t sell an alfalfa food plot product. 22:43 — asked by Daniel King

• Answer: Don says alfalfa demands far more fertility and maintenance attention than most food plotters are willing or able to give. 26:31
• Answer: Terry says he and Don both grow alfalfa personally and could sell it and profit, but choose not to for the average customer’s sake. 28:56

Question: An anonymous Amish listener asked if a diverse food plot system can provide equal nutrition to supplemental feeding. 40:52

• Answer: Don answers yes and no to whether food plots alone can match supplemental feeding. 41:41
• Answer: Don still prefers to have supplemental feed available as a backup or additional food source. 41:50

Question: Nathaniel Bates asked how carrying a gun to church for defense squares with Jesus’s teaching to love enemies. 45:45 — asked by Nathaniel Bates

• Answer: Don says he has absolutely no problem carrying a gun into church. 48:47
• Answer: Don says if evil shows up in his church he will confront and stop it without hesitation. 48:52
• Answer: Terry says he doesn’t believe God judges people poorly for using all means to protect their church congregation. 51:09

Question: Drew Perkins asked how to prioritize food plots, trail cameras, and stand placement across 2,000 shared acres. 53:44 — asked by Drew Perkins

• Answer: Don advised Drew to divide the group’s acreage so each partner is responsible for their own section. 57:02
• Answer: Don told Drew to focus his own efforts on making his remaining piece of ground the best it can be with food plots and stands. 57:29
• Answer: Terry adds he’d rather manage 30 acres alone than 2,000 acres shared with six uncommitted partners. 59:40

Question: Marvin Beachy asked for a feed with corn’s drawing power that is healthier for deer and affordable. 61:16 — asked by Marvin Beachy

• Answer: Don recommends Maximizer Feed Concentrate, a pelleted supplement mixed with grain, launched a few years ago. 61:30
• Answer: Terry notes the savings are greatest if you grow your own corn or beans to mix with the concentrate. 62:28
• Answer: Terry summarizes that a true supplemental feed program needs added minerals, vitamins, fat, and protein, not just carbs. 63:08

Question: Tristan Reed asked for a status update on the Ohio property Don acquired and discussed earlier this year. 33:55 — asked by Tristan Reed

• Answer: Don explains a delayed timber harvest on the property has stalled progress, but they still hope to get food plots in by fall. 35:36

Question: Tristan Reed also asked whether to spread fertilizer like triple 19 on growing food plots or leave them alone. 34:11 — asked by Tristan Reed

• Answer: Don says a soil test is essential before applying any fertilizer, and it’s inexpensive. 36:55
• Answer: Terry adds that following soil test recommendations for cereal grains or soybeans gets you close for most fall plot blends. 37:59

Terry recapped that his stolen wallet’s driver’s license had turned up in a police evidence locker during a fraud investigation and was returned to him. Don covered summer scouting habits: staying low-profile with a QuietKat e-bike, glassing from vantage points like grain bins with a Vortex scope, tying trail cameras to the same spots yearly since bachelor groups return, and holding off posting photos of a buck until it’s dead. He noted road-driving for deer has grown harder over thirty years as tolerance for traffic pressure has dropped, and clarified an earlier Amish comment, praising their family and community values. Listener questions covered dividing responsibilities on 2,000 shared acres, alfalfa’s high maintenance demands, soil testing before fertilizing, carrying a gun to church, and a stalled timber harvest delaying food plots on Don’s Ohio property. Terry also thanked Brent Brookshire for a $5,000 grant secured for Lester’s Feet.

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