Episode #130 - Don buys a scent elimination device

Published: 2022-08-15
Episode page
Duration: 89 min

In this episode

age-structure

• Terry argues that anyone, anywhere, can practice age-structure management to kill mature five-year-plus bucks, even without huge acreage. 15:04

antler-injury

• A listener with several bucks missing a side of antler asks if this is genetic or injury-related, and if he should cull such deer. 41:52

archery-equipment

• Terry says his new Mathews bow is set up and shooting well ahead of his upcoming season opener. 16:08
• Terry had his friend Brandon Epperson order new arrows with a stiffer shaft that Terry plans to test before season. 16:14

bedding-habitat

• Terry says a client’s converted sanctuary now has plenty of bedding cover and will hold many more deer if he stays off the property. 36:32

bow-hunting

• Don advises bowhunters not to rush after a buck shot in the evening, letting it die and recovering it the next morning. 85:06

cattle-pasture

• The same listener asks whether letting old cattle pasture grow up naturally is the best way to create deer cover. 28:52

deer-hunting-story

• Don recalls a thick two-acre thicket funnel between rotating corn and soybean fields where he killed three good bucks off the same tree in the mid-1990s. 80:34

food-plots

• Don recommends planting fall food plots a little late rather than early, since early-planted plants get too mature and lose palatability. 8:47
• Terry expanded his food plots roughly tenfold this year, resulting in phenomenal plots with more acreage and diversity. 9:45

herbicide

• Don explains that 2,4-D herbicide will not harm grass but is very effective at killing broadleaf weeds like waterhemp and mare’s tail in corn. 13:19

hunting-apps

• A listener asks if he’s missing out by not using a popular app that supposedly forecasts deer movement. 22:21

livestock

• Don says his goats were the biggest pain he’s ever dealt with, prompting him to get out of the goat business entirely. 87:20

merchandise

• Terry announces Chasing Giants hats are back in stock with limited supply. 85:56

miscanthus

• Terry visited one of Don’s consulting clients and saw the first-year Miscanthus already chest-high in places. 36:02
• A Northern Wisconsin listener asks what to do to help newly planted Miscanthus survive its first winter. 68:13

nutricrave-corn

• Terry reports his NutriCrave corn outperformed both a standard Roundup Ready corn and another test corn variety on his property. 10:59

ohio-property

• Don plans to head to Ohio to put out trail cameras and feeders once his partner finishes clearing food plots there. 8:16

ozonics

• Don jokes he’ll send the untested scent-control unit to Terry as a Christmas present if it turns out not to work. 4:35 (light moment)

podcast-announcement

• Terry teases upcoming big announcements about the podcast and Higgins Outdoors in the near future. 78:55
• Don confirms big changes are coming within the next month and asks listeners to stay tuned for details. 79:08

real-world

• Don notes his company Real World has grown enough that other companies are now reaching out to partner with them. 75:40

scent-control

• Don bought a full-retail-price Ozonics scent-control unit to test this season, stressing it is not a paid endorsement since he has never used one before. 2:20
• Don argues that scent control is only one part of a successful strategy and playing the wind correctly matters more. 6:15

schedule

• Terry plans to fly to Charlotte for meetings with Team Penske before heading to Illinois to catch up on hunting-property work. 88:34

scouting

• Don admits he hasn’t gone glassing for bucks even once this summer because he has been too busy, but hopes to soon. 76:01

switchgrass

• A listener whose fall-planted switchgrass failed asks why switchgrass germinates in fall without freeze-thaw stratification. 28:27

trail-camera

• Don says a buck he’s watching with giant, uneven brow tines reminds him of the buck Kyle Harman shot. 78:01

velvet-buck

• A Kentucky one-buck-state listener asks whether to shoot a known mature buck in velvet early or wait for the rut. 48:58

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (hunt) 15:12
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 77:48
• unnamed buck (harvest) 78:01
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 78:13
• unnamed buck (harvest) 79:35

Listener questions

Question: A listener asks if he’s missing out by not using a popular app that supposedly forecasts deer movement. 22:21

• Answer: Don says the only hunting app he actually uses is OnX, for property lines, mapping, and tracking routes. 22:29
• Answer: Don agrees predictive deer-movement apps are unreliable, since even weather forecasts fail a week out, and notes such apps are lucrative businesses. 23:35
• Answer: Terry says analytic trail-camera tools have some value for learning patterns, but he doesn’t trust predictive claims about a specific target buck. 25:02

Question: A listener whose fall-planted switchgrass failed asks why switchgrass germinates in fall without freeze-thaw stratification. 28:27

• Answer: Don explains switchgrass can be fall-planted only if done very late, so the seed doesn’t germinate until spring. 29:31

Question: The same listener asks whether letting old cattle pasture grow up naturally is the best way to create deer cover. 28:52

• Answer: Don says simply removing cattle and letting nature take over quickly turns old pasture into prime bedding cover, without spraying the grass. 32:19

Question: A listener with several bucks missing a side of antler asks if this is genetic or injury-related, and if he should cull such deer. 41:52

• Answer: Don says lopsided antlers are usually from injury (over 75% of the time), not genetics, so he wouldn’t worry much about culling for it. 42:14
• Answer: Terry says he’s biased against culling for deformed racks, arguing hunters often use it as an excuse to shoot bucks they shouldn’t. 45:52

Question: A Kentucky one-buck-state listener asks whether to shoot a known mature buck in velvet early or wait for the rut. 48:58

• Answer: Don says he’d shoot a giant buck the first chance he gets, opening day or not, since such opportunities are rare. 49:34
• Answer: Terry says the decision depends on the hunter’s personal goal and that he’d hunt specifically toward whichever goal he set. 51:05

Question: A Northern Wisconsin listener asks what to do to help newly planted Miscanthus survive its first winter. 68:13

• Answer: Don says Real World’s cold-hardy Miscanthus variety, already grown in Southern Canada, should be fine in Northern Wisconsin. 69:34
• Answer: Don recommends covering the planting with straw for insulation during its critical first winter after planting. 70:36
• Answer: Terry adds that ultimately winter weather and snow cover, not just insulation, determine whether Miscanthus survives its first year. 71:45

Sponsors this episode

• ASIO Gear
• Mathews Archery
• BuyAFarm.com

Terry and Don covered food-plot management, with Terry describing a roughly tenfold expansion of his plots and his NutriCrave corn outperforming a Roundup Ready variety and another test corn, while Don recommended late planting for fall plots and late-season switchgrass to avoid premature germination, and explained 2,4-D’s effectiveness against broadleaf weeds without harming grass. Don also detailed testing an Ozonics unit he’d bought at retail, stressing scent control matters less than playing wind correctly. Terry visited one of Don’s consulting clients, finding first-year Miscanthus already chest-high and a converted sanctuary with strong bedding cover. Listener questions addressed predictive deer-movement apps (both skeptical, preferring OnX and cautious trail-camera analytics), converting old pasture to bedding cover, lopsided antlers (usually injury, not genetics), timing a mature velvet buck in Kentucky, and overwintering newly planted Miscanthus with straw insulation. Don recalled killing three bucks from one funnel tree in the mid-1990s.

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