Episode #135 - Buck Dispersal - What does it mean?

Published: 2022-09-19
Episode page
Duration: 71 min

In this episode

banter

• Don joked that Terry’s employer should give him an extra week off in November to make up for the exhausting trade show week. 4:13 (light moment)
• Terry jokingly asked how much grief Don got for letting Wes Delks ride on the front of his four-wheeler without a seatbelt or helmet. 4:52

buck-dispersal

• Don explained that maternal aggression from does approaching new fawns pushes yearling bucks to leave their birth range each spring. 13:08
• Some research shows yearling buck relocation behavior can persist for at least a year, until the buck is two and a half. 17:04

buck-forecast

• Terry said he and Don spent weeks with dream team members compiling the buck forecast for the year, to be discussed on the show. 7:42

buck-individuality

• Don warned against assuming all bucks behave like the majority, since it can cause hunters to accidentally drive off resident bucks. 22:40

buck-retention

• Don believes providing security cover alongside food sources through winter increases the odds of holding wandering bucks on a property. 18:05

connor

• Terry recounted that his friend’s son Connor was struck and pinned by a car while walking on the Illinois State University campus and was airlifted to Champaign, currently stable. 65:36
• Terry said Connor is stable and will live but faces a long recovery road as a college freshman. 66:29

cover-crop

• Terry recommended a food plot blend as a great cover crop that can still be hunted over after taking out beans or corn in the South. 8:49

deer-breeding

• Don said in 45 years of deer hunting he has never personally witnessed a wild doe actually being bred by a buck. 47:03
• Steve from Albea, Iowa asked why, despite decades of hunting, he’s never witnessed an immature buck actually tending a doe. 44:34

dna-testing

• Terry cited Doctor Strickland’s DNA testing showing twin fawns from the same doe often have different fathers. 47:49

doe-harvest

• Terry asked whether Don had shot any does the year before Mel and a similar buck were fawns. 23:23

faith

• Don reflected that God built a natural wandering desire into young bucks as part of their design. 13:22
• Terry reflected that God’s design of deer behavior is as complex and purposeful as the human body, calling it a testament to the creator. 59:52

fall-food-plots

• Terry advised listeners to focus on their fall plots now since there’s plenty of time and fall blends are available. 11:33

food-plot

• Don and Wes Delks finally cleared and planted the first food plot on the Ohio property, a seven-to-eight acre plot. 5:21

food-plot-plan

• Don plans to keep feeders full year-round on the Ohio property as a food source to compete with neighboring feeders, not primarily to hunt over. 6:22

giant-buck-rumor

• Don said there is a rumored giant buck over 200 inches in the Ohio area, but he’ll believe it only if he sees it himself on his own camera. 5:49

hailey

• Brian Scott’s wife, Hailey, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. 61:48

hunting-pressure

• Terry said the biggest factor affecting whether bucks stick around is human intrusion. 24:48

illinois-hunting

• Terry said they got late permission to hunt a new Illinois farm and now need to quickly build a hunting plan before season starts. 7:07
• Don said the Illinois area Terry hunts is a fantastic area that produces good bucks year after year. 7:27

kentucky-hunting

• Terry planned to hunt his Kentucky target buck that night, since the buck had been in front of a huntable tree stand about four nights in the last six days. 1:20
• Terry recalled recognizing a younger buck that always appeared alongside an older one in trail camera photos and in the alfalfa during Kentucky early season. 29:36

killable-buck

• Don relayed that hunter Bill Winke now looks for the biggest killable buck rather than simply the biggest buck he can find. 34:22

late-season-hunting

• Don recalled a late-season hunt where he saw 12 bucks pass his stand, 11 of which were year-and-a-half-old yearlings. 18:58

lesters-feet

• Terry announced they’d skip the usual sponsor segment and end the show that night with the Lester’s Feet prayer segment instead. 37:07
• Don said the Lester’s Feet charity effort has raised over half a million dollars to help families facing unimaginable situations. 63:22

listener-email

• A listener, Brian Scott, emailed Don asking for prayers for his family. 61:18

mature-buck-dispersal

• Don said he starts attracting new mature bucks to his farm right after the rut, drawn by food and security. 19:51
• Don said mature bucks that leave his farm in spring return to the same bachelor group spot each summer and the same fall spot each year. 21:03
• Don pushed back on the idea that mature bucks are all gone in summer, noting enough individuality that some don’t disperse that way. 21:36
• Ryan Norton from Florence, Kentucky asked whether Don had ever experienced a mature buck staying put rather than shifting locations in fall. 57:12

miscanthus

• Terry said Real World doesn’t have Miscanthus available for sale yet. 11:39

morning-hunting

• Terry relayed that Brandon Epperson killed a Kentucky buck on opening morning because he had a fool-proof access route, though he normally avoids morning hunts. 43:22

mowed-paths

• Don recommends against mowing paths for deer since many mature bucks avoid following a mowed path. 25:45

october-hunting

• Don said he preached against hunting October mornings for about 25 years, going at least 15 consecutive years without hunting a single October morning. 38:45
• Don said he has observed similar late-October mature buck activity increasing and now plans to hunt mornings in late October when cold fronts arrive. 40:51

ohio-property

• Heavy rain in Southern Ohio all summer made it difficult for Don’s partner to clear the food plots. 5:15
• Don plans to clear one more food plot on the Ohio property early next year after weather prevented finishing it this year. 6:06

patrick-simpson

• Terry said it wouldn’t surprise him if Patrick Simpson kills the good Illinois buck, calling him a big buck killer. 7:34

podcast-format

• Don said he won’t make a habit of praying on every podcast, but felt this situation warranted it. 68:42

rut-timing

• Dave Elvin asked whether Don had noticed mature buck rut movement shifting earlier, into late October and early November, like he had in Missouri. 37:29

seed-buying

• Terry said it’s not recommended to go ahead and plant next year’s seed now. 11:04
• Terry said Real World does not recommend buying next year’s soybean seed yet, since it isn’t harvested. 11:08

seed-pricing

• Terry said Real World hasn’t set next year’s seed pricing yet because they don’t have harvest data or know coming seed prices. 10:48

southern-test-blend

• Don announced Real World still has some Southern Test Blend food plot seed available, with time left for southern-state fall planting. 8:31

stand-access

• Don recommends spraying a narrow herbicide path instead of mowing, so deer still have brush against their sides for security. 26:21

switchgrass

• Don warned that fall is not a good time to plant switchgrass. 9:20
• Don advised that if planting switchgrass in the fall in the Midwest, wait until after about November 15 so the seed sits for spring germination. 9:50

trade-show

• Terry’s company set up and operated a full factory inside a trade show hall in downtown Chicago that week. 3:23
• Terry said he loses his voice every year by Wednesday of the trade show from talking nonstop. 4:02

trail-camera

• Don has repeatedly observed on trail camera that when a mature buck shows up on his farm, a yearling buck often accompanies him. 28:56

trail-cameras

• Don spent an entire day checking trail cameras on seven different properties. 2:55

unkillable-buck

• Cooper Cox asked whether Don or Terry ever encountered a buck they deemed unkillable, referencing a hunter who tracked a buck only via trail camera. 30:54

whitetail-cribs

• Don had the Whitetail Cribs crew film an episode and record three podcasts at his place on Wednesday. 2:12

world-class-buck

• Steve asked what the definition of a world class buck is. 45:18

yearling-bucks

• Don noted that wandering yearling bucks sometimes show up in unexpected places like a Walmart, since they don’t know what they’re doing. 14:01
• Don estimated about 20 different yearling bucks come and go on his 120-acre farm over the course of a season. 18:24
• Don theorized that wandering yearling bucks often join bachelor groups they encounter during their first summer. 28:17
• Don noted Steve’s location in Southern Iowa has plenty of mature bucks, while yearling bucks likely breed more does in Pennsylvania and Michigan. 49:22

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (hunt) 1:20
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 6:53
• unnamed buck (history) 15:17
• Smokey (harvest) 21:57
• six by six by six (harvest) 22:15
• unnamed buck (sighting) 29:36
• Trump (harvest) 33:05
• unnamed buck (hunt) 34:02
• unnamed buck (harvest) 35:27
• Mel (sighting) 39:44
• Mel (harvest) 40:43
• unnamed buck (harvest) 43:22
• unnamed buck (harvest) 59:17

Listener questions

Question: Terry jokingly asked how much grief Don got for letting Wes Delks ride on the front of his four-wheeler without a seatbelt or helmet. 4:52 — asked by Terry

• Answer: Don said there were a couple of comments about it, but not too many. 4:59

Question: Terry asked whether Don had shot any does the year before Mel and a similar buck were fawns. 23:23

• Answer: Don said he didn’t shoot any does that year, since through 2011 he was targeting two does for every buck taken on his place. 23:37
• Answer: Don said after EHD devastated his herd in 2012 he stopped shooting does until finally shooting one again last season. 23:57

Question: Cooper Cox asked whether Don or Terry ever encountered a buck they deemed unkillable, referencing a hunter who tracked a buck only via trail camera. 30:54 — asked by Cooper Cox

• Answer: Don said he believes he can kill nearly any mature buck given full property access and no interference from other hunters. 32:21
• Answer: Don admitted he once thought the buck named Trump was unkillable, but ended up killing him. 33:05

Question: Dave Elvin asked whether Don had noticed mature buck rut movement shifting earlier, into late October and early November, like he had in Missouri. 37:29 — asked by Dave Elvin

• Answer: Don confirmed he’s observed a similar shift and now plans to hunt mornings in late October whenever a cold front comes through. 40:51

Question: Steve from Albea, Iowa asked why, despite decades of hunting, he’s never witnessed an immature buck actually tending a doe. 44:34 — asked by Steve

• Answer: Don explained mature bucks know when a doe is truly ready to breed, while immature bucks just chase does prematurely. 45:58
• Answer: Don added that younger bucks can still slip in and breed while a mature buck is busy chasing off other rival bucks. 46:20

Question: Steve asked what the definition of a world class buck is. 45:18 — asked by Steve

• Answer: Don defined a world class buck as a typical scoring at least 180 inches or a non-typical scoring at least 200. 45:30

Question: Ryan Norton from Florence, Kentucky asked whether Don had ever experienced a mature buck staying put rather than shifting locations in fall. 57:12 — asked by Ryan Norton

• Answer: Don said once a buck reaches middle age he settles into habits, including location patterns, that he carries the rest of his life. 58:17
• Answer: Don recalled one buck that, contrary to expectations, shifted onto public land in fall, actually moving toward more danger rather than safety. 59:17

Sponsors this episode

• QuietKat

The episode covered yearling buck dispersal and how to hold wandering bucks with food and security cover, with Don explaining that maternal aggression from does pushes young bucks off their birth range, that dispersal behavior can persist until age two and a half, and that mowed paths often get avoided by mature bucks while sprayed paths retain security cover. Don and Terry discussed a shift toward earlier, late-October mature buck movement tied to cold fronts, listener Steve’s question on why immature bucks rarely tend does, and Ryan Norton’s question on whether mature bucks stay put, which Don said they generally do once settled into habits. Terry mentioned late permission to hunt a new Illinois farm and a target Kentucky buck he planned to hunt that night. Don reported clearing a seven-to-eight acre Ohio food plot with Wes Delks despite heavy rain. The show closed with a Lester’s Feet prayer segment for listener Brian Scott’s wife and Terry’s friend’s injured son.

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