Episode #139 - Plans Can Change… Goals Stay The Same!

Published: 2022-10-17 Episode page Duration: 64 min

In this episode

announcement

Terry announces Joe Miles’ Whitetail Cribs episode airs that night and encourages listeners to check it out on the Exodus YouTube channel. 5:03
Terry brings on Don Bailey for a short segment about two small tracts going up for online auction at buyafarm.com. 28:35

big-woods

A Missouri big-woods hunter asks for advice patterning big bucks and picking apart big woods to find where to hunt and where not to. 26:34

buck-management

Don wants to give his borderline 170-180 inch bucks one more year to grow rather than shoot them now. 19:20

business-advice

Don advises new business owners to pick something where they set the price rather than letting a buyer dictate it, unlike raising livestock. 34:51
Don recommends avoiding fifty-fifty business partnerships since they inevitably lead to an impasse without a clear majority owner. 35:39
Don says a strong business idea targets the three things people spend ridiculous money on without hesitation: kids, pets, and hobbies. 36:18
Don advises diversifying a new business, such as adding attachments and services to heavy equipment rather than doing just one thing. 40:57
Don advises letting business partners and employees play to their strengths rather than micromanaging them. 42:10
An aspiring entrepreneur asks Don and Terry for wisdom on starting and succeeding in a new business. 33:23

business-ethics

Terry says tearing down someone else for self-promotion is selfish and a bad approach for a new business owner. 42:57

charity

Terry says Lester’s Feet wrote checks this week covering things like speech devices for nonverbal autistic kids and prosthetic seizure helmets. 48:14

cold-front

Don reports an unusually strong cold front bringing three straight nights below freezing, which he calls unheard of for mid-October in his area. 1:39

conflict

Don says the first week of season he had to deal with four different, totally unrelated negative situations, all involving other people. 10:57

crop-harvest

Don reports over half the fields around him have already been harvested. 4:43

ehd

Terry hopes the incoming cold front and freeze will help stop EHD’s momentum in areas like Ohio that have been battling the disease. 2:30

faith

Terry says he’s perfectly content if adversaries come to know the Lord even if it costs him a deer. 16:47
Terry closes by urging listeners to go back and read Ephesians chapter four for good life advice beyond deer season. 63:09

family

Terry’s son Jonathan was just featured in the ending of their marching band’s competition show. 62:00

family-priorities

Terry plans to spend the next two weekends at his kids’ regionals and state competitions before hunting hard in November. 61:50
Terry says he could never put his hunting desires and goals ahead of supporting his kids. 62:30

filming-schedule

Steve Shields is expected back to film with Don at the end of this week or the start of next week to catch peak fall colors. 60:06

gear-organization

Terry admits he is the most unorganized with his hunting gear he has ever been, right in the middle of the season. 60:37

goal-setting

Terry says the discipline and goals set at the start of the year must remain the priority no matter what outside factors arise. 13:03
Don says if you compromise your goal, you never really had a goal in the first place, only a dream. 17:21

hunter-conflict

Don says other deer hunters have shown him disrespect on multiple occasions this year that he never would have shown them. 21:57

hunting-experience

Don has hunted the last two evenings and seen deer both times. 1:54

hunting-plan

Because of the unprecedented cold, Don plans to hunt a morning or two this week so he doesn’t miss the opportunity. 2:06
Terry plans to take an older buck with his muzzleloader this fall while giving his kids a chance at the remaining older bucks. 23:29

hunting-strategy

Terry says hunting is worth pursuing this week if people can navigate work and other obligations. 2:47
Duane Hopkins’ advice to read the weather rather than the calendar applies just as much to hunting decisions. 3:46

long-term-management

Don explains the ‘long game’ in deer management spans multiple seasons, not just one, and requires setting yourself up for future success. 24:18

master-class

A listener asks how the Master Class differs from what he learned as a kid, and whether hunting technique or food plots matter more. 49:30

personal-loss

Terry announces that the mother of close friend Stephanie Bryson, who does embroidery for their company, passed away, with her funeral the next day. 6:28

personal-record

Don says he cannot recall ever going two seasons in a row without shooting a buck, and last year he shot no deer at all. 18:48
Terry states he has never shot a net-booner buck and says no single buck is worth jeopardizing a relationship at this point in his life. 21:14

podcast-controversy

Terry recounts that after being publicly attacked on another podcast, things got so out of hand they had to release a statement saying they were moving on. 9:59

priorities

Don tells listeners chasing big deer has its place but shouldn’t be at the top of their priorities. 62:58

rattling

Don warns that for every mature buck successfully called in with rattling or grunting, roughly twenty others get spooked without the hunter ever knowing. 58:29
A North Dakota hunter asks when to use rattling and grunt calls, since a buck he’s rattled at twice has fled or dropped each time. 54:35

sportsmanship

Don commits that if another hunter takes a buck he’s chasing, he’ll shake their hand rather than resent them. 11:26

target-buck

Terry describes his target buck this year that he was all over early season but never got a clean shot at, missing his one opportunity. 15:06

trail-camera

Terry and Don both report seeing new bucks show up on trail camera in mid-October despite the so-called October lull. 1:02

trail-cameras

Don’s 12 cell cameras have been very active this week, giving him a good read on when deer are moving. 1:20
Don says most of his trail cameras are now positioned in rut spots. 59:22

tree-planting

Don plans to pick up another load of trees from Gingerich Tree Farm and finish one more day on his new property before fall ends. 59:48

whitetail-academy

Don says Whitetail Academy has had zero negative feedback and new subscribers signing up every day. 5:53

wind

A Kansas hunter asks why air currents near a soybean field keep coming from the opposite direction of what weather apps predict. 43:42
Terry asks whether you have to be willing to back out of a stand if the wind turns out wrong once you get there. 45:53

Deer activity

unnamed buck (management) 15:20
Smokey (history) 19:51
unnamed buck (management) 23:09
unnamed buck (harvest) 47:54
unnamed buck (hunt) 55:00

Listener questions

Question: A Missouri big-woods hunter asks for advice patterning big bucks and picking apart big woods to find where to hunt and where not to. 26:34 — asked by David Faith

Answer: Don says success comes down to reading terrain features that funnel deer movement, since a mature buck uses the wind fully except where terrain forces a compromise. 27:24

Question: An aspiring entrepreneur asks Don and Terry for wisdom on starting and succeeding in a new business. 33:23 — asked by Lance Fisher

Answer: Don advises the business must be something you’re genuinely passionate about, since without passion in a demanding field you’d be miserable and likely fail. 34:14
Answer: Terry says your product or service must fill a genuine gap in the market, or it becomes a commodity that’s hard to differentiate and sell. 37:27

Question: A Kansas hunter asks why air currents near a soybean field keep coming from the opposite direction of what weather apps predict. 43:42 — asked by David Smalley

Answer: Don explains wind hitting a tree line can swirl downward and reverse direction, an eddy effect, so hunters must learn how air currents behave at each stand location through experience. 44:53

Question: Terry asks whether you have to be willing to back out of a stand if the wind turns out wrong once you get there. 45:53

Answer: Don says yes, he’s climbed into a stand and left within fifteen minutes more than once after realizing the wind wasn’t right, even though a brief entry still disturbs the area. 45:58

Question: A listener asks how the Master Class differs from what he learned as a kid, and whether hunting technique or food plots matter more. 49:30 — asked by James Market

Answer: Don says the fruit and nut trees on his farm aren’t the difference maker; there’s no secret trick, just sound hunting practices he teaches. 50:13
Answer: Terry says if forced to choose, how you hunt matters more than what you provide, though both done right have positive impact. 52:08
Answer: Don adds his top seven bucks came from six different properties, only one with a food plot, proving how he hunted mattered more than habitat work. 53:13

Question: A North Dakota hunter asks when to use rattling and grunt calls, since a buck he’s rattled at twice has fled or dropped each time. 54:35 — asked by Scott Heckman

Answer: Don says the only time to call is when a target buck is walking away with nothing to lose, since roughly twenty other bucks get spooked unnoticed for every one called in. 55:16
Answer: Terry says the friends who succeed at rattling aren’t calling blindly out of boredom; they watch the deer’s reaction and build up their calling accordingly. 57:03

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