Episode #14 - Don and Terry talk deer during the superbowl…

Published: 2020-02-03
Episode page
Duration: 51 min

In this episode

alfalfa

• Terry raises alfalfa on his property to take pressure off soybeans, though it requires high maintenance like regular mowing and baling. 49:22

consulting

• Don plans to travel as far east as Massachusetts by the end of the month for consulting work. 27:02

farm-planning

• Terry plans his farm hunts around killing bucks in the first two weekends of September so he can prioritize his kids hunting later and focus on November-December hunting in Illinois. 47:18

fawn-production

• Is there a nutritional tie between feed/mineral intake and fawn production, and does timing matter for when that benefit occurs? 14:09

fetal-programming

• A university trial found calves born to cows given extra mineral supplementation performed better and gained weight faster throughout life; other calves never caught up. 15:43
• Don states an animal, whether human, deer, or cow, can never fully make up for nutrition it missed as a fetus. 23:23

food-plots

• Terry’s Deadly Dozen food plot is still being heavily browsed despite warm weather, unlike his depleted soybean plots. 6:41
• Don recommends maximizing food plot acreage where possible and keeping remaining areas as thick bedding cover, hunting only the edges. 45:41
• Given limited visit dates, should the listener prioritize more food and less cover, or more cover and less food? 43:05

genetics

• Don compares genetics to human height: nutrition can’t push a genetically 5’6” person to 6 feet, but malnutrition could leave them at just 5’2”. 24:02

giveaway

• This week’s Chasing Giants T-shirt winners are Ben Allgood of Gonzales, Louisiana and Jordan Bashford of Urbana, Illinois. 50:39

leasing

• Don argues too many people lease hunting ground far more than they’d be willing to buy, calling it a huge financial mistake since lease money is gone at season’s end. 41:38

listener-questions

• Listeners are invited to submit questions at chasinggiants.com with a complete mailing address for a chance to win a free Chasing Giants T-shirt. 50:23

mineral

• Don recommends keeping mineral available where legal, since animals crave and seek out nutrients they lack, as seen in horses and cattle eating bark or wood. 12:47
• Maximizer mineral stands apart by containing over 20 different nutrients, more than other minerals marketed to deer hunters. 25:45
• Don notes specific nutrient ratios matter, such as calcium needing to be about twice the level of phosphorus. 26:16

nutrition

• Don believes a five-year nutrition program with feed and mineral can raise gross antler score of mature bucks by about 15%, e.g. a 150-inch buck reaching around 170. 22:26

nutrition-program

• Don says hunters won’t see the full effect of a nutrition program for at least five years. 17:53

personal-stance

• Don states he is not a fan of the NFL because of many things the league stands for. 1:28

post-rut-recovery

• Since bucks can lose up to 50 pounds during the rut, does helping them recover weight then benefit later fawn production and antler growth? 9:35

quietkat

• Don mainly uses his QuietKat to throw off people trying to follow his truck and find where he’s hunting a big buck. 32:11
• Terry notes QuietKat’s new direct-drive design avoids sprocket and chain issues from bean stubble or cornstalks in open fields. 33:05

rub-sign

• While scouting a new property, Don found an unprecedented amount of rub sign, roughly 50 rubs in a one-to-two acre area, more than he’d ever seen. 2:35

scouting

• Has Don had a chance to work much on his hunting property yet this offseason? 2:13

seminar

• Don announces he is holding a seminar in Wisconsin on February 15 at distributor Extreme Custom Food Plots. 28:09

shed-hunting

• Terry and Don plan to hold off on shed hunting for another month and only walk each property one time. 3:36
• Don advises being disciplined and waiting to shed hunt until most antlers are down, such as mid-March, then gathering them in one pass. 4:49
• Don only shed hunts his home farm once a year with a group of friends, waiting until about 90% of antlers are on the ground. 5:57

supplemental-feed

• With his soybeans destroyed, Terry supplements with high-protein, high-fat feed to hold deer over until spring green-up of clover. 7:01
• Don can’t supplementally feed in his home state, but he keeps three feeders full on a property in Ohio to supplement deer nutrition. 7:23
• Beyond just feeding corn, what should hunters look for in a supplemental feed program? 24:35

switchgrass

• Terry cautions that not all bedding grasses or CRP products handle flooding well, though their specific switchgrass variety performs well in areas that occasionally flood. 39:25
• After harvesting timber and opening the canopy, should the listener plant switchgrass, plant food plots, or leave the area to native undergrowth? 34:12

timber-management

• Is it important to have a mix of old growth, new growth, and in-between timber types on a property? 37:06

trail-cameras

• Terry pulled all his trail cameras because he confirmed the bucks he plans to target next year survived, and he wants no more pressure on them. 6:23

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 2:55
• Smokey (harvest) 32:29
• Trump (harvest) 32:29

Listener questions

Question: Is there a nutritional tie between feed/mineral intake and fawn production, and does timing matter for when that benefit occurs? 14:09

• Answer: Don explains fetal programming: research on mineral-supplemented cows showed their calves permanently outperformed others, and the same principle applies to whitetails. 15:43

Question: Since bucks can lose up to 50 pounds during the rut, does helping them recover weight then benefit later fawn production and antler growth? 9:35

• Answer: Don says bucks rarely regain lost weight in winter since intake drops sharply, so the small amount of food they do eat must be the highest quality possible. 10:27

Question: Beyond just feeding corn, what should hunters look for in a supplemental feed program? 24:35

• Answer: Don explains corn is only about 7-8% protein, roughly half what a deer needs, making it more of an energy source than a true production feed. 24:49

Question: After harvesting timber and opening the canopy, should the listener plant switchgrass, plant food plots, or leave the area to native undergrowth? 34:12 — asked by Jordan Bashford

• Answer: Don says switchgrass will not work in wooded cover; it needs full sunlight and won’t compete with trees. 34:57
• Answer: Don recommends leaving cut treetops where they fall, since deer will bed within them for instant cover. 35:55

Question: Is it important to have a mix of old growth, new growth, and in-between timber types on a property? 37:06

• Answer: Don says yes, and recommends staggering hard cuts, timbering about a quarter of a large woodlot every five years. 37:28

Question: Given limited visit dates, should the listener prioritize more food and less cover, or more cover and less food? 43:05 — asked by Ben Allgood

• Answer: Don says the answer depends on what’s scarcest in the surrounding area, using his own cover-poor, agriculture-heavy area as an example. 43:56

Question: Has Don had a chance to work much on his hunting property yet this offseason? 2:13

• Answer: Don says he’s been scouting new properties and found an unprecedented amount of rub sign. 2:35
• Answer: He describes finding a specific unknown buck rubbing large hickory trees, and moved trail cameras hoping to photograph it before it sheds. 2:55

Sponsors this episode

• BuyAFarm.com
• 360 Hunting Blinds
• Real World Wildlife Products
• Lone Wolf Treestands
• Vortex Optics
• Mathews Archery
• QuietKat

Terry and Don discussed offseason scouting and nutrition strategy. Don described finding roughly 50 rubs in a one-to-two acre area on a new property, far more than he’d ever seen, including large hickories rubbed by an unknown buck he moved cameras to try to photograph. Both agreed to delay shed hunting until mid-to-late season, walking each property only once. They covered supplemental feeding and mineral use, with Don explaining fetal programming research on cattle, corn’s low protein content, and his view that a five-year nutrition program could raise mature buck antler score by about 15%, while genetics still set an upper limit. Terry noted his Deadly Dozen plot remained browsed while soybeans were gone, prompting supplemental feed. Listener questions addressed timber cutting, switchgrass limits, and balancing food versus cover based on local scarcity. Don also mentioned upcoming travel and a Wisconsin seminar.

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