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 Stand
• Vortex Optics
• Mathews Archery
• QuietKat

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