Episode #140 - Fall Drought - What does that mean for deer hunters?

Published: 2022-10-24
Episode page
Duration: 63 min

In this episode

antler-regression

Carl Parks asked whether bucks can regress in antler size some years and rebound later, citing a buck that got smaller after five years old. 37:36

buck-antler-peak

Terry asked Don to confirm that every deer is different and peaks in antler growth at different times. 42:49

buck-management

Terry says passing a young buck always risks a neighbor killing it or it never getting bigger, so the pass/shoot decision is a personal one. 43:16

business

Terry says Real World Wildlife Products’ core customer will always be food plotters, even as the company expands into agriculture. 18:34

chestnut-trees

Joe asked whether Don’s preference for cheaper Chinese chestnut over hybrid Dunstan chestnut holds true across the traits Dunstan is praised for. 52:59

consulting

Terry says his consulting schedule is nearly full, with only a couple openings left, and urges people to reach out quickly. 20:38

deer-movement

Despite a study claiming otherwise, Don insists he will always believe weather affects deer movement based on what he observed this week. 8:07
A scientific study sent to Don claimed deer movement is unaffected by weather and only affected by the rut. 7:24

dnr-conspiracy

Terry argues state agencies would never secretly release a species they can’t generate revenue from. 33:29
Terry jokes that while the government doesn’t release wolves or mountain lions, he believes they secretly release sasquatches. 34:47 (light moment)

drought

Terry describes conditions so dry that a hot chainsaw muffler set a rotten log smoldering in his backyard. 9:28
Terry suggests hunters whose food plots failed from drought consider planting a forage or winter-hardy cereal grain now, following farmers who double-crop after early harvest. 29:06
Nathan from Indianapolis asked whether fall drought would hinder bucks’ antler growth, fetal programming for next year, and oak regeneration from acorns. 23:40

food-plots

Terry says the food plot diversity on his farm this year, with high-oil corn and beans, is giving him better food than anyone else around. 15:26

gland-lure

Terry clarifies they are not sponsored by Smokies, that Smoky is just a good friend who shares gland lure samples. 12:00

harvest

Don says harvest in his area is about 90% done and, due to a summer wheat-contracting opportunity, expects more winter wheat than in past years. 29:45

harvest-reports

Terry saw quite a few good deer shot and shared on social media during the recent cold snap. 8:24

humor

Don jokes that a kid he went to high school with once shot a sasquatch that only growled before being killed with a .30-30 between the eyes. 35:00 (light moment)
Don jokes that he and Hunter get kickbacks from the Chinese government for recommending Chinese chestnuts. 56:07 (light moment)

hunting-accident

Ron Slifer was accidentally shot in the leg with a crossbow while on a deer track this week. 4:02
The broadhead narrowly missed Ron Slifer’s femoral artery, which could have caused him to bleed out quickly. 4:18
Ron Slifer had surgery to remove the arrow and has since returned home to recover. 4:40
Ron Slifer’s injury was serious enough that he had to be airlifted. 5:30

hunting-plans

Terry says once his kids’ marching band commitments wrap up, his ‘dad duty’ is over and he’s ready to hunt through November. 59:08
Don plans to hold off hunting his target buck until he gets a daylight trail-camera picture of it, to avoid burning out his stands. 57:39

hunting-report

Don saw four deer including one mature buck Monday afternoon but was skunked entirely on Tuesday evening for the first time this year. 6:23

listener-feedback

Don says they hear from haters daily but also get plenty of encouraging feedback, and they appreciate listeners who take time to reach out. 2:31
A listener told Terry he had already listened to every episode and went back to relisten to last Halloween’s episode, finding it still applied a year later. 59:19

listener-support

Terry says listener encouragement after some bad news meant a lot and helped motivate the hosts heading into hunting season. 2:07

master-class

Don announced the satellite master class at Middlefield, Ohio is now full and too late to join this year. 19:06

mountain-lion

Terry asked whether the mountain lion found dead on the road was a juvenile male. 34:08

mountain-lions

Johnny from Columbia, Illinois asked whether the Illinois Department of Natural Resources secretly releases mountain lions. 31:20

nutricrave-corn

A Kentucky dairy farmer’s nutritionist told him to retake his NutriCrave corn sample because the protein numbers seemed impossibly high. 16:34
Don’s own NutriCrave corn sample came back at 13.29% protein, over 13%. 17:15
Don believes there is nothing deer like better than NutriCrave corn for food plots. 17:47

podcast-anniversary

Terry notes the show has reached its 140th episode, roughly a year after starting the podcast around October. 0:58

podcast-content

Terry says the podcast still openly shares hunting methods every day, while specific buck details and story outcomes are revealed only after the fact. 61:38

podcast-popularity

Don says the podcast’s popularity has forced him to share less than when it started, since fans use his truck location and permissions as scouting clues for giant bucks. 60:33

predator-dispersal

Don explains that young male predators sometimes wander hundreds of miles outside their normal range seeking new territory, explaining out-of-range sightings. 35:37

Terry announced a limited-time RUT22 promo code good for a 20% site-wide discount, better than the usual 15% listener coupon, available through October 31. 13:55

rain-forecast

Don’s area is forecast to finally get significant rain, over an inch with a 100% chance on Tuesday, after about two months without it. 12:55

scrape-behavior

Terry says he has never before seen a deer lay down in a scrape. 12:21

supplemental-feeding

Joe from Hockley, Texas asked Don to expand on wanting supplemental feed legalized and whether legalized baiting would benefit deer nutrition. 46:15

trail-cameras

Don’s twelve cell cameras went ‘ballistic’ with activity during the cold front before it hit. 7:54
Don no longer shares current trail-camera pictures of a buck while it’s still alive if he might target it in the future. 61:03

travel

After years of living out of motel rooms building the business, Don says he’s become much pickier about future travel commitments. 21:57
Terry notes Don has effectively traveled a total of about five months out of the year for work. 22:46
Don jokes that if he ever brought bedbugs home from a hotel, his wife Robin would make him retire that day. 23:05 (light moment)

whitetail-summit

Don announced an all-day Whitetail Management Summit in Salina, Kansas on February 18. 19:53
Wes Delks, Don, and Bronson Strickland from Mississippi State Deer Lab will all give presentations at the summit. 20:09

Deer activity

Trump buck (harvest) 3:47
unnamed buck (sighting) 6:29
unnamed buck (trail-camera) 11:23
unnamed buck (sighting) 33:39
unnamed buck (history) 39:05
Smokey (harvest) 40:19
unnamed buck (harvest) 40:45
unnamed buck (trail-camera) 41:08
Mel (harvest) 41:35
Joey (harvest) 41:40
unnamed buck (management) 43:41
unnamed buck (trail-camera) 57:45

Listener questions

Question: Nathan from Indianapolis asked whether fall drought would hinder bucks’ antler growth, fetal programming for next year, and oak regeneration from acorns. 23:40 — asked by Nathan

Answer: Don says he can’t answer the fetal programming question directly but would like to check with researcher Lee Mitchell’s data on the 2012 drought. 24:22
Answer: Don says the extremely dry soil this fall could have some effect on oak regeneration, though one bad year likely won’t hurt the forest much. 26:16
Answer: Don says in his area deer are not currently stressed by the drought because there is still plenty of food and water available. 27:52

Question: Johnny from Columbia, Illinois asked whether the Illinois Department of Natural Resources secretly releases mountain lions. 31:20 — asked by Johnny

Answer: Don says state game agencies could never secretly release a species due to the immense politics involved; the public would know. 31:59
Answer: Don explains the question likely stems from a mountain lion found dead on Interstate 74 in Illinois after being struck by a vehicle. 32:39
Answer: Don reiterates that agencies are not secretly releasing panthers, wolves, or other rare predator species despite common rumors. 33:15

Question: Terry asked whether the mountain lion found dead on the road was a juvenile male. 34:08 — asked by Terry

Answer: Don says he doesn’t recall its sex being reported, but it was a fairly good-sized mountain lion, not a small one. 34:17

Question: Carl Parks asked whether bucks can regress in antler size some years and rebound later, citing a buck that got smaller after five years old. 37:36 — asked by Carl Parks

Answer: Don confirms it’s fairly common for bucks to regress in antler size when they’d be expected to add inches. 37:56
Answer: Don recalls a buck shot in Clark County, Illinois that scored 214 inches and grew its very best rack at nine and a half years old. 39:05
Answer: Don says the best antler growth starts with an early spring, and this year’s winter dragged on with no early spring. 39:40
Answer: Don agrees many factors combine, with early spring and warm temperatures being good for antler growth. 40:03
Answer: Don advises Carl not to give up on the buck, since a lack of jump from three to four doesn’t mean it won’t happen from four to five. 43:41

Question: Terry asked Don to confirm that every deer is different and peaks in antler growth at different times. 42:49 — asked by Terry

Answer: Don confirms it, noting some deer peak as early as three and a half years old. 42:57

Question: Joe from Hockley, Texas asked Don to expand on wanting supplemental feed legalized and whether legalized baiting would benefit deer nutrition. 46:15 — asked by Joe

Answer: Don says there’s a big difference between baiting and supplemental feeding, and he would never want baiting legalized in his state. 46:55
Answer: Don says he’d like balanced supplemental feed rations legalized outside of season, once hunting season ends. 48:25
Answer: Terry, who lives in a bait state, says he’s fully in favor of supplemental feeding. 48:42

Question: Joe asked whether Don’s preference for cheaper Chinese chestnut over hybrid Dunstan chestnut holds true across the traits Dunstan is praised for. 52:59 — asked by Joe

Answer: Don says two university chestnut experts he interviewed both concluded the Dunstan chestnut is basically a Chinese chestnut with heavy marketing behind it. 54:18
Answer: Don says from his own planting experience he can’t tell the varieties apart, so he recommends Chinese chestnuts since they’re cheaper. 55:23

Terry marked the show’s 140th episode and thanked listeners for encouragement during a rough week, since Ron Slifer had been struck in the leg by a crossbow bolt while tracking a deer, narrowly missing his femoral artery, requiring an airlift and surgery before he returned home to recover. Don argued weather does affect deer movement despite a study claiming otherwise, citing heavy camera activity before a cold front and a skunked evening. Both discussed drought effects on food plots, NutriCrave corn protein results, and an upcoming Whitetail Management Summit in Salina, Kansas with Wes Delks and Bronson Strickland. Listener questions covered whether Illinois secretly released mountain lions (tied to one found dead on Interstate 74), antler regression and rebound in bucks including a Clark County 214-inch deer, and Don’s preference for cheaper Chinese chestnuts over Dunstan hybrids, which he called essentially the same tree with marketing behind it.

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