Episode #15 - Passion vs. Discipline

Published: 2020-02-15
Episode page
Duration: 62 min

In this episode

buyafarm

• Don endorses the Monroe County farm listing, saying he’d want it himself but only skips it because it’s too far from home, urging someone to buy it. 42:14
• Don provides contact information for listing agent Wayne Keller regarding the Monroe County farm property. 43:46

career-advice

• Don plans to devote a full episode to advising young people who want to get into the hunting industry, a topic he frequently gets questions about. 36:32

chasing-giants

• Don announces listeners who submit a question or topic suggestion at chasinggiants.com will receive a free Chasing Giants T-shirt. 61:04

coyote-hunting

• Terry notes that when hunting coyotes at night, wounding and downing one often draws in more coyotes. 46:29
• Terry recalls being in a blind with Don when a coyote appeared before dark and Don let it come in, so their deer hunt turned into a coyote hunt. 48:32
• Terry poses a scenario to Don: with little shooting light left while hunting a target buck, a coyote walks out—what do you do? 47:21

culling-deer

• Terry plans to devote a future spring episode to methods of culling deer, calling it the most misunderstood topic in the hunting industry. 36:01

deer-research

• Don allows university researchers to live-trap deer on his property, part of a study around the Lake Shelbyville area of Central Illinois. 26:09

discipline

• Don believes that discipline, not passion, is what separates hunters who consistently kill big bucks from equally passionate hunters who do not. 11:33

episode-16

• Terry announces the next episode, episode 16, will release in a few days. 62:07

faith

• Terry recalls Don’s belief that God blesses people who put others first before themselves. 8:24

false-accusation

• A neighbor falsely claimed that Don had found his buck, claimed it as his own, and posted pictures of it on Facebook. 55:30
• Don denies ever taking or claiming the neighbor’s buck, challenging him to show any Facebook picture proving it. 55:43

farm-management

• Don states that over roughly twenty-five years of managing his farm with food plots, the quality of bucks there has steadily improved. 28:51

fetal-programming

• Don learned that Dr. Bronson Strickland of Mississippi State University’s Deer Lab discussed fetal programming in a podcast, aligning with Don’s own views. 18:30
• Terry clarifies that buck fawns are pushed out of their birth area to prevent them from breeding with their mother or sister. 25:06
• Joel Miles asked whether supplemental feeding and mineral use mainly benefit neighboring properties, since young bucks disperse away from their birth farm. 20:17

hunting-success

• Don states that four of his top five bucks have come since 2015, after more than forty years of hunting, even though he now hunts less each year. 16:18

mature-buck-behavior

• Don states a mature buck’s greatest need is freedom from human intrusion, preferring a small isolated patch of cover over a large woods with hunter pressure. 43:22

mentorship

• Don describes mentoring a young man on the drive to Wisconsin who sought advice about pursuing the same hunting-industry career. 9:37

personal-loss

• Terry attended the funeral of family friend Donna Stewart, who died from injuries sustained in a car accident in late December. 3:06

podcast-mission

• Don states the podcast’s mission is to share what’s made them successful, emphasizing that discipline produces consistent big buck success. 17:44

predator-control

• Nick Wright asked for thoughts on predator control and keeping hunting pressure off his properties. 44:14

property-selection

• Don explains that the best deer-hunting properties are isolated and free of neighboring hunter pressure, rather than large heavily wooded tracts joined to other woods. 42:54

publication

• Don announces he submitted a new article to Deer and Deer Hunting magazine this week making the point that young males relocate to prevent inbreeding. 24:41

quietkat

• Terry recommends the QuietKat electric bike as a tool that lets hunters access their property quietly, enabling game-changing moves like checking cameras without pressuring deer. 34:41
• Don notes the QuietKat’s main advantage is that it is quiet and leaves no scent trail on the ground while riding to a stand. 35:07

shed-hunting

• Don warns that hunters who rush out shed hunting as soon as they see a social media post push bucks off prime bedding and food, pressuring them and reducing the odds of finding the antler. 12:53

smokey-buck

• Terry describes seeing a Facebook user accuse Don of editing a photo of Smokey’s antlers to make them look bigger. 3:57
• Local people claimed Don’s bucks Smokey and Trump were $10 pen-raised deer he had released rather than wild kills. 5:17

sportsmanship

• Don recounts helping a neighbor recover a buck the neighbor had shot that ran onto Don’s property, reflecting his commitment to good sportsmanship. 53:46

target-buck

• Terry recalls a target buck he and Don had history with, where Don called and told him not to come hunt because conditions weren’t right, so they waited before harvesting it. 15:13
• Terry says serious hunters want a documented history with a specific buck over multiple years before taking the shot, rather than harvesting an unfamiliar deer. 56:21

trespassing

• Don recounts offering neighbors a $100 reward for every trespasser caught and arrested on a leased property previously treated as public ground. 59:21
• Amos Hershberger asked the best way to keep trespassers off a newly purchased property, especially since he lives two hours away. 49:33

whitetail-master-course

• Don explains he started the Whitetail Master Course, giving farm tours, after realizing there was demand from people asking to see his property firsthand. 31:32

whitetail-productions

• Terry plans to appear on the Whitetail Productions podcast to discuss consumer behavior and marketing trends in the hunting industry. 37:10

Deer activity

• Smokey (harvest) 5:12
• Trump (harvest) 5:12
• fork time buck (harvest) 14:55
• Smokey (history) 28:57
• unnamed buck (hunt) 54:13

Listener questions

Question: Joel Miles asked whether supplemental feeding and mineral use mainly benefit neighboring properties, since young bucks disperse away from their birth farm. 20:17 — asked by Joel Miles

• Answer: Don explains research by Dr. Carl Miller showing does kick off yearling buck fawns, who then relocate five to twenty miles from where they were born. 21:51
• Answer: Don adds that if the doe is killed, the pattern reverses and 90% of the time those buck fawns stay in the area where they were born. 22:30
• Answer: Don advises that the doe to cull is the one that gave birth to a buck fawn, since that fawn is more likely to stay on the property if she is removed. 23:37
• Answer: Don says widespread supplemental feeding across a state means more deer benefit from fetal programming, so it’s worth encouraging neighbors to feed too. 27:33

Question: Nick Wright asked for thoughts on predator control and keeping hunting pressure off his properties. 44:14 — asked by Nick Wright

• Answer: Don describes hiring a trapper who, combined with his own bow hunting, removed 17 coyotes from his 120 acres in about sixty days. 44:57
• Answer: Don says predator control is necessary but the method matters, favoring night calling with thermal or infrared optics from a distance to avoid disturbing deer. 46:10

Question: Terry poses a scenario to Don: with little shooting light left while hunting a target buck, a coyote walks out—what do you do? 47:21

• Answer: Don says it depends on the stand; if it’s a spot he’s hunting a target buck, he’ll let the coyote walk rather than risk spooking the buck. 48:00
• Answer: Terry adds that the decision depends on location; near a bedding area they’d lay off, but a transition-area stand might warrant taking the coyote. 48:15

Question: Amos Hershberger asked the best way to keep trespassers off a newly purchased property, especially since he lives two hours away. 49:33 — asked by Amos Hershberger

• Answer: Don advises coming down hard on the very first trespasser caught, since word spreads and leniency invites more trespassing. 50:44
• Answer: Don says there are no free passes: the first offender gets the law and an attorney letter to set the tone. 51:26
• Answer: Terry recommends building a relationship with the local game warden, who understands serious deer managers and wants to catch trespassers. 51:53
• Answer: Terry suggests placing a cell camera at entry points so a trespasser alert can be sent to the game warden even from two hours away. 52:12

Sponsors this episode

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

Don and Terry discussed discipline as the key factor separating consistently successful big buck hunters from equally passionate ones, and Don noted four of his top five bucks came since 2015 despite hunting less. They covered fetal programming and buck dispersal, with Don explaining research showing yearling buck fawns relocate five to twenty miles unless their mother is killed, and advising culling does that produced buck fawns. Listener questions addressed predator control, with Don describing a trapper removing 17 coyotes from 120 acres, and trespassing, where Don urged coming down hard on first offenders while Terry recommended cell cameras and relationships with game wardens. Don addressed a Facebook accusation he’d claimed a neighbor’s buck, denying it. Terry praised the QuietKat electric bike for quiet, scent-free access. Don discussed his Whitetail Master Course farm tours, an article submitted to Deer and Deer Hunting magazine, and endorsed a Monroe County farm listing, arguing isolated small properties beat large wooded tracts with hunter pressure.

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