Episode #151 - Winter Scouting Tips

Published: 2023-01-08
Episode page
Duration: 65 min

In this episode

ata-show

• Terry plans to attend the ATA Show for two short meetings and hang out at friends’ booths next Thursday, then attend the SHOT Show for several days. 9:44
• Terry plans to be in Pittsburgh through Wednesday, then attend the ATA Show Thursday with a couple short meetings. 61:58

bedding-habitat

• Terry recommends aggressively cutting hillsides deer already prefer to create thick ‘nasty’ bedding cover, then hunting the downwind sides during daylight. 59:54

christmas-gift

• Terry revealed he bought Don a survivalist axe for Christmas, joking that legally it’s classified as a hammer. 63:54

consulting-trip

• Don Higgins spent the week traveling with videographer Steve Shields on three consulting visits: Northern Illinois on the Wisconsin border, North Central Wisconsin, and near Dubuque, Iowa. 1:41
• Don plans consulting visits later in the week in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. 61:38

crp

• Don guessed a listener’s set-aside fields were likely enrolled in CRP, a federal program rather than a state one. 38:04

cwd

• Matt Mickelson asked if there’s a connection between glyphosate use and CWD, and whether it affects the local deer herd. 39:37

deer-senses

• Don said deer use their nose to tell individuals apart the way humans use sight, comparing it to a doe recognizing her own fawns by smell. 50:12
• Jonathan Miller asked whether all human scent smells the same, and if not, whether a buck can identify smelling the same person twice. 47:59

episode-topic

• Terry announced this episode’s focus is late-season scouting tips. 3:41

event-announcement

• Don announced a January 27–28 field day tour in Plymouth, Indiana with the tag-out group, touring a property he’s worked with for three or four years. 5:26
• Don and Terry will host a live Chasing Giants podcast in Middlefield, Ohio on February 2. 6:14
• The night after the Middlefield event, Don will give a seminar at JB’s Feed and Supply, a Real World dealer in Millersburg, Ohio. 6:59
• Don will speak February 15 at Whitetail Tavern Banquet Hall in Winona, Minnesota, an event hosted by Real World dealer Pfeiffer Hill Land Management. 7:31
• The next evening, Don will give a $40 seminar at Heartland Outdoors in Fall City, Nebraska, including a meal and a gun raffle. 7:58
• On February 18, Don, Dr. Bronson Strickland, and Wes Delks will all speak at the Whitetail Management Summit in Salina, Kansas. 8:30

food-plots

• Don recommends avoiding corn in small food plots altogether, saying you need at least two or three acres — sometimes ten to fifteen — for corn to work. 54:58
• Terry recommends using a diverse blend of plants in small food plots so browse pressure doesn’t hit one product all at once. 55:45
• Terry recommends planting both corn and beans every year in larger food plots rather than fully rotating between them. 56:31
• Don recommends offering food sources neighbors don’t have, like NutriCrave corn instead of standard corn feeders, to draw deer preference. 58:03

glyphosate

• Don recommends using a good residual herbicide instead of glyphosate for corn or soybeans, since it prevents weeds without needing to spray later. 44:01

habitat-enhancement

• Don plans to enhance a client’s stand site by planting about five or six fruit trees near an open farm gate deer already use to cross into ag fields. 25:47

habitat-programs

• Terry noted Kentucky recently gave farmers money to promote rotational grazing as an example of a state habitat program. 38:51

herbicide-safety

• Terry admitted he’s been guilty of walking through standing beans with a backpack herbicide sprayer, getting mist all over his face, legs, and arms. 42:20
• Terry recommends taking every precaution to avoid breathing or contacting herbicide spray, including wearing gloves. 42:45

hunting-plan

• Don plans to be home for about three days, getting a couple afternoon hunts in, hoping to shoot a young buck or a doe. 61:27

invasive-plants

• Terry said Jeff Sturges posted a video this week about invasive plants criticizing ‘tree huggers,’ and that Don Higgins surprisingly agreed with it. 18:07
• Don said that once he listened to Jeff Sturges’ invasives video, he found nothing to disagree with, calling it well-made with really good points. 18:53
• Terry said Jeff Sturges’ video also discussed Miscanthus and addressed people bashing invasive plants who confuse them with non-native plants. 19:27
• Don teased that his new video filmed with Steve Shields will shock viewers by revealing how many plants prevalent in local ecosystems are not native to the country. 20:23
• Don said soybeans originally come from China, among other plants he plans to reveal are sourced from China and Asia. 21:00

joe-miles

• Terry said he can’t wait to hear about Joe Miles’ hunting season, believing no one else had a season like his this year. 16:52
• Don said Joe Miles hunts continuously from South Carolina’s mid-August season opener, chasing giant bucks everywhere from Mexico to Canada, Washington State, the Midwest, and Texas. 17:20

lesters-feed

• Terry announced Lester’s Feed volunteer staff is working to send out 2022 charitable contribution statements to donors before tax season. 44:31
• Terry said he feels led to have Lester’s Feed provide resources for families navigating the high divorce rate that follows a child’s traumatic medical experience. 46:58

master-class

• Don reported the March 18 Master Class is full, March 16 has three or four openings left, and the classes on the 9th and 11th with Dr. Bronson Strickland have about five openings each. 10:28
• Don announced he is taking a break from hosting Master Classes at his home farm for at least a year, maybe two, while he adds a new walking path. 11:34
• Terry explained Master Class attendees can send their Real World product order to Don ahead of time, and staff will palletize and shrink-wrap it for cheaper shipping. 12:15
• Don announced Master Class attendees will receive an info sheet around February 1 with motel information and details for placing a Real World product order. 13:34

nutricrave-corn

• Terry said Eric Weber, known as ‘the big Swede’ from Larson Farms, tested NutriCrave Corn in Minnesota, where deer heavily browsed the high-oil corn stalks. 55:24
• Zach Anderson asked whether corn or soybeans lasts longer as winter food under equal browse pressure and plot size. 53:15

onx

• Terry announced strong listener demand led them to schedule OnX to join the podcast in the coming weeks to share tips. 14:18
• Don said he uses OnX every day, pulling it up on his phone about 20 times while walking a property to mark different things. 14:55

production

• Steve Shields is a longtime friend of Don and Terry who handles video and production work for Real World, Chasing Giants, and the Whitetail Master Academy. 2:08

property-tour

• The Northern Illinois property Don toured is nearly surrounded on three sides by a looping river and is about 250 acres. 2:43
• The Wisconsin property Don toured was 240 acres, much of it marsh or swampland. 3:02
• The Dubuque, Iowa property Don toured was 200 acres of rough bluff-country terrain along the Mississippi River. 3:13

public-land

• When scouting public land this year for shed hunting or future hunting spots, what should be the top priority? 28:45
• Brandon Cox asked for the top three ways to set his 200 acres apart from bait-using neighbors for daylight deer movement in hill country. 57:06

scent

• Terry recommends staying consistent with trail cameras, feeders, mineral sites, and property maintenance, since deer associate a consistent routine and scent with something positive. 51:46

scouting-excitement

• Terry said his voice pitch noticeably rose from excitement while walking a new Ohio friend’s property looking at potential stand and habitat opportunities. 4:52
• Terry said he gets excited scouting when he finds areas with heavy deer traffic and beds that are still somewhat open, knowing they can be thickened for better habitat. 21:41

scouting-strategy

• Terry said most hunters scout by finding deer sign first and then figuring out how to hunt it, but that approach usually lacks foolproof access. 26:58

stand-selection

• Don said he found his client two new stand locations, one less than 10 yards off a road, thanks to flawless access. 22:50
• Don recommends finding stand locations by eye using terrain features that funnel deer movement, combined with wind direction and access, rather than relying on trail cameras. 24:03
• Don recommends using a chainsaw to drop a tree and push deer movement closer to an existing stand rather than moving the stand deeper into the woods. 28:10
• Do you look for a stand with great access first and improve habitat around it, or find deer funnel areas first and then locate the best stand site? 24:45

switchgrass

• Dave Walls asked whether phasing habitat improvements — planting switchgrass in half a field one year and the rest the next — is a good idea. 37:00

travel

• Terry plans to either do a Saturday consulting visit or head to Illinois to pull tree stands and pick up his new QuietKat. 63:08

upcoming-content

• Terry announced he’ll share next week how he met, by chance on Christmas Eve, the owner of a small Illinois company that also supports a veterans nonprofit. 64:09

upcoming-guest

• Terry announced Joe Miles will join the podcast in the coming weeks to discuss new 2023 products. 16:34

whitetail-master-academy

• All three consulting properties Don toured this week will be featured on the Whitetail Master Academy. 2:34

wind-hunting

• Don’s third tip for standing out from bait-using neighbors is to always hunt with the wind, since most hunters don’t play it correctly. 58:32

winter-scouting

• Don Higgins wore the lightest rubber boots he owned with no heavy socks on a January trip to Northern Wisconsin, leaving his feet frozen. 1:15

wiseeye

• Terry said he loves the Monk family, owners of WiseEye and close Christian friends, and plans to visit them whenever they’re within two hours of home. 62:16

Listener questions

Question: Do you look for a stand with great access first and improve habitat around it, or find deer funnel areas first and then locate the best stand site? 24:45

• Answer: Don said he first takes advantage of existing deer habits and habitat, then enhances those patterns rather than starting from scratch. 25:06

Question: When scouting public land this year for shed hunting or future hunting spots, what should be the top priority? 28:45

• Answer: Don said his top priority is getting away from people, adding that a terrible encounter with another hunter this year has soured his desire to hunt public land. 29:02

Question: Dave Walls asked whether phasing habitat improvements — planting switchgrass in half a field one year and the rest the next — is a good idea. 37:00 — asked by Dave Walls

• Answer: Don said since those fields don’t offer much cover in winter anyway, Dave should just go ahead and plant the switchgrass in both fields now rather than phasing it. 37:07

Question: Matt Mickelson asked if there’s a connection between glyphosate use and CWD, and whether it affects the local deer herd. 39:37 — asked by Matt Mickelson

• Answer: Don said he’s unaware of any research linking glyphosate to CWD and doubts a connection, noting CWD was first discovered in mule deer at a government facility in Fort Collins, Colorado. 40:10

Question: Jonathan Miller asked whether all human scent smells the same, and if not, whether a buck can identify smelling the same person twice. 47:59 — asked by Jonathan Miller

• Answer: Don said he believes a buck can distinguish individual people’s scent, and that deer on his property recognize his smell over other people’s. 48:32

Question: Zach Anderson asked whether corn or soybeans lasts longer as winter food under equal browse pressure and plot size. 53:15 — asked by Zach Anderson

• Answer: Don said he’s come to realize deer prefer NutriCrave corn over soybeans, calling corn ‘the ticket’ for winter food. 53:44

Question: Brandon Cox asked for the top three ways to set his 200 acres apart from bait-using neighbors for daylight deer movement in hill country. 57:06 — asked by Brandon Cox

• Answer: Don’s first tip was to minimize human intrusion, since deer avoid areas with human presence, so keeping a property intrusion-free yields more deer. 57:53

Don recapped a week of consulting visits with videographer Steve Shields to three Whitetail Master Academy properties: a nearly river-surrounded ~250-acre tract in Northern Illinois, a 240-acre marshy Wisconsin property, and 200 acres of bluff country near Dubuque, Iowa. He described finding two new stand sites through terrain-based scouting rather than trail cameras, using a chainsaw to redirect deer movement, and planting fruit trees near a gate deer already used. Terry and Don covered late-season habitat topics including phased switchgrass planting, residual herbicides over glyphosate, and diverse small food plot blends, with Don favoring NutriCrave corn over soybeans for winter food. Listener questions addressed scent recognition, a public-land encounter that soured Don on hunting there, and glyphosate’s unproven link to CWD. Terry also referenced Jeff Sturges’ invasive-plants video, which Don said he agreed with entirely, and both previewed upcoming shows, tour dates, and Master Class scheduling.

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