Episode #152 - Are Trade Shows Dying?

Published: 2023-01-15
Episode page
Duration: 66 min

In this episode

antler-shed

• Don says in 46 seasons of deer hunting he has never seen bucks shed antlers this early, and still cannot explain why. 31:41
• Terry plans to ask Dr. Strickland whether early shedding affects antler size the following year. 32:09

asio

• Don notes that a year after not seeing ASIO Camo on clients, this year over half of his consulting clients wear or use ASIO Camo. 17:24
• Terry reports ASIO’s owner will appear on the podcast in a few weeks to reveal new products he’s withholding until competitors place their 2023 orders. 17:46
• Terry reports Joe will bring ASIO product to sell on-site at the Great American Show in Pennsylvania. 9:27
• Terry announces ASIO’s biweekly Mission Whitetail podcast and their plan to experiment with Saturday afternoon upload times. 10:06

ata-show

• Don says a small 10-by-10 ATA booth costs around $2,000, pricing many companies out of exhibiting. 12:02
• Don says Real World had a booth at ATA and spent tens of thousands of dollars across three years exhibiting. 13:42
• Terry observes that consumer behavior has shifted to reactionary short videos and reels, which give companies far better ROI than big trade-show product releases. 14:39

austin-razor

• Terry met Austin Razor, a Lester’s Feet board member and Real World dealer, who will handle excavation work on an approved consulting property. 64:19

backpack-gun

• Shaken by the incident, Terry decided he will build a backpack AR to keep with him while traveling for work. 23:38
• Don plans to assemble a backpack to keep in his truck on trips and bring into motel rooms with him. 25:27
• Terry plans to research and build a foldable-stock AR with a short barrel and a 30-round magazine, adding a Vortex optic. 25:43

business-values

• Don says the company built its reputation on brutal honesty, stating their integrity is not for sale even when people dislike hearing it. 60:58

consulting

• Don describes another week of consulting visits filled with fantastic people from all walks of life. 2:34
• Don recalls touring a Kentucky property with Bobby and telling the client they were getting two consultants for the price of one. 4:13
• Don announces a Missouri consulting giveaway was won by a local gentleman, and he and Steve Shields will travel there to consult and film for the Whitetail Master Academy. 61:42
• Don plans to meet fellow Dream Team consultant Mark Lester in Iowa to walk a property together and film marketing footage. 63:33

consulting-process

• Terry explains every consulting plan is sent to Don for approval and review, and any concerns are hashed out together. 63:55

emp

• Don says he has long worried an EMP bomb could fry the electric grid, disabling cars and phones while he’s on the road. 24:39

faa

• A software outage grounded thousands of flights nationwide, the first such shutdown since 9/11. 22:14

fruit-trees

• Don says tree tubes don’t work well to protect fruit trees since their branch structure differs from trees like oaks. 37:22
• Matthew from Howell, Michigan asks whether fencing is the best way to protect newly planted fruit trees from deer, how tall it should be, or if tree tubes would work. 33:22

hardcore-hammers

• Terry announces Hardcore Hammers is creating a ‘Giants’ coupon code for 10% off, with an additional 10% donated to Lester’s Feet and Purple Heart Homes. 29:30
• Don jokes that the Hardcore Hammers folks will never get filtered out of the Chasing Giants filter since they’re exactly the kind of people they want around. 30:45 (light moment)

hunting-plan

• Don plans to hunt after church on the last day of deer season, hoping to shoot a cull buck or possibly a doe. 62:32

kentucky

• Don jokingly claims Dry Ridge, Kentucky is where all the giant bucks are. 5:02 (light moment)

land-management-guide

• Don announces Real World will include a free land management guide with every order, not just sell it separately for $3. 57:54

lethal-mission

• Terry met with Josh Anderson of Lethal Mission in The Carolinas about their new Dixie Dozen and Soil Charge products. 16:39

mathews-archery

• Don notes Mathews Archery quit attending the ATA trade show a couple years ago, ahead of the industry trend. 12:53

nutricrave-corn

• Don explains that Real World will start selling harvested NutriCrave corn to feed deer, contracting a farmer to grow many acres, discovered after accidentally cross-pollinating NutriCrave with a high-protein red corn. 53:38
• Real World decided not to mix the accidental red corn into the NutriCrave seed they sell, so they can control who grows this higher-protein deer corn. 55:19
• Terry says the harvested NutriCrave deer corn isn’t available yet, but a custom bag has been designed and ordered ahead of the fall harvest. 55:58
• Don hopes to ship the new deer corn by October 1, sold in one-ton bulk bags or smaller 40-pound bags. 58:32
• Jay Boot from Pella, Iowa asks how to manage a three-acre plot of NutriCrave corn for late-season hunting, and whether to mow or leave it standing. 41:35
• Brady from Little Rock, Arkansas asks if Real World sells harvested NutriCrave corn in 50-pound bags as an alternative to baiting. 50:19

pittsburgh

• Terry describes rounding a bend near Pittsburgh and seeing 70-80 police cars with lights on at a major interchange, initially fearing an attack. 22:51

podcast

• An unnamed contact told Don that his podcast has filtered out all the liberals and idiots, leaving only good people among listeners. 2:04 (light moment)
• Don agrees with the theory, concluding that anyone who was offended by the podcast has already stopped listening. 2:15
• Terry jokingly suggests making a T-shirt reading ‘the Chasing Giants filter, leave stupid behind.’ 2:24 (light moment)
• Terry recounts a customer near Erie recognizing him from the podcast during a shop-floor meeting and calling him out by name. 3:15

property-visit

• Don recounts finding a ginormous rope hanging from a tree branch at a food plot while filming a Northern Illinois property for the Whitetail Master Academy. 6:33

real-world

• Terry reports Team Radical’s Kyle is finishing an instructional Miscanthus planting video for Real World, after being featured on the land management guide. 16:18

rope

• The property’s client joked that if big bucks rub big trees, they’d probably like big ropes too. 6:52 (light moment)
• Terry jokes the rope looked as big around as a six-inch schedule 40 PVC pipe hanging out of the tree. 7:04 (light moment)

seminar-schedule

• Don announces a live Chasing Giants podcast event with food on February 2 in Middlefield, Ohio. 19:21
• Don announces the Whitetail Management Summit on February 18 in Salina, Kansas, where he, Dr. Bronson Strickland, and Wes Delks will present. 20:46

shot-show

• Terry plans to fly to Las Vegas for SHOT Show business, a city he’s spent his career avoiding. 62:46

st-louis

• Don jokes that if ATA moves to St. Louis, attendees will be unhappy because crime is out of control there. 15:49 (light moment)

trade-shows

• Don believes the trade show industry, like ATA, is slowly dying. 11:01

trail-cameras

• Steve Myers from Terre Haute, Indiana asks what rationale Don uses to pick sites for cellular trail cameras versus card-read cameras. 47:46

tree-protection

• Terry clarifies whether Don means screen-door mesh or chicken wire for protecting fruit tree trunks. 35:53

work-routine

• Don says when he’s home he’s at his computer from wake-up to bedtime, reading consulting plans and answering emails during this busy season. 64:53

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (sighting) 31:32

Listener questions

Question: Matthew from Howell, Michigan asks whether fencing is the best way to protect newly planted fruit trees from deer, how tall it should be, or if tree tubes would work. 33:22

• Answer: Don recommends caging fruit trees with 48-inch woven wire cattle fencing formed into a ring, since deer browse the branches directly. 33:46
• Answer: Don also recommends wrapping the trunk itself in household screen-door wire rather than plastic tile, to prevent mice from girdling the bark. 35:18

Question: Terry clarifies whether Don means screen-door mesh or chicken wire for protecting fruit tree trunks. 35:53 — asked by Terry

• Answer: Don confirms he means actual screen-door mesh, which mice cannot chew through. 35:58

Question: Jay Boot from Pella, Iowa asks how to manage a three-acre plot of NutriCrave corn for late-season hunting, and whether to mow or leave it standing. 41:35 — asked by Jay Boot from Pella, Iowa

• Answer: Don says NutriCrave corn is so attractive it will get devoured quickly, so Jay should at least double his plot size compared to soybeans. 41:52
• Answer: Don adds NutriCrave corn is the most attractive food he’s ever planted for deer and works even before cold weather hits. 42:22

Question: Steve Myers from Terre Haute, Indiana asks what rationale Don uses to pick sites for cellular trail cameras versus card-read cameras. 47:46 — asked by Steve Myers from Terre Haute, Indiana

• Answer: Don explains he uses trail cams mainly to know when a buck is on a property, not to time a specific stand. 48:05
• Answer: Don says the deciding factor for choosing a cellular camera is mainly a property’s distance from his home. 48:29

Question: Brady from Little Rock, Arkansas asks if Real World sells harvested NutriCrave corn in 50-pound bags as an alternative to baiting. 50:19 — asked by Brady from Little Rock, Arkansas

• Answer: Don confirms Real World will sell harvested NutriCrave corn as deer corn, separate from the seed version, in bags and bulk. 50:54

Sponsors this episode

• BuyAFarm.com

The episode opened with lighthearted talk about the podcast’s audience being self-filtered to good people, including a T-shirt joke from Terry and a fan encounter near Erie. Don and Terry discussed the declining ATA trade show model versus cheap, high-ROI short-form video, plus updates on partners like Lethal Mission, ASIO Camo, and Hardcore Hammers’ new charity coupon code. They covered Real World’s plan to sell harvested NutriCrave deer corn separately from seed corn, discovered after an accidental cross-pollination with a high-protein red corn, targeting an October 1 shipping goal. A nationwide flight-grounding software outage and a scary police scene near Pittsburgh prompted both hosts to plan building a backpack AR for travel. Don noted unusually early antler shedding after 46 seasons hunting. Listener questions covered protecting fruit trees with woven wire fencing and screen-door mesh, managing a NutriCrave plot, cellular camera placement, and corn availability.

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