Episode #156 - Looking for a Buck Bed…

Published: 2023-02-12 Episode page Duration: 66 min

In this episode

200-inch-bucks

• Chase Nicely asks whether a well-managed farm can consistently produce 200-inch bucks every few years, or whether such deer are simply genetic anomalies regardless of management. 50:12

asio

• Terry reports Joe Miles is wrapping up the Great American Show circuit, describing long lines of fans and strong ASIO product sales at this year’s shows. 16:25

bedding-cover

• Zach from Hidalgo, Illinois asks whether spreading straw on south-facing hillsides for extra bedding cover is worth doing or a waste of money. 23:46
• Micah Brubaker asks whether Don and Terry advocate diversity pockets for browse or recommend planting straight Bedding-in-a-Bag in an old ag field. 38:40
• Kent Taber asks whether Don has ever planted grass inside wooded cover on his farm, since the best public-land bedding areas he finds have grass among brush and briars. 34:41

big-buck-industry

• John Mulligan told Terry that everyone else killing giant bucks at this level is hunting thousands of connected acres, unlike Don’s smaller managed farm. 58:50

cedar-cover

• Don explains cedar cover loses its lower green branches because they become shaded as trees grow into each other, so keeping sunlight reaching the ground is key. 37:49

consulting

• Terry relays that Wes’s wife Madison travels with him and passes the time reading in the hotel or truck while Wes works properties. 3:51

dream-team

• Don predicts Wes will handle more consulting properties than any other Dream Team consultant, potentially twice as many as anyone else. 3:34

ehd

• Don recalls Mark Drury saying that after an EHD outbreak wipes out a deer herd, the rebound often produces exceptionally giant bucks, which is exactly what happened on his farm. 56:25

episode-announcement

• Terry announces this is episode 156, recorded on February 12, Super Bowl Sunday. 0:53

faith

• Don shares that a John Hagee sermon he watched while sick taught that light and darkness cannot coexist, inspiring him to keep shining as a light. 5:42
• Don reflects that he is beginning to grasp the platform he and Terry have been given and the responsibility that comes with it to be a light in a dark world. 8:22

fame

• Terry finds it strange when fans buy a Chasing Giants hat and ask for autographs or photos, saying he isn’t used to that kind of attention. 7:31

fan-interaction

• Terry recounts meeting a man with stage four cancer at an Ohio event who later hugged and thanked him, which he found deeply meaningful. 9:08
• Don received a message from the cancer-stricken fan’s son thanking him for the evening his father got to spend meeting Don and Terry. 9:45
• Terry met a 10-year-old fan in Tennessee wearing a Chasing Giants hat, gave him another hat, and had planned to have him join the podcast before technical problems intervened. 15:07

habitat-management

• Terry says rotating brush-hogging sections of his old cattle-pasture farm each year to keep grass from being shaded out by maturing cedars has been one of his biggest habitat wins. 37:17

health

• Don was sick for a week with what the doctor thought was COVID or flu; he believes it was likely his fourth bout of COVID. 4:45

hunting-advice

• Don advises that when evaluating hunting advice, you should scrutinize the credentials and situation of the person giving it before following it. 41:04
• Don recommends only taking hunting advice from someone who has proven their methods actually work. 41:58
• Terry advises being cautious of anyone promoting their hunting strategy by bashing someone else’s ideas rather than letting the idea stand on its own merit. 42:04

ladder-stands

• Terry asks listeners to recommend a good ladder stand in the comments, since he and Don plan to buy and test some themselves. 21:45
• Terry says they’ll be shopping for new ladder stands within the next month and a half to two months and invites listener recommendations. 63:33

land-acquisition

• Don announces he has acquired about 40 additional acres adjoining his farm, which he expects will let him increase the age structure of bucks on his property. 52:42
• Don announces that once his land swap and new acreage deal closes, he will own a mile and a half of creek and every tree along both banks. 62:05

native-species

• Sean Richardson asks whether it makes more sense to focus on increasing native species and diverse bedding plots rather than solely worrying about nonnative species like miscanthus. 27:03

neighbor-management

• Terry says a farm’s ability to grow giant bucks depends heavily on whether neighboring properties harvest young 150-160 inch bucks. 60:48

novix

• Don says he’ll still use his Novix stands when chasing a public-land buck, even though Novix is no longer a sponsor. 22:27

real-world-wildlife-products

• Don announces Real World Wildlife Products has taken off, with shipping charges to customers now the company’s biggest hurdle. 63:51
• Don asks the Chasing Giants audience to help find new regional dealers for Real World Wildlife Products. 64:08
• Don announces a special, free dealer-only event in February 2024 as an incentive for signing up as a Real World Wildlife Products dealer. 64:40

saddle-hunting

• Sean asks Terry whether he would have gotten his target buck last season had he been hunting from a love swing, since he’d already be standing. 28:38

sponsors

• Don announces that after discussing a new sponsorship agreement, he and Terry made the difficult decision to end their sponsorship relationship with Novix. 18:49
• Don explains most of their clients want enclosed blinds or ladder stands rather than Novix’s run-and-gun climbing stands, making Novix a poor fit for their audience. 18:37

switchgrass

• Don relays his grower’s explanation that switchgrass varieties with triangle-shaped growth pointing up are extremely dense near the ground, making them harder for deer to move through. 46:35
• Terry notes switchgrass tolerates flooding or wet-feet areas much better than other native grass varieties like Indian grass, making it the better choice there. 48:01
• Don knows a Real World Switchgrass planting near a river bottom that survives being submerged under 5-10 feet of water for two weeks and bounces back afterward. 48:26
• Terry asks Don why he recommends straight switchgrass over a blend when people ask what to plant on their own farm. 43:22

technical-difficulties

• Terry’s hard drive crashed the night before the show, forcing him to drive through the night to get home and re-record the podcast. 1:30

tennessee

• Terry describes hunting friends in Tennessee showing him photos of trail-camera captures and harvested deer, convincing him big deer live in that region. 14:38

trail-cameras

• Don pulled roughly 10 trail cameras this week, found no new bucks, but confirmed that some previously spotted prospects are still alive. 10:41
• Terry asks Don to explain his tip about leaving cards in trail cameras until checking them at home. 11:13

transparency

• Don addresses critics who claim he releases pen-raised deer inside a fenced farm with one opening, insisting he is completely transparent by hosting visitors on his property. 60:04

travel

• Don plans to travel this week for a seminar near Winona, Minnesota on Wednesday, a Nebraska seminar Thursday, and a Nebraska consulting visit Friday. 13:25
• Don plans to attend the Whitetail Management Summit in Salina, Kansas next Saturday, followed by at least five more consulting visits, keeping him on the road roughly ten to eleven days. 13:39
• Don plans to meet Chris Yates at the Nebraska seminar Thursday evening to swap trucks before the seminar starts. 14:05

whitetail-master-academy

• Don says over 150 people attended his farm classes last year and over 100 have already signed up this year. 60:18
• Terry announces they’re pausing master classes while Don’s property upgrade is completed, after which classes will resume as a phase-two look at the redeveloped farm. 62:42
• Don announces the March Whitetail Master Academy classes have limited openings left, with one class full and the others down to five or fewer spots. 63:07

Deer activity

• Smokey (harvest) 49:40
• Mel (harvest) 49:48
• unnamed buck (harvest) 49:57
• unnamed buck (management) 54:03

Listener questions

Question: Zach from Hidalgo, Illinois asks whether spreading straw on south-facing hillsides for extra bedding cover is worth doing or a waste of money. 23:46 — asked by Zach

• Answer: Don calls laying straw out for bedding cover a ridiculous idea, noting deer have survived for years without it and human intrusion while placing it likely outweighs any benefit. 24:53
• Answer: Terry suggests heavy TSI cutting a south-facing hillside now to create thermal bedding cover near a food plot for next season, instead of spreading straw. 25:06

Question: Terry asks Don to explain his tip about leaving cards in trail cameras until checking them at home. 11:13

• Answer: Don explains he leaves the card inside each camera and brings the whole unit home to test it, so he can pinpoint which camera has an issue rather than mixing up cards in the field. 12:46

Question: Sean Richardson asks whether it makes more sense to focus on increasing native species and diverse bedding plots rather than solely worrying about nonnative species like miscanthus. 27:03 — asked by Sean Richardson

• Answer: Don explains that mixing browse with bedding cover lets a buck feed without leaving his bed, making him far harder to hunt, so he keeps food and bedding separate. 29:27
• Answer: Terry says the Miscanthus strip is only about 32 inches wide, meant to block a poacher’s shot into the food plot or screen a hunter’s approach, not to replace native plantings. 31:24

Question: Sean asks Terry whether he would have gotten his target buck last season had he been hunting from a love swing, since he’d already be standing. 28:38 — asked by Sean Richardson

• Answer: Terry says he’ll never know since he’s too old to try a love swing and prefers hunting the way he always has, regardless of claimed safety benefits. 33:29

Question: Micah Brubaker asks whether Don and Terry advocate diversity pockets for browse or recommend planting straight Bedding-in-a-Bag in an old ag field. 38:40 — asked by Micah Brubaker

• Answer: Don reiterates he keeps grasses separate from forbs to force bucks to travel a set distance to food when hungry, which makes them more killable than feeding right from their bed. 39:55

Question: Kent Taber asks whether Don has ever planted grass inside wooded cover on his farm, since the best public-land bedding areas he finds have grass among brush and briars. 34:41 — asked by Kent Taber

• Answer: Don says he hasn’t tried planting grass in wooded cover since it’s very difficult to establish there, but calls Kent’s observation about grassy bedding areas excellent. 35:09
• Answer: Don explains his favorite deer cover is an overgrown cow pasture where residual grass mixes with weeds, saplings, and briars after cattle are removed—that’s prime bedding cover. 35:20

Question: Terry asks Don why he recommends straight switchgrass over a blend when people ask what to plant on their own farm. 43:22

• Answer: Don explains their Real World Switchgrass variety was selected through research for the best standability, growing tallest and standing best of the three species offered. 44:35

Question: Chase Nicely asks whether a well-managed farm can consistently produce 200-inch bucks every few years, or whether such deer are simply genetic anomalies regardless of management. 50:12 — asked by Chase Nicely

• Answer: Don says his real goal isn’t specifically 200-inch deer but raising the best six-year-old bucks possible, with a big score simply a bonus if genetics allow. 53:01
• Answer: Don reveals his top six bucks came from five different properties—only two off his home farm—showing giants aren’t exclusive to his own managed land. 57:35

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