Episode #158 - Is Hunting Contests Hurting the Hunting Industry?

Published: 2023-02-26
Episode page
Duration: 62 min

In this episode

ata

• Don says he is disgusted with the Archery Trade Association, believing it cares about profit rather than conservation or big game herds. 49:10

banter

• Don jokes that Cody Wolka, being from Indiana, might secretly know Wes, hinting at shared ‘code brown’ stories. 53:28 (light moment)

book

• Billy Ayers asks if Don will print another run of his book Hunting Trophy Whitetails in the Real World. 40:33

chris-yates

• Chris Yates is scheduled for open heart surgery early the following week after a customer who is a heart surgeon noticed his symptoms. 9:33
• Terry says alternate contacts will handle Victory Chevrolet business while Chris is out for a couple weeks recovering from surgery. 15:03

consulting

• Don was so worn out after roughly nine days on the road that he came home exhausted from the consulting trip. 7:30
• Terry plans to spend three straight days doing consulting visits in the Hopkinsville area around the time of Don’s Tennessee event. 57:52
• What has happened on the consulting trail since last week’s episode? 2:04

customer-service

• Don went back to a client’s property for free to add tree stand markings he had forgotten, refusing extra payment since the client had already paid for full service. 4:04
• Don says Victory Chevrolet impressed him by getting him into a new truck within an hour despite giving them no advance notice. 11:00

deer-behavior

• Don notes deer prefer thick cover and will bed against downed treetops to shield their backside while watching more open areas. 21:22

deer-management

• Don predicts high fences will increasingly divide Midwest properties as deer-management disputes grow between neighbors since state agencies won’t intervene. 36:47
• Don says the Illinois politicians and deer biologists don’t care about mature deer in the herd, judging by decades of their actions. 35:32
• Andrew Jones asks if Illinois will become a one-buck state and if the herd must be wiped out before politicians address the 45/55 doe-buck harvest ratio. 34:35

family

• Don’s father turned 82, and Don feels blessed both his parents are still alive, unlike many friends who have lost one or both of theirs. 1:33

food-plots

• Terry designs his food plots with height variation and Miscanthus dividers specifically to draw deer within bow range, since bowhunters need shots inside 25 yards. 33:33
• Steve Sheeber asks if every food plot needs food through winter, or if deer shift to plots still holding food as others run out. 28:36
• Steve Sheeber also asks if Don uses food plot architecture to draw mature bucks across a large plot within bow range, and how. 29:11

habitat-management

• Don advises that thicker cover is generally better, since deer often bed and travel through dense brush even without visible beaten paths. 18:34
• Don’s own switchgrass field is extremely thick, yet it is full of deer trails and beds throughout. 18:50
• Terry recalls that Don heavily cut his home sanctuary’s canopy and used a skid loader to push trees into a pass that funneled deer toward his stand. 20:07
• Don explains that heavy TSI cuts with skid loader paths are meant to direct deer movement toward hunters, not to increase or decrease overall use of an area. 20:53
• Terry believes dense, evenly spaced woody stem regrowth like box elder holds fewer deer than thick brushy cover of briars and treetops. 22:28
• Don distinguishes thick vertical cover from thick horizontal cover, saying horizontal cover is far more attractive to deer. 22:42
• Terry states that creating an access point and then building habitat against it is one of their key strategies applied on nearly every property. 23:50
• Terry observes that as land managers get deeper into habitat work, the significance of hunting and the kill itself matters less to them. 51:01

hunting-contests

• Terry argues that all hunting contests should be completely outlawed since hunting is personal and there’s no fair way to compare different hunters’ opportunities. 44:35
• Terry argues that hunters who join branded contests are being used as ‘pawns’ by companies chasing marketing exposure from participants’ photos. 45:37
• Billy Ayers asks what Don and Terry think about hunting contests like coyote hunts, small game hunts, and shed antler contests. 39:36

marketing

• Terry coined the term ‘yoga pants marketing’ to describe how hunting brands chase social media likes rather than substance. 51:36

master-class

• Don announces Master Class dates of March 9, 11, 16, and 18, with the Saturday sessions full but a few Thursday openings remaining. 58:53
• Don plans to stop hosting Master Classes on his own farm next year while he redoes parts of the property. 59:11
• Don explains that master class attendees can pre-order any amount of Real World Wildlife Products, up to full pallets or semi loads, delivered and loaded for them. 60:36
• Terry says master class weekends include a Friday-night podcast recording with special guests such as Al Foster and Joe Johnson. 61:04

minerals

• Cody Wolka asks why Real World Wildlife Products sells two mineral options if one is clearly the better choice. 52:37

seed-stratification

• Don says buyers should freeze-thaw stratify switchgrass seed repeatedly from spring until planting time to prepare it for a late no-till drill. 27:12
• Are you recommending artificially stratifying the switchgrass seed if planting it that late in the season? 27:00

speaking-event

• Don announces his Friday, March 3 speaking event in Hendersonville, Tennessee will likely be his last speaking engagement of the spring, maybe the year. 55:33
• Terry gives the event address as Center Point Church, 1002 Center Point Road, Hendersonville, Tennessee. 56:06
• Don personally invites a Tennessee listener named Marvin and his church’s youth group to attend the event as his special guests. 57:24
• Don announces that Bobby Worthington also plans to try to attend the Tennessee event. 58:03

switchgrass

• Don says the critical factor for establishing switchgrass is having enough ground moisture right when it’s drilled so the seed germinates immediately rather than sitting dormant. 27:59
• Can a good switchgrass stand establish if no-till drilled into winter wheat stubble after harvest, before a killing frost in Northeast Wisconsin? 24:11

trail-cameras

• Billy Ayers also asks if Don has seen bucks rub-urinating and pawing at scrapes as late as February, even with antlers still on. 40:07

victory-chevrolet

• A farmer friend of Don’s in Iowa bought a new Buick Enclave from Chris at Victory Chevrolet despite living far away and came away super impressed. 15:40
• Another friend of Don’s has a daughter in Texas who bought a car through Victory Chevrolet because she heard about it on the podcast. 16:04

Listener questions

Question: What has happened on the consulting trail since last week’s episode? 2:04

• Answer: Don recaps looking at several Kansas/Missouri/Iowa properties, visiting a custom gunmaker and clients, and coming home exhausted after about nine days on the road. 6:54

Question: Can a good switchgrass stand establish if no-till drilled into winter wheat stubble after harvest, before a killing frost in Northeast Wisconsin? 24:11 — asked by David Sauer

• Answer: Don says drilling switchgrass immediately after wheat harvest works if there are at least 90 days before the first frost, giving a stand mature enough to survive winter. 25:32

Question: Are you recommending artificially stratifying the switchgrass seed if planting it that late in the season? 27:00

• Answer: Don says yes, buy the seed early and cycle it in and out of the freezer for a couple weeks at a time until planting. 27:12

Question: Steve Sheeber asks if every food plot needs food through winter, or if deer shift to plots still holding food as others run out. 28:36 — asked by Steve Sheeber

• Answer: Don says it’s fine if only one plot has food left in late season, since every buck on its feet before daylight will come to that plot. 30:10

Question: Steve Sheeber also asks if Don uses food plot architecture to draw mature bucks across a large plot within bow range, and how. 29:11 — asked by Steve Sheeber

• Answer: Don recommends splitting a large plot with a Miscanthus strip (optionally with a low fence) so deer must work around it, funneling them past the stand. 30:44

Question: Andrew Jones asks if Illinois will become a one-buck state and if the herd must be wiped out before politicians address the 45/55 doe-buck harvest ratio. 34:35 — asked by Andrew Jones

• Answer: Don says neither Illinois politicians nor state deer biologists care about mature deer, and it will never improve; private landowners must manage on their own. 35:32

Question: Billy Ayers asks what Don and Terry think about hunting contests like coyote hunts, small game hunts, and shed antler contests. 39:36 — asked by Billy Ayers

• Answer: Don says he no longer enters big buck contests, believing they bring out the worst in people once money and prizes are involved. 41:14

Question: Billy Ayers also asks if Don has seen bucks rub-urinating and pawing at scrapes as late as February, even with antlers still on. 40:07 — asked by Billy Ayers

• Answer: Don says he has seen scrape activity in nearly every month, including February multiple times, especially at community scrapes. 42:13

Question: Billy Ayers asks if Don will print another run of his book Hunting Trophy Whitetails in the Real World. 40:33 — asked by Billy Ayers

• Answer: Don says he won’t reprint the book, which sold out a couple years ago, though he may write a final tell-all retirement book someday. 42:44

Question: Cody Wolka asks why Real World Wildlife Products sells two mineral options if one is clearly the better choice. 52:37 — asked by Cody Wolka

• Answer: Don explains Maximizer and Maximizer Plus are the same base mineral, but Plus adds the pricier Expect Healthy Deer technology for those who want it. 53:58

Don recapped a nine-day consulting trip that left him exhausted, and Terry gave an update on Chris Yates, a contact at Victory Chevrolet, who faced open heart surgery after a customer who is a heart surgeon caught his symptoms; alternate contacts would cover the dealership while he recovered. Habitat discussion covered thick cover, with Don and Terry debating horizontal versus vertical cover, TSI cuts, skid-loader travel corridors, and switchgrass establishment through seed stratification and drilling with adequate soil moisture. Terry described designing food plots with height variation and Miscanthus dividers to pull deer within bow range. Listener questions addressed Illinois deer management and doe-buck harvest ratios, which Don said politicians and biologists ignored, hunting contests, which Terry argued should be banned and Don said he avoided, February scrape activity, a possible reprint of Don’s book, and the difference between Real World Wildlife Products’ two mineral options. Don also announced a Hendersonville, Tennessee speaking event and upcoming Master Class dates.

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