Episode #165 - Farmers Planting Early Creates New Opportunities - EARLY SPRING

Published: 2023-04-16 Episode page Duration: 65 min

In this episode

big-buck

• Don has killed a couple of 200-inch bucks on his late grandfather’s farm, something his grandfather never witnessed there. 15:28

charity

• Terry has agreed to donate a free land consulting visit to a Kentucky ministry’s raffle fundraiser supporting mission work in Haiti. 24:53
• About six years ago Terry, Don, and Duane ran a Hunters Helping Haiti event that raised enough money to build four or five houses. 25:25

community-support

• Terry asks listeners to keep a young man named Cameron, who is battling cancer and undergoing treatment, in their prayers. 59:31
• Don asks for prayers for Jake and Hailey’s premature baby boy, Hank, who weighed under four pounds at birth and remains hospitalized. 60:28

contest

• Don announces a Whitetail Master Academy contest where members can win a weekend with him next March at his home farm. 23:10
• The first contest winner will be whoever submits the winning name for the buck Don ultimately chooses to chase this season. 23:27

corn-maturity

• Can you explain how corn maturity days and soybean group numbers work, and how that applies to early planting? 7:15

coyote-coon-contests

• Russell Hilliard asks whether Don and Terry really think coyote and coon roundups are bad, since they help struggling turkey populations. 52:38

deer-bridges

• Jerry Miller asks what Don and Terry have seen deer do with bridges crossing a river separating food and bedding, and what bridge type works best. 27:11

episode-schedule

• Terry announces this is episode 165 and confirms it is scheduled to air around April 16. 0:55

food-plot

• Don explains sunlight, not just moisture, is critical for a planted seed to germinate and know which way to grow. 6:00
• Terry explains a thick crop canopy traps humidity like a greenhouse, causing overseeded seed to crack and swell but then die from lack of sunlight. 5:44
• Don says he ran out of grain on his farm this year due to heavy deer pressure and never wants that to happen again. 43:10

food-plot-planning

• Terry recommends scoping out what your leased or permission farmer is doing this spring to plan fall food plot strategy. 10:56

food-plot-timing

• Duane Hopkins is credited with the advice to plant by the weather, not by the calendar. 13:06
• Don recommends food plotters plant about two weeks after the farmer plants soybeans, which will come earlier this year. 12:28
• If crops go in a month early, what tips or things should a hunter or land manager watch for when fall comes around? 2:32

grain-sorghum

• John asks whether milo is viewed as a lesser-preferred deer crop compared to modern corn and beans, given the shift away from it. 41:12

habitat-management

• Terry says good habitat stewardship for whitetail also benefits all other wildlife on the property. 15:50

hunting-history

• Don has carried a video camera on every hunt since 2004, after he was accused of wrongdoing when he shot his first 214-inch buck. 31:29

japan-trip

• Terry plans to bring Chasing Giants hats to Japan and have local kids wear them for photos to promote the show. 1:28

lesters-feet

• Terry plans for the Lester’s Feet event to be an end-of-year party held after hunting season. 26:25
• The Lester’s Feet board reviewed Hank’s family’s application and assembled an assistance package funded by listener donations. 61:09
• Don says Lester’s Feet has raised over a million dollars, with 100% of funds going directly to families. 61:45
• A podcast listener attorney from New York or New Jersey paid for Lester’s Feet’s first legal fees to set the foundation up as a Kentucky corporation. 62:51

listener-questions

• Don asks listeners to submit podcast questions through a form at chasinggiants.com rather than email, so they can be tracked. 33:01
• Listeners without internet can mail questions to the Real World Wildlife Products office at PO Box 55, Arthur, Illinois, 61911. 33:59

mature-buck-hunting

• David Armstrong asks whether Don ever feels harvesting target bucks, even with a vertical bow, is too easy given his 80% confidence claim. 45:30

miscanthus

• Don announces the Miscanthus shipping season ends May 1. 19:11
• Don urges listeners to order Miscanthus now since supply will run out shortly after the May 1 cutoff. 19:48
• Terry recommends contacting your local dealer to see if they carry Miscanthus, since not all dealers stock it. 20:03
• Don advises storing Miscanthus refrigerated at about 35 degrees, never below freezing, if it can’t be planted within a week, keeping it viable for months. 21:27

morel-mushrooms

• Don has never found morel mushrooms on his farm and hopes to find some this spring. 58:33

planting-plan

• Terry plans to plant corn as soon as he returns from his Japan trip. 13:58
• Terry plans to plant soybeans around when friends Joe Johnson and Al Foster turkey hunt his property at the end of April. 14:03

product

• Terry notes Real World’s Gen-two soybeans are a blend of four different group numbers, unlike a typical farmer’s single-group planting. 9:08

social-media

• Don suggests Terry run a daily social media campaign from Japan, sending back photos with a Chasing Giants hat. 1:39

soybeans

• Don notes soybean maturity is also affected by daylight, since beans growing near a security or pole light at a field edge stay green longer than the rest of the field. 8:16
• Don explains the soybean blend staggers drydown so some plants stay green longer, continuing to provide browse forage for deer. 9:55

target-buck

• Jesse Vandenberg asks whether Don’s goal this year is to document and harvest his up-and-coming buck with potential to score 200 inches. 29:39

travel

• Terry says as soon as recording wraps he heads to the airport to fly to Japan. 1:15

tree-stand-placement

• Terry says most stands he’s visited this year sit where there’s good buck sign, but sign alone doesn’t make it a good hunting location. 39:50
• John Hyestand asks whether an old tree stand should be treated as a known deer concentration area for planning, or as an outdated spot deer have adapted away from. 37:00

turkeys

• Don has seen a flock including at least three hens and a gobbler on his farm daily for a week and believes the hens have nested there. 14:42

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (harvest) 15:28
• Smokey (harvest) 30:29
• Mel (harvest) 30:29
• unnamed buck (harvest) 31:29
• Joey Buck (harvest) 47:00
• Trump (harvest) 47:00

Listener questions

Question: If crops go in a month early, what tips or things should a hunter or land manager watch for when fall comes around? 2:32

• Answer: Don says with the earlier harvest, many ag fields will already be harvested by October 1 when hunting season starts. 3:33
• Answer: Don recommends overseeding standing soybean or corn fields with products like Plot Topper before the farmer harvests, since sunlight reaches dried-down crops. 4:07

Question: Can you explain how corn maturity days and soybean group numbers work, and how that applies to early planting? 7:15

• Answer: Don says corn maturity is measured in days needed to reach harvest. 7:25
• Answer: Don explains soybeans are measured by group number, where a lower number is a shorter season and a higher number is a longer growing season. 7:56

Question: Jerry Miller asks what Don and Terry have seen deer do with bridges crossing a river separating food and bedding, and what bridge type works best. 27:11 — asked by Jerry Miller

• Answer: Don says deer absolutely use bridges, citing a concrete bridge on his farm they cross regularly. 27:37
• Answer: Don warns against wooden bridges with cracks between boards, since deer strongly avoid crossing them. 27:57
• Answer: Don confirms deer will use a dug creek crossing like a land bridge and plans to build another on his own farm. 29:12

Question: Jesse Vandenberg asks whether Don’s goal this year is to document and harvest his up-and-coming buck with potential to score 200 inches. 29:39 — asked by Jesse Vandenberg

• Answer: Don says timing and other factors will determine whether he takes the shot, regardless of video documentation. 30:10
• Answer: Don says he’ll try to video document the kill as he did with Smokey and Mel, though it isn’t guaranteed. 30:29

Question: John Hyestand asks whether an old tree stand should be treated as a known deer concentration area for planning, or as an outdated spot deer have adapted away from. 37:00 — asked by John Hyestand

• Answer: Don says he assumes most old tree stands are not actually in good spots, based on years of seeing poorly placed stands. 37:54
• Answer: Don says a good stand location must have good access that doesn’t spook deer approaching it. 38:07
• Answer: Don says the second requirement is a wind direction that can be hunted without deer scenting the hunter. 38:19
• Answer: Terry adds that most stands he’s seen sit where there’s good buck sign, but sign alone doesn’t make a good hunting spot. 39:50

Question: John asks whether milo is viewed as a lesser-preferred deer crop compared to modern corn and beans, given the shift away from it. 41:12

• Answer: Don says grain sorghum’s advantage is being more drought tolerant with a shorter season, allowing later planting than corn or soybeans. 42:26
• Answer: Don says heavy deer pressure caused him to run out of grain this year, pushing him to try grain sorghum as another source. 43:10

Question: David Armstrong asks whether Don ever feels harvesting target bucks, even with a vertical bow, is too easy given his 80% confidence claim. 45:30 — asked by David Armstrong

• Answer: Don admits a mature buck on his home farm isn’t very difficult to kill over a full season. 46:25
• Answer: Don says killing bucks on tougher permission or public properties without food plots is more rewarding than killing on his own farm. 47:07
• Answer: Don recommends raising the challenge by targeting six-year-old bucks instead of four-year-olds, since few hunters have the willpower for that. 47:32
• Answer: Don blames the ATA Association’s lobbying for pushing crossbows into archery seasons as part of the industry making hunting easier. 49:40
• Answer: Don clarifies he isn’t against crossbows for handicapped hunters, but opposes healthy full-grown men using them during archery season. 50:03

Question: Russell Hilliard asks whether Don and Terry really think coyote and coon roundups are bad, since they help struggling turkey populations. 52:38 — asked by Russell Hilliard

• Answer: Don says he doesn’t think it’s good to put money or prizes on killing wildlife, even if it helps turkey populations. 52:54
• Answer: Terry says he has a big problem with contests that encourage or tolerate trespassing on his farm, where he invests significant money and time. 55:35
• Answer: Don recalls walleye anglers caught shoving lead weights down fish throats to inflate weigh-in results, illustrating how prize money corrupts wildlife contests. 56:50

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