Episode #167 - Turkey Season Is Here! Terry Still Hates Turkeys!

Published: 2023-04-30
Episode page
Duration: 74 min

In this episode

business-success

• Don credits his business success to recognizing he needed smarter people on his team, naming Dwayne Hopkins and Janice. 38:52

charity

• Terry is donating a land consulting visit to a group of consulting clients and Master Class alumni connected to a Western Kentucky church’s Haiti ministry. 49:23

charity-fundraiser

• The Haiti missions fundraiser is an annual auction held the third Friday and Saturday of May at the Christian County Event Center in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. 51:10
• 100% of the fundraiser’s proceeds support 18 different missions operating in Haiti. 51:39
• The fundraiser board set a sealed-bid system for the donated consulting visit, with bids due May 19 at noon central time. 52:27
• Kevin Miller’s contact number for placing bids on the donated consulting visit is (270) 893-8340. 53:04

content-creation

• Don has been posting nearly a video a day of his property work to the Whitetail Master Academy. 25:57

deer-hunting

• Nick Collins asked how Don copes emotionally with harvesting a mature buck after years invested watching and pursuing it. 54:29

deer-patterns

• Brian Johnson asked whether Don’s same-time-same-place theory holds through all season stages, including early and late rut. 67:06
• Terry asked whether ‘bad weather’ driving late-season movement means the first cold night or an extended stretch of cold and food shortage. 68:47

entrepreneurship

• Don says there has never been a better time in his lifetime for someone with ambition to start a business. 37:39

equipment

• Terry reminds Don he needs to pick up another seven-foot 360 blind since he’s cleared a spot for it. 73:43
• Don has some 360 blinds in his shed after taking delivery of a semi load this week. 73:50

faith

• Don says facing the trespassing hunters taught him to put things in God’s hands and trust Him when adversity comes. 33:10

food-plots

• Terry asked whether Don still plans to plant Miscanthus this year or wait until next year. 23:21

friendship

• Don calls his close friends Joe and Al his brothers from other mothers. 1:56

land-acquisition

• Don’s newly traded 40 acres connects his original farm to a separate five-acre creek-bottom timber tract he already owned. 19:55
• Don is finalizing a roughly 3.5-4 acre parcel that will give him access to the far reaches of his property and let him add another food plot. 20:24

land-purchase

• Mark Dunn asked for advice on buying old strip-mine hunting ground with little topsoil, planting switchgrass, and running cattle for income. 61:16

land-trade

• Don agreed to let the farmer harvest winter wheat and a soybean double-crop on the traded tillable ground before it becomes his. 28:48

nitrogen-fertilizer

• David Robbins asked when to spread 46-0-0 nitrogen fertilizer on a hired farmer’s corn plot without hurting the plants. 45:49

parenting

• Don’s biggest regret is not spending more time with his daughters when they were little. 44:39
• Don advises young fathers to spend every possible minute with their young kids since childhood passes in the blink of an eye. 45:14

podcast-announcement

• Terry announces big developments coming for Don’s farm, the podcast, and Lester’s Feet within the next month. 71:16
• Don says the podcast has gained unexpected attention from places they didn’t anticipate. 72:15

property-purchase

• Don is leaving for Ohio to scout properties to buy and resell, and to do a consulting visit for Mark Fisher of 360 Hunting Blinds. 24:27

sponsor-relationship

• Terry texted Joe Miles after the hunt, who was impressed and asked to be congratulated on the podcast. 18:32

stand-placement

• Terry says the new access parcel is a game changer, giving Don two or three additional stand spots for his predominant winds. 21:30
• Don added four new stands to his property this off-season that weren’t there before. 22:17
• Don moved one stand about 30 yards because too many deer were passing out of range. 25:42
• Don hung a low shingle-oak stand on the downwind edge of his farm’s preferred bedding area to hunt as a morning rut spot in south winds. 26:42
• Don currently has four stands or blinds for this year and plans to add two more once his other land projects are finished. 30:56

turkey-behavior

• Al theorized the tom had locked up because it had previously been chased off by ganging jakes near the jake decoy, making it leery. 14:40

turkey-hunting

• Terry says he still doesn’t like turkeys but enjoyed seeing Joe and Al’s excitement as much as they did. 3:13
• Terry filmed the hunt from an elevated blind about 90 yards away since the hay bale blind couldn’t fit three people. 2:26
• Terry set the blind next to plowed corn ground anticipating the toms would walk the corner, and the birds walked right into the guys’ laps. 4:40
• Terry placed the two turkey hunters in a hay bale blind next to plowed corn ground, where two gobblers came in for a double the first afternoon. 6:45
• Al hit his gobbler on the second shot and Joe hit his on the third during the hunt. 7:19
• Upon close inspection, Al’s turkey actually had five separate beards, though photos only showed four. 11:51
• Terry plans to hunt turkeys a couple more days and offered to bring the guests to a consulting client’s property for another bird. 16:54
• Don doesn’t believe getting into turkey hunting would ever make him forget about deer hunting, despite people telling him it would. 70:58
• Terry, who has killed many turkeys himself, doesn’t think Don’s deer-hunting passion will ever fade. 71:04

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (harvest) 32:08
• the journey (trail-camera) 33:48
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 34:29

Listener questions

Question: David Robbins asked when to spread 46-0-0 nitrogen fertilizer on a hired farmer’s corn plot without hurting the plants. 45:49 — asked by David Robbins

• Answer: Don said granular urea should be spread right before working the ground, since it slowly evaporates if left sitting on the soil surface. 46:32
• Answer: Terry suggested that without tillage equipment, the best approach is applying nitrogen right before or during rain so it soaks into the soil. 48:11
• Answer: Don noted liquid 28-32% nitrogen can also be sprayed but is caustic and corrodes metal, so equipment should be washed after use. 49:01

Question: Nick Collins asked how Don copes emotionally with harvesting a mature buck after years invested watching and pursuing it. 54:29

• Answer: Don said the mix of elation and sadness comes from realizing how rare it is to finally arrow a giant buck watched over multiple years, and that the feeling is indescribable and comes with age and experience. 60:52

Question: Mark Dunn asked for advice on buying old strip-mine hunting ground with little topsoil, planting switchgrass, and running cattle for income. 61:16 — asked by Mark Dunn

• Answer: Don said cattle rarely turn a profit, and simply breaking even by year’s end is usually considered doing well. 62:05
• Answer: Don warned that cutting switchgrass for cattle hay or bedding sacrifices it as deer cover, so he wouldn’t count on it for income. 62:19
• Answer: Don advised waiting for the right property instead of buying on price, since a good 20 acres beats the wrong 200 acres. 63:55

Question: Brian Johnson asked whether Don’s same-time-same-place theory holds through all season stages, including early and late rut. 67:06 — asked by Brian Johnson

• Answer: Don said the same-time-same-place pattern holds well until about the first week of November, before the rut disrupts it. 67:23
• Answer: Don said late-season buck movement is driven more by bad weather than a calendar date, with strange bucks showing up when they most need food. 68:03
• Answer: Don added that in early season, bucks leave bachelor groups and shift to fall range at nearly the same time each year, within 24-48 hours. 69:34

Question: Terry asked whether ‘bad weather’ driving late-season movement means the first cold night or an extended stretch of cold and food shortage. 68:47

• Answer: Don said heavy snow of six inches or more combined with bitter cold is what really triggers deer movement, more than cold alone. 69:14
• Answer: Terry added that once snow covers the ground, deer have little else to eat, making nearby standing corn or beans the real game changer. 69:21

Question: Terry asked whether Don still plans to plant Miscanthus this year or wait until next year. 23:21

• Answer: Don said he has Miscanthus saved at Real World Wildlife Products and plans to plant it soon once outstanding paperwork wraps up. 23:26

Sponsors this episode

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The episode covered a turkey hunt Terry filmed from an elevated blind about 90 yards out, where two gobblers came in for a double for Joe and Al on the first afternoon; Al’s bird carried five beards on close inspection, and Al theorized the tom had grown leery after jakes ganged up near the decoy. Don detailed farm changes: a newly traded 40 acres linking his farm to a creek-bottom timber tract, a roughly 3.5-4 acre parcel opening new access and stand spots, four new stands added, and a low shingle-oak morning-rut stand. He reflected on trusting God through past trespassing trouble and on regretting not spending more time with his young daughters. Terry announced a Haiti missions fundraiser auction in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, offering a donated consulting visit via sealed bid. Listener questions covered nitrogen timing, coping with harvesting a mature buck, buying strip-mine ground, and how the same-time-same-place pattern holds until early November before rut and late-season weather take over.

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