Episode 173 - Can you find joy in killing GIANT Bucks?

Published: 2023-06-11
Episode page
Duration: 93 min

In this episode

antler-growth

• Nathan from Indianapolis asked whether bucks have varying antler growth spurts, and whether a buck trailing another in early June could catch up or surpass it later. 76:56
• Terry asked whether nutrition, intake, and stress—like the drought discussed earlier—can also affect how and when a buck’s antlers grow. 79:33

box-blind

• Terry plans to haul a 360-degree blind up to Don’s area next week as part of remodeling part of his farm. 85:28

chris-yates

• Don said he spoke with Chris by phone the day before, catching him busy at one of his dealerships. 39:27
• Chris told Don he has all his food plots planted and is getting ready to leave next week on a grizzly bear hunt. 39:37
• Chris Yates is offering $8,000 off any half-ton Chevy Silverado or GMC Sierra pickup in his dealership inventory, according to Don. 40:35
• Terry noted that Chris recently had heart surgery but is still going on his planned Alaska grizzly hunt just weeks later. 42:51

corn

• Don relayed that an agricultural study found the best corn yields occur after a dry spring, because dryness forces the corn plant to build a much better root system. 11:59

drought

• Don said the worst drought he remembers is 2012, and current conditions are shaping up to be nearly as bad. 1:40
• Don said all they can do now is pray for rain, and if the drought persists he will start developing a fall fallback planting plan once August arrives. 3:17
• Don described the drought map running from Kansas and Nebraska through Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota, into Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, all showing dry conditions. 7:13
• Don said his Kansas consulting client Doug Cusick received four inches of rain in the last twelve days after being in severe drought. 9:17

faith

• Don said he’ll never be content with anything he accomplishes in the deer woods, and that true fulfillment only comes through Christ. 24:08
• Don urged listeners to start attending church, telling them to make a point of taking their family to church this Sunday as a first step toward a better life. 34:24

fall-planting

• Don plans to wait until roughly a week or two before his normal planting time around September 1 before deciding whether to switch to fall food plots. 13:28

food-plot-design

• Brandon from Bowling Green, Kentucky asked Don’s thoughts on splitting a small 3-6 acre field into green-to-grain transition zones as a stand setup, and on larger plots. 81:46

food-plot-history

• Don said that in over twenty-five years of food plotting he has never had both a bad spring and a bad fall in the same year. 4:44
• Terry recalled that in 2017 the food plot where Smokey and ‘the old guy’ were taken had to be entirely replanted in Deadly Dozen after that spring’s crop failed to drought. 4:03

food-plots

• Don said the main advantage of a spring food plot is that you get a second chance to replant if it fails. 4:30
• Terry advised food plotters who haven’t planted yet to hold off buying seed and wait until fall if there’s no rain in the extended forecast. 5:24
• Don warned that food plotters who drag their feet and delay spring planting until late May or June will pay for it this year, since the odds of a good spring plot are very low. 6:07

lithium-batteries

• Don announced he plans to share the cheapest source he found for buying lithium batteries next week. 87:12

mentorship

• Don said he always tries to give credit to those who taught him, naming Gene Barry Wentzell, Roger Rothar, and Al Foster as mentors he learned from. 84:40

mineral

• Mark asked whether he should keep deer mineral separate from his corn-based feed mix so deer can choose between a protein-rich feed and a mineral site as needed. 44:42
• Travis Pennington from Archbold, Ohio asked whether Don had insight into a mineral seller’s claim that organic dewormer in their mineral produces a huge increase in antler growth. 71:19

miscanthus

• Don recommended watering Miscanthus plantings during the drought if possible, though large plantings make this a labor-intensive, near constant task. 17:02
• Terry said he planted over 600 yards of Miscanthus this year, investing heavily despite the drought risk. 10:13
• Don said he’s only getting about 5% germination success on his substantial Miscanthus planting due to the drought. 10:51

nutricrave-corn

• Terry said drought conditions will affect the agriculture corn market and NutriCrave’s yields, and it isn’t yet known how much corn will be available to bring to market. 14:59
• Don reported that the local grower producing over 200 acres of NutriCrave deer corn for the company has gotten rain he hasn’t received, so that field is in better shape than his own property. 15:50
• Don said the company may also buy corn from acreage being grown in Northern Indiana and Iowa if needed to supplement the NutriCrave harvest. 16:13

podcast-merchandise

• Terry announced that the Chasing Giants T-shirt logo is now printed in ASIO Camo pattern. 44:06

politics

• Don joked that he wouldn’t share his battery source with Democrats since their voting habits supposedly made battery prices rise. 87:23 (light moment)

trail-cameras

• Terry said he and Don will rely heavily on external battery packs and solar panels to power trail cameras this year given soaring lithium battery prices. 86:53

tree-stand-safety

• Don said the pine tree holding one of his stands broke exactly where its retention chain was wrapped around it, and his post about it drew about 5,000 likes. 88:48

whitetail-master-academy

• Don announced he posted four videos to the Whitetail Master Academy today, filmed at different stops while touring his food plots. 2:26

yard-food-plot

• Kyle from Oakland City, Indiana asked what he could use as yard seed for his new home’s lawn that would also serve as a food source for does and fawns. 68:47

Deer activity

• Smokey (history) 4:03
• the old guy (history) 4:03
• Mel (history) 22:56
• Smokey (history) 22:56
• Mel (harvest) 88:32

Listener questions

Question: Mark asked whether he should keep deer mineral separate from his corn-based feed mix so deer can choose between a protein-rich feed and a mineral site as needed. 44:42 — asked by Mark

• Answer: Don answered that Mark should do both: keep mineral in the feed mix and also provide separate mineral licks, letting deer choose and consume what they need. 45:38
• Answer: Terry added that individual deer have different personalities, some avoiding feeders but using mineral licks and vice versa, so offering variety appeals to more deer. 46:05
• Answer: Don added that pairing a feeder with a separate mineral site lets a subordinate deer feed on mineral while a dominant animal occupies the feeder. 46:44

Question: Kyle from Oakland City, Indiana asked what he could use as yard seed for his new home’s lawn that would also serve as a food source for does and fawns. 68:47 — asked by Kyle

• Answer: Don recommended mixing ladino or white clover, which stay shorter than red clover, into the lawn seed so deer will come into the yard to eat. 69:43
• Answer: Don added that although his wife vetoed clover in the lawn, he placed a food plot right at the edge of his yard so deer still come into the yard area. 70:39

Question: Travis Pennington from Archbold, Ohio asked whether Don had insight into a mineral seller’s claim that organic dewormer in their mineral produces a huge increase in antler growth. 71:19 — asked by Travis Pennington

• Answer: Don explained the ingredient is diatomaceous earth, mined from an Arizona lake bed, also used as a natural dewormer in Real World’s Maximizer mineral. 73:01
• Answer: Don said there’s no way a mineral could increase a buck’s body mass and antlers by 50% within sixty to ninety days, calling the claim absolute nonsense. 74:21
• Answer: Terry agreed the dewormer concept has merit for gut health, but said the seller’s specific growth percentage claims are unquantifiable without a controlled comparison. 75:17

Question: Nathan from Indianapolis asked whether bucks have varying antler growth spurts, and whether a buck trailing another in early June could catch up or surpass it later. 76:56 — asked by Nathan

• Answer: Don said individual bucks tend to keep the same growth pattern each year—early growers stay early, late growers stay late—so a trailing buck can still catch up and pass another later in the cycle. 78:04

Question: Terry asked whether nutrition, intake, and stress—like the drought discussed earlier—can also affect how and when a buck’s antlers grow. 79:33

• Answer: Don confirmed that nutrition and stress can severely affect antler growth, and said the question prompted him to plan a Whitetail Master Academy video on the antler growth cycle. 79:42

Question: Brandon from Bowling Green, Kentucky asked Don’s thoughts on splitting a small 3-6 acre field into green-to-grain transition zones as a stand setup, and on larger plots. 81:46 — asked by Brandon

• Answer: Don said he’s a big proponent of fewer, larger food plots but treats each as one big feeding area containing multiple crop types rather than a single variety. 82:52
• Answer: He explained that within a larger feeding area he mixes corn, clover, soybeans, Deadly Dozen, and edge fruit trees, calling it more a feeding area than a single food plot. 83:07

Don and Terry focused on drought conditions affecting food plots across the region, with Don describing a dry stretch running from Kansas and Nebraska through Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Don said this was nearly as bad as 2012, the worst drought he recalls, and warned that late spring planters would likely see poor results this year. He noted that in over twenty-five years he’s never had both a bad spring and bad fall in the same season, and planned to consider a fall fallback plot if conditions persisted into August. Terry advised holding off on seed purchases without rain in the forecast. Both discussed drought’s impact on NutriCrave corn supply and Miscanthus plantings, with Don reporting only about 5% germination on his own planting. Listener questions covered mineral versus feed placement, lawn seed for deer, a mineral seller’s antler growth claims, and buck antler growth timing.

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