Episode #179 - Is Antler Growth Behind This Year?

Published: 2023-07-24
Episode page
Duration: 75 min

In this episode

antler-growth

• Terry asks Don for his thoughts on this year’s antler growth data on mature bucks he’s tracking. 31:14

asio-gear

• Terry notes their friend from ASIO Gear just returned from a hunting trip to Africa and never seems to stop hunting. 29:03
• Don jokes that their ASIO Gear friend must have his own full-time taxidermist since he kills something almost every week. 29:10 (light moment)

buck-management

• Terry recommends hunters put special three- and four-year-old bucks on a strictly protected list rather than treating them as shooters. 33:43
• Don says it’s fairly easy to recognize which three-year-old bucks have a lot of antler-growth potential. 35:06

business

• Terry says Real World Wildlife Products, the podcast, and Whitetail Master Academy remain the strategy and education platforms. 20:41

charity

• Terry says the Tag Out group is hosting a September 12 charity event in Napanee where he will be speaking. 5:37

chasing-giants-tv

• Terry announces the launch this week of a new spin-off YouTube channel called Chasing Giants TV. 17:07
• Terry decided that after being upset by the executive’s email, he would launch the new channel immediately, starting the very next day. 22:32
• Terry plans to feature guests such as Joe Miles, Chris Yates, Harold Monk, and Chad Sylvester on the new Chasing Giants TV channel. 28:35
• Terry asks listeners to subscribe to the new Chasing Giants TV channel to help it grow. 74:24

crossbow

• Don states his opinion that crossbows should not be legal for able-bodied hunters during regular archery season. 43:30
• Terry recalls being badly injured and having to go through a medical waiver process to legally hunt with a crossbow in Illinois. 46:02
• Terry once caught himself admitting his trophy wall would look different had he used a crossbow the prior ten years, prompting him to work back to a compound. 46:46
• Parker Redicker asks if Don would switch to a crossbow if guaranteed to kill bigger bucks than with his compound. 42:07

faith

• Don says people who’ve known him even just ten years should recognize he is a genuinely different, more faith-focused person today. 16:16
• Terry says a person’s personal faith in Christ has to come first before family, career, and hobbies can be properly prioritized. 69:10

family

• Don recalls his grandfather died on a Halloween morning many years ago while Don himself was out deer hunting that day. 10:23

fishing-trip

• Terry plans to leave for a three-day charter fishing trip off the coast of Destin with Austin Razor, chasing giant red snapper. 73:30

food-plot-seed

• Don recommends hunters ignore the celebrity photo on a food-plot seed bag and instead flip it over to read the seed analysis tag. 41:08
• Jimbo Malpin asks whether a celebrity-endorsed food-plot seed blend that’s 80% annual ryegrass should be considered junk. 37:44

friendship

• Don recalls meeting a teenage Leon years ago, convinced by his repeated visits and confidence that he would succeed in business. 2:42

funnel-hunting

• Wade Johnson asks whether hunting tight funnels near water is effective for mature bucks and requests tips. 60:55

grandkids

• Don says his grandfather, despite being poor his whole life, always found ways to make his grandkids feel especially loved and important. 9:29
• Don recalls his 12-year-old grandson asking whether he hated Obama or Biden more, giving Don a chance to explain disagreeing with politics isn’t hating people. 71:09
• Terry asks Don to describe the time he recently got to spend with his grandson. 8:15

lesters-feet

• Terry explains that although HIPAA itself didn’t change, evolving state privacy laws prompted Lester’s Feet to overhaul how it handles family data. 49:34
• Terry confirms Lester’s Feet is still operating and helping families, even though they can no longer publicize as many details. 51:34

mullein

• Don’s grandson told him the tall plant he calls a weed is mullein, claiming Native Americans used its soft leaves as toilet paper. 13:56
• Terry jokingly tells listener Wes Delks to visit Don’s grandson to learn about mullein leaves as a natural alternative when he runs out of toilet paper. 14:36 (light moment)

personal-conflict

• Terry says an executive at his day job recently emailed him questioning his character, echoing an earlier hurtful message from a flight to Japan. 22:04

podcast-name

• Don reveals the podcast name Chasing Giants was meant to have a double meaning: chasing giant bucks and also chasing personal demons. 25:50

podcast-scheduling

• Don and Terry agree they need to start recording on Friday or Saturday nights instead of after full weekends of work and travel. 1:09

pole-building

• Don says a crew from Ohio is coming to build him a pole building, arriving in two trips to frame it and add metal. 72:01

regret

• Trevor Pomeroy asks Don if he still regrets prioritizing hunting over family time, given how many people he’s brought to God. 64:56

tag-out

• Don explains that Leon and Derek Burkholder are the ones who started the Tag Out group. 1:59

tree-transplanting

• Jay Walls Jr. asks Don’s thoughts on transplanting wild saplings to help the deer herd. 54:09

trees

• Don says he met this week with Jay Gingerich of Gingerich Tree Farm and an Ohio apple and chestnut expert. 57:48
• Terry recommends listeners contact Jay Gingerich at Gingerich Tree Farms soon to order trees before they sell out. 59:22

yard-establishment

• Jay Walls Jr. asks what steps to take to fix his patchy builder-seeded yard. 53:54

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (sighting) 5:01
• unnamed buck (hunt) 33:57
• unnamed buck (history) 34:24

Listener questions

Question: Terry asks Don to describe the time he recently got to spend with his grandson. 8:15

• Answer: Don says having grandkids of his own now makes him feel life has come full circle since losing his own grandfather. 10:42

Question: Terry asks Don for his thoughts on this year’s antler growth data on mature bucks he’s tracking. 31:14

• Answer: Don attributes the disappointing antler growth mostly to the drought bucks endured during the first two-plus months of the antler growth cycle. 32:26

Question: Jimbo Malpin asks whether a celebrity-endorsed food-plot seed blend that’s 80% annual ryegrass should be considered junk. 37:44

• Answer: Don explains ryegrass is a cheap, easy-to-grow filler seed, and companies use celebrity endorsements while cutting corners on what’s actually inside the bag. 38:10

Question: Parker Redicker asks if Don would switch to a crossbow if guaranteed to kill bigger bucks than with his compound. 42:07

• Answer: Don says he’d stick with his compound bow because how he kills a deer matters more to him than the buck’s size. 44:26

Question: Jay Walls Jr. asks what steps to take to fix his patchy builder-seeded yard. 53:54

• Answer: Don says his own yard is still patchy despite reseeding it five or six times. 54:35

Question: Jay Walls Jr. asks Don’s thoughts on transplanting wild saplings to help the deer herd. 54:09

• Answer: Don says he doesn’t recommend it, since transplanted wild trees establish far worse than nursery-grown trees bought outright. 57:29

Question: Wade Johnson asks whether hunting tight funnels near water is effective for mature bucks and requests tips. 60:55

• Answer: Don says hunters need several funnels and should stay out of them until trail cameras confirm a target buck is using one. 62:18

Question: Trevor Pomeroy asks Don if he still regrets prioritizing hunting over family time, given how many people he’s brought to God. 64:56

• Answer: Don says he doesn’t regret time spent deer hunting, but wishes he’d chosen a few family events like Christmas or Thanksgiving over hunting. 66:51

Terry announced the launch of a new spin-off YouTube channel, Chasing Giants TV, saying he decided to start it the day after an executive at his day job sent him a character-questioning email that echoed a past hurtful message; he asked listeners to subscribe. He said the podcast, Real World Wildlife Products, and Whitetail Master Academy would remain the strategy and education platforms. Don shared personal stories about his grandfather, his grandson’s mullein-plant lesson, and how becoming a grandfather himself made him feel life had come full circle. On deer management, Don recommended protecting three- and four-year-old bucks, attributed disappointing antler growth to drought early in the growth cycle, and advised reading seed-bag analysis tags rather than trusting celebrity endorsements. He said he’d stick with his compound bow even if a crossbox guaranteed bigger bucks, and argued crossbows shouldn’t be legal for able-bodied hunters in archery season. Listener questions also covered yard reseeding, transplanting wild saplings, and hunting funnels near water.

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