Episode #187 - Do Trail Camera’s Spook Mature Bucks?

Published: 2023-09-17
Episode page
Duration: 63 min

In this episode

andreas-battle

• Terry shared that Andrea recently went through the difficult experience of cutting her hair short amid her health battle. 61:10
• Andrea told Terry that rereading supportive comments from strangers lifts her up when she’s feeling down. 61:20

antler-growth

• Don said no one disagreed with his antler-growth assessment, calling it accurate based on his own observation. 8:41

audience-demographics

• Terry said only about two-thirds of his mostly-Amish event crowd hunted, and many hadn’t yet heard the podcast. 11:06

big-buck-harvest

• Terry reported that another 200-inch deer was shot about twenty-five minutes from him the night before recording. 7:47

buck-behavior

• Dalton Rockhold asked how to get his mature bucks, which show great nighttime activity, to move during legal shooting light. 55:55

buck-management

• Don said that whether to shoot a buck is a decision each hunter or land manager must make for himself based on his own goals. 17:50
• Parker Redicker asked whether he should shoot a mature buck whose antler growth declined this year, or let him go hoping for a rebound. 15:08

buyafarm-segment

• Terry announced a BuyAFarm.com segment with Wayne Keller would be worked in between listener questions. 15:00

community-support

• Terry said listener prayers and comments act like an unseen army of support for people going through struggle. 62:06

event-attendance

• Terry estimated his Tag Out speaking event crowd at 550 to 600 attendees. 2:45

faith

• Terry recounted that a young Amish man with a family asked him to step outside and pray after his talk at the retreat. 4:35

faith-journey

• Mark White shared that Andrea’s battle had strengthened his own faith, which wavered after a loss twelve years earlier before being renewed through prayer. 47:49

faith-testimony

• Mark White recounted that his six-year-old son, praying for the first time, asked God to heal Andrea and help the Hamilton family through their struggle. 48:18

friend-news

• Terry shared that his and Don’s friend Todd Covey’s father received serious bad health news this week. 60:23

fruit-trees

• Terry recommended listeners check out the Whitetail Master Academy’s educational videos on fruit trees. 54:25
• Mark White asked what fruit tree species to plant on his one-acre plot, how many, and how to arrange them for deer. 49:18

fundraising

• Terry reported that his Tag Out event raised $50,000 for families helped by the Lester’s Feet Foundation. 2:56
• Terry announced upcoming Lester’s Feet Foundation news will be released alongside the Shipshewana Show event in February 2024. 57:37

harvest-decision

• Terry advised that if a buck fits both individual and farm-wide goals, it’s fine to harvest him. 19:02

humor

• Terry joked that his vision of heaven has Saint Peter in a treestand with a rifle, telling arrivals to grab the truck because a deer’s coming out. 13:25 (light moment)
• Don joked that Ray and Aiden should join an ‘entertainment committee’ to supply jokes for the hosts to repeat. 13:58 (light moment)

legends-roundtable

• Terry said promotion for the ‘legends roundtable’ event would begin soon. 57:51

listener-feedback

• Terry said many listeners contacted the show saying Don’s assessment of poor antler growth and age structure matched their own farms’ observations. 8:29

listener-mail

• Terry reminded listeners that ‘Miss Janice’ opens and reads the show’s mail before the hosts see it. 11:33

listener-rewards

• Don said that listeners whose questions are used on the show receive a free Chasing Giants T-shirt. 10:35

listener-submissions

• Don said listeners without internet access can mail questions to Real World Wildlife Products, PO Box 55, Arthur, Illinois 61911. 10:15

podcast-format

• Terry said that in a couple weeks the podcast will shift to spending more time on in-season field and treestand updates. 9:19

podcast-growth

• Terry said there had been a huge spike in listener downloads over the past month. 9:04

property-acquisition

• Don said his Ohio property group bought two more properties, including a 75-acre tract he has never personally visited. 58:32
• Don said the group also bought a 430-acre property in Ohio that he plans to visit. 58:50

property-ceiling

• Don said any property can be improved with projects, but nothing can push it past its inherent ceiling. 45:04

property-limitations

• Terry said his family farm can only be hunted with one specific wind direction, limiting his opportunities there. 44:25

property-search

• Terry noted that Wes has owned his current hunting property for three years but has still not hunted it while dialing in his plan. 43:49

property-selection

• Jay Brandenberger asked whether a smaller parcel in Ohio or Illinois beats a larger, cheaper parcel in Minnesota or Wisconsin for growing mature bucks. 19:55
• Jack Bowers asked what property aspects Don prioritizes most when searching for land to grow and hold mature deer. 39:44

running-gag

• Don recounted that a fan at the event asked Al Foster whether the nearby shed was his ‘kissing booth.’ 14:17 (light moment)

season-timing

• Terry noted Illinois’s deer season opener was approaching while Kentucky’s season had already started, with dry conditions persisting. 1:08

social-media-questions

• Terry said the hosts get overwhelmed each year with one-off social media messages asking whether to shoot a specific deer. 17:07

speaking-event

• Don said his Friday-night speaking event drew attendees from ten states. 1:43
• Don and Wes Delks fielded audience questions for about two hours on Saturday morning after the men’s retreat talks. 2:19

sunday-night-prayer

• Terry noted that Devin Hurley’s Sunday Night Prayer Time video this week covered how all things work for good and God’s glory. 55:24

sunflowers

• Terry suggested sunflowers work best as a complementary food source in areas with little other food, not as a primary plot. 35:32
• Chase Myers asked whether sunflowers make a good food plot for deer. 32:50

tag-out-event

• Don recalled attending the very first Tag Out event years ago but had not returned since. 3:16

testimony

• Don told his audience that his current success only looks easy because of fifty years of effort, encouraging them to pursue their own goals. 6:30

trail-cameras

• Terry said trail cameras have sealed the fate of some bucks for hunters but likely also saved others from being shot. 39:18
• Don agreed that for every buck killed because of a trail camera, another buck was likely saved by one. 39:30
• Terry asked Don to explain his social media post about a trail camera spooking a mature buck. 36:02

velvet-shed

• Terry said all his tracked bucks except one had shed velvet by this point in the season. 59:55

video-production

• Don plans to stop at Ohio State University in Columbus to film a video with apple experts touring orchards. 59:04

youtube

• Don announced that Steve Shields filmed his Friday-night retreat talk and it will be posted to their YouTube channel. 7:02

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (harvest) 7:47
• Babe (management) 16:23
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 37:34
• unnamed buck (sighting) 60:02

Listener questions

Question: Parker Redicker asked whether he should shoot a mature buck whose antler growth declined this year, or let him go hoping for a rebound. 15:08 — asked by Parker Redicker

• Answer: Don confirmed that a buck’s antler growth can bounce back in later years. 15:48
• Answer: Don said the shoot-or-pass decision largely depends on the quality of young bucks coming up behind the buck in question. 16:12
• Answer: Don affirmed bucks can rebound and even exceed their previous antler size in later years. 16:42
• Answer: Don added that he plans to have his own buck ‘Babe,’ now six years old, harvested this year given the strong young buck crop behind him. 16:23

Question: Jay Brandenberger asked whether a smaller parcel in Ohio or Illinois beats a larger, cheaper parcel in Minnesota or Wisconsin for growing mature bucks. 19:55 — asked by Jay Brandenberger

• Answer: Don explained that it’s not the property’s size or state that determines potential, but the specific property and what surrounds it. 20:50

Question: Chase Myers asked whether sunflowers make a good food plot for deer. 32:50 — asked by Chase Myers

• Answer: Don said sunflowers absolutely have a place for deer. 33:10
• Answer: Don noted sunflowers mature too quickly and get eaten before winter, when he most wants food available. 33:54

Question: Terry asked Don to explain his social media post about a trail camera spooking a mature buck. 36:02

• Answer: Don explained that in his trail-camera photos, a buck looked directly at the camera and spooked, causing the whole group to flee. 37:23
• Answer: Don added that some bucks tolerate trail cameras repeatedly while others never do, since the camera signals danger to certain deer. 37:59

Question: Jack Bowers asked what property aspects Don prioritizes most when searching for land to grow and hold mature deer. 39:44 — asked by Jack Bowers

• Answer: Don said isolation is huge — a property surrounded by non-hunted land protects deer from being educated by other hunters. 40:22
• Answer: Don added that property layout is the single most critical, unchangeable ingredient determining a property’s potential. 42:23

Question: Mark White asked what fruit tree species to plant on his one-acre plot, how many, and how to arrange them for deer. 49:18 — asked by Mark White

• Answer: Don recommends planting fruit trees around the edges of existing food plots to add extra pulling power at the same location. 51:29
• Answer: Don suggests about one-fourth of planted apple trees be crab apples since they bloom heavily and aid pollination. 52:12
• Answer: Don advises planting only grafted female persimmon trees, since regular seedlings often turn out male and never fruit. 54:01

Question: Dalton Rockhold asked how to get his mature bucks, which show great nighttime activity, to move during legal shooting light. 55:55 — asked by Dalton Rockhold

• Answer: Don said the bucks are likely bedding off Dalton’s property and only arriving after dark, so he needs to create bedding cover and reduce his own intrusion. 56:34

Terry and Don recapped recent speaking events: Don’s evening talk drew people from ten states, while Terry’s Tag Out event pulled 550 to 600 attendees and raised $50,000 for families through the Lester’s Feet Foundation. Terry described an Amish man asking him to pray after his talk, and Mark White shared how his young son’s first prayer for Andrea, and Andrea’s own health battle, had strengthened his faith. The hosts answered listener questions: Parker Redicker asked about a mature buck with declining antlers, and Don noted growth can rebound, adding he plans to have his own buck Babe harvested this year. Jay Brandenberger asked about parcel size versus location, Chase Myers asked about sunflowers as food plots, and Dalton Rockhold asked how to get nocturnal bucks moving in daylight, with Don pointing to bedding cover and reduced intrusion. Terry also noted trail cameras have both cost and saved bucks their lives.

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