Episode 192 - End of October - Tactics and Plans are Changing - PRE RUT!

Published: 2023-10-22
Episode page
Duration: 58 min

In this episode

bedding-cover

• Eli Yoder asked what Don thinks about planting bamboo in a grown-up wheat field for bedding cover. 49:42

blood-trailing

• Ryan asked how to ethically recover a deer after a possibly marginal bowshot without video confirmation, including whether to use a tracking dog. 42:32

buyafarm

• Guest Don Bailey announces a 40-acre Shelby County, Missouri property that the Higgins team helped lay out is going up for auction. 28:11

career-change

• Terry announces his hunting season will be shorter than usual this year because of a career change. 10:38
• Terry announces his first week on the job with Cornerstone Equipment, moving from the machine tool industry into heavy equipment and material handling. 10:44

consulting-travel

• Don plans to travel to different regions of the country this winter but expects only one trip to each area. 35:29

deer-herd-condition

• Don says the deer herd in his part of Illinois is hurting badly. 2:03

early-season-harvest

• Terry relays that his friend Brandon Epperson shot a buck early season in Kentucky and borrowed Terry’s QuietKat to hunt a specific property in Ohio. 55:48

ehd

• Don believes there will always be giant bucks no matter herd condition, noting some giants were still shot even after EHD swept the Midwest in 2012. 6:13

equipment-sales

• Terry offers listeners interested in equipment a ‘Chasing Giants discount’ through his new dealership job. 13:24

events

• Terry announces he and Don will do a live event in Shipshewana with Tagout and attend a Real World dealer summit, cutting into their peak consulting weekends. 37:09

food-plots

• Brett Whitetail objected that calling broadcast corn planting ineffective seemed arrogant and demeaning, since it worked for him with careful management. 38:04

hunting-plans

• Terry plans to decide on Sunday whether he’ll hunt in Kentucky or Illinois. 56:12

hunting-pressure

• Carter Lang asked whether strategically bumping deer toward the center of 60-120 acre properties during hunting season is a good tactic or just for clicks. 51:42

land-consulting

• Terry explains Don’s land consulting schedule will be very limited this season because family will be a priority while assisting his daughter Andrea. 34:48
• Don advises listeners who don’t contact him right away for land consulting will either wait a year or need another Dream Team consultant. 35:42
• Don relays that consultant Wes Delks has done over 100 properties in each of the last two years. 29:26

listener-photos

• Terry reminds listeners to send in or tag ASIO on their harvest photo to be featured on the Chasing Giants podcast. 10:09

mature-buck-behavior

• Don argues a mature buck differs so much from the rest of the deer herd that it requires an entirely different approach to consistently kill. 54:44

mature-bucks

• Don states that despite good weather, his area simply does not have the mature bucks it had in recent years. 1:57

nutricrave-corn

• Don reports the farmer harvested the 220-acre NutriCrave deer corn field this week. 14:11

october-hunting

• Don’s personal rule is to only hunt October mornings after about October 20-22, and only when a cold front has come through. 8:35

property-auction

• The Shelby County property auction opens November 1 and closes November 8. 28:37

rut-forecast

• Terry predicts the October 29-31 weekend could be an awesome rut weekend if the forecast temperature drop holds. 5:40

rut-strategy

• Vincent asked whether pushing does out of a sanctuary during the rut so they return with nonlocal bucks would increase huntable bucks on a property. 17:33

same-time-same-place

• Adam asked whether the rut would disrupt his same-time-same-place pattern for a buck he got last November 28. 25:58

trail-cameras

• Don plans to check trail cameras he has neglected in several areas, including Iowa, as he ramps up hunting effort for the rut. 56:31

weather

• Don says October weather this year has been about as good as any October he can remember, with cooler highs and multiple cold fronts. 1:13

Deer activity

• Babe (hunt) 2:42
• unnamed buck (hunt) 3:27
• unnamed buck (sighting) 4:47
• unnamed buck (hunt) 5:02
• Trump (harvest) 46:38
• unnamed buck (harvest) 55:48

Listener questions

Question: Vincent asked whether pushing does out of a sanctuary during the rut so they return with nonlocal bucks would increase huntable bucks on a property. 17:33 — asked by Vincent

• Answer: Don calls the idea one of the craziest he’s heard and says it will not happen, since property lines don’t exist in a deer’s world. 19:14
• Answer: Don adds research shows bucks don’t leave familiar areas during the rut even under extreme hunting pressure. 20:02
• Answer: Terry adds that any buck following a returning doe would keep chasing her until pushing her into an isolated remote area, not necessarily the hunter’s property. 20:28

Question: Adam asked whether the rut would disrupt his same-time-same-place pattern for a buck he got last November 28. 25:58 — asked by Adam

• Answer: Don says that if the buck survived, it will likely return to the same spot at some point during the rut, even if temporarily off with a doe. 26:42

Question: Ryan asked how to ethically recover a deer after a possibly marginal bowshot without video confirmation, including whether to use a tracking dog. 42:32 — asked by Ryan

• Answer: Don says recovery starts with shot selection — keeping shots close and at good angles will result in losing very few deer. 43:36
• Answer: Don’s rule is if he doesn’t see the deer fall on an evening hunt, he backs out and returns the next morning. 44:04
• Answer: Don says he would absolutely allow a tracking dog on his property, noting dogs are legal in Illinois though drones are not. 46:12
• Answer: Don recounts using a bloodhound to help recover a buck he shot and named Trump. 46:38
• Answer: Terry advises staying put and quiet after the shot, since a marginally hit deer may still be watching and could be pushed further away. 48:14

Question: Eli Yoder asked what Don thinks about planting bamboo in a grown-up wheat field for bedding cover. 49:42 — asked by Eli Yoder

• Answer: Don calls planting bamboo a terrible idea for bedding cover because it is invasive, suggesting non-invasive Miscanthus instead. 49:57

Question: Carter Lang asked whether strategically bumping deer toward the center of 60-120 acre properties during hunting season is a good tactic or just for clicks. 51:42 — asked by Carter

• Answer: Don calls bumping deer on small 60-120 acre properties a ridiculous idea and says he can’t understand why anyone would pressure their own land. 52:11
• Answer: Don adds that the key to consistently killing big deer is hunting unpressured deer, since pressured deer become far harder to kill. 53:26

Question: Brett Whitetail objected that calling broadcast corn planting ineffective seemed arrogant and demeaning, since it worked for him with careful management. 38:04 — asked by Brett Whitetail

• Answer: Don explains corn needs proper depth of about two inches, which is very hard to achieve by broadcasting. 39:20
• Answer: Don estimates about 95% of customers who broadcast corn instead of properly planting it would get unsatisfactory results. 39:50
• Answer: Terry responds that he doesn’t believe he has an arrogant bone in his body and stands by the advice. 40:42

Sponsors this episode

• Brenton USA
• QuietKat

Don and Terry opened discussing an unusually cool October, with Don noting that despite good weather his part of Illinois had a badly hurting deer herd lacking recent years’ mature bucks, though he maintained giants persist even after events like the 2012 EHD outbreak. Terry announced a shorter season due to a career change into equipment sales, and Don explained his consulting availability would be limited this fall while helping his daughter Andrea, though he planned trips to several regions and cameras in areas including Iowa. Guest Don Bailey mentioned a 40-acre Missouri property auction. Listener questions covered whether pushing does from sanctuaries could draw in bucks (called a bad idea), rut disruption of a known buck’s pattern, ethical recovery after a marginal bowshot (including using tracking dogs), bamboo versus Miscanthus for bedding cover, bumping deer on small properties, and broadcast corn planting effectiveness, which Don said usually fails without proper planting depth.

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