Episode #214 - Don says, “MAKE TURKEY HUNTING GREAT AGAIN!” Easter Sunday

Published: 2024-03-31
Episode page
Duration: 62 min

In this episode

age-structure

• Don argued antler size differences come down to age structure, with Iowa having far more older bucks than Illinois due to DNR management. 14:50

antler-size

• Grant Watson asked whether hog manure fertilizer correlates with the larger antlers seen on Iowa deer. 10:58

buck-access

• A Brookville, Indiana hunter asked for advice on hunting mature bucks bedding in thick honeysuckle he struggles to access. 19:53

buck-hunting-friendship

• John Kessinger asked if a big buck ever came between Don and a friend, and for advice on people claiming bucks seen on camera. 32:24

call-in-number

• Don gave out the podcast’s call-in phone number, 814322935220, for listeners without internet access. 61:10

consulting

• Don said he most enjoys helping clients who admit they’re new to deer hunting since they lack preconceived habits. 51:46
• Don said clients who have already killed several bucks are hardest to help because it’s harder to get them to break old habits. 52:55

consulting-style

• Don noted Wes Delks moves fast through consulting visits, sometimes doing two properties a day, though his plans are still spot-on. 28:07
• Don said years of experience let him know exactly what a property needs within the first hour of a consulting visit. 28:26

cornerstone-store

• Terry announced his new Cornerstone store in Frankfort, Kentucky is opening this week, leaving him exhausted after consulting season. 55:39

deer-movement

• Don recommends landowners use positive lures and negative deterrents to funnel deer past their stands. 21:27

easter

• Terry reflected that just as daylight change drives the deer-hunting calendar, Easter is the day their whole premise of salvation centers on, calling it the most important day to remember. 1:13
• Don noted that although Jesus was laid in the grave on Good Friday, he rose alive on Sunday. 1:39

family

• Don announced that his daughter Andrea had surgery on Tuesday. 2:19
• Don shared that surgeons removed Andrea’s tumors and sent them for biopsy, with results not back yet. 2:38
• Don said Andrea will likely start radiation in about six weeks once she has healed from surgery. 3:05

friendship

• Don has seen friends tolerate poor treatment from other friends over deer, and respected them for doing the right thing anyway. 36:49

grandsons

• Don was surprised by the work ethic his grandsons showed while helping with farm projects. 3:34

hinge-cutting

• Terry relayed that Joe Miles hinge-cut a tree to block a second trail, funneling all deer traffic past his stand. 26:50

hunting-property-access

• Cody Malone asked whether an average hunter with access to Lee Lakosky’s, Mark Drury’s, or Don’s properties would kill the same big bucks. 38:20

iowa

• Don pointed out Iowa and Illinois are nearly the same size in square miles, but Illinois has about four times more people. 14:12

land-purchase

• Don has personally observed more than one hunter buy a property that didn’t meet expectations and end up stuck with it. 10:38
• An anonymous listener asked whether to buy a subpar second hunting property now or hold out for a more ideal one. 8:18

lee-lakosky

• Don stated he does not believe for a second that Lee ever released a captive-raised deer. 45:56
• Terry credited Lee and Mark for diving deeply into deer science while managing thousands of acres each. 48:36
• Don affirmed that Lee Likosky and Mark Drury are the real deal with no doubt about their legitimacy. 50:37

mature-bucks

• Terry noted the Wessel brothers said on the Legends Roundtable that average hunters can’t tell the difference between a three-year-old and five-year-old buck. 51:16

maturity

• Don said he no longer needs another deer on his wall, feeling he has more trophies than he deserves after a lifetime of blessings. 35:24

pen-raised-deer

• A TikTok video claimed Lee Lacosky owns a 3,000-acre Illinois farm and has been releasing captive-raised deer there. 45:04
• Don claimed firsthand knowledge that certain unnamed big-name hunters shoot pen-raised deer and pass them off as wild, without public backlash. 46:14

persimmon-trees

• Don told his grandsons they will one day hunt deer under the persimmon trees they planted together with their own grandkids. 6:11
• Don and his grandsons planted 75 persimmon trees that week across three different properties. 6:21

personal-life

• Terry revealed he bought a ‘65 Mustang Fastback as a personal toy this past week. 56:34
• Don admitted he has talked about buying a Jeep for evening drives for ten or fifteen years but still hasn’t bought one. 57:07
• Terry explained he and his wife bought the car so they’d have a shared activity, like driving to lunch after church. 57:14

sportsmanship

• Don has given away shed antlers from bucks other hunters shot when he also had trail-camera photos of the same deer. 33:44
• Terry said he refuses to let a deer come between doing right as a Christian man, calling anything else a sign of misplaced priorities. 36:26

stand-site

• Don recalled predicting to a client that an unremarkable ridge-top tree in Iowa would one day produce a giant buck once the surrounding habitat matured. 24:37

t-shirt-giveaway

• Don explained that listeners only receive a free t-shirt for a used question if they filled out the submission form correctly. 16:05
• Don stated that if a t-shirt doesn’t arrive it’s either because the form was filled out wrong or it was lost in the mail, and he will not send a replacement. 16:58

tiktok-controversy

• Don said he would consider suing someone if they posted a similarly false, defamatory video about him. 53:40

tsi-work

• Don plans to have Austin Raisor help with TSI work for two or three days once his own consulting season wraps up. 54:07
• Terry reported Austin Raisor cleared 4.6 acres of near-clear-cut TSI in about eight hours forty minutes, walking 8.14 miles. 54:41

turkey-hunting

• Terry announced Joe Johnson and Al Foster will turkey hunt on his property in two weeks. 55:26
• Don recounted a turkey gobbler strutting unafraid just yards from his side-by-side during a consulting visit. 59:26
• Don joked it would be great if more deer hunters quit deer hunting and took up turkey hunting instead. 60:10 (light moment)
• Don jokingly called to make turkey hunting great again. 60:24 (light moment)

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (harvest) 32:09
• unnamed buck (sighting) 45:31
• unnamed buck (harvest) 52:49

Listener questions

Question: An anonymous listener asked whether to buy a subpar second hunting property now or hold out for a more ideal one. 8:18

• Answer: Don warned that settling for a subpar property ties up buying power right before the ideal property comes along. 8:52
• Answer: Terry said Wes Delks patiently kept researching and sending letters until he found the right property. 10:23
• Answer: Don added he’s seen multiple people buy properties that didn’t meet expectations and end up stuck with them. 10:38

Question: Grant Watson asked whether hog manure fertilizer correlates with the larger antlers seen on Iowa deer. 10:58 — asked by Grant Watson

• Answer: Don said he doesn’t believe hog manure correlates with antler size, since farmers balance fertilizer regardless of manure use. 11:32

Question: A Brookville, Indiana hunter asked for advice on hunting mature bucks bedding in thick honeysuckle he struggles to access. 19:53

• Answer: Don recommended cutting a path through the thick cover past the stand so deer pass close by, then reinforcing it with a rope scrape. 22:32

Question: John Kessinger asked if a big buck ever came between Don and a friend, and for advice on people claiming bucks seen on camera. 32:24 — asked by John Kessinger

• Answer: Don advised reacting to someone else shooting your target buck the same way you’d want them to react if you shot it. 32:59

Question: Cody Malone asked whether an average hunter with access to Lee Lakosky’s, Mark Drury’s, or Don’s properties would kill the same big bucks. 38:20 — asked by Cody Malone

• Answer: Don said past a certain skill level, hunting success is dictated by the property itself, not by skill. 39:18
• Answer: Don believes the average hunter given access to a top farm would ruin it within about two seasons. 41:56
• Answer: Terry added that Don’s own farm looked unremarkable thirty years ago and its success came from decades of building it up. 43:04

Terry opened by connecting Easter to the deer-hunting calendar, and Don reflected on Jesus’s resurrection. Don shared that his daughter Andrea had surgery, with biopsy results pending and radiation likely in about six weeks, and described his grandsons’ surprising work ethic planting 75 persimmon trees across three properties. Don addressed a TikTok claim that Lee Lacosky released captive-raised deer on a 3,000-acre farm, saying he didn’t believe it and would consider suing over a similar false video about himself, while affirming Lee and Mark Drury’s legitimacy. He argued Iowa’s bigger antlers stem from age structure and DNR management rather than population density or hog manure fertilizer, answering a listener’s question on the latter. Other listener questions covered buying a subpar property versus waiting, hunting mature bucks bedding in honeysuckle, and whether an average hunter could replicate success on a top farm, which Don said depended more on the property than skill. Terry mentioned buying a ‘65 Mustang Fastback and an upcoming store opening.

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