Episode #219 - The Most Important Aspect of Hunting Whitetails

Published: 2024-05-05 Episode page Duration: 62 min

In this episode

bedding

• Terry arranged to return to the Kentucky property after winter to further work out the bedding design. 3:52

brenton-firearms

• Terry said they’ll likely have Evan or Nick from Brenton Firearms on the show soon to help lay out details of the Ohio event. 21:25

buck-age

• Don advised that hunters targeting five- and six-year-old bucks should already be noticing those deer standing out at age three. 29:25

buck-maturity

• Aidan Miller of Clyde, New York asked what the single most important aspect of successful whitetail hunting is and at what age a buck becomes fully mature. 44:29

buggies-and-bullets

• Terry described the ‘Buggies and Bullets’ Ohio event as a full-day demo at a high-end shooting range near Amish country, set for July 20. 20:11
• Terry said the event is likely northeast of Columbus in Central Ohio on July 20, inviting listeners to come spend the day with him and Don. 21:42

consulting-demand

• Don said calls and emails for consulting have been nonstop, with more requests the first week of May than he’s ever seen. 4:53

consulting-team

• Don said Terry, Wes, Bobby, Mark, and new hire Caleb would need to help pick up the growing consulting workload. 4:39

crp

• Terry visited a listener’s newly purchased Western Kentucky property with a large CRP tract expiring this year, needing decisions on reenrollment versus food plots. 3:28
• Kyle Wenger asked what to plant in leftover waterway and terrace acreage excluded from his family’s new monarch-butterfly CRP program. 38:38

food-plot-timing

• Terry advised listeners to read field conditions rather than the calendar, making sure soil prep is right before planting to avoid setting up later failure. 61:11

gifts

• Wes brought Don shirts made by his consulting client Jamie Pearson as a gift. 1:50

grain-sorghum

• Don recommended ordering the limited grain sorghum pilot product quickly, since sales have been brisk and supply is limited. 7:57
• Terry explained the grain sorghum pilot blend was chosen from testing multiple varieties across all their farms last year, selecting the two best performers. 8:22

haiti-mission-auction

• Terry announced he again donated a consulting visit to the Higgins Outdoors Dream Team’s Haiti Mission Auction this year to help fund mission work in Haiti. 5:19
• Terry announced that auction coordinators Andre and Kevin recorded a short video about the Haiti Mission Auction that would air after the sponsor spot. 5:37

humic-acid

• Don plans to use his new drill on the tractor to apply humic acid to all his food plots the same afternoon. 60:17

ladder-stands

• Terry noted that he and Don have grown more accustomed to hunting heavy ladder stands over the years, which makes them tougher to hang. 1:29

live-podcast

• Terry said the Buggies and Bullets event will include an evening live podcast plus thermal and night-vision demo opportunities as it gets dark. 22:07

marketing

• Terry insisted that Real World running out of product isn’t a marketing ploy despite accusations, and that they are being honest with listeners. 7:27

mathews

• Terry noted the venue is also a Mathews archery dealer, so attendees will be able to shoot Mathews bows at 3D targets. 20:59

miscanthus

• David Aman, a new Real World dealer from Highland, Illinois, asked how deer travel through a Miscanthus screen and whether to leave an opening as a doorway. 47:40

miscanthus-planting

• Don plans to plant Miscanthus and a couple of food plots Sunday afternoon after church if the ground dries out enough. 60:47

mulching

• Don plans to mulch around roughly 50 newly planted persimmon trees the morning after recording. 60:03

product-availability

• Don announced Real World has sold out of hundred-day corn and switchgrass, though the hundred-twelve-day corn is still available. 6:41
• Duane told Terry the last batch of a Real World product is currently being bagged, meaning supply is essentially gone. 7:15
• Don confirmed Real World will sell out this year purely because demand exceeded projections, not because of any marketing scheme. 7:51

property-acquisition

• Wes observed that clients who keep buying neighboring land just end up with more acreage, not a better property. 58:57

quietkat

• Terry said QuietKat confirmed plans for a demo/obstacle course area for bikes at the Buggies and Bullets event. 20:47

scent-management

• Wes pointed out that clients sometimes don’t need more deer habitat, but rather a place for their scent to blow so the existing habitat can be hunted. 57:43
• On one plan, Wes used a client’s new cattle pasture as a place for the client’s scent to blow, plus an access route to the stand. 58:12

schedule

• Terry announced the show already has a summer schedule of public appearances, seminars, and a live podcast lined up. 6:25

soil-temperature

• Don advised waiting for proper ground moisture and warm soil temperatures rather than rushing to plant by the calendar, for better results. 61:39

soybeans

• An Ohio dealer told Don that his phone started ringing off the hook with soybean buyers after Don and Terry mentioned soybeans on a recent podcast episode. 7:03

speaking-engagements

• Don announced a Wisconsin dealer event at Milford Hills Hunt Club, owned by Lloyd Marks and his son Royce. 18:25
• Don announced an August Michigan event at Real World dealer Urban Smucker’s location in the Coldwater area. 19:00
• Don said the Michigan event is planned as a major gathering with three speakers and a facility holding about 600 people. 19:17
• Don announced Eastern Outdoors lined up five or six back-to-back dealer events in mid-July, mostly in New York and Pennsylvania. 19:35

sponsor-event

• Terry teased that one of the show’s sponsors is planning a special event in Ohio, with a date finally set. 17:46
• Terry confirmed a date has finally been set for the special Ohio sponsor event. 18:00

stand-placement

• Terry said most hunters don’t realize how far into their sanctuary they hang stands compared to how conservatively he and Don hunt property edges. 54:50
• Thomas Chandler of Greenwich, Ohio asked how often Don gets winded by deer given his careful stand placement, and what percent chance a deer coming downwind represents. 52:53

ticks

• Terry said this has been the worst tick year he’s ever seen in his area. 3:09

trail-camera-data

• Don plans to replicate Wes’s detailed trail-camera-history method on his own target bucks this year, possibly turning it into a video or article. 35:24
• Don described tracking wind directions using the Intellicast or Weather Underground website’s history to figure out where and when he could lay eyes on the Trump buck. 36:43

trail-cameras

• Don explained that quality cameras matter because they can sit soaking on a property for an entire season without being checked, avoiding human intrusion, while still confirming they worked the whole time. 38:04
• Ethan Jansen asked whether Don and Terry have found success hunting a pinch on the downwind side of bedding when the wind is out of the south. 22:53
• Chase Nicely asked what Don looks for in trail camera placement when trying to locate and pattern a specific target buck. 26:27

tree-stands

• Don and Wes Delks finished hanging tree stands on the new 90-acre property, with Wes helping put up three ladder stands Don couldn’t manage alone. 1:19

waterways

• Terry recounted deciding to mow a large waterway rather than let it become bedding cover, since he needed it as QuietKat bike access across the field. 43:51

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 35:05
• Trump (harvest) 36:25

Listener questions

Question: Ethan Jansen asked whether Don and Terry have found success hunting a pinch on the downwind side of bedding when the wind is out of the south. 22:53 — asked by Ethan Jansen

• Answer: Don suggested the pinch might be too tight for a mature buck, recommending a roughly 20-yard-wide travel corridor instead of a narrow ten-foot gap. 24:03
• Answer: Don added that a south wind alone won’t shut down rut activity, though it may reduce daylight movement; hunters should still get at least night camera pictures. 25:24

Question: Chase Nicely asked what Don looks for in trail camera placement when trying to locate and pattern a specific target buck. 26:27 — asked by Chase Nicely

• Answer: Don explained that what matters most is learning a target buck’s range and how much time he spends within a specific area, rather than pinpointing exact travel details. 27:37

Question: Kyle Wenger asked what to plant in leftover waterway and terrace acreage excluded from his family’s new monarch-butterfly CRP program. 38:38 — asked by Kyle Wenger

• Answer: Don advised assessing the whole neighborhood, not just the property itself, to see whether food or cover is in shorter supply before deciding what to plant. 39:21
• Answer: Terry added he avoids planting food anywhere that can’t be hunted strategically, since it can spread deer out and hurt access elsewhere. 42:16

Question: Aidan Miller of Clyde, New York asked what the single most important aspect of successful whitetail hunting is and at what age a buck becomes fully mature. 44:29 — asked by Aidan Miller

• Answer: Don said a buck isn’t mature until age five, comparing four-year-olds to a 35-year-old man and five-year-olds to a man in his mid-forties. 44:59
• Answer: Don said the single most important factor for hunting success is the property itself, since great habitat with no deer or poor habitat with deer both determine your odds. 45:58

Question: David Aman, a new Real World dealer from Highland, Illinois, asked how deer travel through a Miscanthus screen and whether to leave an opening as a doorway. 47:40 — asked by David Aman

• Answer: Don told David a determined deer will push through Miscanthus regardless, noting deer make their own paths through thick stands on his farm. 48:44
• Answer: Terry added that Miscanthus takes about three years to thicken up, so young deer will initially walk through it like an open field. 49:23

Question: Thomas Chandler of Greenwich, Ohio asked how often Don gets winded by deer given his careful stand placement, and what percent chance a deer coming downwind represents. 52:53 — asked by Thomas Chandler

• Answer: Don said he hasn’t tracked exact numbers but estimated fewer than 5% of deer passing his stands ever wind him. 53:19
• Answer: Don added he can’t recall the last time a mature buck winded him — probably a decade — since it’s almost always a doe or yearling that catches his scent. 56:01

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