Episode #223 - Why are Young Bucks Being Hit on the Roads This Time of Year?

Published: 2024-05-26
Episode page
Duration: 62 min

In this episode

antler-growth

• Don notes some yearling bucks already have eight to ten inches of antler growth in velvet before June, indicating a strong growing season. 13:53

banter

• Don jokingly says he won’t drive to Kentucky to taste-test strawberries, though he’d try some if Terry mailed them. 8:02 (light moment)

brian-kraft

• Terry mentions that their new Midwest Land Group partner is also an accomplished deer hunter, and they’ll share hunting stories with him in the future. 50:40

buyafarm

• Terry announces that former sponsor BuyAFarm could no longer commit to a weekly showcased farm due to shifts in their business, ending that arrangement. 43:32

consulting

• Don typically knows within thirty minutes of a property tour whether a consulting client will grasp his land-management approach. 33:55
• A Des Moines, Iowa listener asked what negative experiences or difficult people Don and Terry have encountered while consulting and traveling. 26:30

content-projects

• Terry mentioned upcoming farm-content collaboration projects to Steve Shields this week, hoping to follow through this summer. 6:48

crop-rotation

• Don typically rotates two years of soybeans followed by one year of Deadly Dozen, no-tilling directly into the sprayed Deadly Dozen residue. 2:54

dispersal-distance

• Research shows bucks disperse on average five to twenty miles from where they were born. 17:34
• Several radio-collared yearling bucks dispersed more than 100 miles from their birthplace. 17:43

food-plot-quality

• Don believes that if his food plots taste better than anything around, deer will concentrate there and he’ll expand acreage as needed. 7:44
• Don advises that if a property’s food sources are the best a deer has ever encountered, the deer will remember it and may return later. 16:11

food-plots

• Terry announces that the hosts have finished spring food plot planting for the season. 0:55
• Don’s food plots are fully emerged except his soybeans, which were planted six days earlier and are expected up any day. 1:11
• Don planted a roughly three-acre plot of NutriCrave corn this spring. 1:54
• Don planted three soil-charge plots totaling about four acres that will be transitioned into Deadly Dozen this fall. 1:59

glyphosate

• Terry notes that Roundup-only glyphosate at 41% concentration can be applied directly onto a plant without dilution. 23:54

herbicide-rates

• Herbicide rates like glyphosate are calculated per acre, not per gallon of water, and the water volume used is largely irrelevant. 24:47

herbicide-timing

• Terry advises spraying soybean plots before weeds reach four inches tall. 21:18
• Don recommends spraying weeds while they’re still only one to two inches tall for ideal control. 21:22

inbreeding-prevention

• Terry explains does push yearling bucks off primarily to prevent inbreeding. 14:35

legacy

• John Scott from Oklahoma asked Don how he wants to be remembered by the hunting community. 56:04

lesters-feet

• Terry recalls that Ryan and Midwest Land Group, along with Chris Yates, donated the truck raffled for Lester’s Feet about a year and a half ago. 48:38

luck

• Michael Rayburn from Lafayette, Louisiana asked whether luck can ever be fully eliminated from deer hunting success. 40:48

maternal-aggression

• Terry explains the term “maternal aggression” is used to describe how doe mothers push away last year’s buck fawns. 14:18

memorial-day

• Don emphasizes that Memorial Day weekend is about honoring the soldiers who gave their lives, not politicians. 59:33
• Terry closes the show thanking everyone who is serving, has served, or has sacrificed. 61:29

midwest-land-group

• Terry introduces Bryhn Craft and his company Midwest Land Group as the podcast’s new real estate partner. 43:47
• Midwest Land Group is expanding into new markets and hopes to connect with potential real estate agents through the Chasing Giants audience. 46:42
• Brian Kraft prefers listeners submit real estate questions about buying recreational or agricultural properties, which he’ll answer on a future episode. 48:03

new-sponsor

• Terry reveals the podcast’s newest shirt run already features the new sponsor’s logo, expected ready within a week or two. 26:00

no-till

• Terry is running a controlled trial splitting half of three food plots between no-till and tilled ground with identical inputs to compare results. 3:30
• Don is shifting toward no-till and is considering no-tilling his corn plots next year as well. 4:04

oak-trees

• Kyle Tepe asked which faster-growing oak tree would be a good choice to canopy over his long open driveway. 36:54

pin-oak

• Don explains pin oak makes a great scrape tree because its branches grow downward and hold their leaves through winter. 39:48

podcast-merchandise

• Don explains some listeners haven’t received their t-shirts because he’s out of certain sizes and is waiting on a new shipment. 25:39
• Don warns that listeners who didn’t include their address with a submitted question won’t receive a t-shirt and must resubmit. 25:53

pre-emergent-herbicide

• Don recommends applying a residual or pre-emergent herbicide before planting corn or soybeans to prevent weed pressure. 23:30

property-layout

• Don says how a property is laid out for hunting and food is the critical “secret sauce” to successful land management. 28:47

regenerative-ag

• Don recommends visiting Okaw Valley Orchard in Sullivan, Illinois and buying Mike’s Mighty Micros there. 5:18

row-spacing

• Don prefers drilled soybeans in 7.5-inch rows with a G-series drill over 30-inch or 15-inch rows for faster canopy closure. 21:57

rut-timing

• Roger Draper from Tennessee asked whether to hunt the last week of October and first week of November, or the first two weeks of November. 52:01

seeding-rate

• A soybean seeding rate of 60 pounds per acre stays the same regardless of whether rows are 30, 15, or seven-and-a-half inches wide. 22:07

sorghum

• Terry asks buyers of the sorghum test pilot plot to photograph their results and tag Real World Wildlife Products on social media. 8:12

spray-equipment

• Terry notes that running an ATV or tractor sprayer over soybean plants under eight to ten inches tall won’t snap them, so growers shouldn’t worry. 22:43

tissue-analysis

• Don plans to run tissue analysis comparisons between treated and untreated food plot plants this year. 5:40

variety-trial

• Terry is running direct side-by-side comparisons of two additional soybean varieties and one corn variety on his property this year. 6:13

year-round-food

• Don insists on providing the best possible food source on his property year-round and calls the idea of withholding food at certain times “plum ridiculous.” 19:55

yearling-bucks

• Don observes that roughly 80% of deer hit on roads in recent weeks have been yearling bucks. 11:13

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (harvest) 3:11

Listener questions

Question: A Des Moines, Iowa listener asked what negative experiences or difficult people Don and Terry have encountered while consulting and traveling. 26:30

• Answer: Don says he has never had a genuinely bad client; the biggest negative for him is sleeping in a motel every night while on the road. 27:18
• Answer: Terry says the only real negative for him is people unexpectedly showing up at his house, which makes him uncomfortable since his family values privacy. 30:41

Question: Kyle Tepe asked which faster-growing oak tree would be a good choice to canopy over his long open driveway. 36:54 — asked by Kyle Tepe

• Answer: Don recommends the swamp white oak, noting it produces acorns quickly and grows as fast as any other oak species. 37:07
• Answer: Terry cautions against planting pin oaks near a driveway because their low, spreading limbs are hard to trim as the tree matures. 39:35

Question: Michael Rayburn from Lafayette, Louisiana asked whether luck can ever be fully eliminated from deer hunting success. 40:48 — asked by Michael Rayburn

• Answer: Don says luck is always a factor to some degree, but hunters should focus on identifying and addressing whatever is limiting their success to minimize luck’s role. 41:26

Question: Roger Draper from Tennessee asked whether to hunt the last week of October and first week of November, or the first two weeks of November. 52:01 — asked by Roger Draper

• Answer: Don notes November 5-12 has traditionally been a great period, but everything depends on the weather. 52:18
• Answer: Don says not to discount the last week of October, since cold weather then can produce bucks moving in daylight before the rut spreads them out. 54:22

Question: John Scott from Oklahoma asked Don how he wants to be remembered by the hunting community. 56:04 — asked by John Scott

• Answer: Don says he wants to be remembered for using his platform to share his faith and for speaking the truth regardless of the personal or financial cost. 57:03

Terry and Don covered spring food plot progress: Don’s plots had emerged except recently planted soybeans, he’d planted NutriCrave corn and soil-charge plots destined for Deadly Dozen, and both hosts described no-till trials and variety comparisons underway. They discussed spraying timing, herbicide rates, and drilled soybean row spacing. Don noted most road-killed deer lately were yearling bucks, some already showing significant velvet growth, and Terry explained maternal aggression pushing yearling bucks off to prevent inbreeding, with Don stressing year-round quality food to keep deer returning despite long dispersal distances. New sponsor Midwest Land Group, represented by Bryhn Craft, was introduced after BuyAFarm’s arrangement ended. Listener questions covered negative experiences on the road, fast-growing oaks for driveways, whether luck can be eliminated from hunting, timing the rut in early November versus late October, and how Don wants to be remembered. The episode closed honoring Memorial Day.

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