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

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