Episode #229 - Final Thoughts on the Buck Named Babe and Cameras are Out!

Published: 2024-07-07
Episode page
Duration: 68 min

In this episode

antler-development

• Casey asks whether Don has noticed a difference in antler size between bucks that bed in switchgrass versus timber. 28:40
• Steven asks at what point Don would readjust his outlook on antler growth given the dry conditions he observed on a trip. 37:57

batteries

• Terry announces Real World Wildlife hopes to release its batteries on the website this coming week. 66:42
• Don says someone already called wanting to buy 4,000 batteries as soon as the first shipment lands, showing strong demand. 67:25

business

• Eric asks whether Real World Wildlife Products will ever go public so he could invest. 60:21

charity

• Justin Nice has supported Lester’s Feet, donating items for raffles in the past. 25:01

faith

• Justin Nice and his wife are leaving for Colorado without jobs lined up, following what they feel is a calling from God. 20:21

family

• Don recalls learning about a month before deer season that his oldest daughter Andrea had cancer, which reordered his priorities. 17:08
• Don’s youngest daughter Alicia and grandson Bowen visited him for the holiday weekend. 65:09
• Don took his grandson on his first four-wheeler ride while looking for deer. 65:26

feeders

• A business partner of Terry’s designed a new gravity feeder Terry will prototype this year, which he believes will revolutionize the hunting feeder industry. 34:28
• Terry announces that by 2025 his business partner’s new feeder will be on the market. 35:21
• The prototype feeder Terry’s business partner developed will hold somewhere between twelve and fourteen hundred pounds of feed. 36:05
• Ryan asks which style of deer feeder Don prefers in states that allow feeding: gravity or automatic. 33:17

food-plots

• The four food plots on Don’s Ohio property are spaced so four hunters could hunt it at once without interfering with each other. 1:48
• Austin Raisor planted two food plots in soybeans on the Ohio property and will plant the other two in Deadly Dozen near the end of August. 2:29
• Don’s team applied about 96 tons of lime across four food plots on the Ohio property. 5:29

land-division

• Don says they may divide the 430-acre Ohio tract into four roughly 100-acre parcels, each including a food plot, instead of selling as one property. 1:59

land-management-guide

• Terry insisted on using a photo of Don, Al, and Joe for the cover of the 2024 land management guide despite Don’s hesitation. 24:18

mentorship

• Don says he and his partners saved Wes years on the learning curve, since Wes did his habitat work right the first time. 32:46

miscanthus

• Don found only about 5% of the Miscanthus rhizomes he planted this year have emerged from the ground so far. 62:06
• Despite poor early emergence, Don is confident his Miscanthus planting will form a solid wall within two years, based on past experience. 62:40
• Jay Gingerich agreed completely with Don’s theory that some Miscanthus rhizomes grow roots underground before showing any visible top growth. 63:09
• Terry recommends listeners be patient when Miscanthus rhizomes don’t emerge right away, since the plant establishes roots underground first. 63:52
• Eric asks whether Giant Miscanthus could work as a screen to block a neglectful neighbor’s view of his yard. 60:05

neighbor-relations

• Ryan asks the best approach for an introductory conversation with new hunting neighbors about herd and property management. 48:57

ohio-property

• Don traveled to Ohio with Wes Delks to work on a 430-acre property he and business partners bought, which they plan to eventually offer for sale. 1:07
• Don’s team spent several thousand dollars on culverts for the Ohio property’s road system to keep the roads properly drained. 3:34

partnerships

• Terry says that when partnering with people who each bring distinct skill sets, the best approach is to stay out of each other’s way and let them work. 4:42

playing-the-wind

• Coy asks how to convince his father to start hunting the wind despite years of ignoring it. 43:14

property-line-dispute

• Terry set up a cell camera and a no-shooting-across-property-lines sign facing a neighbor’s tree stand built right on his property boundary. 57:08

property-management

• Wes Delks noted that few people realize how much time, effort, and money go into managing land to grow big bucks. 32:13
• Casey asks how Wes’s property, nicknamed Higgins two point o, is coming along. 27:59

quietkat

• Don notes QuietKat electric bikes are handy for getting around crop field edges but become a muddy disaster when conditions are wet. 8:45

real-estate

• Don recounts that an Ohio property he and his partners wanted sold before they could even visit it in person. 26:32

relationships

• Terry says he and Don hold to the rule that no deer, no matter how big, should ever be allowed to ruin a relationship. 47:17

seminar-schedule

• Don’s first July seminar stop is July 18 at Milford Hills Hunt Club in Johnson Creek, Wisconsin. 10:46
• Distributor Eastern Outdoors arranged six seminar stops at East Coast dealers, mostly in New York with one in Pennsylvania. 12:03
• Terry says the updated seminar schedule with contact numbers is posted on the Real World Wildlife website for listeners to check. 14:20

trail-cameras

• Don has already put up about 25 trail cameras this week as he begins summer camera season. 1:01
• Terry and two companions hung 28 trail cameras across seven Illinois properties in a single day. 7:21
• Terry found external battery packs on his trail cameras worked really well last year, so he used many more of them this season. 8:14

upcoming-guest

• Don announces Brian Kraft from Midwest Land Group will be a guest on the podcast in the coming weeks. 66:08

weather

• Don’s farm received nine tenths of an inch of rain on July 4th, welcomed after missing several prior rain systems. 6:24
• Wes Delks showed Don a photo of a client’s South Dakota food plot that was completely flooded, unusual for that time of year. 38:36

Deer activity

• Babe (harvest) 15:33
• unnamed buck (harvest) 15:40
• unnamed buck (history) 16:48
• Babe (harvest) 21:31
• unnamed buck (harvest) 21:44
• Mel (management) 28:29
• Smokey (management) 28:29
• unnamed buck (management) 30:33

Listener questions

Question: Casey asks whether Don has noticed a difference in antler size between bucks that bed in switchgrass versus timber. 28:40 — asked by Casey Larson

• Answer: Don says switchgrass has had no impact on antler growth for those deer since the bucks don’t summer there while growing their racks. 29:44

Question: Casey asks how Wes’s property, nicknamed Higgins two point o, is coming along. 27:59 — asked by Casey Larson

• Answer: Don says Wes now has a seven-year-old target buck on the property, a big eight-pointer Wes hopes will reach 160 inches. 30:33

Question: Ryan asks which style of deer feeder Don prefers in states that allow feeding: gravity or automatic. 33:17 — asked by Ryan Richardson

• Answer: Don says he strongly prefers gravity fed feeders over electronic spin feeders, which he considers unreliable. 33:34

Question: Steven asks at what point Don would readjust his outlook on antler growth given the dry conditions he observed on a trip. 37:57 — asked by Steven Lincoln

• Answer: Don explains most of the whitetail’s range had a mild winter, early spring, and sufficient rain, giving bucks a great start. 40:01
• Answer: Don says bucks that got off to a strong start are still doing fantastic, with growing conditions better than average in most areas. 40:09

Question: Coy asks how to convince his father to start hunting the wind despite years of ignoring it. 43:14 — asked by Coy Phillips

• Answer: Don says without exception the best whitetail hunters always know the wind direction before entering the woods. 43:51
• Answer: Don adds that hunters who become proficient at killing good bucks often can’t change their approach, which keeps them from reaching the next level. 46:06

Question: Ryan asks the best approach for an introductory conversation with new hunting neighbors about herd and property management. 48:57 — asked by Ryan Higgins

• Answer: Don advises always talking to the neighbor first and giving them a chance to get on board before resorting to something extreme like a fence. 53:27

Question: Eric asks whether Giant Miscanthus could work as a screen to block a neglectful neighbor’s view of his yard. 60:05 — asked by Eric Bowles

• Answer: Don confirms Miscanthus has been used as a screen for many purposes and would work well for Eric’s situation. 61:17

Question: Eric asks whether Real World Wildlife Products will ever go public so he could invest. 60:21 — asked by Eric Bowles

• Answer: Don says he doesn’t foresee the company ever going public. 60:33

Don recounted a trip to Ohio with Wes Delks on a 430-acre property he and partners bought, describing four spaced food plots, plans to possibly split the land into roughly 100-acre parcels, culvert work, about 96 tons of lime applied, and Austin Raisor’s planting of soybeans and Deadly Dozen. Wes shared a photo of a flooded South Dakota client plot and remarked how few people grasp the effort behind managing land for big bucks. Don and Terry discussed partnership philosophy, agreeing no deer should ruin a relationship. Other topics included Terry’s business partner’s prototype gravity feeder, slow Miscanthus rhizome emergence, upcoming July seminars, and Real World Wildlife’s battery launch. Listener questions covered bedding cover’s effect on antlers, feeder preferences, growing conditions, hunting the wind, approaching new neighbors, and using Miscanthus as a screen.

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