Episode #23 - Spring Plots, Trail Cam Test, and the first adversity of the 2020 season for Terry as he suffers serious injury
Published: 2020-06-15
Episode page
Duration: 73 min
In this episode
bedding-cover
- Zach Schrock asked how important bedding cover is for harvesting a nice buck, and whether switchgrass or small-tree cover is better. 66:42
fall-food-plots
- Peyton asked what signs, besides the seed bag instructions, indicate the perfect time to broadcast fall food plot seed. 53:24
glyphosate
- Terry relayed that an unnamed listener emailed him after burning his corn with a Roundup product that contained a residual herbicide. 20:33
- Don advised checking that glyphosate is the only active ingredient on the herbicide label, since any other listed ingredient could kill soybeans. 22:42
- Don recommended that food plotters without calibrated sprayers use five ounces of glyphosate per gallon of water as a strong mixture. 27:14
- Don said he sprayed his food plot beans this past week while they were about six inches tall because pigweed was starting to come on. 25:16
hunt-report
- Don plans to move from a daily rut report to a weekly hunt report on his new channel, showing video footage of bucks he passes. 4:35
injury
- Terry described landing hard after falling from a moving tractor, suffering a torn ACL, MCL, LCL, both menisci, two tibia fractures, and a ruptured quad and calf muscle. 29:16
- Terry said his knee surgery will likely be delayed until after July 4 while his muscle ruptures and fractures heal. 30:49
- Despite his knee injury, Terry affirmed his goal remains to shoot a mature target buck this season, and he’ll find a way to do it. 33:11
- Don joked about rigging a pulley and rope system up in a tree to hoist the injured Terry into a hunting setup. 70:01 (light moment)
listener-gift
- Terry said listener Todd Covey had given Don a Trump-themed hard hat and mug, delivered a while back. 42:50
out-of-state-hunting
- Don recommended asking anyone who claims to reliably kill mature bucks out of state in early season to show proof of past kills on properties new to them. 64:32
- Taylor from Vermont asked what tactics work for locating and targeting a mature buck out of state during early season in a short amount of time. 61:11
outdoor-tv
- Don said outdoor TV has largely run its course, in his opinion, as hunters shift to YouTube channels and similar outlets. 5:02
quietkat
- Terry said his QuietKat electric bike partnership will likely be one of his biggest blessings this season for reaching hunting spots while injured. 35:22
real-world
- Don said Real World tries to answer every email, and if a listener sends two emails, both would not fall through the cracks. 16:00
rut-report
- Don said his daily rut report on Facebook has become very popular, drawing several thousand hits a day. 4:18
steve-shields
- Terry described Steve Shields as a close friend living in Cincinnati who does video and editing work for Real World. 2:43
switchgrass
- Joe Barker asked whether to convert 20 acres of ag field to switchgrass or let it revert to old field with heavy regrowth to hold more deer. 45:06
trail-cameras
- Don explained he has been testing many trail camera brands to find the best fit for different applications, like public versus private land. 6:36
- Don stated he has never had a trail camera sponsor and has personally paid for every camera in his side-by-side test. 9:13
- Don said the Browning Strike Force Pro HD is standing out as a fantastic non-cellular trail camera in his side-by-side testing. 10:55
- Don said the Exodus Render cell camera is, so far, the best cell camera he has ever used. 11:14
- Don tested the Exodus Render cell camera by mowing past it with his phone in hand, and it sent the photo to his phone in under ten seconds. 12:47
- Don noted the Exodus Render camera has three sensitivity settings, and its highest setting proved far too sensitive during testing. 12:55
- Terry recommended checking Bass Pro and Cabela’s for previous-generation Browning Strike Force trail cameras, often available for about $100-109 with free shipping. 19:12
video-production
- Don plans a video shoot this week with a Real World distributor in Northern Indiana that will involve helicopter footage. 3:19
youtube-channel
- Don reported his new Higgins Outdoors YouTube channel is getting lots of comments and new subscribers daily. 1:26
- Don said the dough factory video is his most-viewed YouTube video so far, crediting Steve Shields’s fantastic production work. 2:19
- Terry teased that big storylines have been in the works for a couple months and will unfold as great footage and stories this season. 6:13
Deer activity
Listener questions
Question: Joe Barker asked whether to convert 20 acres of ag field to switchgrass or let it revert to old field with heavy regrowth to hold more deer. 45:06 — asked by Joe Barker
- Answer: Don said the claim that deer avoid switchgrass once established is absolutely false, citing his own thick 15-acre switchgrass field full of deer trails and beds. 45:41
- Answer: Don recommended enrolling the ag acreage in a CRP program for income, as a switchgrass planting or a tree program, while keeping enough food acreage for deer. 49:18
Question: Peyton asked what signs, besides the seed bag instructions, indicate the perfect time to broadcast fall food plot seed. 53:24 — asked by Peyton
- Answer: Don said if a property sits near Interstate 70, the ideal fall planting date is around September 1, shifting a week earlier for every 100 miles north. 54:18
- Answer: Terry explained the logic is timing fall plots roughly fifty to sixty days before the first major frost so plants mature before cold weather. 55:33
- Answer: Don said he always preaches food plot diversity, mixing greens and grain such as soybeans, perennial clover or alfalfa, and annual blends. 58:44
Question: Taylor from Vermont asked what tactics work for locating and targeting a mature buck out of state during early season in a short amount of time. 61:11 — asked by Taylor
- Answer: Don said he doesn’t believe anyone without prior knowledge of an area can consistently locate and kill mature bucks out of state in a short time. 61:37
- Answer: Terry said without years of prior scouting, food plots, and trail camera data on a property, there’s just no way to reliably kill a mature buck quickly. 63:24
Question: Zach Schrock asked how important bedding cover is for harvesting a nice buck, and whether switchgrass or small-tree cover is better. 66:42 — asked by Zach Schrock
- Answer: Don said bedding cover is extremely important for harvesting a nice buck. 66:55
- Answer: Don said if a hunter is just one property removed from where a target buck actually beds, their odds of killing him drop to about 10% of on-property odds. 67:18
Sponsors this episode
- BuyAFarm.com
- 360 Hunting Blinds
- QuietKat
- Real World Wildlife Products
- Vortex Optics
- Lone Wolf Treestands
- Mathews Archery
Don shared updates on his new Higgins Outdoors YouTube channel, noting fast-growing subscribers and a dough factory video crediting Steve Shields’s production work, plus an upcoming shoot with a Real World distributor in Northern Indiana involving helicopter footage. He said his daily Facebook rut report draws several thousand hits a day and plans to shift to a weekly hunt report on YouTube, arguing outdoor TV has largely run its course. Don detailed self-funded trail camera testing, favoring the Browning Strike Force Pro HD and calling the Exodus Render the best cell camera he’s used, describing a quick photo-transmission test. Terry recounted a tractor fall causing multiple knee injuries with surgery delayed, but affirmed he’d still pursue a mature buck, aided by a QuietKat e-bike. Listener questions covered switchgrass versus old-field conversion, timing fall food plot planting, out-of-state early-season mature buck tactics, and the importance of bedding cover, with Don and Terry both stressing prior scouting knowledge as essential.
Unofficial fan project. AI-synthesized from public episodes; may contain errors.