Episode 230 - Don says Switchgrass is not the best bedding.

Published: 2024-07-14
Episode page
Duration: 66 min

In this episode

american-plum

• Don says American plum is one of his favorite shrubs, but seedlings must be caged or deer will browse them down to nothing. 34:12

asio-camo

• Terry mentioned that Bronson Strickland recently got a big shipment of ASIO Camo that he was excited about. 31:48

batteries

• Terry announced he and Don emailed and posted on social media about the new lithium AA batteries being the official battery of Chasing Giants. 8:14
• Don announced the new lithium AA batteries are now available for purchase on the Real World website. 8:45
• Don claimed he could not find the new batteries cheaper anywhere online, minus shipping, making them the cheapest source he promoted. 8:49
• Terry recommends throwing a pack of the new batteries in with a deadly-dozen order so it won’t add any shipping cost. 10:16
• Terry announced dealers interested in carrying the new batteries can call the office and get them at dealer cost, in limited quantities. 10:45

blind-maintenance

• Don plans to trim branches around a couple of blinds that have grown enough to obstruct a shot before he leaves on his trip. 62:25

bronson-strickland

• Terry noted that Dr. Strickland, a respected deer biologist and friend, never says ‘always’ or ‘never’ in his research claims. 30:39

business

• Terry announced he and his wife are traveling to Tennessee this week to sign papers finalizing the purchase of a company. 64:43

call-in-number

• Don gave the corrected call-in number, (814) 322-9352 extension 20, for listeners to hear the Chasing Giants podcast by phone. 18:21

campfire-stories

• Terry noted they’ve already planned a campfire-stories segment featuring the Wessel brothers telling stories for entertainment. 17:08
• Don joked that he knows a story about a naked man the brothers could tell if they wanted to. 17:21 (light moment)

cattails

• Cody asks what he can do around his cattail swamp to encourage deer bedding there. 41:08

chasing-giants

• Terry announced Chasing Giants will have an even bigger presence at the show than last year, with everyone affiliated with the program present. 13:57

community-tragedy

• Don shared that a fatal accident this week near his home killed three 14-year-old girls in a side-by-side and semi collision. 23:27

deer-scouting

• Don recalled that the evening of the accident he had gone to supper with Steve Shields, Joe Johnson, and Al Foster before driving around looking for deer. 24:19

fae

• Terry announced FAE is coming back on board to sponsor the entire Midwest Sportsman’s Classic trade show again, per his talk with Derek. 12:25

filming

• Steve Shields visited Don’s farm the day after the rain and stayed two days while they filmed together. 2:16

fishing

• Terry plans to go deep sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico in two weeks. 65:00
• Terry jokingly asks Don how much he’d enjoy deep sea fishing, given how he took to turkey hunting. 65:13

food-plots

• Terry admitted this is the worst set of food plots he’s ever had, calling himself embarrassed and disappointed. 2:50
• Terry blamed his poor plots on bad weather luck, deer browse pressure, and lacking adequate spraying equipment this year. 3:27

habitat-management

• Terry says grass in old cattle pasture cover is dynamite for deer until it becomes shaded and choked out, losing its appeal. 54:46

hunting-philosophy

• Terry said he and Don won’t deviate from their age-structure or size goals for a buck just because it has an unusual characteristic. 57:24

hunting-show

• Don called the Shipshewana show one of the best shows he’s ever attended, with a completely different atmosphere from typical hunting shows. 15:16

land-consulting

• Terry observed that consulting clients often keep a sentimentally favorite stand even though it produced only one buck long ago, in 1992. 47:17
• Terry said one deer shot at a stand years ago doesn’t mean success there can be repeated consistently for clients paying for consulting. 48:02
• Don says on consulting visits he asks clients how they access a poor stand and what wind direction they use, letting them realize its flaws. 48:30

legends-roundtable

• Chasing Giants plans to help restructure the show so attendees get more time with the legends roundtable guests than before. 12:42
• Derek told Don the roundtable format will change, with two guys on stage at a time before later bringing them all up together. 13:29
• Terry called it a huge honor to connect younger hunters to the stories and personalities of legends like the Wenzel brothers, Bobby, Al, and Joe. 15:57

lesters-feet

• Don joked that when he was young, parents used to grab their kids and run when they saw him coming. 59:30 (light moment)
• Terry announced a Western Indiana church used Lester’s Feet as their kids’ VBS mission project to raise money for the charity. 58:34
• Terry shared that Pre Mobile makes custom motorized wheelchairs for disabled kids, and Lester’s Feet has purchased two of those wheelchairs for kids. 61:04

mentorship

• Don said the pioneering hunters became his mentors, and he corresponded with them through handwritten letters years ago. 16:56

ninmax-batteries

• Terry announced they would play a video Don filmed at the barn about the new NINMAX batteries now released. 3:51

piebald-deer

• Don said if he had a white or piebald doe on his farm he’d probably never shoot it, letting it live to learn from. 57:55
• Colin asks whether Don would shoot a legal albino or piebald buck if it matched the caliber he was hunting for. 56:05

rope-scrapes

• Brian asks if he can scent his aged rope scrapes now, in July, and hang a camera on them instead of waiting for fall. 37:12

seminar

• Don announced he’ll give a seminar with a meal at Milford Hills Hunt Club in Johnson Creek, Wisconsin this Thursday, July 18. 18:54

seminars

• Don announced his days of going on week-long-or-longer seminar tours are coming to an end, though he won’t fully stop. 64:16

sponsorship

• Terry announced Bryhn Craft from Midwest Land Group will be a new sponsor appearing on the show. 63:33

sprayer-maintenance

• Terry noted cleaning crooks and corners of a square-box ATV sprayer with any neutralizer cleaner is really tough. 22:21
• Terry asks Don how he cleans out his big tractor-mounted sprayer to safely switch between different chemicals. 20:40

switchgrass

• Raymond asks whether to leave his overgrown ag field as a weedy mess or spray it and plant switchgrass instead. 49:49

trail-camera-placement

• Wes Delks taught that landowners should create funnels for trail cameras in areas they don’t need to pressure, to inventory bucks without intrusion. 44:34

trail-cameras

• Don drove to Iowa and set up a trail camera, hauling a deer block and camera gear through crops and thick cover. 0:50
• Cody wants to know where the cruising giant bucks that show up during the rut on his property are coming from. 41:16

tree-planting

• John asks whether it’s harmful to keep American plum seedlings in black three-gallon pots from the hardware store. 32:43

weather

• Don reported his farm got 3.8 tenths of rain pushed up by a hurricane, ending a drought and improving conditions. 1:47

whitetail-master-academy

• Don mentioned he did a live event the previous night for the Whitetail Master Academy. 40:10

wind

• Frank asks why Dr. Bronson Strickland’s research showing bucks often ignore wind differs so much from Don’s own wind-based observations. 26:32

Deer activity

• babe (harvest) 40:04
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 63:00

Listener questions

Question: Frank asks why Dr. Bronson Strickland’s research showing bucks often ignore wind differs so much from Don’s own wind-based observations. 26:32 — asked by Frank Kamanski

• Answer: Don insists every successful mature-buck hunter plays the wind and that mature bucks consistently use wind, regardless of any regional differences in Strickland’s study. 27:03

Question: John asks whether it’s harmful to keep American plum seedlings in black three-gallon pots from the hardware store. 32:43 — asked by John

• Answer: Don explains black plastic pots attract a lot of heat, especially on the sun-facing outer edge, which can hinder root growth. 33:03

Question: Brian asks if he can scent his aged rope scrapes now, in July, and hang a camera on them instead of waiting for fall. 37:12 — asked by Brian Kats

• Answer: Don says it can be done now, but bucks will likely be more receptive once fall arrives. 37:19

Question: Cody asks what he can do around his cattail swamp to encourage deer bedding there. 41:08 — asked by Cody Zimmerman

• Answer: Don recommends building raised dry areas within the cattail swamp, saying deer will find and bed on them for safety. 43:00

Question: Cody wants to know where the cruising giant bucks that show up during the rut on his property are coming from. 41:16 — asked by Cody Zimmerman

• Answer: Don says trail cameras are the key to gathering intel and learning about neighboring bucks’ ranges. 41:36

Question: Raymond asks whether to leave his overgrown ag field as a weedy mess or spray it and plant switchgrass instead. 49:49 — asked by Raymond Troyer

• Answer: Don says he prefers overgrown cow-pasture cover to switchgrass and would not tear out existing good cover to plant it on a small property. 50:12

Question: Colin asks whether Don would shoot a legal albino or piebald buck if it matched the caliber he was hunting for. 56:05 — asked by Colin Rajala

• Answer: Don says yes, he would shoot a mature, legal piebald buck that reached his desired age and antler size. 56:41

Question: Terry asks Don how he cleans out his big tractor-mounted sprayer to safely switch between different chemicals. 20:40 — asked by Terry

• Answer: Don says he empties leftover chemical, then flushes the tank, filters, and nozzles with plain water before adding the next chemical. 21:02

Question: Terry jokingly asks Don how much he’d enjoy deep sea fishing, given how he took to turkey hunting. 65:13 — asked by Terry

• Answer: Don jokes he doesn’t think he’d like deep sea fishing and will just stick with whitetails. 65:24

Terry admitted this was the worst set of food plots he’s ever had, blaming weather, deer browse, and lacking spray equipment, while Don recounted rain from a hurricane ending a drought on his Iowa farm, where Steve Shields visited and filmed for two days. The pair announced new lithium AA batteries as the official Chasing Giants battery, available on the Real World site and at dealer cost by request. They discussed FAE returning to sponsor the Midwest Sportsman’s Classic, with Derek restructuring the legends roundtable format and more time planned with guests like the Wenzel brothers, Bobby, Al, and Joe. Don noted a fatal accident near his home killed three 14-year-old girls. Listener questions covered wind behavior versus Strickland’s research, potting plum seedlings, scenting rope scrapes early, cattail bedding cover, tracking cruising bucks via cameras, and whether Don would shoot a legal piebald buck.

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