Episode #24 - Don is glassing bucks at night while Terry tests Don’s idea of Saddle Hunting…

Published: 2020-06-30
Episode page
Duration: 61 min

In this episode

deer-behavior

• Don believes a deer will pattern the hunter before the hunter patterns the deer, especially on a working farm. 34:42

deer-habitat

• Zach Anderson asks what habitat a mature buck would choose to live in if a landowner could create the ideal property. 54:24

deer-training

• Terry says years of training mean deer he jumps now simply move to the other side of his property rather than leaving entirely. 38:36

food-plots

• Josh Pretzer told Don his spring food plots have been dry and risk becoming a bust without rain soon. 12:36
• Don states that mother nature, not the seed, mostly determines food plot planting dates and results. 13:16

human-intrusion

• Dylan Shaw asks what counts as human intrusion and how much intrusion-free acreage a property needs. 30:13

listener-questions

• Don explains some listeners who submit questions don’t include full contact info, so the show can’t mail them their free T-shirt prize. 59:27

master-class

• The speaker doesn’t allow anyone living within 100 miles of his house to attend his hunting master class, per his website and brochure. 28:44

muzzleloader

• Don plans to see his custom long-range muzzleloader, topped with Vortex glass, for the first time in about two to three weeks. 19:22

next-episode

• Terry announces next episode will cover breaking into the hunting industry from his and Don’s different perspectives, inviting listener questions on the topic. 14:44

photography

• Don visited John Mulligan’s photography school in Kentucky, spending about an hour teaching students what he looks for when hiring a hunting photographer. 15:27

rain

• Terry reports over four and a half inches of rain in the last eight or nine days, with more expected, leaving his food plots looking fantastic. 12:49

rut

• Terry observes that around November 6th-8th, bucks that relocated to a fall range often briefly return to their summer range just before does come into heat. 48:15

saddle-hunting

• Don recounts that when he was winched up into a tree using a safety harness, he started spinning as soon as his feet left the ground. 7:56

spotting-scope

• Terry says his new compact Vortex spotting scope is so clear he can count tines on a velvet buck three-quarters of a mile away. 17:22

surgery

• Don announces his knee surgery is scheduled for July 17, with a goal of walking again by Kentucky’s archery season opener in September. 3:34

trail-cameras

• Terry looks forward to July 1st every year as the time he starts getting trail cameras out. 1:18
• Because of his condition, Don plans to ship Terry a box of trail cameras to set up for him in Illinois. 2:29

tree-access

• Terry jokes he’d rather have an underground tunnel system letting hunters pop up directly into their tree stands. 24:58 (light moment)

whitetail-adaptability

• Don’s grandfather told him whitetail deer are probably the best of any animal at adapting to their surroundings. 57:43

whitetail-shift

• Morgan Murray asks whether the buck’s annual home range shift happens consistently every year for every individual buck. 41:35

youtube-channel

• Terry announces the new Higgins Outdoors YouTube channel is releasing about one video weekly, growing from roughly 1,000 to about 2,500 views per video. 8:48

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (harvest) 33:50
• Smokey (management) 44:21
• Trump (harvest) 45:35
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 50:00
• unnamed buck (history) 50:42

Listener questions

Question: Dylan Shaw asks what counts as human intrusion and how much intrusion-free acreage a property needs. 30:13 — asked by Dylan Shaw

• Answer: Terry explains that the more acreage kept completely free of human presence, the better it is for holding deer. 32:49
• Answer: He clarifies that human intrusion isn’t really about sound — it’s about scent and physical presence within the cover. 33:05

Question: Morgan Murray asks whether the buck’s annual home range shift happens consistently every year for every individual buck. 41:35 — asked by Morgan Murray

• Answer: Terry says not every buck shifts its home range annually — some relocate to a different fall range while others stay near their summer range. 43:00
• Answer: Terry cites his buck Smokey as one that stayed on his property year-round, present through summer, fall, and winter alike. 44:21

Question: Zach Anderson asks what habitat a mature buck would choose to live in if a landowner could create the ideal property. 54:24 — asked by Zach Anderson

• Answer: Terry says his favorite deer habitat by far is an old, grown-up cattle pasture. 54:58
• Answer: He recommends buyers look for cattle pasture land since it makes excellent, often undervalued deer habitat. 56:39

Sponsors this episode

• BuyAFarm.com
• 360 Hunting Blinds
• QuietKat
• Lone Wolf Treestands
• Mathews Archery
• Vortex Optics
• Real World Wildlife Products

Terry and Don opened with housekeeping: Terry’s yearly excitement for July 1st trail-camera season, Don’s plan to ship Terry cameras since Don is recovering from knee surgery scheduled for July 17, aiming to walk by Kentucky’s archery opener. They discussed rain’s effect on food plots, contrasting Josh Pretzer’s dry, struggling plots with Terry’s own plots thriving after over four and a half inches of recent rain. Don argued weather, not seed choice, drives planting success. Terry described a new Vortex spotting scope’s clarity and joked about wanting an underground tunnel to stands. Don recalled a dizzying tree-winch experience and visiting John Mulligan’s photography school. Listener questions covered human intrusion’s effect on deer (Dylan Shaw), whether bucks shift ranges yearly (Morgan Murray), citing Smokey as a year-round resident buck, and ideal habitat (Zach Anderson), with Terry favoring old cattle pasture.

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