Episode #255 - Deer Movement and Weather Fronts

Published: 2025-01-05 Episode page Duration: 93 min

In this episode

ai-content

• Terry explains a growing technique where AI-generated robotic voiceovers narrate videos with deliberately false claims, like bad concrete-pouring advice, purely to bait arguments and boost engagement. 33:28

buck-culling

• Ken Sparks asks whether, in a more pressured hunting area, it still makes sense to only shoot target bucks and let others stand so neighbors might shoot them instead. 53:55

client-hospitality

• Terry describes a client family in Ohio that cooked a huge spread and had a hot meal waiting for him partway through his consulting visit. 4:21

client-relationships

• Don says it’s hard for him to retire or slow down because he keeps making new friends every day through his consulting work. 4:48

consulting

• Don identifies verbal communication as probably his biggest weakness as a consultant, even though he can write effectively. 15:38

consulting-methodology

• Terry says manipulating deer movement rather than just hunting existing sign is probably the biggest thing that sets their consulting apart from competitors. 11:54

cover-crops

• Colin Price asks how to incorporate greens into a farmer’s standing grain when he can’t plant food plots, without disrupting the farmer’s operation. 64:40

deer-blind

• Don recounts seeing a truck camper jacked up on legs and converted into a deer blind, complete with a built-on porch, while on a Southern Illinois consulting job. 22:40

deer-movement

• For the first Higgins Hot Seat, Terry asks Don for a brutally honest verdict on a claimed collared-deer study showing no movement change ahead of a weather front. 28:05

deer-stands

• Don calls the camper-turned-deer-blind probably one of the more unique deer stands he’s ever seen. 23:17

events

• Don announces he’ll be at JB’s Feet in Mount Hope, Ohio on January 24 for a supper event and a new presentation. 36:46
• Don announces that he and Terry will do a live podcast Friday night at the Iowa Deer Classic, with Don doing a seminar Saturday and Sunday. 38:53

faith

• Don says the more sincerely you line up with God’s word, the more blessed you become, based on situations he has personally lived through. 73:35

farm-management

• Terry plans to farm his entire property this year now that the tenant farmer is gone, with Austin and Razor helping completely rework and move bedding around the farm. 71:25

food-plots

• An anonymous listener asks whether cows could smell his rich food plot from nearly a mile away after neighboring cattle repeatedly broke in and destroyed his corn plot. 46:44

higgins-hot-seat

• Terry announces that this first episode of the year debuts the new Higgins Hot Seat segment, brought to listeners by 360Blinds. 1:02

king-buck

• Don jokingly relays a method some Indiana hunters use to identify the mythical ‘king buck’: measuring how far down your arm jewels hang after checking a deer’s bung hole. 2:14 (light moment)
• Don jokes that a new social media personality with ridiculous ideas of his own is now challenging Mister King Buck’s throne. 3:38 (light moment)

land-ownership

• Don believes most property owners don’t understand the huge advantage that land ownership gives them over hunting on permission or public land. 6:23

livestock

• Don says he won’t encourage anyone to shoot someone’s livestock over an isolated incident, since livestock inevitably gets out sometimes as part of being a good neighbor. 49:38

ohio

• On a roughly 400-acre Ohio property, Don and the client identified ten tree stand locations that can be entered and exited without spooking deer. 10:29

podcast-recommendation

• Terry recommends listeners check out the Mission Whitetail podcast hosted by Joe Miles. 23:40

prayer-request

• Don relays that Kenny, a longtime Tag Out associate, was diagnosed with lung cancer this week and asks Chasing Giants listeners to remember him in prayer. 43:22
• Don shares that Nick Clark, a lineman, was electrocuted on the job and is in very serious condition, asking listeners to pray for him. 43:52

prayer-segment

• Terry announces that Brent Henderson, their friend from Indiana, has this week’s Sunday Night Prayer Time segment. 75:05

social-media

• Don says more than one person has made blatant false claims and lies about him personally to stir up comments and engagement. 35:30

stand-placement

• Don’s core methodology is keeping target bucks bedded on the client’s own property rather than letting them bed on neighboring land. 8:34
• Terry recalls Don teaching him to stop worrying about what deer are currently doing and instead pick stand locations that manipulate future deer movement. 11:15
• Mario Casasola asks whether it’s better to relocate wary stands to a slightly different, more concealed spot within the same site, or abandon the location and start fresh. 57:41

switchgrass

• The listener asks why Don’s switchgrass bedding fields succeed while some well-known hunting personalities have had little success with the same tactic. 47:01

tax-benefits

• Don explains that buying new tillable acreage lets you get a nutrient analysis of the soil and write the nutrient value off on your taxes. 20:28

turkey-hunting

• Terry’s second 2025 goal is to start an annual turkey hunting tradition and specifically get Dwayne Hopkins his first-ever turkey. 71:53

weather

• Don asserts that weather trumps everything, including the moon and the rut, when it comes to deer activity. 29:09

weather-and-deer-movement

• Don states there is absolutely no doubt in his mind that deer move ahead of a cold weather front, based on years of personal observation. 30:07

Listener questions

Question: An anonymous listener asks whether cows could smell his rich food plot from nearly a mile away after neighboring cattle repeatedly broke in and destroyed his corn plot. 46:44

• Answer: Don says he absolutely believes cattle can smell a quality food plot from a distance, comparing it to how new bucks mysteriously show up when a great winter food source is available. 47:23
• Answer: Terry adds that in Kentucky a ‘cattle at large’ law makes the livestock owner responsible for damages when animals get off his property, giving the landowner legal leverage. 48:57

Question: The listener asks why Don’s switchgrass bedding fields succeed while some well-known hunting personalities have had little success with the same tactic. 47:01

• Answer: Don says his switchgrass success comes down to using a variety that stands up well through winter ice and snow, plus hunting in open ag prairie where cover is scarce so deer rely on it more. 50:28

Question: Ken Sparks asks whether, in a more pressured hunting area, it still makes sense to only shoot target bucks and let others stand so neighbors might shoot them instead. 53:55 — asked by Ken Sparks

• Answer: Don admits he used to try to save every buck to maturity and hope neighbors shot the lesser ones, but says that approach did not work for him and success depends on the specific property. 54:27

Question: Mario Casasola asks whether it’s better to relocate wary stands to a slightly different, more concealed spot within the same site, or abandon the location and start fresh. 57:41 — asked by Mario Casasola

• Answer: Don confirms deer absolutely can pattern a stand location, and once they do it’s time to relocate, while also stressing hunters must consistently play the wind rather than assuming any wind works. 63:33

Question: Colin Price asks how to incorporate greens into a farmer’s standing grain when he can’t plant food plots, without disrupting the farmer’s operation. 64:40 — asked by Colin Price

• Answer: Don recommends talking to the farmer about planting a cover crop and having it aerial-seeded by drone, which benefits the farmer’s soil while giving hunters green forage without disturbing his grain. 65:06

Question: For the first Higgins Hot Seat, Terry asks Don for a brutally honest verdict on a claimed collared-deer study showing no movement change ahead of a weather front. 28:05 — asked by Terry

• Answer: Don flatly calls the study nonsense, saying some social media accounts chase likes over accurate information. 28:22

Prayer Time

Scripture: Theme: new-year-encouragement Brent Henderson opens Sunday Night Prayer Time reflecting on the hardships of 2024 and previews how listeners can make 2025 a good year regardless of circumstances, framed through a memory of hunting during a major snowstorm. 76:44

Scripture: Psalms, Hebrews Theme: forgiveness-of-sin Brent reminds listeners that God casts sins as far as the east is from the west per Psalm 103 and remembers them no more per Hebrews, encouraging a shame-burdened former pastor, and listeners, that past sin doesn’t define their worth. 84:47

Scripture: Romans Theme: renewing-the-mind Brent teaches that believers cannot transform themselves through willpower alone but are transformed by renewing their minds with God’s truth, citing Romans 12:2, a key step toward releasing shame and walking in identity in Christ. 85:05

Scripture: Theme: identity-in-christ Brent Henderson closes by declaring that a man secure in his identity in Christ, no longer captive to others’ opinions, becomes dangerous for good because he’s unleashed by God, and affirms that listeners are loved. 92:55

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