Episode #260 - Live From the Legends Roundtable - Midwest Sportsmans Classic

Published: 2025-02-16
Episode page
Duration: 87 min

In this episode

antler-growth

• An audience member asks how common it is for a buck to regain antler inches lost in a prior year. 51:16

bedding

• A hunter with steep terrain asks whether bucks bed deep in thick cover or on the fringe near ridge tops. 35:42

blind

• Don notes the new blind on stage represents three companies working together: three sixty, ASIO, and Chasing Giants. 21:59

business

• Don shares that he and Joe Miles have both talked about wanting to slow down but feel unable to pump the brakes on businesses they spent decades building. 60:07

busted-buck

• A hunter asks whether he’ll ever see the target buck again after it winded him at close range. 50:10

charity

• The auction raised roughly $8,800 for a family dealing with a sick child or breast cancer through Lester’s Feet. 73:33

charity-auction

• Lone Wolf Custom Gear joined the charity auction lineup after Joe Miles brought them into the conversation. 62:41

criticism

• An audience member asks Don whether he wants supporters to defend him against critics or stay silent. 37:46

deer-aging

• Terry jokes the only reliable way to age a buck is by pulling his teeth after he’s in the truck. 32:18
• An audience member asks how to age a buck on the hoof while it’s walking, besides the king buck method. 30:19

faith

• Terry encourages the crowd to pursue becoming better men and husbands through a relationship with Jesus. 74:22
• An audience member asks Don and Terry about their biggest ‘God moment’ over their years of deer hunting. 24:28

food-plot

• Duane Hopkins suggests planting soybeans a couple weeks after neighboring row-crop farmers plant, so deer disperse across all the open fields instead of hammering one plot. 49:45
• A Central Michigan food plotter says deer wipe out his soybean plots before they can grow. 47:55

guest-appearance

• Terry states Joe Miles is present at the show. 3:31

hunting-lessons

• An audience member asks what Don would tell a 20-year-old as the greatest lesson from his hunting career. 56:52

king-buck-theory

• Terry retells the running joke that a truly dominant buck would never lift his leg and expose himself, since a bigger one always exists. 31:52 (light moment)

land-selection

• Don advises that what surrounds a hunting property matters more than what is on the property itself. 59:10

neighbor-relations

• An audience member asks how to keep peace with a neighboring farmer who dislikes deer and shoots crop-damage tags. 52:10

property-buying

• A 23-year-old asks Don and Terry what key things to look for when buying his first hunting property. 58:40

property-division

• A hunter asks how to keep bucks on his 40 acres after splitting family land with cousins who hunt differently. 54:59

schedule

• Don and Bobby Worthington will lead a breakout session focused on woodsmanship the next day. 5:31
• The Wensel brothers will host an evening segment called Campfire Stories the following day. 6:02
• All the legends will come on stage together for questions after the Wensel Brothers segment, the only time they’ll all be together. 6:37
• On Saturday, Don and Al Foster will discuss Chasing Giants in the Midwest and Farm Country. 6:44

soybeans

• An audience member asks how a roasted soybean in a feeder affects deer differently than raw field soybeans. 44:25

sponsorship

• Terry thanks FAE for sponsoring the Midwest Sportsman’s Classic. 2:27

trade-show

• Terry notes the Shipshewana show has grown significantly compared to the previous year. 2:01
• Terry reports that opening day attendance set a new record for the show. 2:40
• Terry says Joe’s marketing team has one of the largest booths in the whole arena. 3:39

tree-saddle

• An audience member who hunts from a saddle asks Don for reasons not to use one. 45:39

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (history) 36:16
• unnamed buck (hunt) 50:10

Listener questions

Question: An audience member asks Don and Terry about their biggest ‘God moment’ over their years of deer hunting. 24:28

• Answer: Don says his biggest God moment has been the gradual change in himself over nearly fifty years of hunting. 24:53
• Answer: Terry says every moment in a tree stand observing creation is itself a God moment. 26:13

Question: An audience member asks how to age a buck on the hoof while it’s walking, besides the king buck method. 30:19

• Answer: Don says he doesn’t believe you can reliably tell a wild deer’s age just by looking at it. 30:35

Question: A hunter with steep terrain asks whether bucks bed deep in thick cover or on the fringe near ridge tops. 35:42

• Answer: Don says bucks use terrain to their advantage and often bed on ridge points where they can see out. 36:02

Question: An audience member asks Don whether he wants supporters to defend him against critics or stay silent. 37:46

• Answer: Don says he has come to recognize that critics are typically people doing less than him. 38:15

Question: An audience member asks how a roasted soybean in a feeder affects deer differently than raw field soybeans. 44:25

• Answer: Don explains raw soybeans are less digestible than roasted ones, and roasting also changes nutrient content. 44:35

Question: An audience member who hunts from a saddle asks Don for reasons not to use one. 45:39

• Answer: Don says he has no objection to saddles, just that hanging in one for hours seems uncomfortable to him personally. 46:04

Question: A Central Michigan food plotter says deer wipe out his soybean plots before they can grow. 47:55

• Answer: Don suggests fencing the beans, along with increasing the seeding rate, to keep deer from wiping them out. 48:32

Question: A hunter asks whether he’ll ever see the target buck again after it winded him at close range. 50:10

• Answer: Don says the hunter may see the buck again but not from that same stand location. 50:23

Question: An audience member asks how common it is for a buck to regain antler inches lost in a prior year. 51:16

• Answer: Don says it’s uncommon for a buck to lose inches between those ages, but if he does he can often bounce back. 51:33

Question: An audience member asks how to keep peace with a neighboring farmer who dislikes deer and shoots crop-damage tags. 52:10

• Answer: Don says if the farmer is mainly shooting does, he may actually be helping with herd management. 52:47

Question: A hunter asks how to keep bucks on his 40 acres after splitting family land with cousins who hunt differently. 54:59

• Answer: Don suggests using a physical feature like a fence, creek, or road as a dividing line so deer learn where danger stops. 55:41

Question: An audience member asks what Don would tell a 20-year-old as the greatest lesson from his hunting career. 56:52

• Answer: Don says big bucks live away from human activity, so location matters above all else. 57:11

Question: A 23-year-old asks Don and Terry what key things to look for when buying his first hunting property. 58:40

• Answer: Don says the surrounding land matters more than the property itself, and to buy within your means. 59:10

Prayer Time

Scripture: Job
Theme: suffering and sanctification
Wes reflects on Job 5:7, comparing life’s troubles to sparks that always fly upward, and to a creek rock smoothed over time, teaching that suffering is not meaningless but part of God refining believers. He prays for grace, healing, and comfort over listeners facing health, financial, relationship, and church struggles. 78:07

Sponsors this episode

• 360 Hunting Blinds
• ASIO Gear
• Brenton USA
• Real World Wildlife Products

This episode of the podcast was recorded live at the Shipshewana show, which Terry said had grown significantly and set a new opening-day attendance record. Terry thanked FAE for sponsoring the Midwest Sportsman’s Classic and noted Joe Miles’s marketing team had one of the largest booths at the event. Terry described upcoming segments, including a woodsmanship breakout session and an evening Campfire Stories segment, after which all the legends would appear on stage together. A charity auction, joined by Lone Wolf Custom Gear after Joe Miles brought them in, raised roughly $8,800 for a family through Lester’s Feet. Wes led a prayer on suffering and sanctification, drawing on Job 5:7. Audience questions covered aging bucks on the hoof, bedding on steep terrain, saddle hunting, soybean food plots, buck antler recovery, neighbor relations, and advice for buying a first hunting property, with Don answering that surrounding land matters more than the property itself.

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