Episode #261 - Does GMO Traits Reduce Deer Attraction?

Published: 2025-02-23
Episode page
Duration: 80 min

In this episode

antler-growth

• Brock Van Aslan asks why several new bucks on his property showed up with one normal antler side and one completely stunted side, and if it’s a concern. 34:17

cattle-fence

• Terry says cattle escaping into food plots happens regularly to his friend Patrick whenever his dad’s cows get out. 44:24

cattle-management

• Brad Hunt asks how Don balances owning cattle with managing a hunting property for deer, and what habitat improvements work when cattle share the land. 40:45

cattle-pasture

• Terry cites Wes Delks’ property as an example of strategically placing pastures as a buffer and access route to another farm section. 42:57
• Don describes hunting near his cattle pasture with his scent blowing back onto the pasture, keeping cattle and deer areas functionally separate. 43:40

charity

• Terry reports the team raised roughly $41,000 for various ministries through Lester’s Feet during the Shipshewana weekend. 3:25
• Terry recounts the Paget family paid $14,000 at auction for the first serial-numbered Chasing Giants 360 Bond blind to help their friend Kenny, who is fighting cancer. 4:02

chemical-programs

• Terry plans a future episode covering the chemical programs Real World will run on their properties this year. 12:12

company-announcement

• Terry teases that the biggest announcement in Real World Wildlife Products history will be revealed later in the episode. 1:07

company-restructuring

• Terry announces Real World Wildlife Products, run by general manager Janice, will continue operating independently with no fundamental changes to its habitat-and-whitetail focus. 62:14

dealer-contact

• Don provides Real World sales manager James Hyden as the contact for anyone interested in becoming a Real World dealer. 66:57

dealer-event

• Don announces Real World is planning a dealer event for late July or early August to present new business growth opportunities. 66:24

deer-population

• Don reports his farm’s deer population has grown enough to damage crops, and he shot more does and total deer this year than ever before. 39:16

duane-hopkins

• Duane Hopkins became chief operating officer starting February 10, Real World’s first day owning Kitchen Seed Company. 57:11

electric-vehicles

• Don jokes that electric vehicles, like windmills and solar, are nothing but a money-laundering scheme for politicians funded by taxpayer dollars. 29:45 (light moment)

farm-bureau

• Don argues the Farm Bureau, Illinois’ most powerful lobby, typically pushes for killing more deer rather than proposing quality herd management legislation. 39:42

food-plot-test

• Don recommends planting a bag of Real World soybeans in the middle of a plot surrounded by other beans so deer must walk past competitors to reach it. 13:07

gmo-soybeans

• Don states his consulting-trail observations prove deer can tell a genetically modified soybean plant from one that hasn’t been genetically modified. 8:17
• Don theorizes that each additional stacked genetically-modified trait in soybeans makes the plant progressively less attractive to deer. 9:06

habitat-work

• Philip Arnold asks whether Don waits for bucks to shed antlers before doing off-season habitat improvements, or just goes in and does the work regardless of timing. 31:56

herbicide

• Don reports that Flexstar herbicide completely killed marestail, waterhemp, and every other weed in his soybean plot last year. 11:10

herbicide-plan

• Don plans to skip a residual herbicide in his soybeans this year and instead spray Flexstar with glyphosate so he can overseed later. 11:21

higgins-hot-seat

• A listener jokingly asks what Don would do if a dealership deal required him to drive a Cybertruck to please Chris Yates, assuming Elon Musk and Chris Yates became friends. 29:04

illinois-deer-management

• Don asserts Illinois’ deer herd functions like a cash cow for politicians who prioritize money over quality deer management. 38:14

illinois-legislation

• Sam Mehdi asks Don’s take on proposed Illinois bills meant to increase deer harvest, including drone use and mandatory doe harvest. 36:48

kitchen-seed-acquisition

• Real World Wildlife Products purchased Kitchen Seed Company, its facility, and its entire business on February 10. 56:36

midwest-land-group

• Terry announces Midwest Land Group is actively hiring real estate agents in Tennessee. 30:39

prayer-request

• Don asks listeners to add their friend Kenny, who is battling cancer, to their prayer lists. 6:12

product-announcement

• Don describes the new 360 Bond blind as metal-wrapped, six inches taller than standard 360 blinds, with sound-deadening foam and special windows. 4:16
• Terry announces the new 360 Bond blind is a limited production run, directing viewers to 360huntingblinds.com to reserve a spot. 5:05

property-purchase

• An anonymous listener asks how to balance buying and developing a dream Illinois hunting property now against his wife’s concern that it’s not the right stage of life. 45:05

real-world-history

• Don recalls that about eighteen years ago he walked into Kitchen Seed Company in Arthur, Illinois, to propose starting a new quality-focused food plot seed company. 52:55

rebranding

• Terry announces Kitchen Seed Company will be slowly rebranded as Green Prairie Seed Company. 63:17
• Terry explains the rebrand is needed because expanding into regenerative agriculture and turf markets required a new brand beyond the well-known Kitchen name in Central Illinois. 63:25

shed-hunting

• Don observes that despite covering ten properties by side-by-side in freezing weather, he and his team found zero shed antlers all week in Iowa. 26:43
• Iowa locals reportedly say there’s more property trespassing for shed antlers and mushrooms than for anything else, including deer season. 27:00

speaking-schedule

• Don announces he’ll give a seminar in Macon, Missouri this Thursday, February 27, with a call-in number provided. 15:03
• Don announces he’ll speak at the Kansas Whitetail Summit in Oswego, Kansas, on Saturday, March 1. 15:20
• Don and Terry will both be at the Iowa Deer Classic in Des Moines, Iowa, March 7-9. 15:52
• Don will give a seminar at Split Brow Outdoors in Denver, Indiana, on Saturday, March 15. 16:59
• Don announces that Real World’s distributor Eastern Outdoors is hosting a multi-day hunting and land management show in Rhinebeck, New York, July 10-13. 17:07

switchgrass

• Terry reveals that a competitor destroyed switchgrass seed of bad quality this year, and credits them for taking the high road on the issue. 18:36
• Don explains switchgrass seed production takes about three years to reach a decent harvest, unlike annual crops such as corn. 20:06
• Don notes germination lab tests on switchgrass seed take about thirty days, adding a month’s delay for each cleaning cycle. 20:50
• Don states Real World’s philosophy is to withhold switchgrass seed from sale rather than ship it before they’re fully certain of germination and quality. 22:37
• Don recommends waiting until soil temperature hits 60 degrees, then spraying glyphosate to kill weeds before no-till drilling switchgrass, rather than frost seeding. 24:54
• Don recounts that after switching to the wait-and-drill method, he saw switchgrass rows emerging within two weeks — the best stand he’s ever gotten. 25:15

trade-show

• Don says the Midwest Sportsman’s Classic in Shipshewana drew a record crowd, with partners like ASIO, Brenton USA, Jay Gingerich, Gingerich Tree Farm, and 360 Hunting Blinds attending. 1:36
• Don recounts that the show was so packed he never got a chance to talk with vendor Mike Mitchell of Mike’s Mighty Micros, even though his booth sat across from Lester’s Feet. 2:51
• Terry credits the Padgett family with helping Bobby Worthington sell books at his booth all week at the Shipshewana show, calling them special friends and big supporters. 5:31

trail-cameras

• Terry asks whether waiting until July 1 for trail cameras risks missing bucks that return to their summer range from wintering areas. 33:05

tsi-project

• Terry asks when the ideal timing is to do a TSI project on an existing (not new) sanctuary. 33:39

turkey-hunt

• Terry jokes that he, Joe, and Al are plotting to guilt Don into joining a second turkey hunt at the Pier Farm this spring. 17:51 (light moment)
• Don jokes he’ll send Duane Hopkins in his place to the turkey hunt instead of going himself. 18:16 (light moment)

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 7:52
• unnamed buck (sighting) 34:44
• unnamed buck (sighting) 35:57
• Zacchaeus (harvest) 43:34
• Mel (harvest) 43:34

Listener questions

Question: Philip Arnold asks whether Don waits for bucks to shed antlers before doing off-season habitat improvements, or just goes in and does the work regardless of timing. 31:56 — asked by Philip Arnold

• Answer: Don says he generally waits until bucks shed, doing projects earlier only if the area is away from the sanctuary and won’t push deer off the property. 32:14

Question: Terry asks whether waiting until July 1 for trail cameras risks missing bucks that return to their summer range from wintering areas. 33:05

• Answer: Don says he isn’t worried since he rarely has many bucks on his property at all during summer, aside from occasional pass-through deer. 33:21

Question: Terry asks when the ideal timing is to do a TSI project on an existing (not new) sanctuary. 33:39

• Answer: Don says now, around March 1st and before trees bud out in early April, is the best time for a TSI project on an existing sanctuary. 33:54

Question: Brock Van Aslan asks why several new bucks on his property showed up with one normal antler side and one completely stunted side, and if it’s a concern. 34:17 — asked by Brock Van Aslan

• Answer: Don believes lopsided antler growth is mostly genetic, though some cases stem from pedicle injuries that permanently affect a buck’s antler growth. 35:58

Question: Sam Mehdi asks Don’s take on proposed Illinois bills meant to increase deer harvest, including drone use and mandatory doe harvest. 36:48 — asked by Sam Mehdi

• Answer: Don assures Sam that most such proposed bills never gain traction and predicts these particular measures will likely go nowhere, as happens most years. 37:44

Question: Brad Hunt asks how Don balances owning cattle with managing a hunting property for deer, and what habitat improvements work when cattle share the land. 40:45 — asked by Brad Hunt

• Answer: Don says on his farm the deer take priority over cattle in terms of acreage and management focus. 42:06
• Answer: Don doesn’t believe it’s possible to manage the same acreage well for both cattle and deer simultaneously. 42:45

Question: An anonymous listener asks how to balance buying and developing a dream Illinois hunting property now against his wife’s concern that it’s not the right stage of life. 45:05

• Answer: Don argues a spouse can be either a key to your success or a barrier to it, urging respect for her input but pushing back on excessive deference. 46:31
• Answer: Don states land is, in his opinion, the best investment available, unlike a volatile stock market. 47:56
• Answer: Terry says he’s deeply blessed by a supportive wife, crediting her with enabling both his hunting hobby and his professional career. 49:26
• Answer: Terry reasons that if you can afford a farm, you can afford to invest, and frames the real question as what the best investment actually is. 50:29

Question: A listener jokingly asks what Don would do if a dealership deal required him to drive a Cybertruck to please Chris Yates, assuming Elon Musk and Chris Yates became friends. 29:04

• Answer: Don jokes he’s loyal to Chris Yates but would demand hunting rights on all his farms and a free truck before ever driving a Cybertruck. 29:31

Prayer Time

Scripture: James
Theme: life’s brevity and heavenly mindset
Devin Hurley reflects on James 4:13-16, teaching that life is a brief vapor and believers should live with a heavenly, eternally-minded focus rather than being consumed by earthly pursuits, closing in prayer for God’s grace to maintain that eternal perspective daily. 69:42

The episode centered on Real World Wildlife Products’ purchase of Kitchen Seed Company and its facility on February 10, with Duane Hopkins becoming COO and the company set to be gradually rebranded as Green Prairie Seed Company to support expansion into regenerative agriculture and turf. Terry recapped a record-crowd Shipshewana show, roughly $41,000 raised for ministries, and the Paget family’s $14,000 auction bid on a limited-run 360 Bond blind to help their friend Kenny, who is battling cancer. Don discussed trail observations suggesting deer avoid more heavily modified soybean traits, his switchgrass planting timeline, and frustration with Illinois deer politics. Listener questions covered TSI timing, lopsided antler growth, balancing cattle with deer management, and buying land as an investment. The episode closed with a prayer reflection on living with eternal perspective.

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