Episode #262 - The Controlled Burn on Switchgrass GONE BAD!

Published: 2025-03-02
Episode page
Duration: 56 min

In this episode

advice

• Terry advises younger listeners to set their priorities now so they don’t become regrets later. 31:25

announcement

• Terry announces Harold Monk of WiseEye will close the episode with Sunday Night Prayer Time and asks listeners to stick around. 48:39

book

• Wes Delks wants Don to coauthor a book with him this summer, and Don says the idea has been seriously considered. 29:34

buck-behavior

• Don observes that bucks prefer traveling narrower fire-break trails because they feel closer to cover. 9:37

business-growth

• Don says their seed and consulting businesses keep growing despite an increasing number of competing food-plot seed companies and whitetail consultants. 21:42

business-partnerships

• Don has learned that doing business with someone reveals a person’s true character in ways social media or seminars can’t fake. 25:25

business-regret

• Looking back at when they went all-in on the deer industry, what would they have done differently? 23:49

coon-hunting

• How detrimental does Don think coon hunting with hounds is to a quality deer property? 38:18

cross-promotion

• Terry notes that at a January dealer summit, at least half to two-thirds of Three Sixty dealers turned out to also be Real World dealers. 19:23

dealer-visit

• Don encourages listeners in the Jamesport area to stop in and support Marlin’s dealer store. 18:54
• At a Jamesport dealer, Don saw Real World Wildlife Products, ASIO Gear, and Austin Razor’s feeders displayed together in close proximity. 18:29

event

• Jeremy Slooter of Phillips Seed Farms, a Kansas distributor, is working with a dealer to host an event in Oswego, Kansas. 14:45
• Don announces he, Wes Delks, and Dr. Clifford Shipley will speak at the Oswego event with a noontime meal included. 15:08

family

• Don’s youngest daughter passed her Indiana nurse practitioner licensing exam and starts her new career the following Monday. 29:48
• Reflecting on his daughter’s milestone, Don wishes he had spent more time with her as a little girl instead of at work and deer hunting. 31:17

fire-break

• Is laying out a fire break strategically important when planting switchgrass? 6:44
• How wide should a fire break be when planting switchgrass near a tree line? 8:52

frost-seeding

• Don typically frost seeds clover or legume plots depending on weather, usually sometime in mid-March. 0:57

health

• Don fell behind on his schedule this winter after being sick multiple times and hospitalized once. 1:40

iowa-deer-classic

• Terry announces the hosts will reconvene at the Iowa Deer Classic for a live Friday-night podcast, where Don will give a new presentation. 15:43
• Terry says the Iowa Deer Classic exhibitor list has been sold out for months, with a waiting list over sixty deep. 47:26
• Don encourages listeners to arrive early to Chasing Giants events since the general public won’t get advance notice of crowd size. 48:08
• Don recalls a past Iowa Deer Classic Saturday seminar so packed that attendees stood all the way around the room. 48:22

joke

• What exactly is a trashy dog? 41:11

land-purchase

• What is the first thing Don looks for when considering a piece of ground to purchase? 43:49

liquid-lime

• Is liquid lime a viable way to significantly raise soil pH, or is it a money grab from the hunting industry? 41:58

logging

• Terry clarifies that if a logger already leaves small oaks and walnuts standing, a separate TSI cut for valueless trees may not be necessary. 35:10

march

• Terry announces this episode focuses on kicking off March with important habitat projects before covering consulting and live events. 0:33

nutricrave-corn

• Should someone till, broadcast beans, then plant Nutri-Crave corn over the same ground, or stick with corn alone? 35:50

onx

• Terry’s biggest fear is that OnX is now detailed enough for trespassers to spot hunting blinds and food plots on neighboring private land. 46:09

prescribed-burn

• Solomon Rock told Don that he burns switchgrass in the evening right before dark because the wind dies down and control is easier. 6:23
• Don’s runaway switchgrass fire cost him about half of the big pine trees he had planted. 11:42
• What resources should someone uncomfortable burning switchgrass turn to, and should they contact their fire department? 5:43

presentation

• Don teases that his new presentation will make a bold statement contradicting anything said before by whitetail biologists or the hunting industry. 15:55

product-launch

• Terry recalls unveiling the Chasing Giants Blonde cooler wrapped in ASIO metal together in Shipshewana. 16:42

property-management

• Terry notes every choice a landowner makes on their property, like allowing coon hunting or fishing ponds, comes with some cost. 40:22

public-land

• Don decided not to buy two tracts of ground bordering public land, concluding neither was worth the hunting-pressure risk. 44:53

schedule

• Don says he won’t be home much during the month of March because of his consulting schedule. 1:57

seed-recommendation

• Terry recommends that anyone mixing corn and beans use Roundup Ready corn through Green Prairie or Kitchen Seed rather than Nutri-Crave corn. 37:06

shed-hunting

• Does the switchgrass burn timing usually correspond with Don’s annual shed hunting day? 1:32

sponsorship-philosophy

• Don says they handle sponsors differently than typical advertisers, always looking to connect sponsors with businesses that could become dealers for their products. 19:52

switchgrass

• Don may burn some of his switchgrass this week depending on when he gets home from his consulting trip. 1:29
• A man Don met at a Macon, Missouri event said he knows someone who cuts switchgrass with a haybine and bales it for cattle bedding instead of burning. 3:23
• Don explains burning switchgrass does three things mowing cannot: it stimulates regrowth, removes weeds and weed seed, and kills young tree saplings. 5:11
• If someone can’t safely burn switchgrass, should they still plant it and bush hog instead? 2:55
• Does Don have any funny stories about switchgrass fires that got away from him? 9:56

trump-joke

• Asked what he’d do if he found a trespasser in his sanctuary, Don jokingly said he would invite him in for lunch rather than run him off. 14:20 (light moment)

tsi

• After an aggressive TSI cut on new land, would planting oak saplings be a good idea? 32:58

video-camera

• Looking back on the two-fourteen buck he shot twenty years ago, would Don have handled anything differently? 27:33

weather

• Don describes extreme cold in Iowa last week that dropped to eight degrees below zero before warming dramatically. 13:24

Deer activity

• Smokey (history) 11:23
• the two fourteen (harvest) 27:33
• Trump (harvest) 29:11

Listener questions

Question: Does the switchgrass burn timing usually correspond with Don’s annual shed hunting day? 1:32

• Answer: Don is unsure it will happen this year since illness and hospitalization put him behind on his consulting schedule. 1:40

Question: If someone can’t safely burn switchgrass, should they still plant it and bush hog instead? 2:55

• Answer: Don says he personally wouldn’t avoid burning, though he acknowledges he’s more comfortable defying restrictions than most people. 3:04

Question: What resources should someone uncomfortable burning switchgrass turn to, and should they contact their fire department? 5:43

• Answer: Don says volunteer fire departments often welcome the chance to burn for training, and paid wildlife biologists can also do controlled burns. 5:51

Question: Is laying out a fire break strategically important when planting switchgrass? 6:44

• Answer: Don agrees, saying each of his three burn patches requires watching a different wind direction to protect his house and sanctuary. 6:53

Question: How wide should a fire break be when planting switchgrass near a tree line? 8:52

• Answer: Don recommends a minimum of about twelve to fifteen feet, sometimes 20 to 30 feet depending on what borders the field. 9:04

Question: Does Don have any funny stories about switchgrass fires that got away from him? 9:56

• Answer: Don recounts that a runaway switchgrass fire is how a set of shed antlers he found got the name Smokey. 10:03

Question: Looking back at when they went all-in on the deer industry, what would they have done differently? 23:49

• Answer: Don says he wishes he had been more careful about some of the people he got involved with in business. 24:20

Question: Looking back on the two-fourteen buck he shot twenty years ago, would Don have handled anything differently? 27:33

• Answer: Don says he has carried a video camera on every hunt since, after discovering he had unknown scrutiny on his back. 27:44

Question: After an aggressive TSI cut on new land, would planting oak saplings be a good idea? 32:58 — asked by Nate Byron

• Answer: Don advises using potted oak trees rather than bare root trees since bare root trees struggle against existing competing roots. 33:29
• Answer: Don recommends three- to five-gallon potted trees five to six feet tall so deer can’t browse off the tops. 34:08

Question: Should someone till, broadcast beans, then plant Nutri-Crave corn over the same ground, or stick with corn alone? 35:50

• Answer: Don opposes mixing corn and beans, mainly because Nutri-Crave corn isn’t glyphosate tolerant so herbicide options are limited. 36:10
• Answer: Don advises sticking with Nutri-Crave corn alone rather than mixing it with beans. 36:30
• Answer: Terry disagrees, saying mixing corn and beans in a smaller plot can actually help reduce browse pressure on the beans. 36:39

Question: How detrimental does Don think coon hunting with hounds is to a quality deer property? 38:18 — asked by Troy Hoffman

• Answer: Don says he is not a fan of running dogs on a deer property at all, regardless of training. 39:02
• Answer: Don advises Troy to either give up coon hunting on his deer property or find another place to run his dogs. 39:37

Question: What exactly is a trashy dog? 41:11

• Answer: Don jokes that a trashy dog is one that votes Democrat. 41:13

Question: Is liquid lime a viable way to significantly raise soil pH, or is it a money grab from the hunting industry? 41:58 — asked by Jay Gorman

• Answer: Don says liquid lime will not significantly raise soil pH, though it can give a short-term boost to a current crop. 42:30
• Answer: Don recommends granular or pelletized lime instead for a real, lasting rise in soil pH. 43:10

Question: What is the first thing Don looks for when considering a piece of ground to purchase? 43:49

• Answer: Don says he looks first at what surrounds the property, not what’s on it, since neighboring land can’t be controlled. 43:56

Prayer Time

Scripture: Ezekiel, Genesis
Theme: the breath of God as His name and the source of life
Harold shares that God revealed His name to Moses as an unpronounceable breath sound, connecting it to the breath that brought the valley of dry bones to life and that God breathed into Adam, concluding every human breath praises God’s name. 52:37

Don and Terry opened by discussing spring habitat work: Don’s frost-seeding timing, plans to burn switchgrass depending on his consulting travel, and how illness and a hospitalization put him behind schedule. Don explained burning’s advantages over mowing, described fire-break widths and wind concerns, and told how a runaway fire cost him planted pines and gave shed antlers the name Smokey. Listener questions covered oak-planting after TSI cuts, mixing corn and beans, coon hunting with dogs on deer ground (Don advised Troy to quit or relocate), liquid lime versus granular lime, and what Don looks for first when buying land. They previewed upcoming events, including one in Oswego, Kansas with Wes Delks and Dr. Clifford Shipley, and the Iowa Deer Classic. Don also reflected on his daughter’s new nurse practitioner career and past business regrets. Harold Monk closed with prayer.

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