Episode #264 - Big Rope Scrapes and Big Bucks!

Published: 2025-03-16
Episode page
Duration: 69 min

In this episode

alfalfa

• Terry is rotating a six-year-old alfalfa field to a new area of the farm as part of crop rotation. 10:57
• Terry will test Green Prairie’s Roundup Ready alfalfa in a section for Duane, planting it soon. 11:21

announcement

• Terry announces consulting client discounts on 360 blinds and g-series drills through Higgins Outdoors. 23:32
• Terry announces the preorder Chasing Giants edition blind is available through March at 360huntingblinds.com. 24:44
• Terry highlights new Chasing Giants apparel from Moran Creek Outdoors and Lester’s Feet Apparel, with proceeds supporting the foundation. 25:07

business-news

• Midwest Land Group is now fully operational in Ohio and Kentucky. 31:49
• Midwest Land Group was very supportive when Kitchen Seed Company was rebranded as Green Prairie Seed. 31:59
• Terry is considering bringing Midwest Land Group’s Bryce Noon on for a segment about agent recruiting. 32:33

consulting

• Don made a third consecutive yearly consulting visit to father-son clients Steve and Josh Saroni in Northern Illinois. 15:25
• Mark Drury told Don there’s no substitute for experience in habitat work. 30:21
• Don says the value of hiring a good consultant is the wasted dollars and years it saves clients. 30:56

consulting-workload

• Terry admits he’s starting to burn out after going nonstop with consulting and habitat work since the start of the year. 15:15

content-production

• Jake Hofer, who runs the Whitetail Master Academy, filmed the visit for the academy’s videos. 16:22

controlled-burn

• Don burned his biggest field at night with only his wife Robin helping. 1:47
• Don took precautions and contacted the local fire department before conducting the controlled burn. 2:00
• A neighbor repeatedly called the sheriff’s office, unable to believe the large fire was actually a controlled burn. 2:27
• A sprayer on Don’s side-by-side came unplugged without him noticing and quit working during the burn. 2:56
• The fire started burning a couple pine trees, but Don got it out before it killed them. 3:07
• Don nearly lost a trail camera to the flames and retrieved it from a burning pine tree. 3:23
• Robin vowed never to help with a controlled burn again after the ordeal. 3:35
• The burn ended up taking about three hours because the wind shifted mid-burn. 3:40
• A Jeep drove clear across Don’s field and down his clover firebreak to see what was happening during the burn. 4:40
• Don recommends mowing switchgrass down and immediately burning it the same day to reduce flame height from 30 feet to about 5 feet. 5:50
• Terry stresses mowing switchgrass the same day you burn it, since laying grass collects moisture and becomes hard to burn otherwise. 6:04

cost-savings

• Don saved roughly $1,500 by salvaging trees and cages instead of buying new ones. 9:59

deer-behavior

• Red deer near the former Berlin Wall refused to cross the old boundary line for twenty years after the wall came down. 42:19
• Terry asks Don to explain why bucks give up the best habitat to does and fawns during the off-season. 38:09

faith

• Don and the Saronis held a short prayer meeting before heading out to look at the property. 16:18
• Don says their supporters outnumber occasional haters by roughly 100 to 1. 22:05

food-plots

• Don explains clover as a legume adds nitrogen for the trees and provides an extra food source, like a clover plot on steroids. 7:44
• Brent Lender asked if adding a sorghum blend would be a good option alongside his corn, beans, and deadly dozen rotation. 49:47
• Jason Merchant asked what he should spend $7,000 on for food plot equipment with his 42-horsepower tractor and rototiller. 52:01

fruit-trees

• Don dug up, hauled, and replanted fruit trees and cages from a farm he sold after a deal changed, to salvage them for habitat management. 9:08
• Don plans never again to plant the same tree twice given how much extra work it caused. 10:09

generosity

• Every Good Friday the Saronis pay for union plumbers to come to the union hall for breakfast. 17:08
• The Saronis pay the plumbers’ wages for the day, give each a Cerrone bible, and Steve personally delivers a message to them. 17:18

gratitude

• Don thanks the guest who came and gave a closing prayer for the podcast. 55:48

habitat-history

• Terry asks Don what one thing he wishes he’d done differently over thirty years developing his property. 26:17

habitat-management

• Don posted a video showing him mowing his Miscanthus down with a bush hog to control flame height before burning. 5:08
• Terry jokes that Austin will need to be back on retainer if Don keeps digging up and resetting trees and cages. 9:22 (light moment)
• Dry ground finally let Terry get his corn stalks bush hogged after standing corn had been eaten but remained upright. 10:24
• Don believes old cattle pastures retaining a bit of grass make the best whitetail habitat he knows of. 12:49

inventory

• Don says he’ll sell g-series drills and 360 blinds to anyone, not just discounted consulting clients. 24:02

iowa-show

• Terry and Don returned from doing a live podcast in Iowa, calling it a fun show where they got to see sponsors and partners. 0:41
• Don says the Iowa show was standing room only for the podcast, filling the room. 0:54
• Vendors reported doing really well in their booths at the Iowa show. 1:14

marriage

• Don jokingly compared the chaotic burn night to a date night with his wife. 3:58 (light moment)

minerals

• Mylon Yoder asked whether a mineral claiming to make nighttime bucks feed in daylight is real or just a marketing scheme. 47:10

orchard

• Terry is planting more wildlife fruit orchards, using clover as a companion crop alongside the fruit trees. 7:25
• Don is planting another 30-tree orchard with clover drilled in using the g-series drill. 8:03

podcast-schedule

• Terry apologizes for the podcast uploading late last week due to travel schedules. 54:53

property-management

• Higgins Stackpole asked whether he should stop investing in his home farm and buy property better suited to growing big deer instead. 45:18

recognition

• Mark Drury gave Don a good compliment on another podcast, which the hosts only learned about via YouTube comments. 31:18

sanctuary

• Matt Schultz asked what harm working or using land near a sanctuary in late winter through early summer does if bucks have already left for their summer range. 34:17

scheduling

• Terry won’t do more ground work or planting until Joe and Al finish their turkey hunting. 11:31

second-podcast

• Terry announces Chasing Giants is considering producing a second weekly podcast focused on doctrine and biblical foundation. 20:02
• Terry reveals his retiring seminary-professor father, doctor Terry Peer, would host the proposed second podcast. 20:44
• Terry says some people have already offered to sponsor the potential second podcast. 21:01
• Terry says listener feedback could sway whether they pursue the second podcast business plan and find funding partners. 55:21

shed-hunting

• Don jokes that rabbits and mice chewed up sheds in a field unburned for three years, since none were found. 6:55 (light moment)
• Joe found a handful of shed antlers while looking around Don’s property. 12:07

sponsorship

• Their friend Harold donated cameras that were given away on the show. 55:45

trade-shows

• Terry notes the Ohio hunting trade show is wrapping up and the Illinois show follows next. 1:18

trail-cameras

• Don is testing WiseEye trail cameras and was very impressed with the accompanying software after a lesson at the Iowa show. 55:56

turkey-hunting

• Four gobblers charged toward Terry’s group from 100 yards after the landowner popped his head up over the field edge. 13:30

wind-socks

• Jason Merchant asked if Don relies on a wind sock at his house to know how wind behaves at his hunting spots. 51:46

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (history) 11:58
• unnamed buck (harvest) 12:14
• Mel (history) 12:24
• King David (harvest) 43:24
• unnamed buck (sighting) 43:46
• Zacchaeus (harvest) 44:53
• unnamed buck (harvest) 52:22

Listener questions

Question: Matt Schultz asked what harm working or using land near a sanctuary in late winter through early summer does if bucks have already left for their summer range. 34:17

• Answer: Don says summer intrusion educates the entire deer herd, not just the bucks, since deer relate to and sense stress in one another. 34:51
• Answer: Don says it takes about ten years to build the deer’s trust, so all sanctuary work should be finished in the first decade, then leave it alone entirely. 36:39

Question: Terry asks Don to explain why bucks give up the best habitat to does and fawns during the off-season. 38:09

• Answer: Don says one reason is nature ensuring survival: does get the best, safest habitat to raise and protect their fawns. 38:16
• Answer: Don says the other reason is bucks with tender, growing velvet antlers prefer more open terrain during summer. 39:42

Question: Terry asks Don what one thing he wishes he’d done differently over thirty years developing his property. 26:17

• Answer: Don says he planted fast-growing ash trees on advice before the emerald ash borer, and now all are dead; he wishes he’d planted white oak instead. 28:25

Question: Higgins Stackpole asked whether he should stop investing in his home farm and buy property better suited to growing big deer instead. 45:18 — asked by Higgins Stackpole

• Answer: Don advises never to stop looking for other property opportunities and not to put all your eggs in one basket. 46:21

Question: Mylon Yoder asked whether a mineral claiming to make nighttime bucks feed in daylight is real or just a marketing scheme. 47:10 — asked by Mylon Yoder

• Answer: Don calls the daylight-mineral claim the biggest bunch of nonsense he’s heard in a long time. 47:22
• Answer: Terry points out bucks barely consume mineral in winter, since intake drops almost to nothing after velvet sheds. 47:35
• Answer: Don notes companies tout over 100 nutrients in minerals, but the actual analyzed amounts are often negligible marketing gimmicks. 47:44

Question: Brent Lender asked if adding a sorghum blend would be a good option alongside his corn, beans, and deadly dozen rotation. 49:47 — asked by Brent Lender

• Answer: Don says he’s planting sorghum blend himself this spring and thinks it’s a great complement to corn, beans, and deadly dozen. 50:05
• Answer: Don explains sorghum avoids early browse pressure since deer don’t eat it until grain heads form, unlike soybeans. 50:13

Question: Jason Merchant asked if Don relies on a wind sock at his house to know how wind behaves at his hunting spots. 51:46 — asked by Jason Merchant

• Answer: Don says he avoids wind socks near his food plots since they could spook deer, preferring one reference sock at his house. 52:37

Question: Jason Merchant asked what he should spend $7,000 on for food plot equipment with his 42-horsepower tractor and rototiller. 52:01 — asked by Jason Merchant

• Answer: Don recommends buying a good sprayer first, suggesting a 50-gallon sprayer with 30-foot booms for around $2,000. 53:37
• Answer: Don also recommends investing in a used planter or grain drill with the remaining budget. 54:15

Prayer Time

Scripture: Genesis
Theme: Noah’s Ark and God’s sovereignty over creation
Daryl teaches from Genesis 8 on Noah’s Ark, describing the raven and dove, God remembering Noah, and Noah building an altar of thanksgiving. He reads Genesis 8:22 to argue God remains in control of the earth’s seasons, pushing back on fears about global warming, and closes in prayer thanking God for salvation through Christ. 65:34

Sponsors this episode

• ASIO Gear

Terry and Don recapped a standing-room-only live show in Iowa with strong vendor sales, then Don detailed a chaotic controlled burn where a sprayer failed, a neighbor called the sheriff repeatedly, pine trees and a trail camera nearly burned, and Robin swore off helping again; Don recommended mowing switchgrass the same day as burning to cut flame height. Habitat topics included clover-companion fruit orchards, salvaging trees from a sold farm, and rotating alfalfa. Don recounted a consulting visit to the Saronis, including their Good Friday tradition for union plumbers, and Terry floated a possible second podcast hosted by his father. Listener questions covered summer sanctuary intrusion, why bucks cede prime habitat to does, Don’s regret over planting ash instead of white oak, skepticism toward daylight-feeding minerals, sorghum as a plot addition, wind-check habits, and food-plot equipment priorities. Sheds tied to Don’s biggest buck and Mel were found, and a prayer segment closed on Noah’s Ark.

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