Episode #266 Making a Good Stand a Great Stand

Published: 2025-03-30
Episode page
Duration: 75 min

In this episode

announcement

• Terry announced that their friend Emerson released a new single with singer Zach Williams that week. 36:08

antler-color

• Terry asks whether a buck with a dark, chocolate rack like his King David shed always has dark antlers, or if color depends on diet or weather. 55:03
• Terry asks whether certain captive deer always had dark racks or showed a different antler-color pattern. 56:17

antler-shedding

• Don recalled that during a severe ice storm about fifteen years ago, all the mature bucks on his farm shed within about a week in January. 60:37
• Don said his bucks shed earlier this past winter than in years, since it was the hardest Midwest winter in at least five years. 59:52
• Mitchell Davis asks whether a buck shedding both antlers together indicates health versus shedding one side earlier from injury or stress. 52:30
• Tyler Neal asks whether yearling bucks holding antlers late into spring reflects high testosterone from imbalanced herds or good management. 57:22

banter

• Don joked the Kentucky t-shirt he lost the bet on would probably become a shop rag or garage wipe rather than something he wears. 1:16 (light moment)

chasing-giants-tv

• Terry announced this week’s Chasing Giants TV video features Dr. Aaron Gaines discussing deer nutrition through mineral supplementation. 61:53

deer-shows

• Don joked that deer shows are getting out of hand when attendees walk around naked and others need bodyguards. 19:34 (light moment)

food-plot-design

• An anonymous Michigan listener buying 150 acres with a 13-acre field asks how to plant it, proposing clover/chicory, brassicas, corn, and beans. 38:28

fruit-orchard

• Don calls his wildlife fruit orchards essentially a clover plot on steroids, since the fruit trees are planted right into the clover. 33:49

fruit-tree-spacing

• Don recommends spacing fruit trees far enough apart that the clover beneath them isn’t shaded out all day, benefiting both. 34:02

fruit-trees

• Don noted apple tree size depends on the rootstock it’s grafted to, and Gingerich Tree Farm uses the biggest rootstock available. 32:55
• Don said these big-rootstock apple trees grow at least 30 feet tall and 30 feet across. 33:23
• Terry asks Don when he tubes a tree versus when he cages a tree. 28:36
• Terry asks which other fruit trees, besides apple and pear, get caged. 30:43
• Terry asks whether oaks, persimmons, and chestnuts are tubed. 30:57
• Terry asks what Don puts around caged trees’ trunk base to stop varmints biting through the bark and cambium layer. 31:06

habitat-management

• Terry planned to bush hog a third of his overgrown pasture before storms arrived, to keep cedars from taking over. 61:33

high-fence

• Terry is installing a straight line of high fence along one side of a food plot to funnel deer around a corner near his blind. 14:28
• Austin Raisor supplied Terry with old well pipe from a scrap yard to build the deer fence funnel. 14:21

land-bridge

• Don plans to rebuild an old land bridge on a washed-out creek crossing on his farm. 7:25
• Rebuilding the land bridge will pinch deer down within about 20 to 25 yards of Don’s new Chasing Giants blind as they cross the creek. 7:48
• Don estimated the land bridge rebuild would take about four solid days of work but expects the resulting blind to be his farm’s best. 11:06

lock-on-stand

• Don replaces the rusting cables on his lock-on stands with a lighter, non-rusting chain instead. 26:23
• Don wraps the replacement chain completely around both the tree and the stand, securing the end with a bolt, lock nut, and washers. 26:39

native-species

• Don pointed out that popular food plot species like soybeans, corn, and clover are not native to the United States, countering ‘native only’ critics. 35:19

ohio-deer-show

• Terry recounted that at the Ohio Deer Show, a cell-camera booth’s cameras were left rolling overnight, catching a police officer walking the aisle naked except for socks and his radio. 19:05

political-humor

• Don joked that every turning windmill blade puts $100 into Joe Biden’s pocket through government subsidies. 44:18 (light moment)

rope-scrape

• Don gave a rope scrape as an example of a positive tactic that lures deer within shooting range of a stand. 3:20

sanctuary-management

• Terry said every use of a hunting property, including habitat work, carries a pressure cost to the sanctuary that owners must weigh. 51:15

self-sufficiency

• Terry noted both he and Don have backup generators or off-grid capability for their homes. 44:55

shooting-lanes

• Don spent most of a day clearing brush with a chainsaw and skid loader to open shooting lanes near the planned land bridge. 10:26

solar-energy

• Anson Barlow asks whether Don dislikes solar energy entirely or only has issues with large-scale solar farms. 43:06

stand-access

• Don recommends planting a Miscanthus screen so hunters can access and exit a stand undetected, allowing more hunts without burning it out. 4:23

stand-fine-tuning

• Don says fine-tuning stands is a never-ending process that can make the difference between seeing and killing a good buck. 13:14

stand-hunting

• Terry has hunted a nearby stand where deer must enter the food plot before offering a shot, limiting hunters to only one plot. 9:43

stand-maintenance

• Don plans to use his slower April-May schedule after consulting season to work through his substantial habitat to-do list, including a rusted stand replacement. 27:47

stand-notes

• Don takes notes on his phone during the season while sitting in tree stands, recording each stand’s name and location. 3:31

stand-placement

• Don explained he uses either a negative, like blocking a trail, or a positive, like a food plot, to push or pull deer past his stands. 2:37
• Terry describes dropping a tree behind a stand near a cattle-fence gap so deer funnel toward the soybean field without skirting behind the hunter. 12:09

stand-safety

• Don’s hot-seat question: has he ever had a close call or gotten hurt doing deer habitat or hunting work? 22:50

switchgrass

• Matt Crouch asks whether periodically burning switchgrass sanctuary bedding contradicts the ten-year undisturbed sanctuary advice. 47:53

trail-cameras

• Don said he’s anxious to get his trail cameras out again even though that season is still months away. 62:56

tsi-safety

• Terry relayed word from John Ritter that their friend Grant Nicodemus was in an accident the day before doing TSI work. 20:32
• The tree Grant was falling struck another tree that bounced back and hit him badly in the head, per the report Terry relayed. 20:52
• Don recounted that a neighbor helping one of his Wisconsin clients with TSI work was killed by a falling tree weeks before Don’s visit. 21:48

wind-direction

• Terry’s spot near the land bridge can only be hunted with a southeast wind, one of the least common winds, but is deadly when it blows. 10:08

work-schedule

• Don plans to spend most of the week filling in at the Real World Wildlife Products office in Arthur, Illinois, leaving little time for habitat work. 61:04

Deer activity

• Mel (hunt) 8:09
• Smokey (harvest) 8:31
• King David (harvest) 11:54
• unnamed buck (harvest) 48:13
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 54:02

Listener questions

Question: Don’s hot-seat question: has he ever had a close call or gotten hurt doing deer habitat or hunting work? 22:50

• Answer: Don recalled his foot slipping off a screw-in step about thirty years ago; he caught a branch near shoulder height and hung by one hand before pulling himself back onto the steps. 23:20

Question: Terry asks Don when he tubes a tree versus when he cages a tree. 28:36

• Answer: Don tubes trees with a long mature trunk, like persimmon or oak, since tubing trains them not to branch until they clear the tube. 28:42
• Answer: Don cages trees with a low branching structure, like apple trees, since they naturally branch close to the ground. 29:50

Question: Terry asks which other fruit trees, besides apple and pear, get caged. 30:43

• Answer: Don said typically just apple, pear, and crab apple trees are caged. 30:52

Question: Terry asks whether oaks, persimmons, and chestnuts are tubed. 30:57

• Answer: Don confirmed he tubes chestnuts as well. 31:02

Question: Terry asks what Don puts around caged trees’ trunk base to stop varmints biting through the bark and cambium layer. 31:06

• Answer: Don prefers a tighter-fitting, expandable plastic tube around the trunk base over spiral wraps to protect against varmints. 31:28

Question: An anonymous Michigan listener buying 150 acres with a 13-acre field asks how to plant it, proposing clover/chicory, brassicas, corn, and beans. 38:28 — asked by mister anonymous from Michigan

• Answer: Don liked the diversified plan but would divide the 13-acre field into sections separated by rows of fruit trees like pear, apple, persimmon, and chestnut. 38:47
• Answer: Don praised keeping all the food concentrated in one location rather than scattered, since it draws deer to a spot hunters can control access to. 39:17

Question: Anson Barlow asks whether Don dislikes solar energy entirely or only has issues with large-scale solar farms. 43:06 — asked by Anson Barlow

• Answer: Don said his real problem isn’t solar or wind energy itself but a corrupt government funneling taxpayer subsidy money to politicians. 43:30
• Answer: Don added he’d have no objection to wind or solar if they operated without any taxpayer funding at all. 43:46

Question: Matt Crouch asks whether periodically burning switchgrass sanctuary bedding contradicts the ten-year undisturbed sanctuary advice. 47:53 — asked by Matt Crouch

• Answer: Don said his stay-out-ten-years advice is meant within reason, not taken to an extreme — switchgrass still needs periodic burning. 49:10
• Answer: Don noted no sanctuary is entirely switchgrass, so burning it still leaves the rest of the cover undisturbed. 49:47
• Answer: Don recommends burning only about a third of a switchgrass stand each year regardless of total acreage. 50:05
• Answer: Don rotates burning across three switchgrass patches on his own farm, torching one section per year. 50:10

Question: Mitchell Davis asks whether a buck shedding both antlers together indicates health versus shedding one side earlier from injury or stress. 52:30 — asked by Mitchell Davis

• Answer: Don said whether a buck sheds both antlers together or separately has nothing to do with the buck’s health. 52:44

Question: Terry asks whether a buck with a dark, chocolate rack like his King David shed always has dark antlers, or if color depends on diet or weather. 55:03

• Answer: Don said antler color mostly comes from the trees a buck rubs on and where it beds, not a fixed trait of the buck. 55:23
• Answer: Don added it’s usually the environment, more than anything else, that determines whether a rack looks dark or light. 56:10

Question: Terry asks whether certain captive deer always had dark racks or showed a different antler-color pattern. 56:17

• Answer: Don said captive deer generally had lighter racks since they were kept in open pens with more sun than thick brush. 56:23

Question: Tyler Neal asks whether yearling bucks holding antlers late into spring reflects high testosterone from imbalanced herds or good management. 57:22 — asked by Tyler Neal

• Answer: Don doesn’t believe bucks naturally hold hard antlers all summer from estrus exposure — it’s almost always stress that causes early shedding. 58:01
• Answer: Don explained yearling bucks never reach older bucks’ testosterone levels, so they have less to drop, which is why they hold antlers longer. 59:13

Prayer Time

Scripture: John 8:7
Theme: spiritual-attacks-on-integrity
Don confessed feeling unqualified to lead prayer, reflecting on Satan attacking believers’ weakest points—his own being integrity attacks and false rumors. He shared how defending a fellow Christian on social media citing John 8:7 backfired into a lasting feud when that person later turned on him, and prayed for listeners to lean on Christ rather than human revenge when Satan works through others against them. 67:57

Don and Terry focused on stand setup and habitat tactics, including using negatives like blocked trails or positives like food plots and rope scrapes to funnel deer. Don discussed rebuilding a washed-out land bridge to pinch deer near his new blind, estimating about four days of work, while Terry described a high-fence funnel built with scrap well pipe from Austin Raisor. They covered tree protection methods, tubing versus caging based on branching habits, and varmint guards for caged trunks. A Michigan listener’s 13-acre field plan and a solar-energy question about subsidies versus the technology itself also came up, along with a switchgrass-burning question where Don clarified his ten-year sanctuary rest advice allows periodic rotational burns. Listener questions addressed shed-antler symmetry, antler color being environmental rather than fixed, and yearling bucks holding antlers longer due to lower testosterone. Don shared a personal fall from a tree stand decades earlier, and closed with a prayer about enduring integrity attacks and false rumors.

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