Episode #268 - Thermal Drone Tells the Truth on Don’s Farm

Published: 2025-04-13
Episode page
Duration: 81 min

In this episode

alpha-gal

• Terry reported that a consulting client’s husband contracted alpha-gal syndrome so severely it may have caused a cardiac episode. 7:48

blind-placement

• Don moved a tower into place for the new Chasing Giants 360 blind and hopes Austin Raisor can help him install it this week. 1:26
• Don plans to build a blind behind the stand where he shot a past buck, across the old property line, to intercept deer entering the field. 2:52

buck-management

• Jerry Robinson asked what percentage of three-and-a-half-year-old bucks passed become true primary target bucks rather than disappointments. 63:17
• Jerry Robinson’s second question asked whether Don is still raising the bar on trophy standards or has taken it as far as he ever will. 63:42

chasing-assurance

• Terry confirmed plans to launch a second podcast focused on the spiritual side are officially a go. 19:19
• Terry announced that Chasing Giants will release a second podcast, later named Chasing Assurance, later this summer. 20:51
• Terry’s father, Dr. Terry Peer, a bible college professor, has agreed to co-host the new Chasing Assurance podcast. 21:31
• Chasing Assurance will air weekly on YouTube at the same location as the Chasing Giants podcast. 21:50

chasing-giants-blinds

• Terry noted that a Chasing Giants Blind was spotted at Real World in Green Prairie, and Duane photographed it for social media. 18:42

chasing-giants-tv

• Terry announced Chasing Giants TV is dropping at least one video per week. 67:39

consulting

• Don recently did a consulting visit for a returning client who sold his Wisconsin property and bought a better one in Northern Illinois. 1:13

cover-crops

• Don explained that most soil organic matter comes from a cover crop’s root system below ground rather than the plant material above ground. 12:04

deer-hunting-philosophy

• Don recommends keeping deer hunting simple, since killing big deer isn’t that hard, and to forget most of what’s read online. 45:39

doe-management

• Don plans to shoot a dozen does next season instead of stopping early, since eight didn’t reduce his herd. 26:01

drone-survey

• Don’s drone survey this year found 48 deer on his property: 40 does and fawns, and eight bucks. 23:46
• Don learned from drone surveys that when deer disperse in spring, bucks tend to leave his property before does do. 24:17
• Don said Jack’s thermal drone was sensitive enough to pick up individual squirrels and still-warm deer beds moments after deer left them. 31:46
• Terry asked how Jack determined which deer on the thermal drone survey were bucks versus does. 30:52

emerson-day

• Terry had a nearly 40-50 minute conversation with Christian music artist Emerson Day. 14:26
• Emerson Day has expressed interest in partnering her ministry, music, and concerts with the Lester’s Feet nonprofit. 14:45

fertilizer

• Brett Raptor Camo asked which fertilizer products—liquid or dry—Don and Terry use and have had better success with for food plots. 48:06

flooding

• Wes Delks sent a video of himself kayaking with his son across his flooded front yard due to heavy rain. 68:29

green-prairie

• Terry announced plans to expand the ‘farming for nutrients’ initiative this spring and summer through Green Prairie, formed by acquiring and rebranding Kitchen Seed Company. 11:13
• Terry announced Green Prairie already offers cover crop product lines, to be distributed through the Real World dealer network and a new website in development. 61:46

habitat-management

• Don plans to plant a row of cedar trees along one border of his sanctuary and across a newly bought field to screen an entrance and exit. 2:18

maximizer-minerals

• Don said sheep cannot tolerate the copper levels in Maximizer mineral that other livestock can handle due to copper toxicity. 37:32
• Wade Jackson asked whether Don uses Maximizer minerals, which he mentioned in a recent podcast, on his own cattle. 36:07

personal-history

• Don’s first hunting trip to Eastern Ohio was in 1982. 17:21

podcast-guests

• Terry announced plans to host four guests on the podcast as scheduling allows. 12:36
• Terry confirmed Mike Mitchell will be one of the podcast’s upcoming guests. 12:43
• Terry said they need to schedule Aaron Gaines to discuss minerals on the podcast. 12:52
• Terry said they plan to have Mark Drury on the podcast after turkey season ends. 13:10
• Terry revealed that Christian music artist Emerson Day will be the fourth podcast guest. 13:16

real-world

• Don recommends Real World’s pH balancer as his favorite fertilizer product, especially for clover plots. 51:22
• Don announced a Real World dealer event coming this July, with the exact date to be announced soon. 62:18

regenerative-ag

• Fletcher Culpepper asked where Don stands on planting green, the crimper/release process, or regenerative ag in general. 52:46

soil-health

• Terry hopes his conversation with Mike’s Mighty Micros will make this the last year he has to break open his clay soil ground. 10:39

speaking-event

• Don announced he will be speaking at an event in Ohio on June 3. 15:31

sunday-night-prayer-time

• Terry announced that Wes Delks’ Sunday Night Prayer Time segment follows at the conclusion of this episode. 68:16

switchgrass

• Don rejects as nonsense the online claim that deer avoid a monoculture of straight switchgrass. 26:54
• Thermal drone imagery of a switchgrass patch on Don’s farm shows deer trails crisscrossing it like veins. 27:05
• Don has personally observed deer bedding in his switchgrass, calling claims that deer don’t bed there absolute nonsense. 27:40
• Don’s experience shows bigger switchgrass patches consistently see more deer activity than smaller ones. 44:03
• Michael Van Vortex asked whether Don has actually tried the switchgrass options he preaches against and could share his observations. 39:20
• For the Higgins Hot Seat, Terry asked whether Don would have laid out his three switchgrass patches the same way knowing the farm’s eventual boundaries. 33:08

turkey

• While moving a tower on his skid loader, Don encountered a tom turkey in full strut only 20 yards away, unfazed by the machine. 3:56
• Don remarked that the turkey he encountered was one of the stupidest critters he’s ever seen. 4:05
• Don has seen turkeys on his property four of the past five days, often close enough to shoot with a bow. 4:59
• Terry joked that the turkey mistook Don’s pale bare legs in shorts for the second coming of Jesus. 5:47 (light moment)

wes-delks

• Don joked that Wes is still a kid at heart after the kayaking story. 68:42 (light moment)

Deer activity

• King David Buck (harvest) 2:49
• Smokey (history) 29:21
• Mel (history) 29:52
• smoky (history) 30:13
• Smokey (hunt) 46:48
• Mel (sighting) 47:00
• Smokey (harvest) 65:18
• Mel (harvest) 65:18

Listener questions

Question: Wade Jackson asked whether Don uses Maximizer minerals, which he mentioned in a recent podcast, on his own cattle. 36:07 — asked by Wade Jackson

• Answer: Don said Maximizer has been the only mineral he’s given his cows for about a decade, since he started using it. 36:34
• Answer: Don switches to Maximizer Plus mineral seasonally when insects become an issue, offering it free-choice in a mineral feeder. 36:53

Question: Michael Van Vortex asked whether Don has actually tried the switchgrass options he preaches against and could share his observations. 39:20 — asked by Michael Van Vortex

• Answer: Don confirmed he tried the diversity-pocket idea years ago, planting oak trees in his switchgrass, but ended up burning most of them. 39:56
• Answer: Don also confirmed he has tried mixing switchgrass with forbs/wildflowers but dislikes it because deer browse those forbs instead of bedding. 42:46

Question: Brett Raptor Camo asked which fertilizer products—liquid or dry—Don and Terry use and have had better success with for food plots. 48:06 — asked by Brett Raptor Camo

• Answer: Don said dry fertilizer products are the way to go, but everything starts with getting a soil test done first. 50:11
• Answer: Don added that granular fertilizers are better than liquid fertilizers overall. 50:22

Question: Fletcher Culpepper asked where Don stands on planting green, the crimper/release process, or regenerative ag in general. 52:46 — asked by Fletcher Culpepper

• Answer: Don said he’s all about regenerative ag and is in the process of converting all his food plots to no-till. 53:45

Question: Jerry Robinson asked what percentage of three-and-a-half-year-old bucks passed become true primary target bucks rather than disappointments. 63:17 — asked by Jerry Robinson

• Answer: Don said very few, probably around 10%, of three-and-a-half-year-old bucks passed end up becoming true target bucks; most get culled instead. 64:03
• Answer: Terry added that the specific three-year-olds they identify and pass usually do end up becoming the shooter buck. 64:17

Question: Jerry Robinson’s second question asked whether Don is still raising the bar on trophy standards or has taken it as far as he ever will. 63:42 — asked by Jerry Robinson

• Answer: Don said no, he’s about as far as he can take it, especially given how state regulations have devastated the Illinois deer herd. 66:08

Question: For the Higgins Hot Seat, Terry asked whether Don would have laid out his three switchgrass patches the same way knowing the farm’s eventual boundaries. 33:08 — asked by Terry

• Answer: Don said he’d probably lay it out the same way, since he has no intention of changing much now that he’s bought surrounding ag fields. 33:21

Question: Terry asked how Jack determined which deer on the thermal drone survey were bucks versus does. 30:52 — asked by Terry

• Answer: Don said Jack zoomed the thermal drone in so close on each deer it looked like he was only 10 feet away, confirming buck versus doe visually. 30:58

Prayer Time

Scripture: Proverbs
Theme: guarding your heart against harmful influences like music
Wes Delks prayed about music’s powerful influence on hearts and minds, citing Proverbs 4:23 to guard your heart, asking God to help Chasing Giants listeners protect their own and their families’ hearts and stay attuned to godly things. 74:41

Don described spring changes on his property: moving a tower for the new Chasing Giants 360 blind, encountering an unbothered strutting tom turkey, and plans to plant cedar screening and a new blind near where he’d shot a past buck. He shared drone survey results showing eight bucks and forty does and fawns, noting bucks disperse before does, and said he’ll shoot a dozen does next season. Don pushed back hard on online claims that deer avoid or won’t bed in switchgrass, citing his own observations and thermal drone footage. Listener questions covered Maximizer minerals, fertilizer choices favoring dry over liquid, his shift toward no-till regenerative practices, and target-buck standards, where he said very few three-and-a-half-year-old bucks passed end up becoming true shooters. Terry announced a new spiritual podcast, Chasing Assurance, co-hosted with his father, plus upcoming guests. Wes Delks closed with a prayer on guarding one’s heart.

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