Episode #28 - Don’s Buck Forecast and Terry defends Rednecks using zip ties

Published: 2020-08-22
Episode page
Duration: 70 min

In this episode

antler-growth

• Don explains a buck’s genetics might allow 200 inches of antler growth, but poor nutrition can limit him to far less, like 180 inches. 37:57

buck-forecast

• Don announces he will share his buck forecast for the season during this episode, continuing the past two years’ tradition. 2:53

e-bike

• Don admits he has barely pedaled his own e-bike, having pedaled it only a few times since getting it. 7:02
• Don describes riding his e-bike across a half-mile-long soybean field and a quarter mile along its end. 7:20
• Don notes that despite riding through tall 30-inch-row soybeans, the e-bike doesn’t leave a mark or damage the plants. 7:33

ehd

• Don believes this isn’t shaping up to be a bad EHD year since no widespread reports had surfaced by late August. 34:29

land-management

• Don relays his friend Bryhn Craft’s saying that more properties have been ruined by bad advice than by anything else. 59:08

logging

• Don attributes many bad logging experiences to landowners not understanding what proper timber harvest and good habitat management look like. 54:39
• Don recommends directing deer out of thick bedding sanctuaries created by logging so they pass right by the hunter’s tree stand. 58:53
• Natalie asks how to log her 118-acre Michigan property for income and wildlife habitat, and whether Don’s consulting service advises on logging. 48:05
• Terry asks whether bad experiences with loggers not following the agreed plan are common everywhere or just in his area. 53:07

ohio

• Don says he has no trail camera photos yet of an Ohio buck worth targeting this season. 64:44

podcast

• Don reports the prior episode drew about two and a half times the normal weekly downloads within its first four days. 22:02

quietkat

• Terry rode his QuietKat e-bike about three and a half miles with a friend, Patrick Hunt, to check trail cameras on river bottom farms. 6:07

reconyx

• Terry and Don report that after they vented about Reconyx on the podcast, Reconyx reached out and tried to address their concerns. 18:11

recovery

• Terry was released ahead of schedule to walk without crutches and to drive following his knee surgery recovery. 3:57

rope-scrape

• Don announces a new Higgins Outdoors YouTube video releasing soon showing how to build a rope scrape. 66:32
• Don plans to put a trail camera on his rope scrape around September 1 to track how many different bucks visit it. 67:06

saddle-hunting

• Don jokes that a saddle-hunting meme drew calm reactions on another page but made saddle hunters furious when he reposted it on his own page. 23:08 (light moment)

trail-cameras

• Don has a personal tradition of moving his trail cameras every Labor Day weekend. 2:38
• Don runs trail cameras across roughly five or six counties in central Illinois as part of his scouting network. 3:13
• Terry checked all his Illinois trail cameras and found three potential shooter bucks within the first week. 8:41
• Terry’s goal in testing six lower-priced trail cameras is to show what capability buyers get at each price point, not to crown one best camera. 9:34
• Terry explains picture clarity depends on sensor quality rather than advertised megapixels, noting even a high-end sensor is only about five megapixels. 11:34
• Terry still considers Reconyx the best trail camera for picture quality and trigger speed despite its high price. 9:57
• Terry’s six-camera test spans price points from about $100 for the tactic camera reveal up to $325-350 for pricier models. 10:53
• Terry notes the WiseEye camera, unlike the other test cameras, feeds photos into a software management tool. 19:11
• Terry moved all six test cameras from Kentucky to a 300-acre property in Illinois to continue the comparison. 19:47
• Joseph Jansen asks if mature five-plus-year-old bucks avoid areas once they spot a trail camera, and if Don has seen one avoid a camera. 60:05
• Terry asks what techniques increase the odds of getting a picture of the toughest buck to pattern. 62:25

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 8:49
• unnamed buck (sighting) 33:21
• unnamed buck (history) 35:59
• unnamed buck (history) 36:10
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 61:10
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 61:23

Listener questions

Question: Natalie asks how to log her 118-acre Michigan property for income and wildlife habitat, and whether Don’s consulting service advises on logging. 48:05 — asked by Natalie Hesselberg

• Answer: Don recommends logging half the 80 acres first, having a logger cut it hard, then clearing worthless trees before waiting years to log the remaining half. 48:32

Question: Joseph Jansen asks if mature five-plus-year-old bucks avoid areas once they spot a trail camera, and if Don has seen one avoid a camera. 60:05 — asked by Joseph Jansen

• Answer: Don confirms mature bucks can and do avoid trail cameras, though not every buck reacts that way. 60:54

Question: Terry asks what techniques increase the odds of getting a picture of the toughest buck to pattern. 62:25

• Answer: Don advises positioning the camera to the side of the trail for a broadside shot rather than facing the deer head-on, making it less likely to be noticed. 62:49

Question: Terry asks whether bad experiences with loggers not following the agreed plan are common everywhere or just in his area. 53:07

• Answer: Don says loggers have a shady reputation almost everywhere he’s worked, not just in Terry’s area, though good loggers do exist. 53:52

Sponsors this episode

• BuyAFarm.com
• 360 Hunting Blinds
• QuietKat
• Real World Wildlife Products
• Vortex Optics
• Lone Wolf Treestands
• Mathews Archery

Terry gave an update after knee surgery, having been cleared early to walk without crutches and drive; he rode his QuietKat e-bike about three and a half miles with Patrick Hunt to check river-bottom trail cameras in Illinois, finding three potential shooter bucks in the first week. Don, who admitted rarely pedaling his own e-bike, described riding it through tall soybean rows without leaving marks. Terry continued testing six lower-priced trail cameras, aiming to show what each price point delivers rather than crown a winner, still rating Reconyx best for clarity and trigger speed despite the cost; he noted picture quality depends on sensor rather than megapixels, and moved the test cameras to a 300-acre Illinois property. Listener questions covered logging a Michigan property for income and habitat, whether mature bucks avoid trail cameras, and techniques for photographing hard-to-pattern bucks. Don also discussed logging pitfalls and directing deer past stands after timber harvest.

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