Episode #281 - How Don Tracks Giant Bucks Years in Advance

Published: 2025-07-13
Episode page
Duration: 77 min

In this episode

alfalfa

• Terry recounted that his drill couldn’t choke down far enough for his alfalfa seed, so he bought off-the-shelf buffalo seed as a substitute, which failed to germinate. 23:07

bachelor-groups

• Don has discovered through years of camera use that bachelor groups return to the same general areas year after year. 6:40

biochar

• Don believes biochar and humic acid particles absorb nitrogen released from urea and hold it where the corn plant can use it, contributing to strong growth. 25:08

buck-movement

• Don says he has never once succeeded in holding a buck on a summer range by manipulating food, cover, or human intrusion once the buck’s seasonal pattern is set. 40:57
• Besides bedding, food, and minimal intrusion, is there anything that can make a buck stay on a property for fall? 40:11

deer-genetics

• Don insists deer genetics within a neighborhood can be intentionally changed through herd management, citing his own farm as living proof against the conventional wisdom. 60:31
• Don says he will explain in detail next week how he manages a herd to shift its genetics. 60:48

doe-genetics

• Terry asks Don to devote a future episode to the genetics of does themselves, a topic he says they have never covered on the podcast. 58:07
• Don states a doe’s body size has no bearing on the antler size of the bucks she raises, noting even the smallest doe on a property may produce the biggest-antlered bucks. 57:56

doe-management

• Don observed that after shooting more than double his usual number of does last season, browse pressure on his food plots this year is far lighter than in the past couple years. 56:34
• Is it more important to remove adult does that may carry big-buck genetics, or protect them so they keep producing potential big bucks? 54:25

faith

• Don credited God for opening the big doors in his and Terry’s platform, saying they simply walked through them. 53:41

fall-food-plots

• How should a hunter approach fall food plotting on a leased CWD-county farm that wasn’t planted in row crops this year? 46:31

family

• Terry shared that his youngest daughter placed third in the nation in a business testing competition for graduating seniors. 52:16

food-plots

• Don reported his corn was already about seven feet tall and nearing tasseling, and his soybeans were 15-16 inches and canopied, despite planting three to four weeks late. 20:57
• Terry planted an annual screen strip early and another late this year to test which one holds up better against wind before winter. 25:53

herbicide

• Don recommends using the right herbicide program so that a corn plot never needs equipment driven through it again after the day it is planted. 22:03

hunting-permission

• Don plans to seek hunting permission on a property located roughly halfway between two trail-camera locations 4.5 miles apart to intercept a young buck he is tracking. 11:24

hunting-story

• Don recounted whistling from his tree stand at a confused elderly landowner with dementia who was wandering the woods, prompting the man to curse in confusion at the unseen sound. 32:01
• Don recounted watching quietly the next day from the same tree stand as the landowner’s wife relieved herself nearby, unaware he was hidden above her. 33:29

life-accomplishments

• What do Don and Terry each consider their greatest accomplishment in the deer woods and in life outside of deer hunting? 48:24

nonprofit

• Terry shared that he and Don started a nonprofit foundation that has run $2,000,000 through it to help families with sick kids. 53:31

podcast-announcement

• Terry announced the Chasing Assurance Podcast has released four episodes, releases Wednesdays on major platforms and the Chasing Giants YouTube channel. 34:27

podcast-promotion

• Terry asked listeners to contact Emtek and request they add the Chasing Assurance Podcast to their platform. 35:01

schedule-change

• Terry announced next week’s episode will not release on Sunday the 20th due to travel schedules, instead releasing Monday the 21st. 61:33

trail-camera-placement

• What strategies does Don use to pick trail-camera locations for finding bachelor groups? 7:28

trail-cameras

• Don noted that this season is his forty-eighth using trail cameras, which he has run continuously since they first came out. 6:36
• Don reported deploying about 31 of his planned trail cameras during the first five days of July, with roughly 25 more left to place. 2:56
• Don recalled trail-camera photos of a mother and small child hauling a wheelbarrow to steal turnips from his food plot on Christmas Day at noon. 28:54
• Don closed by urging listeners to get trail cameras out, finalize fall food plot plans, handle weeds, and start practicing with their bows before season arrives. 62:14

weed-control

• When should a fall food plotter start weed control if planning to no-till drill plots in mid to late August? 36:18
• What is the weed-control timeline for someone who just got new property access and wants to plant a fall plot around September 1? 37:41

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 3:57
• Trump (history) 4:30
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 5:28
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 9:32
• unnamed buck (history) 10:00
• unnamed buck (harvest) 41:45
• Smokey (harvest) 49:15
• Trump (harvest) 49:15
• Mel (harvest) 49:15
• Joey Buck (harvest) 49:15
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 62:28

Listener questions

Question: When should a fall food plotter start weed control if planning to no-till drill plots in mid to late August? 36:18 — asked by Dustin Ward

• Answer: Don advises starting weed control in spring with a cover crop that builds soil and gets deer using the plot, then terminating it a few weeks before fall planting. 36:27

Question: What is the weed-control timeline for someone who just got new property access and wants to plant a fall plot around September 1? 37:41

• Answer: Don recommends spraying the weed patch dead, broadcasting seed over the dead vegetation, then mowing it high so the shattered thatch covers and holds moisture on the seed. 38:37

Question: Besides bedding, food, and minimal intrusion, is there anything that can make a buck stay on a property for fall? 40:11 — asked by Jeremy Zimmerman

• Answer: Don says a buck’s range shift can’t be prevented, but mature bucks sometimes briefly return to their summer range around November 6-8 or the rut’s tail end, so hunt those windows hard. 43:58

Question: How should a hunter approach fall food plotting on a leased CWD-county farm that wasn’t planted in row crops this year? 46:31 — asked by Drew Ramage

• Answer: Don sees it as a golden opportunity to offer the farmer a soil-building cover crop planting on as many fallow acres as possible, benefiting both the deer and the landowner. 46:52

Question: What do Don and Terry each consider their greatest accomplishment in the deer woods and in life outside of deer hunting? 48:24 — asked by Jerry Franklin

• Answer: Don says his top hunting accomplishment is scoring 400+ combined inches on his two-buck Illinois limit twice, both times with a bow, in 2017 and 2020; outside hunting, it’s raising his daughters and leading people to Christ. 49:15
• Answer: Terry says his greatest deer-woods accomplishment is that hunting created a ministry platform, and outside the woods it is raising his three kind, well-behaved children. 51:09

Question: Is it more important to remove adult does that may carry big-buck genetics, or protect them so they keep producing potential big bucks? 54:25 — asked by Nick Miller

• Answer: Don says keeping a doe alive doesn’t help because her buck fawns are likely to disperse miles away anyway, so protecting buck fawns matters more than protecting individual does. 55:13

Question: What strategies does Don use to pick trail-camera locations for finding bachelor groups? 7:28

• Answer: Don places cameras mainly on field edges to avoid bumping deer out of cover, accepting night pictures as long as he learns which bucks are present. 7:36

Prayer Time

Scripture: Ecclesiastes
Theme: leaning on brothers in Christ during life’s storms
Terry reflects on the deadly Texas floods and shares stories of a flash-flood hypothermia scare and a bear charge, both survived because trusted companions had his back. He teaches that believers are transfigured, not merely transformed, and prays for flood victims and for listeners to lean on brothers who remind them of their identity in Christ. 72:07

Don and Terry covered trail cameras, food plots, and deer genetics. Don, now in his forty-eighth season running cameras, had placed about 31 of a planned batch during early July with roughly 25 more to go, and explained his strategy of setting them on field edges to track bachelor groups, which he’s found return to the same areas yearly. He argued deer genetics can be intentionally shifted through herd management, using his own farm as evidence, and promised a detailed explanation next week; Terry requested a future episode on doe genetics specifically. Don answered listener questions on fall weed-control timing for food plots, on why a buck’s range shift can’t be prevented though mature bucks sometimes briefly return near November 6-8, and on turning a fallow CWD-county farm into a cover-crop opportunity. Don and Terry also each named their top hunting and life accomplishments, and Terry led a prayer segment referencing the Texas floods.

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