Episode #283 “Best Corn Ever? Don & Terry Reveal 2025 Plot Results + Fall Food Plot Timing Tips”

Published: 2025-07-27
Episode page
Duration: 92 min

In this episode

antler-growth

• Joey asks whether this week’s extreme heat index in West Central Illinois could stress deer enough to slow antler growth at this point in the season. 47:16

bedding-security

• Liam, 15, who manages 70 acres in southwest Missouri, asks what’s most important for holding mature whitetails and keeping a buck comfortable in daylight. 44:23

cattle-and-deer

• Chad asks whether one farm can satisfy both a deer hunting and cattle-raising passion, and if so how it should be divided. 55:50

chasing-assurance

• Terry announces this week’s Chasing Assurance podcast features musician Emerson Day discussing her love of hunting and how tree-stand experiences inspired her songs. 61:53

corn

• Don plans to add more corn acreage next year because he consistently runs out of corn before the season ends. 3:35
• Don planted two rows each of his original NutriCrave corn seed alongside test corn varieties in the same plot to compare them. 4:30

emerson-day

• Emerson Day recalls that on a Christian music podcast, when asked her favorite podcast, she honestly answered Chasing Giants, surprising the interviewer. 72:44

expect-healthy-deer

• Don hopes to bring Dr. Aaron Gaines, who developed the Expect Healthy Deer technology, to present the science behind it at the land manager event. 8:18

faith

• Emerson Day says being outdoors is where she feels closest to God and has some of her best conversations with Him. 76:42
• Emerson Day shares that God can only take her music career as far as she’s willing to fully surrender control over it. 85:45

fall-food-plots

• Don advises planting fall food plots 45-60 days before the first expected frost, shifting timing about a week earlier per 100 miles north. 17:19
• Terry recommends mixing leftover soybeans at about 15 pounds per acre into fall blends like Deadly Dozen or Dixie Dozen for massive early-season deer attraction. 21:40

fawn-behavior

• Christopher asks whether a doe will accept and nurse fawns that aren’t her own, after observing a doe with two differently-aged fawns. 53:12

fawn-survival

• Terry asks whether the older fawn described is now old enough to survive on natural browse without nursing. 54:44

fishing

• Emerson Day admits she keeps losing a fishing-versus-song-length challenge to her dad and husband Bryce. 75:02

food-plots

• Terry reports his Nutri-Crave corn food plot is shaping up to be the best corn crop he has ever grown. 1:57
• Terry says it’s been a few years since he’s had this good a spring, and this year he has excellent spring food plots. 2:53

habitat

• Terry began excavating a small dam for a water hole near one of his orchards using runoff collected from three directions on his farm. 13:29

habitat-management

• Don suggests mountain landowners boost buck-holding odds by clear-cutting a roughly 10-acre patch thicker than anything else in the buck’s range to concentrate bedding. 41:56

injury

• Terry injured his knee slipping during a quick dismount from the excavator, catching one leg in the cab while reaching for the ground with the other. 15:30

land-manager-class

• Don announces a free one-day class this winter for land managers and food plot installers, open only to Real World dealers. 6:08

lesters-feet

• Terry notes Emerson Day has three tour stops within 90 minutes of his home this fall, letting his family and Lester’s Feet board and families meet her. 90:07

lesters-feet-foundation

• Terry explains the song Middle of a Miracle by Emerson Day has been used as part of the mission and ministry of Lester’s Feet Foundation. 71:56

multiflora-rose

• Don recommends leaving multiflora rose in cow pastures since deer browse it and it makes excellent bedding cover, despite many landowners fighting the plant. 58:55

musical-influences

• Terry asks where Emerson Day’s southern-rock-infused Christian music style came from, suggesting it could inspire others in that genre. 79:27

ohio-property

• Don announces a ready-to-hunt 75-acre property in Scioto County, Ohio, offering Chasing Giants listeners first chance to buy before he lists it publicly. 63:14

rezacore

• Terry says RezaCore herbicide worked phenomenally for weed control in his food plots this year. 9:17

rut-funnels

• Evan asks how a typical whitetail hunter can adapt a rut-funnel approach across different terrain, and whether one or two factors like wind, access, or bedding matter most. 34:40

scouting

• Terry recalls that during his freshman year of college, he and friends scouting public land discovered a cultivated marijuana grow deep in a national forest. 43:04

shipshewana

• Terry and Don will reveal a jointly-planned habitat project strategic to both their farms during a special session at the Midwest Sportsman’s Classic in Shipshewana. 15:04

smokey

• Don explains the famous Smokey trail-camera video was captured on an Exodus camera back in 2017 when Exodus was still in business. 32:37

sunday-night-prayer-time

• Terry announces a new person will join the rotation hosting the Sunday Night Prayer Time segment at the end of Chasing Giants episodes. 90:47
• Emerson Day says the Sunday Night Prayer Time segment has repeatedly been a lifeline for her since she loved listening to the podcast weekly. 90:56

time-in-stand

• Terry advises that out of 72 available rut-season hunting hours, hunters should spend roughly 40 of them actually sitting in the stand. 38:54
• Don says in rough, big-timber terrain time in the woods favors the hunter, since the longer you sit a good spot the more likely you’ll eventually see a shooter buck. 39:32

tour

• Emerson Day announces she’s touring with Micah Tyler on the God Did It tour, starting October 9 and running through November 23. 89:38

turkey-hunting

• Terry invites Emerson Day and her husband to his farm’s annual spring turkey shoot to hunt turkeys with Joe and Al. 88:43

weed-control

• Terry reports his non-GMO corn, never cultivated or sprayed post-emergent, had hardly any weeds this year thanks to pre-emergent herbicide. 5:29

zach-williams

• Emerson Day says Zach Williams’ 2016-2017 breakout with a country-rock Christian sound was a huge inspiration for her to pursue Christian music. 82:37

Deer activity

• Smokey (trail-camera) 24:30
• unnamed buck (history) 27:13
• unnamed buck (management) 27:59
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 29:01
• unnamed buck (sighting) 29:50
• unnamed buck (sighting) 52:37

Listener questions

Question: Evan asks how a typical whitetail hunter can adapt a rut-funnel approach across different terrain, and whether one or two factors like wind, access, or bedding matter most. 34:40 — asked by Evan Coleman

• Answer: Don says given 72 hours he would focus on hunting rut funnels like ridge saddles and ravine heads regardless of region. 35:10
• Answer: Don says a mature buck relies about 90% on his nose, so playing the wind is a critical factor everywhere. 36:48

Question: Liam, 15, who manages 70 acres in southwest Missouri, asks what’s most important for holding mature whitetails and keeping a buck comfortable in daylight. 44:23 — asked by Liam

• Answer: Don says freedom from human intrusion is a mature buck’s number one desire, above even a hot doe. 45:00
• Answer: Don advises turning a major part of the 70 acres into an undisturbed thick-cover sanctuary to encourage bedding. 45:16

Question: Joey asks whether this week’s extreme heat index in West Central Illinois could stress deer enough to slow antler growth at this point in the season. 47:16 — asked by Joey Kessinger

• Answer: Don explains warm temperatures dilate blood vessels and increase nutrient-rich blood flow to velvet antlers, which is why heat promotes antler growth. 51:43
• Answer: Don concludes this has been an average to slightly above average year for antler growth overall. 52:09

Question: Christopher asks whether a doe will accept and nurse fawns that aren’t her own, after observing a doe with two differently-aged fawns. 53:12 — asked by Christopher Blair

• Answer: Don says based on his captive deer experience, does become more willing to let other fawns nurse once fawns are older, similar to cattle. 53:58

Question: Terry asks whether the older fawn described is now old enough to survive on natural browse without nursing. 54:44 — asked by Terry

• Answer: Don says fawns nibble vegetation very early and by around eight weeks old they can survive on their own. 55:13

Question: Chad asks whether one farm can satisfy both a deer hunting and cattle-raising passion, and if so how it should be divided. 55:50 — asked by Chad Kendrick

• Answer: Don says you can definitely do both cattle and deer hunting on the same property, citing examples like his own scent-blocking cow pasture. 58:17
• Answer: Don says needed deer acreage depends on goals—as little as 10 acres of cover for a shooter, more for higher-quality goals. 57:25

Question: Terry asks where Emerson Day’s southern-rock-infused Christian music style came from, suggesting it could inspire others in that genre. 79:27 — asked by Terry

• Answer: Emerson says her sound blends traditional church hymns, her mom’s country music, and her dad’s classic rock into a melting-pot style centered on loving Jesus. 80:09

Prayer Time

Scripture: 1 Corinthians
Theme: correcting the myth that God won’t give more than you can handle
Harold Monk corrects the popular saying that God won’t give more than we can handle, showing 1 Corinthians 10:13 actually addresses temptation, not general hardship, and prays for listeners facing struggles to lean on God’s presence and strength. 65:52

Sponsors this episode

• ASIO Gear
• Midwest Land Group

Terry and Don covered food plot progress and habitat work: Terry called his Nutri-Crave corn his best ever and praised RezaCore herbicide and pre-emergent weed control, while Don compared original NutriCrave corn against test varieties and plans more corn acreage next year. Terry began digging a farm-runoff water hole near an orchard and injured his knee dismounting the excavator. They announced a free winter class for Real World dealers, possibly featuring Dr. Aaron Gaines, plus a joint habitat reveal at the Midwest Sportsman’s Classic. Listener questions covered rut-funnel strategy, holding mature bucks through sanctuary cover, heat’s effect on antler growth, fawn nursing behavior, and combining cattle with deer hunting. Musician Emerson Day joined to discuss her southern-rock-infused Christian sound, her upcoming Micah Tyler tour, and how the podcast’s Sunday prayer segment has been meaningful to her. Harold Monk led the prayer segment, addressing 1 Corinthians 10:13.

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