The Magic of Late October | Cold Fronts, Big Bucks & Character in the Woods | Chasing Giants #295

Published: 2025-10-19
Episode page
Duration: 67 min

In this episode

announcement

• Terry announced listeners can submit podcast questions at chasinggiants.com or, for the Chasing Assurance podcast, at chasingassurance.com. 61:23
• Terry announced Harold Monk of WiseEye provides the Sunday night prayer time at the end of this episode. 61:39

barometric-pressure

• Don identified Wednesday morning as the ideal hunt this week because the barometer is peaking with a cold snap down to 37 degrees. 20:37

broadheads

• Don opposes expandable broadheads because although they leave a bigger hole on a good hit, they perform poorly on shoulder hits, as with his buck Mel. 44:27
• Adrian Nestle asked why Don dislikes expandable broadheads if shots are close, since a bigger hole would make the deer die faster. 43:44

buck-selectivity

• Don plans to be more selective with Walker’s buck harvests this year rather than shooting the first buck that comes along. 2:07

bucket-list

• Josh Pretzer’s bucket-list goals were killing a giant 170-plus-inch eight pointer and killing a big buck with a recurve. 26:48

budget-hunting

• Evan Coleman asked the best approach for lower-middle-class hunters who want mature bucks but can’t afford habitat work or land. 54:58

cattle-breeding

• Don sold his Shorthorn cattle and switched to Piedmontese, an Italian breed known for extreme leanness and heavy muscling. 7:47

deer-management

• Don credited wildlife scientist Bronson Strickland’s book for validating the culling-based deer management approach he had already begun. 12:46

diet

• Don lost 20 pounds without trying simply by cutting carbs and sweets and eating mainly meat, vegetables, and fruit. 24:19

drought-conditions

• Don’s area is in extreme drought, as dry as it has been since the drought of 2012 according to a local meteorologist. 19:22

ethics

• Josh Pretzer called the game warden to report accidentally killing two deer and was told he had to use his either-sex tag rather than buy another. 28:09

family-farm

• This winter, while Don is on the consulting trail, Walker will take care of Don’s cattle so Robin no longer has to. 4:25

family-hunting-tradition

• Terry was first introduced to hunting as a kid traveling to his grandfather Lester’s house for weekends and holidays. 2:49

genetics

• Don said if he could go back to age 18 he would have studied to become a geneticist, fascinated by how much information is in a single cell. 13:25
• Terry asked Don what he learned from raising cattle that ended up paralleling deer management. 11:30

habitat-management

• Terry noted Walker is seeing direct results of habitat projects and management decisions on the herd as he grows into a teenager. 3:22

health

• Terry said Don spending more time in the woods this fall is partly an answer to prayer, since Don is now feeling much better than last year. 23:57

hot-weather-hunting

• Patrick and Bryson hunted a permission farm in hot, dead-calm weather with almost no deer movement. 5:21

hunting-access

• Terry recounted how a client’s chance stop to help a stranded farmer with loose cattle led the landowner to grant valuable walking access to the property. 60:48
• Terry advised budget-minded hunters to find unleased farms and offer to help out, cut firewood, or mow yards in exchange for permission to hunt. 60:56

hunting-ethics

• Don recounted mistakenly shooting the wrong buck decades ago; rather than avoid tagging it, he immediately tagged and retrieved the deer himself. 33:24
• Don argued a doe deserves as humane a kill as a buck, so hunters shouldn’t experiment with an unproven broadhead on a doe if unsure about using it on a buck. 46:25
• Terry asked Don if he had a story of taking one for the team and doing the right thing, similar to Josh Pretzer’s situation. 29:11

hunting-mishap

• Josh Pretzer shot at one deer during a doe-management hunt, thought he’d missed, then shot and dropped a second deer that came out. 27:41

land-investment

• Brian Kraft of Midwest Land Group told Don that land has appreciated an average of 7% a year over the last forty years. 50:55
• Jordan Bashford asked whether to buy a small affordable property now or keep saving for a bigger forever property later. 48:44

morning-hunt

• Terry asked Don if Wednesday, October 22 would be his first morning hunt of the season. 20:57

piedmontese

• Don noted Piedmontese cattle have a coarse, hollow winter hair coat similar to deer hair. 10:20

rut-report

• Terry announced the Chasing Giants rut report will now be a typed social media post instead of video, posted across multiple accounts. 21:54

rut-report-format

• Don said listeners told him they’d rather read a typed rut report in the tree stand than have to listen to a video version. 22:29

rut-report-plan

• Don plans to spend as much time in the woods this November as ever, gathering video history on promising younger bucks. 23:04

rut-timing

• Terry explained that in the third or fourth week of October, bucks begin roaming to their summer range looking for the first hot doe as the rut approaches. 18:24

scent-control

• An unnamed hunting personality called the scent control industry the biggest scam out there, and Don agreed with him. 41:39
• Garrett Geiger asked whether Don and Terry worry about keeping their truck or hunting trailer scent-free during the season. 35:37

soil-health

• Terry introduced Josh Pretzer as a Kansas friend who is one of the country’s leading soil health experts and a big buck killer. 25:45
• Terry noted Singular Agronomics is Josh Pretzer’s company doing significant work in agriculture. 26:00

thermals

• Don explained thermals can carry scent straight up or straight down on different days, which is why some hunters wrongly believe scent control works. 43:12

trail-camera

• During the hot spell Don’s trail cameras captured only about 80-90 photos overnight, roughly 20% of what a normal night produces. 6:31

weather-forecast

• A weather front hitting Saturday will drop temperatures so much that the following week won’t reach 70 degrees, staying in the low sixties. 17:19

weather-pattern

• Terry recalled a past year when a cold front hit in the third week of October but rebounded to mid-eighties by early November, ruining the hunting. 20:10

youth-season

• Don had Walker hunt every evening but skip mornings during Illinois youth season, preserving stands ahead of the November gun season. 1:09

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (sighting) 1:39
• unnamed buck (sighting) 1:47
• Bryson (harvest) 5:02
• unnamed buck (harvest) 15:20
• unnamed buck (harvest) 15:36
• unnamed buck (harvest) 16:16
• Turning Point Buck (trail-camera) 23:36
• unnamed buck (harvest) 27:53
• unnamed buck (harvest) 32:43
• unnamed buck (sighting) 33:49
• unnamed buck (sighting) 37:13
• Mel (harvest) 44:43
• unnamed buck (harvest) 44:57

Listener questions

Question: Terry asked Don what he learned from raising cattle that ended up paralleling deer management. 11:30

• Answer: Don said watching cattle breeding, where only the best bulls are kept, inspired him to control his local deer herd through culling rather than letting the worst bucks breed. 12:30

Question: Terry asked Don if Wednesday, October 22 would be his first morning hunt of the season. 20:57

• Answer: Don confirmed it would be his first morning hunt in decades, saying locally Wednesday morning looks like the day to be in the woods. 21:01

Question: Terry asked Don if he had a story of taking one for the team and doing the right thing, similar to Josh Pretzer’s situation. 29:11

• Answer: Don recounted mistakenly shooting the wrong buck decades ago; rather than avoid using his tag, he immediately tagged and retrieved the deer himself. 33:24

Question: Garrett Geiger asked whether Don and Terry worry about keeping their truck or hunting trailer scent-free during the season. 35:37 — asked by Garrett Geiger

• Answer: Don recalled peeing directly from his stand once, after which a two-year-old eight-point buck walked under him and ate the grass where he had urinated. 37:13
• Answer: Don said he no longer uses any scent control and instead focuses entirely on playing the wind when setting stands. 39:27
• Answer: Terry said learning to read wind from Don was a turning point, after which he consistently saw more deer and killed mature deer five and six years old. 40:33

Question: Adrian Nestle asked why Don dislikes expandable broadheads if shots are close, since a bigger hole would make the deer die faster. 43:44 — asked by Adrian Nestle

• Answer: Don said expandables can leave a bigger hole on a perfect hit but perform poorly on shoulder hits, citing his buck Mel as an example. 44:27

Question: Jordan Bashford asked whether to buy a small affordable property now or keep saving for a bigger forever property later. 48:44 — asked by Jordan Bashford

• Answer: Don advised that if someone is struggling to afford land, they should save money rather than pay for a land consultation or farm tour. 49:22
• Answer: Don recommended buying whatever land you can afford now to get a foot in the door rather than waiting to save for a bigger property. 50:17
• Answer: Terry disagreed slightly, advising not to walk away from an employer’s 401k match since it’s free money. 52:46

Question: Evan Coleman asked the best approach for lower-middle-class hunters who want mature bucks but can’t afford habitat work or land. 54:58 — asked by Evan Coleman

• Answer: Don recommended finding land bordering large sanctuary or no-hunting areas like parks, since that makes for a great hunting spot regardless of size. 56:51
• Answer: Terry said a side hustle is the best tool for budget-conscious hunters to fund their hobby without taking money from family. 57:44
• Answer: Terry advised offering free labor to landowners in exchange for hunting access when money is tight. 59:05

Prayer Time

Scripture: Habakkuk
Theme: faith amid hardship
Harold shared Habakkuk 3:17-19, where despite total loss of crops and livestock the prophet still rejoices in God, comparing God’s strength to a deer’s sure footing on the heights, encouraging trust in God rather than circumstances. 62:42

Terry introduced Kansas soil health expert Josh Pretzer, who shared bucket-list goals of a 170-plus eight pointer and a recurve buck, and recounted mistakenly shooting a second deer during a doe hunt, then calling the game warden and being told to use his either-sex tag. Don matched that with his own decades-old story of tagging a wrongly shot buck rather than avoiding it. Don also discussed switching his cattle to Piedmontese, said cattle breeding shaped his culling-based deer management, and credited Bronson Strickland’s book for validating that approach. He described extreme drought conditions, a coming cold front, and picked Wednesday morning as an ideal hunt. Listener questions covered scent control (Don no longer uses any and focuses on wind), expandable broadheads performing poorly on shoulder hits, and budget advice for hunters without land, including borrowing land near sanctuaries or working for access. Harold Monk closed with a prayer from Habakkuk 3:17-19.

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