Late Season EXPLOSION! Why Giants Are Falling Everywhere | Chasing Giants #302

Published: 2025-12-07
Episode page
Duration: 62 min

In this episode

announcement

• Terry announces that Chasing Giants TV’s YouTube channel just released Joe Miles’ 204-inch South Texas buck hunt video. 12:10

bedding-cover

• Don notes that on unusually warm winter days, despite their winter coats, deer choose north-facing slopes to stay cooler rather than the typically favored south-facing slopes. 7:15
• Terry believes deer seek out topography, miscanthus rows, switchgrass, conifers, brush piles, and treetops for wind protection, comparing it to cattle huddling in a dry pond. 8:43
• Why do you keep food sources separate from bedding cover, and how impactful is that during late season? 2:27
• What are deer looking for in thermal cover, wooded sanctuaries, switchgrass, and topography for bedding when it gets cold? 4:26
• What have you observed while shed hunting or burning switchgrass about how deer use cover to survive brutal late-season cold? 25:27
• Without major landscape changes, how can I increase mature buck bedding on a permission property I don’t own? 49:02

buck-behavior

• Is the buck fighting due to more competition among bucks for fewer does? 31:00

buck-fighting

• Don observes his bucks must be fighting like crazy this year since almost every deer he has has busted-up antlers. 30:50

chasing-assurance

• Terry announces Dad’s Chasing Assurance series on divorce was extended to four total episodes. 52:39
• Don says he listened to the first episode of the Chasing Assurance divorce series on his drive and found it very interesting, encouraging others to listen. 53:34

consulting

• Terry recommends that consultants build wind breaks into bedding-cover layouts and funnel deer strategically from that cover into food sources where hunters can access them. 9:16
• Don reflects that he has the best job on the entire planet after meeting with two down-to-earth, generous consulting clients this week. 22:31

dealer-event

• Don announces Real World’s Whitetail Management Conference in Arthur on February 25-26, featuring speakers Dr. Aaron Gaines and Dr. Clifford Shipley under the theme ‘real science, real results.’ 14:11
• Don announces the conference is free for dealers or a dealer’s guest, starting around 1-2pm on the 25th and ending at noon the next day. 15:16
• Don announces Jim Wessel with the Miscanthus Planter will attend the conference, and dealers who sell Miscanthus can offer a planting service using these planters. 15:47
• Don announces a new spiral-bound notebook covering all kinds of land management topics, not just Real World products, will be given free to everyone at the conference. 16:27
• Don gives the Real World office phone number for anyone interested in attending the conference or placing a first order there. 17:23

doe-behavior

• Don observes that once the cold and snow arrived, all the does that had disappeared came back to his property. 26:27

doe-harvest

• Don says shooting a bunch of does last year on his farm really increased the buck activity and rutting sign he’s seen on his farm this year. 30:39

doe-management

• Don explains there’s a balance to doe numbers: too many does makes bucks hard to kill during the rut, while too few makes bucks range farther and fight more, injuring each other. 32:12
• Has Don gathered enough data to decide whether he’ll harvest any more does this season? 32:58

doe-sightings

• Don relays that Wes Delks had six hunts where he only saw three total antlerless deer just before the cold and snow hit. 26:16

field-days

• Will Don host on-site field days again once his new farm projects are complete, and when would he announce it? 34:05

food-plots

• Don says whether it’s NutriCrave corn or Gen-two soybeans, this time of year is when those grain sources really shine, with deer hitting them almost daily before dark. 1:29

fundraiser

• Terry reveals Lester’s Feet plans an unbelievable 2026 fundraiser involving a South Texas hunt. 22:47

hunting-regulations

• Is Indiana’s antlerless-only-tag-restriction rule out of touch, or is it the correct way to protect antlerless deer? 45:18

job-opening

• Terry announces a new marketing content creator job opening supporting Real World, Green Prairie seed, and Chasing Giants. 18:10
• Terry directs interested applicants for the content creator job to send an email to his Real World Wildlife Products address. 19:08
• Don adds that whoever takes the content creator job must relocate to the Arthur, Illinois area since it is not a remote position. 19:32
• Terry describes the content creator position as full-time with vacation, benefits, health insurance, and retirement. 21:12

land-management

• Don has spent about four months with Steve Shields working on a food plots and land management book that is finally nearing completion. 16:46

land-sale

• When will the 430 acres in Morgan County sell, as one property or in pieces, and what’s the progress? 34:27

late-season

• Terry says a Northern Ohio property he worked on has produced six mature bucks harvested from the same spot this season alone. 3:45
• Don closes by encouraging listeners to get out in the woods, citing fantastic Midwest conditions for afternoon deer movement toward food sources. 54:32
• Why are so many big bucks showing up on social media as soon as this cold front and snow arrived? 0:44
• Will bucks’ range shrink toward a bachelor-group-like pattern when they find good thermal cover and food together? 28:50

listener-questions

• Terry reminds listeners to submit questions at chasinggiants.com for a chance at a free T-shirt when their question is used on air. 52:20

novix

• Don says the Novix climbing sticks surprised him with how solid they are once locked into place. 41:36
• Don keeps five or six Novix stands and sticks pre-hung on different trees and wind directions, ready to hang-and-hunt whenever a shooter buck shows up. 41:48

nutrition

• Don states Dr. Aaron Gaines, developer of the Expect Healthy Gear technology, is an animal nutritionist whose feed company supplies more U.S. hog operations than not. 14:50

podcast

• Terry notes the podcast has reached 302 episodes and much of the old master-class content is now available for free through it. 36:35

prayer-time

• Terry announces this week’s Sunday Night Prayer Time is done by Emerson Day. 53:15

product

• Terry reports that 360 has ordered new rolls of material to keep producing the Chasing Giants Blinds due to strong sales. 24:42

scouting-trip

• Terry plans to drive with Austin Raisor from the Cincinnati area to South Texas to vet, film, and photograph the fundraiser hunt location. 23:03

scrapes

• Should I eliminate the farther natural scrape branches to force deer onto the rope scrape closer to my blind? 43:26

shedding

• Don predicts that if the current cold weather pattern holds, deer will shed early and antlers will be more concentrated around cover and food sources. 30:02

shipshewana

• Don urges listeners to make motel reservations now for the Shipshewana event, dated February 19-21. 24:06

soybeans

• Don discovered the late-season pulling power of soybeans years ago through his friend Todd Hewing, noting deer prefer soybeans over anything else, even corn, this time of year. 11:09
• Why is a shatter-resistant soybean so important for deer right now with snow on the ground? 11:00

stand-placement

• When you get a new permission property, do you scout and hang a stand right away, or wait for a shooter buck to show up? 38:08

t-shirt

• Don states that if a submitted question doesn’t follow the proper format, the listener will not receive a T-shirt. 53:57

trail-camera

• Don reports his trail cameras are now getting more than double the pictures they were getting during the rut. 26:32

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 1:08
• unnamed buck (harvest) 12:16
• unnamed buck (sighting) 31:20
• unnamed buck (sighting) 31:51
• unnamed buck (sighting) 32:45
• unnamed buck (harvest) 34:10

Listener questions

Question: Why are so many big bucks showing up on social media as soon as this cold front and snow arrived? 0:44

• Answer: Don explains it’s the perfect late-season recipe: bucks hit food sources before dark in the afternoon, which is when hunters are killing them. 0:47

Question: Why do you keep food sources separate from bedding cover, and how impactful is that during late season? 2:27

• Answer: Don wants a buck’s bed and food source separated so the buck must travel to feed, making him more vulnerable to hunting pressure. 2:55

Question: What are deer looking for in thermal cover, wooded sanctuaries, switchgrass, and topography for bedding when it gets cold? 4:26

• Answer: Don says diversity of bedding cover is huge; deer need a combination of wooded cover and switchgrass, not just one or the other. 6:00

Question: Why is a shatter-resistant soybean so important for deer right now with snow on the ground? 11:00

• Answer: Don explains that shattered soybean pods drop grain into the snow where deer can’t get it, so Real World soybeans were designed specifically for these conditions. 11:46

Question: What have you observed while shed hunting or burning switchgrass about how deer use cover to survive brutal late-season cold? 25:27

• Answer: Don recalls a severe ice storm fifteen years ago that drove home how bedding cover is nearly as important as food this time of year. 28:30

Question: Will bucks’ range shrink toward a bachelor-group-like pattern when they find good thermal cover and food together? 28:50

• Answer: Don confirms bucks stop wandering across the countryside when they have good cover and food nearby. 29:00

Question: Is the buck fighting due to more competition among bucks for fewer does? 31:00

• Answer: Don agrees, saying bucks are on their feet more searching because they aren’t paired with a hot doe. 31:04

Question: Has Don gathered enough data to decide whether he’ll harvest any more does this season? 32:58

• Answer: Don says he’ll only shoot another doe if she’s accompanied by button bucks. 33:06

Question: Will Don host on-site field days again once his new farm projects are complete, and when would he announce it? 34:05 — asked by Benjamin Mains

• Answer: Don says there’s a fairly good chance he will do on-site tours again someday, though not this year. 35:12

Question: When will the 430 acres in Morgan County sell, as one property or in pieces, and what’s the progress? 34:27 — asked by Benjamin Mains

• Answer: Don says the Morgan County 430 acres already sold, but a 383-acre Jackson County property and a 75-acre Scioto County property are ready to sell. 34:40

Question: When you get a new permission property, do you scout and hang a stand right away, or wait for a shooter buck to show up? 38:08 — asked by Drew Harmon

• Answer: Don now picks his tree and scouts, but no longer hangs stands everywhere just in case a shooter shows up. 40:34

Question: Should I eliminate the farther natural scrape branches to force deer onto the rope scrape closer to my blind? 43:26 — asked by Brent Chase

• Answer: Don agrees it’s a great idea to cut the farther scrape branches and force deer to the closer rope scrape. 44:03

Question: Is Indiana’s antlerless-only-tag-restriction rule out of touch, or is it the correct way to protect antlerless deer? 45:18 — asked by Montana Moritz

• Answer: Don says the state sets regulations from a broad, statewide view meant to fit most properties on average, not any one specific farm. 46:12

Question: Without major landscape changes, how can I increase mature buck bedding on a permission property I don’t own? 49:02 — asked by Bryce Despain

• Answer: Don suggests proposing timber stand improvement to the landowner, which improves bedding cover and also boosts the growth rate of remaining timber. 49:36
• Answer: Don notes mature bucks aren’t moving to new range; they use the same range but shift to its most secure parts as they age. 51:39

Prayer Time

Scripture: Daniel
Theme: faith under trial and God’s protection
Emerson recounts Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refusing to worship the king’s statue and being thrown into the furnace, trusting God without knowing the outcome. They emerged unburned, without even the smell of smoke, showing complete divine protection, and he prays for strengthened faith to take similarly scary steps. 55:45

Don and Terry focused on late-season deer behavior amid a cold front and snow. Don explained that grain sources like NutriCrave corn and Gen-two soybeans draw deer almost daily before dark, and that shatter-resistant soybeans matter because shattered pods get lost in snow. They discussed bedding needs — diversity of wooded cover and switchgrass, wind protection from topography and conifers — and how separating food from bedding pressures bucks to move in daylight. Don noted trail camera activity more than doubled since the cold hit, does that had vanished returned, and busted-up antlers suggested heavy fighting from competition over fewer does after he culled does last year. He said he’d only shoot another doe if accompanied by button bucks. Terry announced the February Whitetail Management Conference with Dr. Aaron Gaines and Dr. Clifford Shipley, a new content creator job opening, and Joe Miles’ 204-inch South Texas buck video release.

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