CWD, One-Buck Limits & The Truth About NDA | Chasing Giants 312

Published: 2026-02-15
Episode page
Duration: 67 min

In this episode

appearance

• Don announced a February 17 appearance in Vermontville, Michigan, debuting a new presentation on the biggest mistakes land managers make. 23:31

brand-partnership

• Don said a company that approached them about a partnership had reportedly been watching them for a year and a half before reaching out. 19:23

buck-movement

• Nick Bouley asked whether bucks traveling the downwind side of bedding stay within cover or move along a field edge on that downwind side. 62:19

food-plots

• Don said they put 200 acres of food plots on a heavily wooded, agriculture-poor 1,400-acre Kentucky property, calling it a game changer for that farm. 11:18

fundraising

• Terry announced fundraising activities for the Lester’s Feet foundation at the Chasing Giants booth during the Shipshewana show. 66:04
• Terry said 100% of the fundraising money goes to families with sick kids or those navigating breast cancer. 66:15

giveaways

• Terry said they’ll give away sponsor swag from Mathews, WiseEye, and Novix by throwing items into the crowd at their events. 66:34

habitat-management

• Don recommended mowing thick, impenetrable pasture regrowth with an FAE mulcher instead of burning it, to reset growth without killing beneficial cool-season grasses. 9:38

kentucky

• Don said one Kentucky property he consulted on was 400 acres of regrown cattle pasture that was some of the best deer habitat he had ever seen. 5:10

mark-drury

• Mark Drury relayed through a mutual contact that he says hello and is ready and eager to appear on the Chasing Giants podcast. 2:40

national-deer-association

• A contact told Don the Missouri Department of Conservation made direct cash payments to the National Deer Association each year from 2021-2025 to support its positions. 33:13
• Don said he will never personally support the National Deer Association because he believes it has become too far left. 34:17

nonprofit-transparency

• Terry recommended that before donating to nonprofits like the National Deer Association, people should request the organization’s donor list to see who drives its agenda. 36:21

nwtf

• Terry reported that a Chasing Giants hunting blind wrapped in ASIO camo was a main event prize given away at the NWTF show. 2:15
• Don said a friend sent him a picture showing their hunting blind as the grand prize in a drawing at a recent show. 2:24

one-buck-limit

• Don said there’s no doubt a one-buck limit has a positive impact on the quality of a deer herd. 13:58
• Don said he fully supports a one-buck limit but believes it should be paired with a nonresident hunter limit, or a state loses the benefit to more nonresidents. 14:47

podcast-banter

• Don Higgins had to step outside during recording to quiet his wife down after their bickering became distracting background noise. 0:38 (light moment)

podcast-guest

• Terry said the Republican candidate for Illinois governor wants to appear on the podcast to discuss his political view on the Illinois deer herd. 3:06
• Don confirmed Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey is coming on the podcast in the coming weeks. 15:16

podcast-influence

• Jerry Michaels asked whether Don has noticed his outsized influence, since topics he and Terry discuss quickly spread across the hunting community. 56:29

prescribed-burns

• Blake Marcus from Germantown, Illinois asked how Don obtains a burn plan or permit from Illinois before doing prescribed burns on switchgrass fields. 51:05

product-launch

• Terry announced he and Don are releasing a new product with Chasing Giants logo branding, to be sold at the Shipshewana show. 44:29

public-land-conflict

• Don recounted that a person who photographed him on a public-land trail camera got upset and stole his tree stand and made false allegations to a conservation officer. 42:23

public-land-tactics

• Terry asked Don to share creative examples of going incognito while hunting public or permission properties away from his home farm. 41:40

qdma

• Don said multiple people formerly affiliated with QDMA told him the transition to the National Deer Association was not smooth. 38:20

raccoon-hunting

• Jimbo Moppin asked whether Illinois should follow Iowa’s 2023 move to legalize year-round raccoon hunting, citing rising raccoon damage to cornfields. 61:00

scheduling

• Terry said they need to schedule Mark Drury’s podcast appearance before turkey season since he travels the world chasing turkeys. 2:59

shipshewana-show

• Terry noted the episode was recorded during the week of the Shipshewana show in February. 0:29
• Terry noted that in past years the Shipshewana show fell the same week as the National Farm Machinery Show, NWTF, and the Harrisburg show. 1:46

timber-management

• Don advised his Kentucky client to leave the property’s timber untouched for ten to fifteen years while the regrown cattle pasture matures into better deer habitat. 5:45

tree-stand-timing

• Justin Green from Linden, Michigan asked when hunters should enter and exit tree stands, given videos suggesting early entry and late exit could hurt hunts. 47:57

whitetail-management-conference

• Don announced the Whitetail Management Conference in Arthur, Illinois on February 25-26, held with the Real World Wildlife Products dealer event. 25:16

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (harvest) 25:04
• unnamed buck (sighting) 62:53
• unnamed buck (hunt) 64:34

Listener questions

Question: Terry asked Don to share creative examples of going incognito while hunting public or permission properties away from his home farm. 41:40

• Answer: Don said he sometimes parks his truck at decoy locations to make people think he’s hunting there, then has his wife drop him off at his real hunting spot. 41:55

Question: Justin Green from Linden, Michigan asked when hunters should enter and exit tree stands, given videos suggesting early entry and late exit could hurt hunts. 47:57 — asked by Justin Green

• Answer: Don said he prefers being in his stand at first shooting light, arriving at least fifteen minutes early so the area calms down before he might bump a deer. 48:45
• Answer: Don clarified that on public land or when going deep into timber, he arrives about thirty minutes early instead of fifteen, since he uses a light there. 50:23

Question: Blake Marcus from Germantown, Illinois asked how Don obtains a burn plan or permit from Illinois before doing prescribed burns on switchgrass fields. 51:05 — asked by Blake Marcus

• Answer: Don joked his only qualification is gasoline and a match, dismissing the need for official state burn permits. 52:03
• Answer: Don said his common sense tells him to call his local fire department for a heads-up before he lights a fire, rather than getting a permit. 52:44

Question: Jerry Michaels asked whether Don has noticed his outsized influence, since topics he and Terry discuss quickly spread across the hunting community. 56:29 — asked by Jerry Michaels

• Answer: Don said he notices it almost daily, with people sending him screenshots of others’ posts or videos discussing topics he and Terry just covered on the podcast. 57:06

Question: Jimbo Moppin asked whether Illinois should follow Iowa’s 2023 move to legalize year-round raccoon hunting, citing rising raccoon damage to cornfields. 61:00 — asked by Jimbo Moppin

• Answer: Don said he fully agrees Illinois should make raccoon season year-round like coyote season, since raccoons often cause cornfield damage blamed on deer. 61:15

Question: Nick Bouley asked whether bucks traveling the downwind side of bedding stay within cover or move along a field edge on that downwind side. 62:19 — asked by Nick Bouley

• Answer: Don said bucks do both, but under hunting pressure, mature bucks tend to stay within cover rather than exposing themselves on the field edge. 63:09

Don and Terry discussed management advice, controversy, and listener questions. Don advised a Kentucky client to leave regrown cattle pasture untouched for ten to fifteen years, called a 400-acre regrown pasture property some of the best habitat he’d seen, and recommended mulching thick regrowth with an FAE mulcher rather than burning. On another Kentucky farm they added 200 acres of food plots, which Don called a game changer. Don voiced support for a one-buck limit paired with a nonresident hunter limit, said a contact told him Missouri’s conservation department paid the National Deer Association from 2021-2025, and said he’d never personally support that organization, calling it too far left. He recounted a public-land conflict where someone stole his tree stand after photographing him. Listener questions covered stand entry and exit timing, obtaining burn permits (Don favored calling the fire department over a permit), raccoon season length, and buck movement along downwind bedding edges, where Don said pressured mature bucks tend to stay within cover.

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