#329 | Why Don Higgins Gets More Excited About July Than Opening Day

Published: 2026-06-14
Episode page
Duration: 63 min

In this episode

al-foster

• Don relays that Al Foster said in the video that Don isn’t done shooting 200-inch deer. 14:09

bear-hunt

• Terry recalls his Canada bear hunt sits were extremely long since it doesn’t get dark until 10-11pm. 36:33

bear-hunt-video

• Terry describes unbelievable footage in the second bear episode of a blonde or cinnamon bear climbing a tree with Grant Nicodemus. 10:17

cedar-management

• A listener asks how to reclaim a south-facing 40-acre cedar thicket that deer have begun avoiding as a sanctuary. 45:20

cell-phones

• Terry admits cell phones in the tree stand help pass time but are also a serious distraction. 34:40

chasing-assurance

• Terry announces his dad has been voted and accepted the call to become president of Louisville Bible College. 21:54

chasing-giants-tv

• Terry announces the first episode of the Chasing Giants TV bear hunt released the day before the podcast. 10:04

cover-crops

• An anonymous La Crosse, Wisconsin listener asks what cover crop to plant with soybeans to fight emerging waterhemp. 39:07

deer-repellent

• Don sprayed a deer repellent mixed with herbicide on his soybeans to try to reduce browse pressure. 2:26

deer-reproduction

• Terry asks why does sometimes have one, two, or three fawns, and whether twin fawns can be sired by different bucks. 28:56

doubting-thomas-video

• Don announces the Doubting Thomas video will release July 1 on the Chasing Giants TV YouTube channel. 11:22
• Terry notes the Doubting Thomas video includes interviews with Al Foster and Tim Heath about whether to shoot the deer. 12:34

faith

• Don states that nature’s intricate design is further proof to him that there is a God, not random chance. 34:09

fawns

• Don explains that captive fawns denied access to dirt developed digestive issues, which is why he learned fawns need dirt for gut microbes. 26:47

food-plots

• Terry says his clover looks amazing, having mowed it three times already and cut alfalfa the previous week. 4:14
• Don sprayed clethodim to kill grass in his plots once it dried out enough. 4:40

hairy-vetch

• Terry is testing two hairy vetch varieties this spring and three varieties overseeded on soybeans this fall. 53:54
• Terry jokingly tells listeners’ dogs to watch out before clarifying he’s only kidding about hairy vetch danger. 53:29 (light moment)
• Carl Compton from Findlay, Illinois asks whether hairy vetch seeds, known to poison cats, dogs, and horses, are also dangerous to deer. 50:37

hunting-season

• Don plans to keep his cell phone in his pocket more this fall and simply take in nature while hunting. 33:40

mayo-clinic

• Don and Robin are heading to Mayo Clinic for doctor’s appointments Monday through Wednesday of the coming week. 1:11

neighbor-farmer

• Don jokes that a neighboring farmer avoids spraying too close to his yard for fear of upsetting Robin. 5:30 (light moment)

new-optics

• Terry says the new unreleased binocular model he’s giving Don a preview of isn’t on the market yet. 20:14

nutricrave-corn

• Eli Doyle from Lewistown, Illinois asks whether Don has tested the nutrient content of Nutri-Crave Corn as roughage or silage, not just the kernel. 54:34

ph-drill

• Terry says the new m series pH drill will be the best food-plotting equipment purchase for the right person. 6:41
• Don calls the pH drill his favorite food-plotting equipment, using it to no-till everything except his corn ground. 7:43

prayer-appreciation

• Don says not a day passes without listener texts saying they’re praying for him and Robin, which he greatly appreciates. 63:04

prayer-request

• Terry thanks listeners for their continued prayers for Robin as she begins cancer treatment. 1:34

robin-cancer-diagnosis

• Don shares that Robin’s cancer diagnosis this year has genuinely changed his outlook on many things. 33:29

robin-cancer-treatment

• Don explains Robin’s first chemo treatment falls two days before the West Wind grand opening, so he’ll stay home with her. 18:54

scrape-magnet

• Hunter O’Leary from Rosso, Minnesota asks whether to soak an old weathering rope before hanging Scrape Magnet and how to keep it active. 56:07

smokey-video

• Terry notes the earlier Smokey video has surpassed two million views, showing how much social sharing helps reach. 13:08

sprayer-management

• Terry recommends stacking herbicides in the sprayer tank in order rather than cleaning it out repeatedly. 5:03

storm-damage

• Don describes storm damage near Arthur, Illinois that knocked out power at the Real World Wildlife Products office for a day. 2:58

traditional-archery

• Don relays that Joe Miles plans to hunt with traditional gear this year as part of a bowhunting trend. 35:29
• Don reflects that what’s in a hunter’s hand, like a stick bow, is a reflection of what’s in their heart. 36:21

trail-cameras

• Don notes July 1 is the traditional date he and Terry have always promoted for getting trail cameras out. 8:45

weather

• Don reports getting five inches of rain since the last recording, ending a dry stretch on his food plots. 1:01
• Terry mentions hearing that bad storms and even a tornado hit Northern Indiana this past week. 1:44
• Don totals his week’s rainfall at 4.8 inches across three separate rain events. 2:37

west-wind-wildlife

• Terry announces Tag Out’s new West Wind Wildlife store grand opening June 19-20 in Bremen, Indiana. 16:26
• Terry hopes listeners will join him and Derek Burkholder’s team at the Tag Out grand opening in Northern Indiana. 62:44

woodsmanship

• Terry credits Bobby Worthington’s term ‘woodsmanship’ for describing the connection with nature that gear-heavy hunting can erode. 35:04

work-life-balance

• Terry says that after a hectic stretch of work he took a lazy day and didn’t get much done. 0:39

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 8:18
• unnamed buck (history) 12:17
• unnamed buck (harvest) 14:58
• unnamed buck (sighting) 23:30
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 25:36
• Doubting Thomas (history) 59:25

Listener questions

Question: Terry asks why does sometimes have one, two, or three fawns, and whether twin fawns can be sired by different bucks. 28:56

• Answer: Don explains a mature doe has twins roughly 80% of the time, with singles making up most of the remaining share and triplets around 5%. 30:10
• Answer: Don recalls a Mississippi State study, mentioned by Bronson, finding roughly 25-28% of twin fawns have different fathers. 31:17

Question: An anonymous La Crosse, Wisconsin listener asks what cover crop to plant with soybeans to fight emerging waterhemp. 39:07

• Answer: Don recommends immediately spraying a heavy dose of glyphosate mixed with Flexstar or Cobra, since it’s too late for a cover crop to fix the weeds. 40:26
• Answer: Don stresses that using a pre-emergent herbicide before planting is the real fix for future seasons. 41:15
• Answer: Terry warns the Flexstar/Cobra rescue treatment will visibly stunt soybeans without killing them. 43:49
• Answer: Don notes waterhemp emerges later in summer, so the listener likely still has time to rescue his crop while it’s small. 44:21

Question: A listener asks how to reclaim a south-facing 40-acre cedar thicket that deer have begun avoiding as a sanctuary. 45:20

• Answer: Don recommends using a skid loader with shears to pinch off cedar trees across an area rather than cutting each one. 45:48
• Answer: After cutting, Don lets the fallen cedars sit about a year, then burns the whole area the following spring to reset it. 46:10
• Answer: Terry uses a mini excavator with a shear attachment to grab and cut lightweight cedars on hillsides. 47:52

Question: Carl Compton from Findlay, Illinois asks whether hairy vetch seeds, known to poison cats, dogs, and horses, are also dangerous to deer. 50:37 — asked by Carl Compton

• Answer: Don researched the question and confirmed hairy vetch, particularly mature plants and seeds, can indeed be poisonous. 51:01
• Answer: The seeds contain cyanide, and toxicity mainly concerns mature hairy vetch plants and seeds rather than young growth. 51:17
• Answer: Don doesn’t expect hairy vetch toxicity to be a real issue for deer, since it mainly affects cattle and horses on mature plants. 51:49
• Answer: Don shares that deer heavily browsed his hairy vetch overseed last fall, eating it down to nothing without apparent harm. 52:37

Question: Eli Doyle from Lewistown, Illinois asks whether Don has tested the nutrient content of Nutri-Crave Corn as roughage or silage, not just the kernel. 54:34 — asked by Eli Doyle

• Answer: Don admits he doesn’t have exact figures handy, but recalls locally-grown NutriCrave corn silage tested more favorably than traditional silage corn from the same farm and year. 55:12

Question: Hunter O’Leary from Rosso, Minnesota asks whether to soak an old weathering rope before hanging Scrape Magnet and how to keep it active. 56:07 — asked by Hunter O’Leary

• Answer: Don soaks his ropes for Scrape Magnet in a small bucket, coiling the rope in and pouring the product over it before hanging. 57:19
• Answer: Don warns that soaking a chemically-treated rope in Scrape Magnet produces a strong ammonia odor from a reaction with the treatment. 57:36
• Answer: Don says a spray bottle also works to apply Scrape Magnet to a licking branch, not just ropes. 60:14

Terry and Don opened with weather and plot updates: Don logged 4.8 inches of rain across three events after a dry spell and used clethodim and a deer-repellent/herbicide mix on soybeans, while Terry mowed clover three times and praised the m series pH drill as top food-plot equipment. They covered Chasing Giants TV news, including the bear hunt episodes, an upcoming Doubting Thomas release with Al Foster and Tim Heath, and the Smokey video passing two million views. Don shared that Robin’s cancer diagnosis and starting chemo shifted his outlook, prompting him to spend more time unplugged in the stand, echoing Terry’s point about phones as distraction from woodsmanship. Listener questions covered fawn twinning odds, rescuing waterhemp-infested soybeans, reclaiming a cedar sanctuary with shears and controlled burns, hairy vetch toxicity concerns, Nutri-Crave Corn silage data, and prepping Scrape Magnet ropes.

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