Episode #39 - SPECIAL EDITION - DON SHOOTS ANOTHER GIANT! 2 Bucks = 400”+ of Antler in 2020

Published: 2020-11-25
Episode page
Duration: 62 min

In this episode

antler-score

Terry asked if Don would reveal the buck’s official score. 37:56

antler-score-comparison

Don’s combined 2017 antler score for Smokey and Trump was just over 400 inches, while his two 2020 bucks totaled about 406 inches combined. 38:47

blog-post

Terry referenced Don’s blog post titled the 2020 velvet buck review as the source describing this buck before it was named. 3:09

buck-age

Terry asked whether the buck Don killed on November 3 was seven or six years old. 15:58

buck-ranking

Terry asked where this buck ranks among all the bucks Don has ever shot. 38:15

friendship

Don says the best thing deer hunting has given him is the friendships he’s made with fellow deer hunters. 40:47

hunting-less

Terry says that since he stopped hunting when conditions were wrong, he has actually hunted less while seeing more deer and having more success. 47:50

hunting-pressure

Terry asked Don to explain what made this buck so hard to kill beyond the small size of the properties. 25:07

hunting-strategy

Don left his video camera in the truck that morning because of the rain and because the stand was in thick brush. 20:25

landowner-permission

Don prefers seeking hunting permission in person rather than by phone, so landowners have to look him in the eye if they refuse. 11:19

mel-video

Don announces that both Terry and Al Foster appear in the Mel video, releasing on YouTube Thanksgiving morning. 48:29

patience

Don did not hunt the buck at all in fall 2018 because it hadn’t developed into what he was looking for. 14:23

preparation

Don argues that while luck played a role in killing the buck fifteen minutes into his first hunt there, most people overlook the two years of preparation behind it. 23:52
Don says he knows hunters who hunt harder than he does, but none who put more hours into prep work, a statement that once got him roasted on social media. 45:34

public-land

If a new public-land buck Don is watching survives to next season, he plans to chase it as his next giant. 42:48

purpose

Don explains his purpose is reaching lost deer hunters, distinguishing it from deer hunting itself, which he calls his passion, not his purpose. 61:29

real-world-bucks

Don says three of his top five bucks ever taken did not come from his own managed property. 30:53

retrieval

Terry asked whether Don retrieved the downed buck using his four-wheeler. 35:15

scouting-network

Don relies on a small group of trusted outdoorsmen friends who act as his eyes and ears, reporting giant bucks only to him. 6:42

small-cover

Don states it doesn’t take a large patch of brush to hold a giant buck. 29:16

special-episode

Terry opened a special edition of Chasing Giants, only two nights after episode 38, to celebrate the giant buck Don had shot that same morning. 1:19

top-five-average

Don’s top five bucks now average roughly 204 inches of antler score. 38:37

weather-timing

Don decided he had to be in that specific stand Tuesday morning based on how the weather was setting up. 19:53

Deer activity

Joey Buck (history) 2:51
buck number three (trail-camera) 3:29
Joey Buck (history) 5:30
Joey Buck (history) 5:43
Joey Buck (history) 7:45
Joey Buck (trail-camera) 13:27
unnamed buck (harvest) 15:51
Mel (harvest) 17:14
unnamed buck (trail-camera) 17:55
Joey Buck (hunt) 22:56
Joey Buck (harvest) 23:09
Smokey (harvest) 38:47
Trump (harvest) 38:47
unnamed buck (trail-camera) 42:39
Mel (history) 50:03
Joey Buck (hunt) 55:40

Listener questions

Question: Terry asked Don to explain what made this buck so hard to kill beyond the small size of the properties. 25:07

Answer: Don explained he deliberately waited until after gun season ended, knowing gun hunters would otherwise pressure and stomp through the bigger tracts of land. 26:09

Question: Terry asked whether Don retrieved the downed buck using his four-wheeler. 35:15

Answer: Don said he rode in on his ATV instead of driving his truck, mainly to keep from tipping off local traffic to the location. 35:25

Question: Terry asked if Don would reveal the buck’s official score. 37:56

Answer: Don revealed a gross score of 185 and seven-eighths inches, nearly 186. 38:00

Question: Terry asked where this buck ranks among all the bucks Don has ever shot. 38:15

Answer: Don said the buck ranks as his fifth-best ever. 38:19

Question: Terry asked whether the buck Don killed on November 3 was seven or six years old. 15:58

Answer: Don confirmed the buck was a six-year-old. 16:02

Terry opened this special edition just two nights after episode 38 to mark a giant buck Don had shot that same morning, later called Joey Buck. Don explained the buck was hard to kill given the small properties involved, and that he waited until after gun season ended to avoid pressure on the bigger tracts. He rode in on his ATV rather than his truck to avoid tipping off local traffic, and left his video camera behind due to rain and thick brush. Don revealed a gross score of 185 and seven-eighths inches, ranking as his fifth-best buck ever, taken on November 3 from a six-year-old deer. He argued that despite luck being involved, two years of preparation went unnoticed, and noted three of his top five bucks came from land he doesn’t manage. Don said the best thing hunting has given him is friendships with other hunters.

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