Episode #41 - Don and Terry start a new December Series called “Make A Good Spot Great!”

Published: 2020-12-07
Episode page
Duration: 68 min

In this episode

audience-engagement

• Don reports he is now fielding two hundred to two hundred fifty contacts a day via text, email, Facebook, and phone. 58:41

bedding-area

• Robbie asks how he can compete with an untouched 50-acre bedding sanctuary in the middle of his 200-acre property. 45:27

business-philosophy

• Terry states that Real World Wildlife Products would rather turn down a sale than tell customers something wrong, since a bad recommendation costs repeat business. 57:17

captive-deer-research

• Paul asks how much Don learned from his herd of pinned deer that translated into his hunting success. 37:22

christmas-list

• Terry announces that next week he and Don will each compile a non-sponsored Christmas gift-idea list of products they personally find useful. 35:14

deer-behavior

• Roger Rothhaar, a legendary Ohio whitetail hunter, told Don that a mature buck will walk 100 yards out of its way to use an open gate rather than jump a fence. 21:54
• Don explains that for the first two weeks of December, post-rut bucks often stay bedded until dark before walking to food, causing very limited daylight movement. 25:53

film-school

• Terry announces the new film school has session dates set for May 15 and August 21. 29:30

food-plot

• Don recommends starting a Miscanthus planting strip 20 yards out from the stand, leaving an open shooting lane between the tree and the grass. 21:33
• Don notes clover stays green under snow and outlasts frost-killed alfalfa, making it more attractive to deer in late season. 27:31

funneling

• Terry recalls watching Don remove a metal clip from a high-tensile fence and tie the wires together, lowering it to funnel deer through a low crossing point. 20:17
• Don relays that well-known hunters in Northern Missouri and Iowa line round hay bales to funnel deer along field or woods edges. 22:58

habitat-management

• Don explains that dropping junk trees and piling brush can push deer twenty to thirty yards closer to a stand fairly easily. 13:49
• Don advises pushing deer closer via winter habitat work so that the key to success is getting deer funneled to an easy shot distance. 14:31
• Terry describes pushing dead trees into a brush wall along a field edge on his property last summer to redirect deer movement. 23:57

harvest

• Don confirms he shot the buck from just a few yards away. 9:26
• Don notes the two bucks he shot this year were combined less than 20 yards total distance from his tree. 13:13
• Don shot the buck Joey just fifteen minutes into his first hunt, less than 48 hours after predicting the perfect conditions. 42:01

master-class

• Don announces a speaking engagement in Northeast Ohio in early January where he will teach for three days. 28:36
• Don announces Chaz Cohoon of Troy, Missouri as the winner of the free pass to the March 20 master class. 62:13

podcast-schedule

• Terry announces the podcast will keep airing weekly through the end of the year instead of reverting to biweekly, due to strong listener demand. 2:40

stand-placement

• Don recommends using wire fence panels to block deer movement and funnel them past a stand at close range. 17:43
• Don reveals the stand he shot Joey from had sat unused in the woods for two years, waiting for the right conditions. 43:39

switchgrass

• Ryan asks for the difference between Real World Switchgrass and Real World Bedding in a Bag. 47:10
• Ryan asks what to plant for bedding in bottom ground that floods in spring but is dry the rest of the year. 48:04
• Ryan asks what seed rate to use for switchgrass bedding versus screens, and whether it differs from Bedding in a Bag. 48:49
• Ryan asks why Real World’s website recommends at least five acres before planting a switchgrass bedding area. 53:13
• Ryan asks whether he should frost-seed switchgrass into a recently clear-cut, wide-open timber area for bedding. 55:25

trail-camera

• Terry floats the idea of raffling off trail cameras that perform well in his ongoing cell-camera durability test. 63:23
• Terry says two of the cell cameras he is testing have performed so badly he wouldn’t give them to his worst enemy. 63:31
• Terry plans to bring all tested trail cameras back to Kentucky after the season for a controlled durability trial on a soccer field using a QuietKat or side-by-side. 64:54
• Don says he owns just one cellular trail camera, an Exodus he bought last summer. 65:54
• Don says his Exodus cell camera, running since September on its original batteries, is still reliably sending photos from a hard-to-reach property. 66:16
• Terry reports his Exodus trail camera still shows about 97 percent battery life on an Illinois bean field, still performing strongly. 66:25

tree-stand-placement

• Don recommends first choosing the hunting location, then finding the best available tree there rather than seeking a mythical perfect tree. 12:38

viral-video

• Terry notes the viral mailbox video is expected to surpass 300,000 views by the next day. 2:59
• Terry points out the video has almost 300,000 views but only 4,500 likes, urging viewers to like it and comment. 8:02
• Don says roughly 90 percent of feedback on the viral video has been positive despite a vocal negative minority. 3:35
• Don recounts confronting a critical commenter and offering to take him to the exact tree where the buck in the video was shot at his master course. 4:03

Deer activity

• Mill (harvest) 9:18
• Mel (harvest) 13:19
• Joey (harvest) 13:19
• Joey (harvest) 42:01
• Joey (hunt) 43:39

Listener questions

Question: Paul asks how much Don learned from his herd of pinned deer that translated into his hunting success. 37:22 — asked by Paul Cerrita

• Answer: Don says his 25-year captive deer herd taught him that deer’s feed intake changes dramatically between summer and winter, along with lessons on genetics and behavior. 37:57

Question: Robbie asks how he can compete with an untouched 50-acre bedding sanctuary in the middle of his 200-acre property. 45:27

• Answer: Don advises Robbie not to compete with the natural sanctuary but to focus food plots on his own acreage to pull deer out of it. 45:53

Question: Ryan asks for the difference between Real World Switchgrass and Real World Bedding in a Bag. 47:10 — asked by Ryan Unlore

• Answer: Don explains Real World Switchgrass is a single grass species, while Bedding in a Bag mixes switchgrass with Indian grass and big bluestem. 47:48

Question: Ryan asks what to plant for bedding in bottom ground that floods in spring but is dry the rest of the year. 48:04

• Answer: Don recommends switchgrass, noting it can tolerate brief flooding of a few days but not extended weeks-long flooding. 48:17

Question: Ryan asks what seed rate to use for switchgrass bedding versus screens, and whether it differs from Bedding in a Bag. 48:49

• Answer: Don recommends four pounds of switchgrass seed per acre regardless of whether it’s for screening or bedding, mixed with pelletized lime for even spreading. 50:10

Question: Ryan asks why Real World’s website recommends at least five acres before planting a switchgrass bedding area. 53:13

• Answer: Don explains five acres gives bedded deer enough buffer from the dangerous field edge, unlike smaller patches. 53:24

Question: Ryan asks whether he should frost-seed switchgrass into a recently clear-cut, wide-open timber area for bedding. 55:25

• Answer: Don says never plant native grasses like switchgrass or Miscanthus under timber canopy; they need full sun, comparing it to trying to grow corn in the woods. 55:36

Sponsors this episode

• BuyAFarm.com
• 360 Hunting Blinds
• QuietKat
• Lone Wolf Treestands
• Mathews Archery
• Vortex Optics
• Real World Wildlife Products

Terry and Don discussed the viral mailbox buck video, which was nearing 300,000 views with only 4,500 likes; Don said feedback ran roughly 90 percent positive and described confronting one critical commenter by offering to show him the exact tree. Don explained his approach to stand placement: pick the location first, then find the best tree there, and use winter habitat work such as dropping junk trees, wire fence panels, hay bale lines, and Miscanthus strips to funnel deer within easy shot range. He noted post-rut bucks stay bedded until dark in early December and that clover outlasts frost-killed alfalfa in late season. Don also recounted shooting the buck Joey fifteen minutes into a hunt from a stand left unused for two years. Listener questions covered bedding sanctuaries, switchgrass versus Bedding in a Bag, seed rates, and planting bedding grasses only in full sun.

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