Episode #42 - Christmas Gift Ideas, Hanging Tree Stands in February, and Last Giveaway for 2020

Published: 2020-12-14
Episode page
Duration: 71 min

In this episode

broadhead-debate

• Terry proposes running an Instagram poll to let listeners decide whether they want a mechanical broadhead debate segment. 17:39
• Don promises any guest who comes on to debate broadheads will be treated with utmost respect, not belittled. 18:52

buyafarm

• Terry recommends checking BuyAFarm’s website for its detailed property descriptions when property shopping. 33:44

cell-camera-test

• Terry says listener opinion split 50/50 on how to destroy the cell cameras, so they may do both a muzzleloader and mechanical broadhead test. 69:56

christmas-gifts

• Don lists a Lone Wolf Assault stand with a set of climbing sticks as a Christmas gift idea. 60:37
• Don suggests .223 and 9mm ammo as practical Christmas gifts since you can never have enough. 61:37
• Don suggests an OnX Hunt subscription as a Christmas gift for its property line and landowner contact information. 61:49
• Don recommends a steel battery-operated pruning saw as a Christmas gift, having received one from Terry. 62:15
• Don jokingly suggests buying real broadheads as a gift for anyone on your list who still shoots mechanicals. 63:47
• Terry suggests a replaceable-blade surgical hunting knife, like an Avalon, as a gift good for skinning and aging deer. 64:23
• Terry recommends a cheap rubber welcome/boot mat for the truck bed to keep from tracking in mud after hunting. 66:03

closing

• Terry closes by thanking listeners for supporting the show to top-20 status and hoping to keep growing. 70:42

cohost

• Don says he chose Terry as cohost specifically because Terry would challenge him rather than agree with everything. 16:30

consulting-trip

• Don describes meeting a young Ohio River-area couple setting up their property to share hunting access with handicapped people and kids. 25:21
• Don recounts meeting a Brazilian immigrant who arrived in his twenties speaking no English and later built a successful life in America. 25:50

cows

• Terry jokingly refuses to confirm or deny going after the cows in his food plot, joking about depositions. 34:18 (light moment)
• Don jokes that recording the podcast is the only thing stopping Terry from running out the door with a rifle after the cows. 34:13 (light moment)

film-school

• Don reports students have already sent deposits for both the May and August film school classes. 21:18

giveaway

• Don explains giveaway entrants had to like the Higgins Outdoors Facebook page and subscribe to the Chasing Giants YouTube channel. 68:11
• Don announces Joel Trovillian from Grantsburg, Illinois won the free attendance pass for the March 27 master class. 68:42

land-management

• Once Hayden buys a farm, what should be the first things he does with it, including possibly planting valuable timber? 46:25

land-purchase

• Starting over with a clean slate, where would Don buy land, and would he buy one big farm or multiple smaller farms? 46:10

late-season

• Don says the best thing for late-season hunters is a brutal cold front bringing heavy snow to boost deer movement. 24:11

listener-engagement

• Terry says he felt bad after a prior episode may have sounded like they didn’t want listener messages. 5:04

listener-messages

• Don explains he now gets 200 to 250 messages a day and tries to respond to everyone. 6:06

master-classes

• Don reports the March 13 master class is full while the other two March classes are filling quickly. 20:35

mechanical-broadheads

• Don states he has never shot mechanical or expandable broadheads and never will. 12:44
• Don believes expandable broadheads wound more deer than fixed-blade broadheads. 13:54
• Terry admits he did previously shoot mechanical broadheads out of a crossbow. 15:27

mission

• Don and Terry state their goal is to represent the hunting community rather than the hunting industry. 11:02

new-home

• Don says he wants to build his wife a new home after decades of her patience, which factors into selling the Ohio farm. 28:19

ohio-property

• Don states he owns a 155-acre Pike County, Ohio property he never got to hunt this trip and plans to sell it. 27:56
• Don describes bringing in heavy equipment to clear 14 acres for a food plot on the Ohio property. 29:01
• Don says he installed 360 Hunting Blinds and three Redneck feeders on the Ohio food plot. 29:13

podcast-ranking

• Terry reports the podcast peaked as high as #10 in the wilderness category on Apple Podcasts during November. 3:00

prescribed-fire

• Do Don and Terry use prescribed fire to clear cedar thickets and enhance native growth? 40:18

sponsorship

• Don notes rising sponsorship interest from companies with no prior relationship as a sign of growing popularity. 8:27
• Don states the podcast will never promote a product they don’t personally believe in. 9:01
• Terry observes mid-tier hunting personalities frequently switch bow sponsors year to year. 10:14

stand-prep

• Don recommends prepping stands and trimming shooting lanes during winter months before spring green-up rather than right before hunting. 56:52

swamp-hunting

• Does Don have advice for hunting swampland not connected to hardwoods, or success stories hunting swamp? 35:14

tag-filled

• Don says he already filled both of his buck tags in Illinois and has been traveling for consulting visits. 24:34

thermal-cover

• What makes good thermal cover in a cedar thicket where deer seemingly wouldn’t need it? 40:09

treestand-safety

• Don recommends replacing tree stand straps with chains so the hunter’s weight never relies on a strap. 55:38

youtube

• Terry notes the Mel video has surpassed 350,000 views. 8:09

Deer activity

• Mel (harvest) 22:44
• unnamed buck (sighting) 30:16

Listener questions

Question: Does Don have advice for hunting swampland not connected to hardwoods, or success stories hunting swamp? 35:14 — asked by Tyler Steenbuck

• Answer: Don says the listener is doing everything right by staying on the edges and should focus on playing the wind correctly. 36:23
• Answer: Terry adds that manipulating cover and food placement lets a hunter access swamp edges from multiple wind directions. 37:16

Question: What makes good thermal cover in a cedar thicket where deer seemingly wouldn’t need it? 40:09

• Answer: Don explains thermal cover protects deer from wind and cold, and cedars even radiate heat. 43:35
• Answer: Terry says the deer on his property bed in his cedars on the lee side of the hill, making it his best cover. 41:33

Question: Do Don and Terry use prescribed fire to clear cedar thickets and enhance native growth? 40:18

• Answer: Don says he prescribed-burns his native grass fields to remove weeds and stimulate desirable plants. 44:22
• Answer: Terry says he avoids prescribed burns on his steep Kentucky hillsides, instead mechanically clearing thickets. 42:37

Question: Starting over with a clean slate, where would Don buy land, and would he buy one big farm or multiple smaller farms? 46:10 — asked by Hayden Beagle

• Answer: Don says he would buy close to home rather than out of state for more usable time on the property. 47:51
• Answer: Don says he prefers several smaller farms so target bucks are easier to pattern and kill than scattered over one large farm. 49:01
• Answer: Terry adds that producing world-class bucks every year off a single property is rare, favoring multiple properties. 51:07

Question: Once Hayden buys a farm, what should be the first things he does with it, including possibly planting valuable timber? 46:25 — asked by Hayden Beagle

• Answer: Don says a young buyer should plant a grove of walnut trees right away for a long-term retirement income payoff. 49:25

Sponsors this episode

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

Don and Terry opened discussing the show’s growth, noting a #10 wilderness-category peak on Apple Podcasts, Don fielding 200 to 250 messages a day, and the Mel video passing 350,000 views, while affirming they’d never promote a product they didn’t believe in. A broadhead disagreement followed: Don said he’s never shot mechanicals and believes they wound more deer, Terry admitted once using them in a crossbow, and they floated an Instagram poll on doing a debate segment. Don recounted an Illinois trip where he filled both tags, then described his 155-acre Pike County, Ohio farm, clearing 14 acres for a food plot with new blinds and feeders, and his plan to sell it partly to build his wife a new home. Listener questions covered swamp hunting edges, thermal cover in cedar thickets, prescribed burns, and land-buying strategy, with Don favoring several smaller farms over one large property.

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