Episode #48 - Antler Genetics (what is a super doe?) When Do Sheds Fall? And Peeing Out of Your Stand…

Published: 2021-01-25
Episode page
Duration: 64 min

In this episode

antler-genetics

• Terry explained that antler mass is the easiest trait to breed for in captive deer, while antler width/spread is one of the least heritable traits. 19:13
• Terry said the number of antler points is fairly heritable and easy to increase through breeding, unlike antler height, which is harder to breed for. 20:16
• Terry said a buck’s rack traits actually come more from his maternal grandfather than from his own father. 22:41
• Terry said captive deer breeders believe does contribute at least 60% of antler genetics, with sires contributing the remaining 40%. 23:37
• Don asks how likely it is that a newly harvested buck is actually the son of a buck taken in previous years. 21:34
• Don asks Terry how likely it is that his two biggest bucks, Smokey and Mel, were related. 29:38

antler-shedding

• Terry reported hearing accounts and seeing photos of a few bucks that have already shed their antlers, though he expects most bucks are still carrying theirs. 1:14

book-sales

• Terry said they are down to the last box of his first book, originally published back in 2005. 38:04

buck-intelligence

• Terry said the easiest mature buck he ever killed was Smoky, because he knew he’d kill that buck, showing antler size doesn’t equal buck intelligence. 48:16

cell-camera-test

• Don plans to place all the trail cameras side by side on a soccer field grid within a couple weeks to test them under identical day and night conditions. 10:30
• Don plans to publish the final cell camera comparison write-up on the Higgins Outdoors blog page. 11:09

chasing-giants-hats

• Don explained that presale demand for Chasing Giants hats was so strong that vendor Stephanie Bryson in East Tennessee began producing more immediately. 37:11

coyote-impact

• Terry recalled a stretch when his trail cameras captured nearly as many coyote photos as deer photos, and his deer herd suffered as a result. 54:44

coyote-management

• Michael from Exline, Iowa asks whether calling coyotes from thick cover to the edges helps or harms deer, and if he should trap instead. 51:01

coyote-trapping

• Terry said trapping and hunting removed 17 coyotes from his 120 acres, which noticeably turned his deer hunting property around. 55:21

culling-deer

• Don proposed doing a future episode this spring diving deeper into culling deer by age class, a topic raised at seminars in Northeast Ohio. 31:35

enlist-training

• Don said upcoming content will include Enlist training material covering the herbicide program for food plotters entering the pilot program. 12:16

fall-line-ridge

• Don urged listeners to follow, like, and subscribe to Wes’s Fall Line Ridge YouTube channel, which covers sawmills, chainsaws, honeybees, and hunting. 8:28

genetic-pockets

• Don said he still believes ‘genetic pockets’ exist where certain small areas consistently produce much better bucks than surrounding areas. 29:02

guest-blog

• Don announced that Wes will be the first guest blog contributor featured on the Real World site, with a mass email and social media promotion planned. 5:13

hunting-humor

• Terry recounted an older client telling him, after being asked how he handles peeing from an enclosed blind, that the Lord had blessed Terry more than him. 60:38
• Matt Hargis from Prairie Grove, Arkansas asks Don and Terry how they feel about peeing off their tree stands during a hunt. 56:58

josh-pretzer

• Don recommended listeners check out Josh Pretzer’s Instagram page for food-plot education content on fertilizer and soil health. 18:14

mature-buck-difficulty

• Don said a mature buck is a hard animal to kill regardless of whether it carries 118 or 180 inches of antler. 47:44

merchandise

• Terry said hat and merchandise orders have been flooding in, keeping his wife busy packaging items all afternoon. 36:13
• Terry announced they ran out of some hat and shirt sizes for the presale but more hats are on the way. 36:41

news-boycott

• Terry said he also quit watching news broadcasts because of the news media’s liberal slant. 6:37

nutricrave-corn

• Don noted that the new corn variety offers over 200% more calories than normal ag corn, calling it a potential game changer. 13:39
• Terry said the corn is not only more nutritious for deer but also more attractive to them than regular corn. 13:49
• Terry predicted people could plant forty to eighty acres of the corn specifically to sell to deer hunters or make deer feed. 14:31
• Terry said that despite never being a big corn fan, after seeing this year’s results he will always plant some NutriCrave corn on his farm. 16:21

rut-biology

• Tom from Hale, Michigan asks whether his theory about late shedding tied to unbred does is wrong or a later cycle explains it. 40:16

scrape-hunting

• Terry said he has peed in scrapes before and guarantees bucks will come investigate and work the scrape afterward. 62:24

seed-partnership

• Don said seedsman Duane Hopkins provided tools that will be shared with listeners about learning the Enlist chemical program. 11:49

shed-hunting

• Don outlined plans to dedicate upcoming episodes to shed hunting techniques and methods for minimizing property intrusion while shed hunting. 1:29

sports-boycott

• Don said he stopped watching Kentucky basketball and sports generally once players began kneeling and staying in the locker room during the national anthem. 7:27
• Terry said he quit watching televised sports about two years ago once football players began kneeling during the national anthem. 6:23

super-does

• Terry explained that ‘super does’ pass on such strong antler genetics that their sons will out-antler their own fathers regardless of which buck they were bred to. 24:16
• Terry illustrated that if a super doe is bred to a 200-inch three-year-old buck, her son will surpass 200 inches at the same age, beating his father. 24:59
• Don noted that super does themselves can command very high prices at captive deer auctions, not just monster-antlered bucks. 26:12
• Don asks how the super-doe genetics theory translates into practical takeaways for an average landowner managing his herd. 27:08

third-book

• Terry said he’s considering writing a third book someday, though this will be the last printing of his first book. 38:25
• Terry jokingly floated ‘chasing giants in the real world’ as a possible title for a future third book. 38:42 (light moment)

video-production

• Don asks whether Terry took Monday off from consulting to film video content with Steve, who was in town last week. 1:47

weekly-plans

• Don asks Terry what he has planned for the coming week outside of his Wisconsin trip. 8:46

youtube-content

• Don announced plans to release more consistent video content, including recently filmed footage, on the Chasing Giants YouTube channel. 2:29

Deer activity

• Joey Buck (harvest) 2:05
• unnamed buck (harvest) 5:25
• Smokey (history) 29:54
• Mel (history) 30:15
• Mel (history) 31:21
• smoky (harvest) 48:11
• unnamed buck (sighting) 58:16

Listener questions

Question: Don asks whether Terry took Monday off from consulting to film video content with Steve, who was in town last week. 1:47

• Answer: Terry confirms he spent the entire day filming with Steve Shields, along with his friend Joe Johnson. 1:58

Question: Don asks Terry what he has planned for the coming week outside of his Wisconsin trip. 8:46

• Answer: Terry says he’ll do more consulting but stay closer to home, away only one night this week. 8:53

Question: Don asks how likely it is that a newly harvested buck is actually the son of a buck taken in previous years. 21:34

• Answer: Terry says it happens far less than people think, since a buck’s antler genetics come more from his mother than his father. 22:23

Question: Don asks how the super-doe genetics theory translates into practical takeaways for an average landowner managing his herd. 27:08

• Answer: Terry says there’s no way to know where a super doe is located within a wild deer herd. 27:17

Question: Don asks Terry how likely it is that his two biggest bucks, Smokey and Mel, were related. 29:38

• Answer: Terry says there’s a good chance they were related, noting Smokey was the first buck over 180 inches ever taken on his farm. 29:48

Question: Tom from Hale, Michigan asks whether his theory about late shedding tied to unbred does is wrong or a later cycle explains it. 40:16 — asked by Tom

• Answer: Don explains that antler shedding is driven by decreasing daylight and testosterone levels, not by whether does have been bred. 41:45
• Answer: Terry says there’s really only one rut, and a doe coming into heat is almost certain to get bred. 43:06
• Answer: Terry explains that with a lopsided one-to-ten buck-to-doe ratio, a buck doesn’t have to search hard to find the next receptive doe. 45:47

Question: Michael from Exline, Iowa asks whether calling coyotes from thick cover to the edges helps or harms deer, and if he should trap instead. 51:01 — asked by Michael

• Answer: Terry says he has no doubt coyotes stress deer, citing a property that went from great hunting to nearly worthless due to coyote overpopulation. 51:16
• Answer: Terry says he’s a big fan of trapping coyotes as long as it’s done away from core sanctuary areas, out on edges and open fields. 52:06
• Answer: Terry mentions his friend Todd Hewing, who has killed more coyotes at night calling with night vision than almost anyone in the area. 52:37

Question: Matt Hargis from Prairie Grove, Arkansas asks Don and Terry how they feel about peeing off their tree stands during a hunt. 56:58 — asked by Matt

• Answer: Don recalls that years ago he carried a bottle to pee in rather than peeing out of his stand. 57:13
• Answer: Don recounts that after he started peeing out of his stand, a two-year-old eight-pointer walked by, smelled the spot, and ate the grass where he had urinated. 58:16

Sponsors this episode

• BuyAFarm.com
• Low in the Wall
• Mathews Archery
• QuietKat
• Real World Wildlife Products
• Vortex Optics

Terry and Don spent much of the episode on antler genetics, with Terry explaining that antler mass and point count are easy to breed for while width and height are harder, and that rack traits come more from a buck’s maternal grandfather than his father. He described captive-breeding beliefs that does contribute at least 60% of antler genetics, with “super does” producing sons that out-antler their own sires. They discussed a new corn variety said to offer over 200% more calories than regular ag corn, which Terry said deer prefer and which he now plans to keep planting. Terry recounted trapping 17 coyotes off his 120 acres, which turned his deer hunting around, and took listener questions from Tom, Michael, and Matt Hargis on shedding timing, coyote calling, and urinating from tree stands. Don also mentioned Wes becoming the Real World blog’s first guest contributor.

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