Episode #61 - Live from the Midwest Sportsman Show - TOUGH QUESTIONS FROM LIVE CROWD

Published: 2021-04-19
Episode page
Duration: 64 min

In this episode

bedding

• A listener from Michigan asks how much stress occurs between bucks and does over shared bedding areas. 25:20

buck-behavior

• Wayne asks if bucks bed in unusual spots like fence rows near houses because they know people won’t hunt there. 44:46

consulting

• A Wisconsin landowner told Don he hired a previous consultant whose plan produced abundant deer but no mature bucks, prompting him to bring in Don. 30:47

cover-types

• John Jay asks whether Don would choose switchgrass or trees to create cover. 50:24

doe-management

• Don says he avoids shooting does on his farm until after the rut, then starts heavily culling does once the rut ends. 55:35
• Lewis asks whether a property can have too many does. 53:27
• Terry relays a listener’s question asking whether too many does will push a buck off the property. 63:51

food-plots

• Don notes that a key advantage of a spring food plot is getting a second chance to replant if the first attempt fails. 0:21
• Don recommends planting food plots right up to the edge of a neighboring ag field, saying a Miscanthus buffer strip around it is a good idea. 23:52
• Lamar asks how wide a buffer is needed between a food plot and a tilled field, and whether sprayed Miscanthus would die. 23:17

habitat-work

• Parker asks the best time of year to do woods work like food plots or bedding areas. 31:33

human-intrusion

• A listener asks how Don distinguishes necessary woods work from harmful human intrusion. 61:02

iowa-giant

• Terry asks Don to describe his recent trip to Iowa. 3:27

leasing

• Alex asks whether he should keep leasing a property whose farmer regularly rides four-wheelers through the woods during summer. 27:54

lesters-feet-foundation

• Terry announces the Lester’s Feet raffle is live online at scsalesonline.com, with tickets available for $25 each or five for $100. 8:48
• Terry explains the Lester’s Feet raffle is a charity raffle where 100% of proceeds, with no fixed costs, go to help families with children facing life-altering illnesses. 10:45
• Terry recounts that the foundation helped a family whose two young girls are fighting leukemia by paying their house and farm payments for the month of March. 11:03

live-show

• Terry announces the show is Episode 61 of Chasing Our Giants, broadcasting live from the Midwest Sportsman Classic in Shipshewana, Indiana. 1:00
• Terry announces the podcast is broadcasting live over the venue’s house speakers to the entire Midwest Sportsman’s Classic show hall. 1:32

miscanthus

• A listener asks whether Don prefers Miscanthus grass or switchgrass. 48:00

personal-life

• Terry shares that his eighth-grade daughter, playing varsity high school softball, hit her first home run over the center field fence. 63:13

raffle

• Terry announces the raffle’s grand prize is a guided hunt on Don’s property in late October, with the runner-up prize a hunt with Terry on his Kentucky farm. 9:27

scouting

• Terry asks what Don looks for when scouting a newly accessed property this late in the season. 4:41

small-property

• Derek asks how many acres of a 20-acre wooded property he should clear for a food plot. 32:37

soybeans

• Terry asks why and how soybeans get inoculated when planting into old pasture or CRP ground. 35:13

standing-corn

• Ray asks if Don would still hunt a proven stand on a cold morning when the neighboring field is still standing corn. 37:17

tag-out

• John Jay asks whether Don would recommend the Tag Out crew to do habitat work. 51:27

timber-management

• Don explains he dislikes hinge cutting because the tree stays alive and keeps competing with surrounding trees, preferring to cut worthless trees off at the ground. 56:25
• Jacob asks whether Don does habitat or timber work inside his wooded property or leaves it untouched. 40:42

trail-cameras

• Terry asks what Don’s plans are between now and deploying trail cameras into velvet season. 5:57

tsi

• Ray asks what to do with the felled tops after a 40-acre TSI cut. 47:18
• John Jay asks whether woods can get too thick after TSI for deer to use. 58:22

water-holes

• A listener asks if a water hole along a travel corridor makes a good bow stand setup for cruising bucks. 38:57

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (history) 41:57
• unnamed buck (sighting) 44:43
• unnamed buck (harvest) 45:45
• Joey Buck (harvest) 46:13
• Trump (harvest) 49:26

Listener questions

Question: Terry asks Don to describe his recent trip to Iowa. 3:27

• Answer: Don recounts that on Monday he hung a couple of tree stands on the Iowa farm where he has hunting permission. 3:31

Question: Terry asks what Don looks for when scouting a newly accessed property this late in the season. 4:41

• Answer: Don says he looks for other hunters’ sign like tree stands, since he avoids stand sites near other hunters because mature bucks avoid human presence too. 5:02
• Answer: Don also looks for past rut sign such as scrapes and rubs, plus deer funnels and potential stand locations. 5:24

Question: Terry asks what Don’s plans are between now and deploying trail cameras into velvet season. 5:57

• Answer: Don says he hung two new cell cameras this week to learn to use them before deploying more across the properties in July. 6:08

Question: Lamar asks how wide a buffer is needed between a food plot and a tilled field, and whether sprayed Miscanthus would die. 23:17 — asked by Lamar

• Answer: Don explains that if pesticide overspray kills a planted Miscanthus buffer, the applicator who sprayed the neighboring crop is legally liable for replacing it. 24:15

Question: A listener from Michigan asks how much stress occurs between bucks and does over shared bedding areas. 25:20

• Answer: Don says both bucks and does primarily want freedom from human intrusion and a bed where they feel safest, so bedding together isn’t a problem. 25:43

Question: Alex asks whether he should keep leasing a property whose farmer regularly rides four-wheelers through the woods during summer. 27:54 — asked by Alex

• Answer: Don says he’d try talking to the landowner about the intrusion, but would move on from the lease if it couldn’t be eliminated. 28:31

Question: Parker asks the best time of year to do woods work like food plots or bedding areas. 31:33 — asked by Parker

• Answer: Don says he does his habitat work starting when deer season ends in January. 31:48
• Answer: Don continues habitat work until roughly now, stopping once the trees leaf out and turn green in spring. 31:56

Question: Derek asks how many acres of a 20-acre wooded property he should clear for a food plot. 32:37 — asked by Derek

• Answer: Don says with only 20 acres of cover, he’d look at what’s the weakest link in the surrounding area before deciding. 33:39
• Answer: Don emphasizes that what surrounds a property matters more than what’s on it when deciding the food-to-cover ratio. 33:48

Question: Terry asks why and how soybeans get inoculated when planting into old pasture or CRP ground. 35:13

• Answer: Don explains inoculant is a fungus applied to soybean seed that boosts germination rates on never-farmed ground. 35:33
• Answer: Don describes the process: mow the old pasture, let it green up, then spray before no-till drilling inoculated soybeans. 35:48

Question: Ray asks if Don would still hunt a proven stand on a cold morning when the neighboring field is still standing corn. 37:17 — asked by Ray

• Answer: Don says he’d still hunt the stand since he knows the deer’s habits and doesn’t believe the standing corn would affect their movement. 37:38

Question: A listener asks if a water hole along a travel corridor makes a good bow stand setup for cruising bucks. 38:57

• Answer: Don says water holes have their place but are generally over-hyped. 39:34
• Answer: Don recalls a buck panting from heat near his stand and says a water hole would be fantastic during unseasonably warm falls. 39:57

Question: Jacob asks whether Don does habitat or timber work inside his wooded property or leaves it untouched. 40:42 — asked by Jacob

• Answer: Don says he does maintenance work in his wooded property, always timed for winter after hunting season. 41:06
• Answer: Don adds he isn’t a fan of hinge cutting but will drop trees with no current or future value. 41:39

Question: A listener asks whether Don prefers Miscanthus grass or switchgrass. 48:00

• Answer: Don says he likes both Miscanthus and switchgrass and prefers planting them together. 48:04
• Answer: Don has found deer like to bed against taller Miscanthus grass planted within switchgrass fields. 48:22

Question: Lewis asks whether a property can have too many does. 53:27 — asked by Lewis

• Answer: Don confirms a property can have too many does, but says the real question is whether anything can be done about it. 53:38
• Answer: Don warns that shooting does without neighborhood-wide management just invites more deer in, defeating the effort. 54:14

Question: John Jay asks whether Don would choose switchgrass or trees to create cover. 50:24 — asked by John Jay

• Answer: Don says he’d choose whichever cover type is scarcer locally, comparing a property to one square on a giant checkerboard that must stand out. 50:41

Question: John Jay asks whether Don would recommend the Tag Out crew to do habitat work. 51:27

• Answer: Don says he genuinely recommends the Tag Out crew and sends them work every year, praising their integrity. 53:15

Question: Ray asks what to do with the felled tops after a 40-acre TSI cut. 47:18 — asked by Ray

• Answer: Don says he just lets the felled tops lay after TSI work. 47:33
• Answer: Don adds he’ll occasionally pile tops along a property line with a bad neighbor to block deer traffic there. 47:41

Question: John Jay asks whether woods can get too thick after TSI for deer to use. 58:22

• Answer: Don says he can’t recall ever seeing a woods too thick for deer, especially if the TSI is done right. 58:31

Question: A listener asks how Don distinguishes necessary woods work from harmful human intrusion. 61:02

• Answer: Don acknowledges doing habitat work creates intrusion, but his approach is to get any project done quickly and get out. 61:22

Question: Wayne asks if bucks bed in unusual spots like fence rows near houses because they know people won’t hunt there. 44:46 — asked by Wayne

• Answer: Don says he doesn’t think bucks reason that way, but that particular buck simply never encountered human presence there. 44:55

Question: Terry relays a listener’s question asking whether too many does will push a buck off the property. 63:51

• Answer: Don says no, buck movement off a property is governed by human intrusion and pressure, not doe numbers. 63:58

This was episode 61 of Chasing Our Giants, broadcast live from a sportsman’s trade show in Indiana, with sound carried over the venue’s speakers to the whole hall. Terry publicized a charity raffle whose proceeds went entirely to families of children with serious illnesses, noting the foundation had recently covered a month of house and farm payments for a family whose daughters were battling leukemia. Most of the show covered listener questions for Don on habitat and hunting strategy: buffer strips of Miscanthus along ag fields, timing woods work between season’s end and spring leaf-out, avoiding stands near other hunters’ sign, doe management and its limited effect on buck movement, water holes being overrated except in warm weather, soybean inoculation on old pasture ground, and skepticism toward hinge cutting in favor of dropping low-value trees outright. Don also described scouting a newly leased Iowa farm and endorsed the Tag Out crew for habitat work. Terry mentioned his daughter’s first varsity home run as a lighter aside.

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