Episode #7 - Hunting during lock down - Things do not always go easy in the “Real World”

Published: 2019-11-18
Episode page
Duration: 63 min

In this episode

access-points

Terry notes having two access points with different wind directions on a property is vital, or else you can only hunt it a quarter of the time. 59:56

announcement

Terry announces that their company, Real World Wildlife Products, has big news coming near the end of the year. 63:13

antler-point-restrictions

Jacob Wessels of Fairbury, Illinois asks whether antler point restrictions do more harm than good and if Don would encourage Illinois DNR to implement them. 49:39

banter

Don jokes that he’s glad he wasn’t there to help remove the Q-tip from Terry’s ear, guessing Terry would still be stuck there. 62:27 (light moment)

bedding-cover

Don states that bedding cover matters more than food for holding mature bucks, notable since he runs a food plot seed company. 58:38

big-buck-serial-killers

Don recalls that Gabe Shaffner, a deceased author from his second book, had a wife Sharon who was his biggest supporter and fan. 23:22

buck-history

Terry relays that Kyle had a six-year history with a particular buck and had actively hunted him directly for three or four of those years. 26:26

contact-info

Don announces that listeners can reach Wayne Keller at BuyAFarm.com by phone and should mention hearing about it on Chasing Giants. 31:39

deer-density

Terry describes the spot as having very high deer numbers near houses with little hunting pressure, despite not quite being urban deer. 2:52

discipline

Don credits Terry for his discipline in sticking out a difficult three-hunt trip despite the plowed field and other setbacks. 14:48

faith

Terry shares that faith and prayer are deeply important to him and Don, believing prayer matters for everyday concerns, not just major crises. 47:50
Terry recalls that several people, including himself, were praying the night Don shot Trump that he would successfully recover the buck. 47:35

family

Don shares that his dad joined him to recover a buck for the first time in thirty-eight years, during the Smokey hunt. 48:26

future-plans

Terry plans to watch the weather and possibly return to Illinois as early as Tuesday to hunt again. 15:29

gun-season-timing

Terry argues Kentucky’s deer herd would be far better if the state moved its rifle season out of the rut, something he’s lobbied for. 53:58
Don observes Indiana sits between top big-buck states Illinois and Ohio yet lags behind because its rifle season falls in the middle of the rut. 54:50

hardest-buck

Steven Pope asks which of all the bucks Don has harvested was the hardest or most challenging, and why. 39:02

harvest-report

Terry reports that his friend Josh in Kansas shot an absolute giant buck that night. 13:45
Terry notes his hunting partner Patrick Simpson has also shot a giant buck this season. 13:54

hunting-luck

Don recalls getting totally skunked in October before his luck turned and he shot two bucks in two days. 15:53

hunting-mishap

Terry recounts losing a Q-tip cotton ball in his ear the morning of the hunt after it came off the swab stick. 10:20

hunting-pressure

Don remarks that having someone rattling loudly on the property line proves they hunt in the real world, fighting crowds rather than owning huge private tracts. 7:22
Don plans to stop hunting his home farm until after gun season to let the deer there feel more secure. 20:06

hunting-trip

Terry recalls that he and Don spotted the right wind to hunt a saved spot, so he drove up from Kentucky despite being sick all week and not originally planning to come. 1:54

listener-questions

Don announces listeners can submit questions at chasinggiants.com and get a free t-shirt if their question is used on the show. 38:07

lockdown-strategy

Terry notes their two lockdown strategies were hunting standing food and cover, or slipping into an isolated thicket where a buck might push a doe. 8:39
Don recommends hunting weird out-of-the-way areas like drainage ditches or lone fence rows during the lockdown phase of the rut. 9:07
Don recommends hunting isolated out-of-the-way spots in the morning during lockdown, then switching to food sources in the afternoon where does congregate. 17:59

personal-life

Terry shares that his wife has only been hunting with him once in nearly twenty years of marriage and told him she’d never do it again. 24:43

podcast-branding

Steven Pope asks how Terry and Don chose Smokey’s rack for the podcast t-shirt logo out of all the bucks they’ve harvested. 38:47

property-buying

Jason Hesselberg of Saline, Michigan asks what he should look for when buying a great hunting property with potential. 55:20

property-investment

Terry suggests that going in with a few guys to buy a property outright can beat paying escalating annual lease fees for hunting ground. 30:31
Don explains that CRP income alone could cover property taxes and leave almost $5,000 toward an annual payment on this featured property. 30:50
Don states that buying a property outright is a much better deal than any hunting lease. 31:27

property-management

Terry recommends leaving the core of a property undisturbed for deer and hunting only the perimeter when possible. 59:39
Don emphasizes that cookie-cutter plans don’t work since every property is unique and needs its own tailored management plan. 60:46

rattling

Terry describes an unseen hunter rattling nonstop every ten minutes from 3pm to 6pm right on the property line while he watched two bucks fighting nearby. 6:50

reflection

Don recalls Kyle questioning whether chasing that buck for years away from family was really worth it, while standing over the harvested deer. 27:08

rut

Don explains that once big bucks pair up with a hot doe during the rut they go on lockdown and barely move, making them tough to kill. 1:18

scouting-plans

Don plans to scout new ground with a friend and hang trail cameras on a new piece of property. 19:02

Don states they only partner with sponsors whose products they personally believe in and use themselves. 35:39
Terry explains that every sponsor they work with is one whose products they had already purchased and used before any sponsorship began. 35:53

spousal-support

Don says his wife has always supported him doing whatever he needs to chase big bucks without complaint. 22:29
Terry notes that Kyle’s wife Jen is herself a serious deer hunter. 24:15
Terry says Don’s wife Robin, though not a hunter, understands their hunting obsession just like his own wife Casey does. 24:26
Terry notes Robin, Don’s wife, has driven him all over to drop him off and pick him up for hunts. 25:13

stand-strategy

Don advises hunters must hunt mature bucks on the exact properties where they spend daylight hours to kill them consistently. 58:29

tag-filled

Don mentions that he has already filled his tags for the season. 2:20

trail-cameras

Don has around 50 trail cameras out and rotates through checking a couple each day. 19:26

trump

Don recounts that Trump had a huge home range with no predictable pattern, and he finally connected on the tenth hunt after nine straight hunts without seeing any deer at all. 44:07

Deer activity

unnamed buck (trail-camera) 3:11
unnamed buck (trail-camera) 4:54
unnamed buck (sighting) 6:39
unnamed buck (sighting) 11:39
Hanger (harvest) 12:57
Uno (harvest) 21:05
unnamed buck (history) 26:26
Trump (harvest) 43:42
Smokey (history) 48:18

Listener questions

Question: Steven Pope asks how Terry and Don chose Smokey’s rack for the podcast t-shirt logo out of all the bucks they’ve harvested. 38:47

Answer: Terry explains they chose Smokey’s rack for the logo because the wide frame fit the podcast microphone graphic and its silhouette symbolized Don’s constant motion while chasing a giant. 42:40

Question: Steven Pope asks which of all the bucks Don has harvested was the hardest or most challenging, and why. 39:02

Answer: Don answers that Trump was his hardest buck to harvest, having a huge home range with no predictable pattern to his movements. 43:42
Answer: Don adds that after decades in the deer woods he simply knew that fence-row spot was right and had the discipline to keep grinding it out until Trump came through. 45:36

Question: Jacob Wessels of Fairbury, Illinois asks whether antler point restrictions do more harm than good and if Don would encourage Illinois DNR to implement them. 49:39 — asked by Jacob Wessels

Answer: Don answers no, he would not encourage the Illinois DNR or any state agency to implement antler point restrictions. 50:24
Answer: Don points to Iowa and Ohio, which hold firearm seasons after the rut in early December, as proof that season timing manages age structure better than antler restrictions. 52:00

Question: Jason Hesselberg of Saline, Michigan asks what he should look for when buying a great hunting property with potential. 55:20 — asked by Jason Hesselberg

Answer: Don says the first step is defining your own hunting goals, since what makes you happy determines what property works. 56:15
Answer: Don explains that neighboring hunting pressure matters greatly, since 20 acres next to an unhunted sanctuary can outperform a standalone 400-acre property. 56:43
Answer: Don sums up that layout, surrounding land, and personal goals are the three most important factors when buying a hunting property. 57:06

Sponsors this episode

BuyAFarm.com
Lone Wolf Treestands
Vortex Optics
Mathews Archery

Terry drove up from Kentucky despite being sick, joining Don to hunt a spot with high deer numbers near houses but little pressure, during rut lockdown when big bucks pair with a hot doe and barely move. During the sit an unseen hunter rattled every ten minutes for hours right on the property line while Terry watched two bucks fighting nearby. Don and Terry discussed lockdown strategy: hunting standing food and cover, or slipping into isolated thickets, and Don suggested weird spots like drainage ditches. They covered wife support in hunting life, a featured farm-purchase sponsor pitch, and faith/prayer’s role for them. Listener questions addressed why Smokey’s rack became the podcast logo, Trump as Don’s hardest buck after nine scentless hunts before connecting on the tenth, opposition to antler point restrictions favoring later firearm seasons instead, and what to weigh when buying hunting property: goals, neighboring pressure, and layout.

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