Episode #77 - Would you shoot this buck? Still looking for a shooter.

Published: 2021-08-09
Episode page
Duration: 72 min

In this episode

antler-characteristics

Don describes a unique four-by-four buck whose G2 tines are so heavily bladed that they look three times as thick as the main beam. 2:17

brow-tines

Terry notes a buck’s brow tines are essentially set once he reaches two or three years old. 6:08

buck-aging

Terry believes you cannot reliably tell whether a buck is five or seven years old from a trail camera picture alone. 9:17
Don agrees it’s very hard to distinguish a three-and-a-half-year-old buck from an older one, especially in summer. 9:25
Don recalls thinking a buck Terry shot was three years old, but a jawbone check showed it was actually five and a half. 12:50
Terry asks what advice Don has for hunters using trail camera photos to decide which buck to target as mature. 10:04

buck-behavior

Terry says once a buck reaches four and a half or older he starts acting differently in ways most hunters don’t understand. 64:44

buck-hunting-plan

Don plans to try to shoot the bladed-G2 buck in the first week of season since it shifts range once it sheds velvet. 2:42

buck-management

Don recommends letting bucks with five-plus points a side and good frames live to five or six years old to reach their true potential. 5:48

buck-scoring

Don confirms that buck scored every bit of 155 inches last year. 3:26

buck-scouting

Don has a four-year-old clean five-by-five buck on camera scoring around 170 inches that he does not want to shoot yet. 1:36
Don knows of another five-by-five buck he believes is six years old that should finish around 165 to 170 inches. 1:49

captive-deer

Don recounts that a captive doe with orange ear tags in both ears slipped out of his pen years ago. 22:12
Don says the escaped doe’s last known sighting was 12 miles east of his farm in a subdivision after crossing an interstate. 23:41

communication-advice

Don is told he needs to explain more because he assumes listeners already know what he knows. 64:22

community-support

Lamar and his whole family showed up in a semi to deliver Don’s stone and stayed for supper. 35:04

deer-behavior

Don expects a big range shift when bucks shed velvet and start moving toward their fall range. 2:52

deer-culling

Don argues culling can’t change a property’s genetics, but it does influence which bucks survive to older age classes. 5:25
Terry asks Don to walk through his decision to pass a 160-inch three-year-old ten-pointer and let him go until four. 3:59

deer-management

Terry notes the ten-pointer would have been shot on most properties last year as a three-year-old. 3:15
Don says a typical year sees five to eight bucks shot on his 120-acre place, all at least three years old and mostly clean-racked eight-points. 6:51

fall-food-plots

Terry says he will not fall into the social media trap of planting his fall food plots too early despite feeling anxious. 71:35
Terry urges listeners to be patient and wait a couple more weeks before planting fall food plots. 71:40

habitat-planning

Riley Welch asks Don what he would do differently if he could build his home hunting farm from scratch again. 65:00

hunt-planning

Terry may need to adjust the dates of a guest’s Kentucky rifle hunt based on a specific wind pattern that puts good bucks in daylight. 14:35

hunting-properties

Terry admits he has put less of his own work into his hunting properties this year than ever before. 1:11

industry-event

Don reveals he and Tony are planning to appear on stage together at an industry event next winter. 18:33

land-consulting

Jeff Sandel asks Don how he’d rate his success as a land consultant and what land type is hardest to consult on. 58:26

lesters-feet

Terry announces an urgent need to foster a family’s chocolate lab in Florida while the dad accompanies his daughter’s medical therapy. 28:59
A consulting client left a cash donation for Lester’s Feet after sharing that others had helped his family when his daughter was hospitalized. 34:08
The Metzger family’s kids saved up their own money and bought a large number of raffle tickets to help Lester’s Feet. 35:40

olympics

Don praises Olympians who proudly hoist the American flag and stand at attention for the national anthem. 38:40

podcast-schedule

Terry announces the podcast will now release Sunday nights with the YouTube version following by Monday. 43:56

pre-season-anxiety

Terry says he is getting a little anxious with deer season fast approaching. 1:19

rumor-clarification

Don clarifies the person accusing him of shooting captive deer is not Jeff Sturges or Tony LaPratt, but someone from Michigan he calls Tom. 16:32

Don criticizes 10 Crossbows for posting a bad-angle shot placement graphic that encourages unethical shots on deer. 39:11

sponsorship-story

Chris Yates approached Don about advertising Chevy trucks on the podcast, and Don agreed to try one free mention first. 57:36

sponsorships

Jay Peterson from Woodlawn, Illinois asks how sponsorships work in the hunting industry. 44:22

supply-chain

Terry jokes that supply chain issues will soon make a McDonald’s Happy Meal take four weeks to get and cost $26. 37:50 (light moment)

trail-camera-logging

Don keeps trail camera photos organized by location so he can compare a buck’s current pictures to prior years from the same spot. 11:36

viewer-feedback

Don says Steve Shields gave him the same feedback about needing to explain things more on video. 64:17

Deer activity

unnamed buck (trail-camera) 1:36
unnamed buck (management) 1:49
unnamed buck (trail-camera) 2:17
unnamed buck (management) 2:36
unnamed buck (management) 3:15
unnamed buck (harvest) 12:50
unnamed buck (history) 22:12
unnamed buck (sighting) 23:41

Listener questions

Question: Terry asks Don to walk through his decision to pass a 160-inch three-year-old ten-pointer and let him go until four. 3:59 — asked by Terry

Answer: Don explains most hunters would shoot such a ten-pointer if compared side by side with the clean eight-pointers he posted, which is why he passes it. 5:06

Question: Terry asks what advice Don has for hunters using trail camera photos to decide which buck to target as mature. 10:04 — asked by Terry

Answer: Don says he judges maturity mainly by antler mass, since two- and three-year-olds lack mass but heavy-based antlers usually indicate four years or older. 10:18

Question: Jay Peterson from Woodlawn, Illinois asks how sponsorships work in the hunting industry. 44:22 — asked by Jay Peterson

Answer: Don explains sponsorships usually run year to year and range from a product discount to a paid deal. 45:52
Answer: Terry adds that he and Don have paid for their own gear for years and are fine continuing to do so without sponsors. 52:05

Question: Jeff Sandel asks Don how he’d rate his success as a land consultant and what land type is hardest to consult on. 58:26 — asked by Jeff Sandel

Answer: Don says the clients who follow his plan most closely have the most success. 59:27
Answer: Terry adds that Don’s success comes from having committed his life to understanding mature buck behavior in ways most people haven’t. 63:11

Question: Riley Welch asks Don what he would do differently if he could build his home hunting farm from scratch again. 65:00 — asked by Riley Welch

Answer: Don says he would plant more native species, especially white oaks, than he originally did. 67:13

Terry and Don discussed judging buck maturity from trail cameras and deciding which deer to pass. Don described a four-year-old clean five-by-five scoring around 170 he wasn’t ready to shoot, a probable six-year-old five-by-five expected near 165-170, and a unique four-by-four with heavily bladed G2 tines he planned to target early in season before it shifted range. He explained he judges maturity mainly by antler mass rather than trail-camera guesswork, and argued culling can’t change genetics but does affect which bucks reach older age classes, recommending letting bucks with five-plus points a side live to five or six. Terry recalled a buck he thought was three that a jawbone check proved was five and a half. Listener questions covered sponsorship deals, land consulting success, and what Don would change on his home farm, favoring more native white oaks. Don also addressed accusations about a captive doe that escaped his pen years earlier.

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