Episode #85 - The Ones That Got Away… New Series by Don

Published: 2021-10-04 Episode page Duration: 67 min

In this episode

all-day-sits

Seth Healy asks if Don sits all day during November and how he mentally prepares for it. 57:29

consulting-advice

Don tells consulting clients to fully commit to his management plan and give it three to five years before judging the results. 17:26

consulting-client

Consulting client Amos sent Don photos of an unusually unique buck he had just shot. 15:52
Amos Hershberger, a Don consulting client, killed a giant buck in Ohio. 16:28

covid

Don’s worst pick was COVID politicization, arguing global death-rate percentages stayed essentially unchanged over six years despite the pandemic. 40:23

deer-trails

Nicholas Dawa asks if mature bucks intentionally use their own trail running parallel to the main deer trail. 62:18

guest-hunt

Don plans to hunt Brent at the stand where he shot the buck Mel last year, going all out to get him a good buck. 12:35

harvest-history

Terry recalls that Don shot both Smokey and a buck nicknamed Trump, bringing back both mounts that hunting year. 47:07

hunting-goal

Terry asks Brent what his goal is for hunting Don’s property. 11:19

iowa-hunting

Don picked the eastern Iowa farm over a western Iowa property because the shorter drive let him get there and still hunt a stand the same day. 6:08
Terry asks Don for a rundown of how his Iowa opening-day hunt went. 1:47

kentucky-hunt

Terry’s Kentucky raffle hunter saw a shooter buck but it stayed just out of range, so they plan to try for it again in late season. 12:50

lesters-feet

Jay Ramsey won the Lester’s Feet raffle to hunt with Don, but asked to send his son Brent in his place, which Don agreed to. 6:56
Terry explains the real purpose behind the raffle hunts is that proceeds help support the family of a sick child. 13:23
Terry asks Brent to introduce himself and say where he’s from. 8:14

live-podcast

Don and Terry will record a live podcast at Brandon’s place of business on December 10, a Friday evening. 18:49

master-class

The Whitetail Master Classes are set for March, with Dr. Bronson Strickland of the MSU Deer Lab joining the first two sessions. 29:38
Terry says nobody explains how a mature buck thinks and how that changes with age better than Don does in the master class. 32:40

military-service

A young man was falsely diagnosed positive for hepatitis B during Marine Corps basic training, was medically discharged, and now plans to restart basic training. 31:31

nba

Don’s pick for best thing of the week was NBA players publicly standing up to the NBA against its COVID vaccine mandate. 38:05

neighbor-harvest

Don confirms even his own property loses bucks to neighboring hunters, noting a buck he had a green light on was shot three miles off his farm. 27:31

one-that-got-away

Gary Laseko asks if any specific big bucks that got away made Don a better hunter or were a turning point. 49:58

podcast-segment

Don announces this will be his last best-and-worst segment because the topic keeps drifting into politics and religion. 36:40

property-tour

Terry asks Brent if seeing Don’s property in person puts it in perspective as the ‘Graceland’ for deer hunters. 9:33

smokey

Don recalls Smokey, the 206-inch buck he shot in 2017, was probably the easiest mature buck he has ever hunted and killed despite being one of the biggest. 34:57

stand-placement

Don plans to head back to his Iowa farm on the first cold front after the soybeans are harvested, bringing extra stands to set up. 4:19
Terry asks whether Don’s stands are already set on the farm or if he’s waiting on trail camera data first. 2:49

thanksgiving-weekend

Don urges hunters not to give up late in the year, calling Thanksgiving weekend one of the best times of the year to kill a giant buck. 60:59

trail-cameras

Don’s trail cameras on the Iowa farm are capturing hundreds of photos a day of does and young bucks, giving him confidence a good buck will show later. 3:38

Deer activity

Mel (harvest) 12:35
unnamed buck (harvest) 15:52
unnamed buck (harvest) 27:31
Smokey (harvest) 34:57
Trump (harvest) 47:07
unnamed buck (hunt) 53:20

Listener questions

Question: Terry asks Don for a rundown of how his Iowa opening-day hunt went. 1:47 — asked by Terry

Answer: Don says his one Friday-afternoon Iowa hunt only produced a doe, a fawn, and two coyotes. 2:28

Question: Terry asks whether Don’s stands are already set on the farm or if he’s waiting on trail camera data first. 2:49 — asked by Terry

Answer: Don says he already has four stands in place on the farm and has picked a tree for another. 3:02

Question: Terry asks Brent to introduce himself and say where he’s from. 8:14 — asked by Terry

Answer: Brent explains his dad donated to and won the Lester’s Feet raffle, which is how Brent first learned about the podcast and became a listener. 8:27

Question: Terry asks Brent if seeing Don’s property in person puts it in perspective as the ‘Graceland’ for deer hunters. 9:33 — asked by Terry

Answer: Brent says the property is amazing and looks like a place where real-world deer killing is genuinely achievable. 9:42

Question: Terry asks Brent what his goal is for hunting Don’s property. 11:19 — asked by Terry

Answer: Brent’s goal is simply to kill a buck at least three and a half years old, something he has never done before. 11:29

Question: Gary Laseko asks if any specific big bucks that got away made Don a better hunter or were a turning point. 49:58 — asked by Gary Laseko

Answer: Don recalls a giant clean 10-point buck that eluded him decades ago, an animal he shot at once and never recovered, but still considers the biggest-framed buck he’s ever seen. 53:20

Question: Seth Healy asks if Don sits all day during November and how he mentally prepares for it. 57:29 — asked by Seth Healy

Answer: Don says if he’s confident in a spot as a great buck area, he can force himself to stay in the stand all day. 58:20
Answer: Terry adds that when hunting out of state he rarely leaves the woods, staying out all day roughly three or four times a trip. 59:15

Question: Nicholas Dawa asks if mature bucks intentionally use their own trail running parallel to the main deer trail. 62:18 — asked by Nicholas Dawa

Answer: Don says he doesn’t think bucks keep a distinct own trail; rather, mature bucks use terrain and wind to their advantage. 62:31
Answer: Don suspects the idea of a buck’s own parallel downwind trail was invented to sell an article. 64:07

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