Episode #90 - November 7th - WHERE IS THE RUT

Published: 2021-11-07
Episode page
Duration: 77 min

In this episode

amish-audience

Don notes the podcast has a large Amish following that listens every week. 25:40

amish-family

An Amish couple were killed when a car hit their buggy, leaving eight children without parents. 24:07

apology

Don apologizes to listeners for recent off-color language and promises to do better. 29:43

charity

Terry asks listeners to keep Trevor and his family in their prayers as he begins his cancer treatment. 23:05
Lester’s Feet will help pay some of the Amish family’s medical bills so community trust funds can go toward the property and children’s future. 25:03

contest-rules

Terry reminds listeners to follow the contest rules on Facebook and Instagram for the Higgins Outdoors page giveaways. 37:35

cwd

Don calls CWD the ‘COVID of the deer world,’ framing it as a political rather than scientific disease. 62:22
Don argues that when money and politics get involved in CWD policy, science gets thrown out or skewed to fit an agenda. 62:38
Terry jokes that CWD originated in China. 62:52 (light moment)

deer-communication

Don believes deer communicate and read each other’s body language in ways hunters don’t fully understand. 58:03

deer-genetics

Ron Simpson asks whether specific doe traits help improve herd health and buck size beyond just habitat and age. 50:20

deer-management

Terry wants to give the 155-inch 10-pointer one more year to grow before considering shooting him. 13:40
Terry compares Don’s approach to a college team sacrificing a season to rebuild and recruit toward a title run, letting bucks grow and documenting them. 73:48
Terry says Don is essentially playing for national championships with world-class deer, sacrificing off years to rebuild. 76:27

doe-behavior

Terry asks whether an individual doe’s aggressive or bullying temperament matters for herd or buck outcomes. 55:42

facebook-scam

Don warns fans not to enter credit card info via links sent by scam accounts impersonating him. 36:42

goal-setting

Don says setting and holding to hunting goals matters, since compromising them means you never really had that goal. 14:10

harvest-tally

Terry notes only three bucks have been harvested on the farm so far this year, none over 130 inches. 70:41

masterclasses

Don announces the Whitetail Master Classes with Bronson Strickland are now completely sold out. 37:56

podcast-plans

Terry clarifies the podcast will never start charging listeners despite rumors tied to sponsor negotiations. 32:10

raffle

For legal/liability reasons they will stop raffling off hunts on their farms; the church raffle may be the last one ever. 32:53
Don announces the church raffle drawing is November 28, with tickets $20 each or six for $100. 34:43
Don gives the mailing address for raffle tickets: Solid Rock Chapel, PO Box 172, Sullivan, Illinois 61951. 34:57

rut-behavior

Don argues many deer hunters get jaded and wrongly generalize rut activity from their own limited stand observations. 10:15

rut-myths

Don maintains that on his open farm country, new bucks rarely show up during the rut, contrary to popular belief. 3:03

rut-timing

Terry notes Don remains convinced the rut happens at the same calendar time every year. 11:29
Don says November 5th through 12th is the best week to fill a buck tag, with the 7th and 8th right in the middle. 17:08
Terry asks Don where the rut currently stands on November 7. 1:04

scent-elimination

Does ozone scent-elimination technology actually work and is it worth the money for hunters? 45:04

supplemental-feeding

Daniel Morell asks Don to explain the difference between supplemental feeding and food plots, given states are banning feeding over CWD concerns. 58:32

target-buck

Don says he and Terry only target specific mature bucks, which greatly restricts where they can hunt. 12:26

thermals

Don says human scent behaves like smoke: some days it rises straight up so downwind deer never smell you. 48:20

trail-cameras

Kent Sawyer asks whether Don and Terry use picture or video mode on trail cameras, and if video spooks deer more. 63:13

travel-plan

Don hopes to be hunting in Iowa by midweek if the wind forecast holds. 68:40

trophy-bucks

Don says he could kill 270-inch bucks this year but will likely pass on killing any buck at all for management reasons. 71:59

vacation-planning

Terry plans to save his remaining vacation days for colder weather later rather than hunt through south winds now. 12:00

weather

Don says he predicted a fantastic week based on the forecast, but the weatherman was wrong and deer activity underwhelmed. 1:40

weather-impact

Don explains that although November 7-8 should be prime, unseasonably warm weather has bucks ranging less at night. 17:22

Deer activity

unnamed buck (sighting) 7:20
unnamed buck (sighting) 7:27
unnamed buck (history) 12:41
unnamed buck (sighting) 21:36
unnamed buck (history) 55:54
Smokey (trail-camera) 64:25
Smokey (hunt) 64:30
unnamed buck (trail-camera) 66:34
unnamed buck (management) 70:03
unnamed buck (management) 70:45
Mel (sighting) 71:15
Smokey (sighting) 71:17
unnamed buck (sighting) 71:19
unnamed buck (management) 72:17
unnamed buck (management) 76:18

Listener questions

Question: Terry asks Don where the rut currently stands on November 7. 1:04

Answer: Don says deer movement has not materialized today despite it being his favorite time of year. 1:32

Question: Does ozone scent-elimination technology actually work and is it worth the money for hunters? 45:04

Answer: Don has no personal experience with ozone machines but says everyone he’s asked either believes in them or is unsure. 45:51
Answer: Don’s own scent protocol is simply hunting the wind rather than any product. 46:17
Answer: Don says it’s entirely about wind direction — an upwind deer won’t smell you at all, while a downwind one will regardless of scent control. 46:46

Question: Ron Simpson asks whether specific doe traits help improve herd health and buck size beyond just habitat and age. 50:20 — asked by Ron Simpson

Answer: Don flatly disagrees with Ron’s premise, insisting genetics is the dominant factor in antler potential. 51:58
Answer: Don says does actually pass along more antler genetics to offspring than bucks do. 52:52
Answer: Don cites captive-herd research showing at least 60% of a buck’s genetics come from his mother, but says there’s no practical way to select individual does in the wild. 53:00

Question: Terry asks whether an individual doe’s aggressive or bullying temperament matters for herd or buck outcomes. 55:42

Answer: Don confirms some does are notably more aggressive toward other deer. 55:46
Answer: Don says an alert doe’s behavior isn’t about genetics but likely teaches her fawns and nearby deer about danger. 56:19

Question: Daniel Morell asks Don to explain the difference between supplemental feeding and food plots, given states are banning feeding over CWD concerns. 58:32 — asked by Daniel Morell

Answer: Don explains supplemental feeding means putting out manufactured or purchased feed, versus food plots which let deer eat food grown naturally on site. 59:15
Answer: Don speculates that supplemental feeding could actually be part of the solution to CWD rather than a cause, despite states banning it. 60:06
Answer: Terry adds that supplemental feed concentrates deer in one spot, unlike spread-out food plots, which he sees as the real regulatory distinction. 61:37

Question: Kent Sawyer asks whether Don and Terry use picture or video mode on trail cameras, and if video spooks deer more. 63:13 — asked by Kent Sawyer

Answer: Don keeps cameras on photo about 99% of the time, switching to video only when targeting a specific buck for a story. 63:42
Answer: Terry says with card pulls yielding roughly 20,000 photos, it’s impossible to review that volume in video form. 64:45

Don and Terry discussed a slow rut around November 7, with Don noting the forecast overpromised and deer movement had not materialized despite it being prime season; Don maintained new bucks rarely appear on his open farm during the rut and that hunters wrongly generalize from limited stand time, while Terry planned to save vacation days for colder weather. They discussed hunting goals, with Terry giving a 155-inch 10-pointer another year and Don noting only three bucks had been taken so far, none over 130, as he leaned toward passing on shooting any buck this year for management. Listener questions covered ozone scent elimination (Don had no personal experience, relying on wind instead), whether doe traits affect antler genetics (Don said does pass more genetics than bucks, citing captive-herd research), doe temperament’s effect on herd behavior, supplemental feeding versus food plots amid CWD bans, and trail camera photo versus video use. Terry asked for prayers for Trevor during cancer treatment, and they discussed an Amish family’s loss and a church raffle.

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