Episode #93 - Don decides to take a break…

Published: 2021-11-29
Episode page
Duration: 60 min

In this episode

buck-hunting

Don said he has largely accepted he probably won’t shoot a buck this year, but insisted that doesn’t mean he’s given up on the season. 1:57

consulting

Don announced his consulting business is essentially full for the year and he has started a standby waitlist for interested clients. 13:20
Don announced that he and Wes offer their consulting clients discounts on Real World Wildlife Products, Reconyx, and 360 Hunting Blinds products. 13:58
Don planned to travel through Southern Indiana and as far as Georgia over the coming week for consulting visits. 59:13
Don planned to hit the consulting trail hard this winter to earn money toward buying another hunting property before next season. 12:21

deer-memory

Randall asked whether a buck that sees hunters use a blind to harvest does will associate that blind with danger and avoid it, or if it’ll forget once tagged out. 32:12
Randall asked if a property hunted hard via deer drives for decades would deter Don from buying it, or could turn around in a year or two. 38:55

food-plots

Brandon asked whether Don keeps soybeans standing all season, and if so, when he knocks them down and replants. 50:07
Casey asked whether a small-cover property like his grandmother’s might simply be acting as a nursery for one-to-three-year-old bucks before they move south. 53:45

fundraiser

Don announced Sean Cogdall of Woodbine, Iowa won his church’s raffle drawing for a Mathews bow. 19:54
Don announced the church raffle raised almost $25,000 for the ministry, thanks largely to listener support. 20:24

goal-setting

Don recommended that hunters change their late-season approach without ever changing or compromising their original season goal. 8:15
Don argued that if a hunter compromises their goal, they never really had a goal to begin with, only a dream. 8:30

human-intrusion

Don said increased human intrusion into deer bedding areas during the rut, more than any other time of year, also contributes to bucks going quiet afterward. 6:19

land-management

Bryhn Craft of Midwest Land Group told Don that more good hunting properties are ruined by following bad advice than by anything else. 36:18

late-season

Don explained he typically backs off a target buck during the post-rut lull to let it recover and get comfortable rather than bumping it and making it harder to kill. 7:03

listener-photos

Terry announced a 2021 listener picture collage project and asked fans to email harvest or outdoor photos to chasinggiantspodcast@gmail.com. 58:00

live-event

Don announced a free event at a Guthrie, Kentucky feed and seed store on December 10 at 6:30, with a donation-based meal supporting a local family’s medical expenses. 22:57
Don announced a seminar on December 16 at the Collinville Country Store in Clare, Michigan at 6 PM. 23:48
Don announced he has at least one seminar planned in January near Miller, in Southwest Missouri. 24:20
Terry announced he has an event planned for January in Huntington, West Virginia. 24:38
Terry clarified the December 10 Guthrie, Kentucky event will be a live podcast recording. 24:46

new-bucks

Don said it’s very rare for a new buck to show up on camera during the rut, but new bucks appear almost every late season. 10:53

permission-hunting

Don revealed three of his top five bucks came from permission-only properties with no lease paid and no habitat work done. 45:14
Roger asked how Don approaches entry and exit strategy on properties where he only has hunting permission but no management control. 40:30

post-rut

Don attributed the abrupt post-rut lull partly to bucks being physically worn out and tired after roughly six weeks of intense rutting activity. 6:09

seasonal-movement

Brandon asked what time of year bucks move from their fall range onto their summer range. 46:08

switchgrass

Terry announced Real World expects to be fully operational for 2022 orders within about a week and a half, with switchgrass shipping by mid-December. 17:22
Don explained switchgrass and other native grasses germinate so slowly that lab germination tests take about thirty days, delaying seed availability. 18:30

thanksgiving

Don described having a great Thanksgiving with family, and his daughters and sons-in-law stayed an extra day to help him move belongings to his new house. 1:14

travel

Terry planned to travel to Naples, Florida, joking he’d eat seafood despite not being a beach person. 59:26
Terry said he has upcoming travel over the next two weeks, including a funeral trip to Florida and a visit to Southern Kentucky. 11:39

weather

Don said the worse the weather gets, the more likely new bucks are to show up on a property. 11:05

wind-direction

Brandon asked whether Don has a particular wind direction and speed he prefers, or that deer seem to prefer. 48:17

Deer activity

unnamed buck (trail-camera) 2:21
two fourteen (harvest) 3:52
Joey Buck (history) 33:23

Listener questions

Question: Randall asked whether a buck that sees hunters use a blind to harvest does will associate that blind with danger and avoid it, or if it’ll forget once tagged out. 32:12 — asked by Randall Barr

Answer: Don said he firmly believes deer remember things for essentially their entire lives. 32:33
Answer: Don explained he avoids hunting every stand and property he has access to, because doing so risks educating and alerting the deer living there. 33:03

Question: Randall asked if a property hunted hard via deer drives for decades would deter Don from buying it, or could turn around in a year or two. 38:55

Answer: Don said a property’s reputation with deer can be turned around fairly quickly, but it takes several years for the local herd to fully relate to it as a safe, sanctuary-like area. 39:11
Answer: Don added hunters will notice a difference within a couple of years, but it truly takes several years for the local deer herd to view the property as the safest place around. 39:41

Question: Roger asked how Don approaches entry and exit strategy on properties where he only has hunting permission but no management control. 40:30 — asked by Roger Headings

Answer: Don said he actually spends at least half his hunting time on permission-only properties he doesn’t lease or own. 41:12
Answer: Don said hunters must do something different than other hunters on a property, throwing the deer a curveball instead of repeating the same tactics. 41:49
Answer: Don said entry and exit strategy is critical no matter what type of property you’re hunting. 42:16

Question: Brandon asked what time of year bucks move from their fall range onto their summer range. 46:08 — asked by Brandon Workman

Answer: Don said he found a bachelor group already on its summer range by around April 1, based on scouting bucks with just-emerging antler knobs. 47:06

Question: Brandon asked whether Don has a particular wind direction and speed he prefers, or that deer seem to prefer. 48:17 — asked by Brandon Workman

Answer: Don said he loves east winds, partly because several of his best stands specifically require an east wind to work. 48:26
Answer: Don said if he had a favorite wind direction, it would be an east wind. 49:01
Answer: Don said he prefers a steady wind around 10 to 12 miles per hour, and figures deer simply adapt to whatever wind is blowing. 49:21

Question: Brandon asked whether Don keeps soybeans standing all season, and if so, when he knocks them down and replants. 50:07 — asked by Brandon Workman

Answer: Don said he doesn’t understand why anyone would plant soybeans and not leave them standing through the season. 50:20
Answer: Don said hunting a brutal-cold standing soybean plot packed with dozens of deer like cattle in a feedlot proves why standing beans are worth it. 51:18

Question: Casey asked whether a small-cover property like his grandmother’s might simply be acting as a nursery for one-to-three-year-old bucks before they move south. 53:45 — asked by Casey Virgin

Answer: Don said something is likely missing from the property, and he suspects it’s a lack of food drawing deer away. 54:46
Answer: Don recommended addressing the property’s food situation first, since it already has enough cover to hold deer. 55:17

Don discussed shifting late-season strategy without abandoning the season’s original goal, arguing that compromising a goal meant it was never really a goal at all. He explained the post-rut lull stems from bucks being physically worn out after weeks of rutting and from increased human intrusion into bedding areas, so he backs off target bucks rather than bumping them. He noted new bucks rarely appear during the rut but often show up late season, especially as weather worsens. Listener questions covered whether deer remember hunters who used blinds to kill does (Don said deer remember essentially their whole lives), how long a hard-hunted property takes to become a sanctuary again (several years), entry/exit strategy on permission-only land, when bucks shift to summer range, preferred wind direction and speed, keeping soybeans standing, and whether a small-cover property was acting as a bachelor-buck nursery lacking food. Business updates and upcoming seminars were also mentioned.

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