Ep# 205 - Don shares trail camera pictures from 2023

Published: 2024-01-28
Episode page
Duration: 78 min

In this episode

business-philosophy

• Terry credits Don’s original vision of marketing through education as the guiding philosophy behind their consulting business. 20:26

consulting

• Terry planned to travel back to Western Kentucky the next morning for a consulting visit near where he and Austin previously got caught in a tornado. 74:35
• Don says their consulting stands out from competitors mainly in follow-up support and the detail of the written plans clients receive. 21:47

consulting-industry

• How do you both feel about the trend of every successful hunter becoming a consultant or podcast host? Has it hurt your business? 14:13

crossbow

• Given his limited access and opportunities, does Don still think it’s wrong for him to hunt with a crossbow? 68:28

cwd

• If leading the DNR, how would you write laws that permit supplemental feeding while preventing baiting? 9:15

cwd-testing

• Do either of you test for CWD on your land? 57:28

dealer-network

• Clint Cross, a new Real World dealer near Terre Haute, reported strong early sales of the Nutri-Crave Corn block even before the season’s off period. 65:56

deer-health

• Terry speculates that deer with dark, concentrated urine in extreme cold may be dehydrated despite being able to eat snow for water. 6:05

family

• Don shared that his daughter Andrea has three more chemo rounds left, plus a surgery and six weeks of radiation to follow, with treatment getting tougher each round. 76:59

food-plot

• Don recommends clover as a companion crop under fruit trees since it fixes nitrogen, stays shallow-rooted, and provides a secondary food source. 51:55

prayer-request

• Terry shared that close friends going through the adoption process had their second adoption fall through, with the baby due within days. 7:09
• Don asked for continued prayer for his daughter Andrea, whose birthday falls on the release date and who is undergoing cancer treatment. 76:20

property-potential

• Don told an Illinois client his newly expanded property has the potential to be in the top 5% of all the properties he’s ever seen. 2:54

property-selection

• Don argues that what surrounds a property matters more than what’s on it, saying he’d rather have the right 5-10 acres than the wrong thousand acres. 4:07

rope-scrape

• Don recommends leaving a chewed, frayed rope scrape end alone rather than repairing it, since re-entering the area risks depositing unnecessary human scent. 54:43
• Don credited the Wessels as the original creators of the rope scrape technique, rather than taking credit for inventing it himself. 24:17

scouting

• Terry found a fresh, bright green deer urine spot deep in the woods while scouting a bedding area in bitter cold weather. 5:12

speaking-engagement

• Terry announced Don has a speaking engagement in Iowa on February 1, with details posted on the Real World website and social media. 77:31

supplemental-feeding

• If using the Nutri-Crave Corn deer block, is it necessary to also put out Maximizer Mineral, and when should mineral go out? 64:20

tornado

• Don recounted visiting a client near Guthrie whose woods were scattered with tornado debris—siding, insulation, and metal—that had traveled 15 miles. 75:17

trail-camera

• Don pulled two trail cameras left out all year, one with over 25,000 photos on a rope scrape and another with over 17,000 photos near pear trees. 27:01
• Don recommends Reconyx as the best on the market for missing the fewest pictures, despite not being sponsored by the company. 45:15
• Don argues cheaper trail cameras end up costing more long-term since dividing a camera’s lifespan by its cost makes the pricier option actually cheapest. 47:16

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 28:43
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 31:56
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 42:03
• Trump (history) 46:22
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 48:39
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 49:56
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 72:13

Listener questions

Question: If leading the DNR, how would you write laws that permit supplemental feeding while preventing baiting? 9:15 — asked by John Praddle

• Answer: Don recommends allowing supplemental feeding only outside deer season and banning all feeding during the open season, calling it the best solution. 9:38
• Answer: Terry counters that people willing to break the law will bait regardless of whether supplemental feeding is legal. 11:00

Question: How do you both feel about the trend of every successful hunter becoming a consultant or podcast host? Has it hurt your business? 14:13 — asked by William Davis

• Answer: Don says the rise of new consultants and podcasts hasn’t hurt his business at all — his phone rings more every year than the year before. 17:49
• Answer: Terry adds that they’ve both been blessed by the amount of people who choose to work with them. 17:57

Question: Do either of you test for CWD on your land? 57:28 — asked by Mike Womhoff

• Answer: Don says he would not test any deer for CWD and actively discourages hunters from having deer tested. 57:58

Question: If using the Nutri-Crave Corn deer block, is it necessary to also put out Maximizer Mineral, and when should mineral go out? 64:20

• Answer: Don says now, right after hunting season ends, is the time to start supplemental feeding — get mineral and feeders out using a complete feed. 64:45

Question: Given his limited access and opportunities, does Don still think it’s wrong for him to hunt with a crossbow? 68:28 — asked by Matt Kendall

• Answer: Don clarifies he believes crossbows should be legal but shouldn’t be allowed during archery season for able-bodied hunters — that’s just his opinion. 69:03

Don and Terry reviewed two trail cameras left out all year, one with over 25,000 photos on a rope scrape and another with over 17,000 near pear trees, working through standout bucks and a coyote caught stealing a pear. Don recommended Reconyx cameras as missing the fewest pictures and argued cheaper cameras cost more long-term when lifespan is weighed against price. He credited the Wessels with inventing the rope scrape technique and advised leaving a chewed scrape end alone to avoid depositing scent. Terry described finding fresh, bright green deer urine while scouting a bedding area in bitter cold, speculating dark urine could signal dehydration. Listener questions covered supplemental feeding versus baiting laws, CWD testing (which Don discourages), crossbow ethics, and whether the consultant/podcast boom had hurt their business, which Don said it had not. Don also asked for prayer for his daughter Andrea, who had three chemo rounds, surgery, and radiation remaining.

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