Episode #186 - Disappointing 2023 Buck Forecast

Published: 2023-09-10
Episode page
Duration: 82 min

In this episode

alfalfa

• Don expected deer to favor regrowing alfalfa, with its deep roots and fast regrowth, over soybeans, contrary to what Terry observed. 5:21

andrea-cancer

• Don announced his daughter Andrea was diagnosed with cancer, prompting him to ask listeners for prayers. 9:40
• A PET scan showed Andrea’s cancer had not spread anywhere else beyond the breast and lymph nodes. 10:22
• Don said his daughter will have to undergo some of the worst chemotherapy possible for her specific cancer type. 11:21
• Don announced Andrea is documenting her cancer journey on her own social media under the name Andrea Hamilton. 13:41
• Terry said they’ll keep listeners updated on hunting season, the two speaking engagements, and Andrea’s situation. 81:01

antler-growth

• Don noticed many older bucks lost antler inches this year and attributes it to the May-June drought. 28:26
• Amos asks how much the early May drought contributed to older bucks losing antler score, and whether they’ll rebound next year. 48:00

bleat-can

• Andrew asks whether Don uses a bleat can while hunting and why or why not. 53:30

buck-age-structure

• Terry noted ten yearling spike and fork-horn bucks on his property this season, more young bucks than he recalls seeing at once. 2:04
• Don said bucks three years and older are a lot fewer in number now than in the past. 33:14

buck-forecast

• Don said the 2023 buck crop is the worst he can remember in his life, even worse than after the 2012 EHD outbreak. 22:35
• Don predicted the buck age structure will worsen in two or three years as hunters continue to shoot young bucks. 33:37
• Don’s one-sentence forecast: 2023 will be a terrible year for the number of bucks scoring over 150 inches. 39:32
• Don added he doesn’t see the buck situation improving in the near future. 39:46
• Don predicted fewer bucks over 150 inches will be shot this year than in the past decade. 79:38

buck-management

• Terry said he’s now thinking some of Kentucky’s smaller older bucks just need to be shot to leave room for younger ones to mature. 35:43

calling

• Don said the more experience he gained, the more he realized a mature buck is already hyper-alert, and any call or scent raises his guard further. 54:33
• Don now only uses a call as a last resort when he sees a buck he wants but is out of range and not coming toward him. 55:32

community-support

• Terry called it a blessing that so many followers rallied around Don’s family during the cancer diagnosis. 13:12

corn-harvest

• Corn must reach 14% moisture before it can be safely bagged for storage, and the current crop was well above that. 8:10
• Under hot, dry, breezy conditions, the corn crop can lose about a percent of moisture per day. 8:23
• Over a week’s time under the current conditions, the corn crop can drop 7% in moisture. 8:29

corn-pollination

• Terry checked ears in his plot and found really good cross pollination this weekend. 8:50

crossbow

• Don said the crossbow was the final straw that decimated the Illinois deer herd’s quality. 27:36
• Garrett asks whether allowing straight-wall rifles in Illinois firearms season will make hunting too easy, like crossbows did. 58:51

deer-management

• Don believes states are managing deer herds for a younger age structure, disfavoring older bucks due to CWD concerns. 26:04
• Terry asked listeners whether they’re prepared to accept a tag sandwich for the betterment of the herd on their property this season. 79:21
• Terry framed the season’s real question as deer numbers overall rather than just buck age structure. 79:08

deer-sightings

• Terry counted 46 deer including 19 bucks on opening night of his season, an unusually high number for him. 1:36

drought

• Terry pointed out the region has actually been in drought since last fall, not just during May and June. 29:46
• Don said six inches of July rain saved the season after a spring drought that threatened to be worse than 2012. 31:13

ehd

• Don said if a major EHD outbreak were happening, he’d already be hearing reports of dead deer, and he hasn’t heard much. 34:16

family

• Andrew asks if Don’s wife hunts with him and whether he’d let her shoot Babe or another target buck. 53:50

food-plots

• Terry estimated deer had eaten 10 to 12 inches off the top of his soybean field based on his utilization cages. 4:30
• Terry observed deer were not hitting his alfalfa hard despite it being a preferred food source in the past. 4:22
• Don plans to overhaul his food plots so his deer never run out of quality food no matter the month of the year. 50:44
• Don plans to push soil fertility further and document new organic-farming products on the Whitetail Master Academy videos. 51:18
• Don’s fall plots germinated but were stunted from lack of rain, expected to explode once rain arrives. 7:25

hunting-philosophy

• Don said having a story for life, even when a target buck gets away, is part of what makes deer hunting so fun. 78:48

land-management

• Don said the only reliable way to harvest a big mature buck going forward will be through owning and managing land yourself. 36:04

lesters-feet

• Don said Andrea’s diagnosis gave him a new appreciation for the Lester’s Feet families the show tries to help. 14:28

listener-qa

• Amos asks if it’s too late to set up in the back of his property for a big buck he suspects his neighbor has. 46:12

listener-questions

• Terry reminded listeners they can submit questions for a free T-shirt via Higgins Outdoors or chasinggiants.com. 80:01

mistakes

• Don learned never to break in new equipment mid-season after new gloves caused a bad release trip that cost him a buck. 74:50
• Terry recalled not standing up to shoot a management buck last year, though he wasn’t too disappointed by the missed opportunity. 75:26
• Adam asks Don and Terry for stories about mistakes that cost them a chance at a great buck. 68:30

napanee

• Terry joked he must bring special guests Ray and Aden matching pairs of camo underwear but hasn’t picked a color yet. 17:03 (light moment)

nutri-crave-corn

• Duane went to test moisture on the Nutri-Crave Corn deer-corn crop in preparation to harvest, dry, bag, and distribute it to customers. 7:42
• Terry relayed that a friend at Chambers Customs posted pictures of Nutri-Crave Corn ears as long as his arm, showing a bumper crop. 31:54
• Don pulled ears off his Nutri-Crave Corn plot and said they were among the biggest corn ears he’d ever seen. 32:21

public-land

• Terry said he lacks the patience to hunt public land despite respecting those who do it successfully. 37:05
• Don’s public-land hunting friend told him older age-class bucks just aren’t there anymore, getting shot at two and three years old. 38:38

rifles

• Terry recently purchased a Brenton Firearm, a high-end AR hunting rifle chambered in Straight Wall Legend. 61:15
• Terry tested the new rifle at 100 yards and had bullet holes touching on the fifth, sixth, and seventh shots. 62:34

speaking-engagement

• Terry will speak in Napanee, Indiana, and just learned Wes Delks will be there with him. 16:33
• Don gave contact numbers for Curtis and Mike so listeners can attend his upcoming Friday-night speaking event. 18:24
• Terry gave the phone number for the Napanee, Indiana event on Tuesday, September twelfth. 19:27

trail-cameras

• Don’s trail camera picture counts rose during a cool spell and dropped sharply, by roughly 90%, during subsequent hot periods. 3:35
• At one longtime bachelor-group camera location, Don had no antlered buck pictures of any size all summer until the past week. 23:59
• At another location Don has run for over a decade, he never had a single buck on camera all summer. 24:19
• Wes Delks told Don that after nine years of running trail cameras hard, this summer was the worst he’s ever had. 25:23
• Trevor asks how Don would use trail cameras to hunt a mature buck on new property with no prior year’s data. 56:55

water-source

• Terry plans to dig a large water hole so deer don’t have to leave his property for water. 52:20

youth-hunting

• Don praised Illinois’s youth season allowing his out-of-state grandsons to hunt with him on a $10.50 youth tag. 66:08

Deer activity

• Babe (history) 28:47
• unnamed buck (harvest) 38:22
• unnamed buck (harvest) 42:17
• unnamed buck (history) 42:31
• unnamed buck (harvest) 43:19
• unnamed buck (harvest) 45:14
• Babe (trail-camera) 49:13
• Babe (history) 49:31
• unnamed buck (hunt) 78:32

Listener questions

Question: Amos asks if it’s too late to set up in the back of his property for a big buck he suspects his neighbor has. 46:12 — asked by Amos Hershberger

• Answer: Don jokes that Amos has spent too much time on YouTube and should just listen to Chasing Giants and ignore the rest. 47:01

Question: Amos asks how much the early May drought contributed to older bucks losing antler score, and whether they’ll rebound next year. 48:00

• Answer: Don agrees the early drought is what caused the older bucks to lose antler score. 48:27
• Answer: Don says with favorable growing conditions next year, those bucks could come back bigger than ever. 48:37

Question: Andrew asks whether Don uses a bleat can while hunting and why or why not. 53:30 — asked by Andrew Bontrager

• Answer: Don says he used to carry a bleat can and they definitely worked, especially when they first came out. 54:23

Question: Andrew asks if Don’s wife hunts with him and whether he’d let her shoot Babe or another target buck. 53:50 — asked by Andrew Bontrager

• Answer: Don says his wife has no interest in hunting or shooting anything, though she has accompanied him in blinds and stands. 54:02

Question: Trevor asks how Don would use trail cameras to hunt a mature buck on new property with no prior year’s data. 56:55 — asked by Trevor Pomeroy

• Answer: Don says without prior data you’d use cameras like most people do, acting on the intel as you get it. 57:07
• Answer: Don adds that missing the buck the first season sets you up with a big advantage the following year once you have that data. 57:33

Question: Garrett asks whether allowing straight-wall rifles in Illinois firearms season will make hunting too easy, like crossbows did. 58:51 — asked by Garrett Rollins

• Answer: Don says no, rifles won’t have nearly the impact crossbows had on archery season. 58:59
• Answer: Don explains the crossbow, unlike rifles, brought an army of gun hunters into the long archery season with a far more effective weapon. 59:42

Question: Adam asks Don and Terry for stories about mistakes that cost them a chance at a great buck. 68:30 — asked by Adam

• Answer: Don shares that a new pair of gloves caused a botched release on a Thanksgiving buck, teaching him never to break in new gear mid-season. 74:50
• Answer: Terry says most hunters mess up more than they realize by hunting the wrong wind, without ever knowing it cost them a buck. 76:14

Terry and Don compared observations on deer feeding, food plots, and this year’s weak buck age structure. Terry noted heavy soybean use and high deer counts, while Don’s cameras showed a near-total absence of mature bucks all summer, with a fellow hunter reporting the same after nine years of running cameras. They discussed possible causes including younger-age-structure management, the crossbow’s earlier impact, and drought effects on antler growth, with Don predicting fewer 150-inch bucks this year and no near-term improvement. Both described plans to improve food plots and water sources going forward. Don shared that his daughter Andrea was diagnosed with cancer, with a clean PET scan beyond the breast and lymph nodes, and asked for prayers as she begins chemotherapy. Listener questions covered trail-camera strategy on new land, straight-wall rifle rules, bleat can use, and stories of blown opportunities, including Don’s own mid-season gear mistake.

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