Ep. 204 - Hinge Cutting - Don Critiques Specific Projects

Published: 2024-01-21
Episode page
Duration: 66 min

In this episode

adrenaline-rush

• Aaron McGraw asks whether Don still feels an adrenaline rush after the shot and kill, having killed multiple 200-inch bucks and many bucks scoring 170-190 inches. 19:59

baptism

• Terry announced he plans to drive three hours the next afternoon to baptize a podcast listener who asked him to perform the baptism after battling personal struggles. 61:18

chainsaw-safety

• Don recounted that Gabe Shafner, one of the best deer hunters he knew, was killed shortly after retiring when a falling ash tree he was cutting struck him. 47:32
• Terry warned that habitat cutting should be done in January and February before green-up, cautioning that rotten limbs can fall straight down as trees tip. 48:42

cold-weather

• Terry observed that plummeting temperatures, similar to the cold snap around last Christmas, are again driving deer to pile into food sources during this current cold stretch. 2:37

consulting-revisit

• Wayne Gays asks what typically prompts Don to return to a property for a second consulting visit and whether it’s just to tweak the original plan. 56:30

consulting-visit

• Don said that on his way home from Florida he has a consulting visit planned on the Kentucky-Tennessee line with a longtime acquaintance. 60:28
• Don announced that the following week he plans to travel to Missouri and Iowa to evaluate some properties. 60:52

corn-mowing

• Don explained he waits for the ground to freeze before mowing his standing corn with a skid loader, so the ears aren’t pushed down into the mud. 1:31

crossbow-policy

• Mike Kelly asks whether, once he can no longer draw a compound bow due to age, he should switch to a crossbow or give up hunting. 49:48

dealer-summit

• Don announced a Real World dealer summit March 4-5 in Arthur, Illinois, featuring a seminar from Dr. Bronson Strickland and a live Chasing Giants podcast with bingo. 15:56

deer-sighting

• Don recounted sitting in a blind one frigid afternoon and seeing over 50 deer, including 16 to 20 different bucks, all feeding on his NutriCrave corn plot. 2:14

dnr-policy

• Kyle Mason asks how frustrated Missouri hunters might push back against unfavorable DNR regulations and whether real change is achievable. 52:01

faith

• Don said that lasting satisfaction, unlike the fleeting rush of a big kill, only comes through Christ, a lesson he says he has lived out repeatedly. 23:41
• Don shared a line he once heard in a sermon, If you’re not dead, God’s not done, saying it has stuck with him ever since. 64:53

girdling

• Terry recommended girdling bigger trees that lean into neighboring trees as a safer way to kill them without dropping them, avoiding a dangerous chainsaw cut. 46:54

habitat-transformation

• Don described transforming a worthless five-acre woodlot by cutting trees and planting oak seedlings; the very next spring he found eight shed antlers there for the first time. 44:23

hack-and-squirt

• Dusty Esseck from Highlandville, Missouri asks Don’s thoughts on the hack-and-squirt method for killing trees, noting Don seems to favor cutting over hinge cutting. 25:30

hinge-cutting-critique

• Don criticized most hinge-cutting projects, saying the biggest problem is that most people doing it have no idea what species of tree they’re actually cutting. 29:38
• Don noted that in one pictured example the fallen trees were piled so low and dense that a deer could not possibly get through the resulting carpet. 29:15
• Don argued that if a tree is considered worthless enough to hinge cut, it should simply be removed and replaced rather than left alive still shading the ground. 31:42
• Don criticized a pictured hinge-cut setup built around a plastic water tank, saying it needing to be manually refilled makes the whole layout an invitation for human intrusion. 38:24
• Don described a pictured hinge-cut area as an absolute ecological disaster, yet noted it would still do nothing but funnel deer movement around it. 35:12

hinge-cutting-funnel

• Terry suggested a hinge-cut tree dropped beside a food plot could serve as a living barricade, routing deer past a nearby stand for a strong pinch point. 33:52

master-classes

• Don announced two remote master classes this year: March 23 in Spencerville, Indiana, and April 6 in New Richmond, Wisconsin. 17:09

pope-and-young

• Blake Marcus asks whether raising the Pope and Young minimum score from 125 to 140 inches for whitetails would make a difference in deer herds nationwide. 57:55

savage-impulse

• Terry described building a Savage Impulse rifle, noting its straight-pull bolt action rocks backward instead of lifting vertically like a traditional bolt gun. 12:06

speaking-engagement

• Don announced a speaking engagement on February 2 in Hopkinton, Iowa, hosted by two Real World dealers partnering together for the event. 14:46

trail-camera

• Don announced a friend’s company is developing a new trail camera aimed at beating Reconyx on both performance and price, rather than competing on cheapness. 8:45
• Don said he visited the new camera company’s factory, which employs more than 50 people including former military and former NASA engineers. 9:20

trail-camera-industry

• Don said he has personally tried his hardest to convince established trail camera companies to build a true high-end camera, but none were willing to do it. 11:17

vortex-customer-service

• Terry said he called Vortex about his new rifle setup and within seconds received a recommendation for the right mounts and rings. 12:33

vortex-history

• Don recalled meeting Vortex representatives at their booth during the very first ATA Show he attended, roughly twenty years ago, before Vortex was well known. 13:07

vortex-partnership

• Terry announced Whitetail Master Academy, Master Class, and consulting clients will receive an exclusive Vortex coupon code following the hosts’ work with Vortex at their annual meetings. 11:34

whitetail-management-summit

• Don announced a Whitetail Management Summit February 9-10 at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, hosted by distributor Extreme Custom Food Plots with Scott and Tanya, featuring Dr. Bronson Strickland. 17:38
• Don announced a second Whitetail Management Summit March 9 in Greenwood, Delaware, hosted by East Coast distributor Eastern Outdoors, marking his first time speaking in Delaware. 18:07

whitetail-summit

• Terry announced their friends are putting on the Whitetail Summit in Wisconsin Dells, organized by Scott Finandall, with more details and a possible coupon code to come. 15:12

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (sighting) 2:14
• unnamed buck (harvest) 20:28
• unnamed buck (history) 20:49
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 43:47
• unnamed buck (history) 44:23
• unnamed buck (harvest) 51:20

Listener questions

Question: Aaron McGraw asks whether Don still feels an adrenaline rush after the shot and kill, having killed multiple 200-inch bucks and many bucks scoring 170-190 inches. 19:59 — asked by Aaron McGraw

• Answer: Don says his heart rate still picks up a little when a giant approaches, but the rush is nothing like it was when he started hunting; lasting satisfaction comes through Christ, not deer. 22:42

Question: Dusty Esseck from Highlandville, Missouri asks Don’s thoughts on the hack-and-squirt method for killing trees, noting Don seems to favor cutting over hinge cutting. 25:30 — asked by Dusty Esseck

• Answer: Don calls hack-and-squirt a fantastic, underused tool, often better than hinge cutting; a hatchet chop filled with herbicide kills the tree, needing one hack on small trees or several on larger ones. 26:45

Question: Mike Kelly asks whether, once he can no longer draw a compound bow due to age, he should switch to a crossbow or give up hunting. 49:48 — asked by Mike Kelly

• Answer: Don says he would not hesitate to switch to a crossbow if he could no longer shoot a compound, though he opposes crossbows for able-bodied hunters during full archery season. 50:06

Question: Kyle Mason asks how frustrated Missouri hunters might push back against unfavorable DNR regulations and whether real change is achievable. 52:01 — asked by Kyle Mason

• Answer: Don says meaningful regulation change takes years, significant fundraising, and a hired lobbyist, but the biggest challenge is uniting hunters despite a loud, vocal minority opposing progress. 55:56

Question: Wayne Gays asks what typically prompts Don to return to a property for a second consulting visit and whether it’s just to tweak the original plan. 56:30 — asked by Wayne Gays

• Answer: Don explains most repeat consulting visits happen because the client purchased a different property, not because they’re revisiting the same one. 56:39

Question: Blake Marcus asks whether raising the Pope and Young minimum score from 125 to 140 inches for whitetails would make a difference in deer herds nationwide. 57:55 — asked by Blake Marcus

• Answer: Don says raising the minimum score would make no real difference, since a 140-inch archery buck is now an easily achievable goal for most Midwest hunters. 58:14

Cold weather drove heavy deer activity, with Don describing an afternoon sighting over 50 deer, including 16 to 20 bucks, feeding on his corn plot, while Terry linked the pattern to a cold snap like the one around last Christmas. The hosts discussed habitat work, with Don criticizing careless hinge-cutting done without knowing tree species and favoring hack-and-squirt herbicide kills instead, while Terry recommended girdling leaning trees and cautioned that cutting should happen before green-up since rotten limbs can fall as trees tip. Don recalled a friend, Gabe Shafner, killed by a falling tree after retiring. Listener questions covered adrenaline after big kills, switching to a crossbow with age, pushing back on Missouri DNR regulations, and whether raising Pope and Young minimums would matter. Don said lasting satisfaction comes through Christ, and Terry announced plans to baptize a listener.

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