Chasing Giants #155 - Hilarious Episode Live from Middlefield, OH

Published: 2023-02-05
Episode page
Duration: 101 min

In this episode

bachelor-groups

• An audience member asked why bucks form bachelor groups in the specific places they do. 87:37

bedding

• An audience member asked Don’s preferred bedding area for deer during heavy snow in winter. 15:58

breeding

• An audience member jokingly asked whether Don would wait for Mel to finish breeding a doe or shoot him mid-act. 52:39

buck-doe-ratio

• An audience member asked about buck-to-doe ratio and what Don would do if a buck he was chasing winded him. 46:36

business-partnership

• Don said Ray and Aden’s company, A and M Gutters, manufactures gutter guards on-site and is the biggest supplier of gutter guards on Amazon. 2:32

charity

• Terry said that whenever he mentions a family in need on a construction side, the guys from Lester’s Feet are first to call and offer help. 3:18

consulting

• An audience member asked if Don would have Tony LaPratt consult on his two newly purchased 40-acre properties. 98:51

culling

• Don said his culling strategy has raised the top-end antler size of bucks on his farm by about 20 inches over the past twenty years. 61:50
• Wildlife researcher Bronson Strickland told Don he had written a book on the same culling approach Don had independently developed on his farm. 62:19
• An audience member asked how important it is to cull older bucks so younger family members can shoot them. 58:27

cwd

• Don asserted that chronic wasting disease is a political disease, comparing it to how COVID was politicized. 21:53
• Don noted CWD was first discovered in 1967 in Fort Collins, Colorado, in a government research pen of mule deer. 22:20
• Terry said Apple Creek Whitetails in Michigan found that adjusting deer blood pH with humic acid reversed CWD mortality. 24:21
• Don recalled his state senator calling him immediately after leaving a meeting with the IDNR about supplemental feeding legislation. 28:06
• Don’s state senator reported that IDNR officials weren’t concerned about disease spreading but about sharpshooters being left unemployed if baiting were allowed. 28:22
• An audience member, who raises deer, asked whether CWD would stop being an issue if the government quit funding testing. 63:53

doe-heat-scent

• An audience member asked the odds that doe-in-heat scent would draw a nocturnal corn-pile buck into daylight. 96:33

fetal-programming

• Don said the key to fetal programming is getting the doe on the highest nutritional plane before she conceives, which happens during the rut. 9:21

food-plots

• Don pointed out that apple trees and pear trees, common food plot staples, are not native to the United States. 5:43

goldenrod

• An audience member asked Don’s opinion on goldenrod as cover versus planting something that also provides food. 14:30

live-show

• Terry thanked the audience for taking a Thursday night to come out, saying it means more to them than the crowd realizes. 99:45

mature-buck-behavior

• An audience member asked whether older bucks get easier to kill because they lose dominant status or simply due to age. 34:46

miscanthus

• Don said backlash over Real World selling Miscanthus led radical pages to share his contact info, forcing him to block about 300 people on Facebook. 8:06

native-plants

• Don argued that a plant being non-native does not make it invasive, and some native plants are actually more invasive than some non-native ones. 6:06

neighbor-relations

• An audience member asked how far a food plot should be from a friendly neighbor’s plot to keep hunting fair. 92:45

new-hunters

• An audience member asked for Don’s top three tips for a 16-year-old just starting to hunt. 65:31

nocturnal-bucks

• An audience member asked how to get a strictly nocturnal buck to move during legal daylight shooting hours. 12:52

nutricrave-corn

• An audience member asked whether NutriCrave corn outperforms beans as a food source. 38:14

ohio

• Don said that if Ohio eliminated corn piles, it would become the best state in the nation for producing big bucks. 76:16

piebald-deer

• An audience member asked what causes piebald coloring in deer. 80:52

politics

• An audience member jokingly asked Don’s opinion on the Mexican border. 28:57

property-management

• An audience member asked the top three things Don did early on that had the biggest management impact on his farm. 83:09

public-land

• An audience member asked how a public-land hunter can apply Don’s private-land management knowledge to kill a big buck. 41:26

rope-scrapes

• An audience member asked whether the correct rope scrape height off the ground is two feet. 16:59

screening-cover

• An audience member asked what fast-growing screening plant could work in a semi-shaded, semi-wet spot. 51:03

trail-cameras

• Don called trail cameras the biggest game changer he’s seen in forty-some years of deer hunting. 43:06
• An audience member asked the best way to age a buck off a trail camera picture. 11:27

venison-recipes

• An audience member asked Don’s favorite venison recipe. 45:15

video-production

• Terry called the new video one of the best educational pieces he’s seen the show produce. 4:09
• Terry said Steve Shields, who produced the Mel video the audience watched, is the best in the business at video production. 4:16

water-holes

• Don argued that the human intrusion needed to maintain a water hole is a bigger negative than the positive the water source provides. 19:53

Deer activity

• unnamed buck (history) 35:48
• Mel (hunt) 52:39
• Smokey (harvest) 61:38
• Joey (harvest) 97:46

Listener questions

Question: An audience member asked the best way to age a buck off a trail camera picture. 11:27

• Answer: Don said there is no way to accurately age a buck from a trail camera picture alone. 11:32

Question: An audience member asked how to get a strictly nocturnal buck to move during legal daylight shooting hours. 12:52

• Answer: Don said if a buck beds one property away from where you hunt, your odds of killing him drop to about 10% of what they’d be on the same property. 13:28

Question: An audience member asked Don’s opinion on goldenrod as cover versus planting something that also provides food. 14:30

• Answer: Don said goldenrod is decent cover early fall but terrible cover by this time of year. 14:39

Question: An audience member asked Don’s preferred bedding area for deer during heavy snow in winter. 15:58

• Answer: Don said mature bucks bed wherever offers the least human intrusion, regardless of snow. 16:08

Question: An audience member asked whether the correct rope scrape height off the ground is two feet. 16:59

• Answer: Don said rope scrapes should be a bit higher than two feet, closer to three or three and a half feet. 17:07

Question: An audience member jokingly asked Don’s opinion on the Mexican border. 28:57

• Answer: Don joked that the border needs a giant wall with Donald Trump on top with whatever weapon he wants. 28:59

Question: An audience member asked whether older bucks get easier to kill because they lose dominant status or simply due to age. 34:46

• Answer: Don compared it to aging humans, saying older bucks travel less and their range shrinks as they age. 34:57

Question: An audience member asked whether NutriCrave corn outperforms beans as a food source. 38:14

• Answer: Don said deer wipe out NutriCrave corn first no matter the time of year. 38:21

Question: An audience member asked how a public-land hunter can apply Don’s private-land management knowledge to kill a big buck. 41:26

• Answer: Don said it’s possible but harder to do consistently on public land, and trail cameras are the key tool. 42:35

Question: An audience member asked Don’s favorite venison recipe. 45:15

• Answer: Don said B and M Custom, a local processor, makes the best jalapeno deer bacon he’s had. 45:21

Question: An audience member asked about buck-to-doe ratio and what Don would do if a buck he was chasing winded him. 46:36

• Answer: Don said individual landowners have essentially zero influence on buck-to-doe ratio; that’s a statewide biologist issue. 46:53
• Answer: Don said once he spooks a mature buck from a stand, he considers that stand dead and moves it. 48:05

Question: An audience member asked what fast-growing screening plant could work in a semi-shaded, semi-wet spot. 51:03

• Answer: Don said there aren’t many trees, especially conifers, that provide good cover while growing well in shade. 51:25

Question: An audience member jokingly asked whether Don would wait for Mel to finish breeding a doe or shoot him mid-act. 52:39

• Answer: Terry joked that since Mel was only four, the act might take longer than it would for an older buck. 52:56

Question: An audience member asked how important it is to cull older bucks so younger family members can shoot them. 58:27

• Answer: Don said his culling approach raised his farm’s top-end buck size by about 20 inches over twenty years. 61:50

Question: An audience member, who raises deer, asked whether CWD would stop being an issue if the government quit funding testing. 63:53

• Answer: Don said CWD is a political disease, comparing the confusion to end-times scripture where bad is called good. 64:10

Question: An audience member asked for Don’s top three tips for a 16-year-old just starting to hunt. 65:31

• Answer: Don advised avoiding hunting pressure, finding a successful mentor, and keeping priorities in order. 65:44

Question: An audience member asked what causes piebald coloring in deer. 80:52

• Answer: Don said piebald coloring is purely genetic. 81:04

Question: An audience member asked the top three things Don did early on that had the biggest management impact on his farm. 83:09

• Answer: Don said creating cover through CRP tree plantings and switchgrass was his biggest early move since cover was his area’s weakest link. 83:25

Question: An audience member asked why bucks form bachelor groups in the specific places they do. 87:37

• Answer: Don said does take the prime cover to raise fawns, pushing bucks into bachelor groups in secondary cover like ag fields. 87:57

Question: An audience member asked how far a food plot should be from a friendly neighbor’s plot to keep hunting fair. 92:45

• Answer: Don recommended that cooperating neighbors plant opposite food types, like grain versus greens, and switch yearly. 94:11

Question: An audience member asked the odds that doe-in-heat scent would draw a nocturnal corn-pile buck into daylight. 96:33

• Answer: Don said the odds are just a little better than zero, calling the tactic largely ineffective. 96:43

Question: An audience member asked if Don would have Tony LaPratt consult on his two newly purchased 40-acre properties. 98:51

• Answer: Don said one 40-acre parcel joins his current farm and remains undeveloped, which is why he’s skipping next year’s class there. 99:05

The episode centered on deer management, with Don fielding extensive audience questions after the group watched a Mel video produced by Steve Shields. Don argued non-native plants aren’t automatically invasive, noting apple and pear trees used in food plots aren’t native, and discussed his views on chronic wasting disease as politically driven, referencing its 1967 discovery in Fort Collins, Colorado. He credited trail cameras as the biggest change in his decades of hunting, described his culling strategy raising his farm’s top-end buck size by about 20 inches over twenty years, and noted researcher Bronson Strickland had independently written a book on a similar approach. Listener questions covered aging bucks from camera photos, rope scrape height, bedding behavior, bachelor groups, food plot spacing between neighbors, and tips for a young hunter starting out. Terry thanked the crowd for attending on a Thursday night, and lighter moments included jokes about Mel and the border.

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