Land Management — Listener Q&A

Questions 262–305 of 305 in this category (page 3 of 3). ← previous · All listener questions

Habitat Consulting

Question: What is the smallest and largest property Don has consulted on? 41:25 — LIVE at 360 Blinds: No Script, No Filters — Just Real Questions | Chasing Giants 308

• Answer: The smallest property Don consulted on was eight acres, in Michigan. 41:30
• Answer: The largest property is probably around 2,000 acres. 41:54

Question: Terry asks Don for takeaways from his consulting visits so far this season beyond meeting great people. 23:48 — Episode 303 – Late-Season Deer Movement, Winter Food Strategy & The Future of Big Bucks

• Answer: Don shares that a key takeaway from his early consulting visits is that clients clearly listen to the podcast, referencing things he’s said on air. 24:04

Question: Terry asks Joe, on the Higgins Hot Seat, the most surprising or off-the-wall thing Don Higgins ever told him to do on two properties. 42:35 — asked by Terry — “200-Inch Nebraska Giant: Joe Chambers’ Incredible Buck Story | Chasing Giants Ep. 296”

• Answer: Joe recalls Don surprising him by insisting the river farm’s back acreage should become food plots rather than the switchgrass bedding cover Joe planned. 43:34

Question: What are Don’s top three and least favorite states to consult in, and where does Michigan rank? 28:46 — asked by Nick Essenmacher — #292 - Public Land Busts, Big Timber Dreams, & Target Bucks

• Answer: Don says he doesn’t really have three favorites or least favorites, though he prefers jobs close to home where he can sleep in his own bed. 31:00

Question: Why should someone hire Don or his team, and what makes them different from other whitetail consultants? 40:25 — #292 - Public Land Busts, Big Timber Dreams, & Target Bucks

• Answer: Don’s team starts every project with about nine or ten questions covering hunting pressure, terrain, and goals before ever visiting a property. 41:13
• Answer: Don believes the detailed written plan his team provides is second to none compared to other consultants. 44:23
• Answer: He says ongoing follow-up support after the visit is another area where his team outperforms other consultants. 44:35

Question: Brandon Pearson asked Don to describe the positive changes he has witnessed over time as a multi-year consulting plan unfolds on client properties. 36:53 — asked by Brandon Pearson — Episode 238 - 2024 Buck Forecast - MORE GIANTS SHOT THIS YEAR

• Answer: Don said on some properties simply following his plan brings a day-and-night difference the very first year, while on others he only needs to tweak one or two things. 37:25

Question: Brandon Pearson asked if Don or Terry ever had to tell a land consult client their property couldn’t support their goals, and what usually causes that. 49:18 — asked by Brandon Pearson — Ep. #226 - Mineral Site Placement and Predator Activity Special Memories of Fathers on Father’s Day

• Answer: Don says the culprit is usually poor property layout or too many hunters trying to hunt a property suited for far fewer. 49:43

Question: A Des Moines, Iowa listener asked what negative experiences or difficult people Don and Terry have encountered while consulting and traveling. 26:30 — Episode #223 - Why are Young Bucks Being Hit on the Roads This Time of Year?

• Answer: Don says he has never had a genuinely bad client; the biggest negative for him is sleeping in a motel every night while on the road. 27:18
• Answer: Terry says the only real negative for him is people unexpectedly showing up at his house, which makes him uncomfortable since his family values privacy. 30:41

Question: Kirk Gibson asked how to convince his dad and brother that hiring a Chasing Giants consultant would be worth the financial investment for their Michigan property. 35:31 — asked by Kirk Gibson — Episode #197 - Don’s Grandson Kills His First Buck!

• Answer: Don said if the finances are there, the selling point is a consultant can quickly build a plan shaving years off the learning curve toward shooting the property’s biggest bucks. 38:40

Question: Jimbo Malpin asks what percentage of Don’s consulting clients could succeed if he simply marked the correct tree, wind direction, and access. 21:12 — asked by Jimbo Malpin — Episode #189 - Season Opener and Tough Questions

• Answer: Don says his most successful consulting clients are simply the ones who follow his plan most closely. 23:46

Question: Mike Miller asked whether hiring a consultant thirty years ago would have made Don’s deer herd and harvested bucks mean less to him now. 30:45 — asked by Mike Miller — Episode #166 - Spring Herbicides

• Answer: Don said hiring a consultant decades ago likely wouldn’t diminish his sense of success, since so much of what he’s learned is property-specific and constantly evolving. 34:53
• Answer: Terry said everyone should reflect on their goals and surround themselves with people who can help them get there, whether through consulting or other guidance. 36:42

Question: What has happened on the consulting trail since last week’s episode? 2:04 — Episode #158 - Is Hunting Contests Hurting the Hunting Industry?

• Answer: Don recaps looking at several Kansas/Missouri/Iowa properties, visiting a custom gunmaker and clients, and coming home exhausted after about nine days on the road. 6:54

Question: An audience member asked if Don would have Tony LaPratt consult on his two newly purchased 40-acre properties. 98:51 — Chasing Giants #155 - Hilarious Episode Live from Middlefield, OH

• 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

Question: Jordan Blummer from Strasburg, Illinois asks whether Don and Terry have ever consulted on adjacent landowners’ properties and how they approach that. 49:40 — asked by Jordan Blummer — Episode #146 - Late Season Decisions and Tactics

• Answer: Don says he’s fine consulting for neighboring landowners and actually prefers when neighbors work together rather than against each other. 50:18
• Answer: Terry adds he wouldn’t take a neighboring landowner’s project without his existing client’s buy-in, since customers become a trusted circle. 52:10

Question: Sean asks whether Don has ever consulted on a property and thought it would be an easy killing spot with minimal work. 57:01 — asked by Sean Redman — Chasing Giants Podcast #145 - Bully Bucks and Big Rubs!

• Answer: Don says he has seen properties with huge untapped potential, and it frustrates him when owners don’t fully commit to the plan he lays out. 58:16
• Answer: Don notes clients who follow his plan often succeed dramatically, citing three 200-inch bucks and more in one recent season. 58:56

Question: Josh Hurley asked what Don and Terry think of consultants claiming expertise who don’t own their own hunting property. 44:23 — asked by Josh Hurley — Episode #138 - Hunting the Full Moon

• Answer: Don said owning property helps a consultant’s credibility, but what matters most is the person’s track record rather than land ownership itself. 44:39

Question: Terry asks Mark Lester how far he is willing to travel for consulting clients. 54:19 — Episode #133 - Special Guest Mark Luster - Buck Forecast Part 2

• Answer: Mark Lester says he has yet to find a distance he wouldn’t travel for a client. 54:27

Question: Besides hunting less and running more trail cameras, what have you started doing or learned that helps you kill giant bucks? 65:24 — asked by Brandon Hurley — Episode #112 - Chasing Giants in the Big North Woods

• Answer: Don says he now covers far more territory than ever before rather than focusing on just a few farms. 65:44
• Answer: Don explains he keeps buying more trail cameras and spreading them across more properties and states to locate rare giant bucks. 66:43
• Answer: Terry adds Don has honed in on annual buck patterns far more precisely, a skill built from running so many cameras. 67:44

Question: Clayton Kraft asked if Don has ever visited a property and quickly told the client he couldn’t provide enough value to justify the cost. 63:41 — asked by Clayton Kraft — EPISODE #111 COURAGE or ARROGANCE?

• Answer: Don recalled one property already so thoroughly rigged with six-foot funnel fencing that little could be added. 65:00
• Answer: Don told that client he didn’t see how he could add anything further given what was already done. 65:29
• Answer: Don explained the situation and left without charging anything, the only time that’s happened in his years consulting. 66:04
• Answer: Don said most issues can be caught from an aerial photo and his standard 10 client questions before ever visiting. 66:14
• Answer: Terry said Don regularly turns down work when he can’t meet a client’s goals. 68:06

Question: Josh Quietter asked how accurate someone can be creating a hunting plan from just an aerial photo without visiting the property. 35:55 — asked by Josh Quietter — Episode 101 - Mowing Corn, Dead Coyotes, and Working in the Hunting Industry

• Answer: Don says that even after reviewing an aerial beforehand, he must scrap his ideas about 80% of the time once he actually walks the property. 36:51

Question: Jeff Sandel asks Don how he’d rate his success as a land consultant and what land type is hardest to consult on. 58:26 — asked by Jeff Sandel — Episode #77 - Would you shoot this buck? Still looking for a shooter.

• Answer: Don says the clients who follow his plan most closely have the most success. 59:27
• Answer: Terry adds that Don’s success comes from having committed his life to understanding mature buck behavior in ways most people haven’t. 63:11

Question: John Jay asks whether Don would recommend the Tag Out crew to do habitat work. 51:27 — Episode #61 - Live from the Midwest Sportsman Show - TOUGH QUESTIONS FROM LIVE CROWD

• Answer: Don says he genuinely recommends the Tag Out crew and sends them work every year, praising their integrity. 53:15

Question: Al Foster asked how many years Don has been doing farm consulting. 32:21 — Episode #58 - Burning Native Grass Tips and Great Questions from 3rd Master Class

• Answer: Don estimated he’s been consulting for about ten or twelve years. 32:26

Question: Al Foster asked what frustrates Don most and what he likes most about his consulting trips. 32:30 — Episode #58 - Burning Native Grass Tips and Great Questions from 3rd Master Class

• Answer: Don said the people he meets are, without a doubt, the best part of consulting. 32:47
• Answer: Don said the most frustrating part is also people, since he knows how little he started with and sees unrealized potential on some clients’ land. 33:31

Question: Don asks Terry what he has planned for the coming week outside of his Wisconsin trip. 8:46 — Episode #48 - Antler Genetics (what is a super doe?) When Do Sheds Fall? And Peeing Out of Your Stand…

• Answer: Terry says he’ll do more consulting but stay closer to home, away only one night this week. 8:53

Question: With a blank-canvas property, how do you decide the strategic location for food plots when clearing timber is unavoidable? 26:49 — asked by Tyson Schulte — Episode #19 - Finishing Timber Projects and Starting Food Plot Projects

• Answer: Terry related that his first cleared plot years ago was in the wrong spot and he ended up replanting it into trees. 26:59
• Answer: Terry said to evaluate access, wind direction, and terrain before locating a new food plot. 27:17
• Answer: Don said this question is exactly why paying a land consultant who only studies aerial photos is a waste of money. 28:34
• Answer: Terry said it takes boots on the ground because there are too many factors an aerial photo can’t show. 30:01

Question: Al Foster asked what Don’s years of consulting travel have taught him about differences across properties and people. 20:57 — asked by Al Foster — Episode #17 - Live from Don Higgins first Master Class of 2020

• Answer: Don said the biggest takeaway is how adaptable whitetails are everywhere, and that the best thing deer hunting has done for him is the great people it’s brought into his life. 21:57

Question: Jesse Fromm asked whether Don would offer a discounted service reviewing satellite and topography maps to help build hunting plans for those who can’t afford full consulting. 40:06 — asked by Jesse Fromm — Episode #6 - Don Kills 2 Booners on Back to Back Hunts

• Answer: Don said he wouldn’t feel right charging for aerial-only map advice, since once he walks a property in person, 70-80% of his aerial-based plan usually gets thrown out. 42:37
• Answer: Don added he doesn’t believe anyone should pay for aerial-map marking at all, since advice from an aerial alone is too unreliable. 44:30

Neighbor Relations

Question: Josh asks if Don has ideas to convince neighboring landowners to pass on three-year-old bucks. 53:50 — asked by Josh — Episode #263 - Live from the Iowa Deer Classic

• Answer: Don says it isn’t his place to tell other hunters what to shoot; he focuses instead on keeping bucks on his own property as many daylight hours as possible. 54:13

Question: An audience member asks how to keep peace with a neighboring farmer who dislikes deer and shoots crop-damage tags. 52:10 — Episode #260 - Live From the Legends Roundtable - Midwest Sportsmans Classic

• Answer: Don says if the farmer is mainly shooting does, he may actually be helping with herd management. 52:47

Question: How do Don and Terry deal with neighbor issues like hunting too close to property lines or jealousy over a shot buck? 34:39 — asked by Michael Young — Episode #239 - EHD Is Closing in on Don’s Farm!

• Answer: Don said most neighbor conflicts stem from lack of communication and can be prevented by talking with neighbors before problems arise. 36:44

Question: Ryan asks the best approach for an introductory conversation with new hunting neighbors about herd and property management. 48:57 — asked by Ryan Higgins — Episode #229 - Final Thoughts on the Buck Named Babe and Cameras are Out!

• Answer: Don advises always talking to the neighbor first and giving them a chance to get on board before resorting to something extreme like a fence. 53:27

Question: An audience member asked how far a food plot should be from a friendly neighbor’s plot to keep hunting fair. 92:45 — Chasing Giants #155 - Hilarious Episode Live from Middlefield, OH

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

Question: Andrew asks how to handle neighboring outfitters placing stands near his property line so their wounded deer keep dying on his land. 34:11 — asked by Andrew — Episode #143 - Welcome to the Lockdown!

• Answer: Don says the response depends on the situation: cooperative neighbors managing for quality deer can work together, but neighbors doing nothing for deer while sitting on the line are a different problem, sometimes solved with a boundary fence. 36:05

Question: Jay Thielen asks how to screen neighboring hunters near his property line, since their high stand defeats attempts to block them visually. 35:09 — asked by Jay Thielen — Episode #143 - Welcome to the Lockdown!

• Answer: Don points to boundary fencing as an increasingly common solution for shutting out bad neighboring hunters. 37:09

Question: John Lawton asks whether to share trail camera photos of good bucks with neighbors and how to get neighbors on board managing the deer herd. 22:44 — asked by John Lawton — Episode #129 - Lessons Learned from a GIANT TYPICAL - Story you haven’t heard!

• Answer: Don says he’s never had a neighbor share a photo of a big buck he didn’t already know about, and believes sharing trail camera information with neighbors is usually counterproductive. 24:24
• Answer: Terry adds that big deer bring out the worst in people, so it’s often safer to keep good buck photos private rather than share them with neighbors. 26:54
• Answer: Don’s personal policy is to never post photos of a buck while it’s still alive; only after a neighbor legally kills it will he share pictures or shed antlers. 28:17

Question: Grant Watson asks whether Don would tell neighboring landowners to pass on a promising 2.5-year-old buck or stay quiet about it. 55:11 — asked by Grant Watson — Episode #79 - Bachelor Group Dispersal and Iowa Update

• Answer: Don says he would not tell the neighbors about the buck. 55:29
• Answer: Don explains he holds intel on a live target buck close to his chest because of the effort he invests finding it. 56:16
• Answer: Terry agrees he never shares intel with neighbors, even though he acknowledges he’ll still lose some deer to them regardless. 57:00

Deer Density & Population

Question: Christopher Palmer also asks Don’s thoughts on drones for recovering deer given Indiana’s first drone-poaching case. 16:40 — asked by Christopher Palmer — Chasing Giants LIVE at the Midwest Sportsmen’s Classic | Shipshewana, IN | Presented by FAE

• Answer: Don says a drone in the right hands is a great tool for recovering lost deer or taking herd surveys, but in the wrong hands drones can decimate a mature buck herd. 22:39

Question: Lance Fisher asks whether a mature six-point buck could be a dominant bully buck keeping other bucks away, and about bully buck trends generally. 44:13 — asked by Lance Fisher — Episode 303 – Late-Season Deer Movement, Winter Food Strategy & The Future of Big Bucks

• Answer: Don says Illinois’s deer herd has been declining, noting he runs cameras on 26-plus properties and has tracked this for decades. 44:49

Question: Terry asked what impact taking far more deer than usual off the property had on its overall holding capacity. 8:17 — asked by Terry — Thermal Drones, Trail Cameras & Big Buck Strategies | Chasing Giants Podcast #282

• Answer: Don said too many deer can hurt a property’s ability to produce giant mature bucks. 9:38
• Answer: Don said his food plots now show far less browse pressure than a year earlier. 9:25

Question: Rick Lundberg asks how far Don would disturb a bedding sanctuary to search for a deer he’s 98% sure he killed. 18:13 — Episode #263 - Live from the Iowa Deer Classic

• Answer: Don says he’ll turn over every leaf in the sanctuary to find a deer he’s 98% sure is dead, calling it unethical not to. 18:29

Question: Ryan asked how to ethically recover a deer after a possibly marginal bowshot without video confirmation, including whether to use a tracking dog. 42:32 — asked by Ryan — Episode 192 - End of October - Tactics and Plans are Changing - PRE RUT!

• Answer: Don says recovery starts with shot selection — keeping shots close and at good angles will result in losing very few deer. 43:36
• Answer: Don’s rule is if he doesn’t see the deer fall on an evening hunt, he backs out and returns the next morning. 44:04
• Answer: Don says he would absolutely allow a tracking dog on his property, noting dogs are legal in Illinois though drones are not. 46:12
• Answer: Don recounts using a bloodhound to help recover a buck he shot and named Trump. 46:38
• Answer: Terry advises staying put and quiet after the shot, since a marginally hit deer may still be watching and could be pushed further away. 48:14

Question: What role do worms and parasites play as stress on a deer herd, and should hunters worry about it? 19:05 — Episode #160 - Live with Dr. Bronson Strickland at Whitetail Master Class

• Answer: Bronson says parasites naturally fluctuate but have never been documented to regulate a free-ranging deer population. 19:42

Question: Gary Hall asked what Don and Terry do when someone shoots a deer that runs onto their property—let them track it, or make them wait until dark. 49:02 — asked by Gary Hall — Episode #92 - Don in Facebook Jail?

• Answer: Don says he tries to treat others the way he wants to be treated when deciding whether to let neighbors track a wounded deer onto his property. 49:37
• Answer: Terry says he’s more willing to help if the shooter is transparent about where and how they hit the deer, since that transparency and a shared plan should be expected. 52:46

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