DON HIGGINS’ 4TH 200-INCH BUCK | The Doubting Thomas Story

Published: 2026-07-01
Duration: 36 min

In this episode

catch-and-release

• After passing on a clear shot, Don decided to let the buck walk away again despite believing he was a 200-inch deer. 17:31

culling-strategy

• Terry explains Don’s approach isn’t a typical cull; he lets the biggest bucks go and instead removes smaller bucks lacking the same potential. 30:27

deer-biology

• Research shows that killing a doe tends to keep her buck fawns in the same area, while a surviving doe pushes them 5-20 miles away. 4:09

deer-management

• Don explains that by age three and a half, he can usually tell whether a buck has the potential to become a true giant. 28:46
• Don emphasizes that a property can only support so many bucks, so he manages the herd to keep only the best ones. 29:30

doe-harvest

• Don shot two does on his farm years earlier, both of which had sets of twin buck fawns. 4:35

faith

• Don credits his grandfather with planting the seeds of his Christian faith during his youth on the farm. 32:55

family

• Don’s daughter Alicia gave birth to his first granddaughter in Indiana, prompting Don to briefly pause his hunt. 20:57

hunting-advice

• Terry warned Don that if he let the buck go and someone else shot it, Don would be secretly crushed despite acting happy for them. 19:26

hunting-decision

• Don told Terry he thought the buck was only in the mid-190s and decided to let him walk rather than risk shooting him short of 200. 10:17
• Weighing the neighbor sightings, Al’s advice, and having seen the buck twice, Don made up his mind to shoot him the next chance he got. 19:57

hunting-philosophy

• Don admits that as he’s gotten older he now has to talk himself into shooting these rare big bucks rather than into not shooting them. 27:08
• Don says he genuinely enjoys the chase of these big bucks more than the actual kill. 27:41

hunting-plan

• Don told Terry he was undecided whether to shoot both bucks or let one go if they both reached 200 inches the next year. 8:05
• Don had decided not to shoot Doubting Thomas that season, choosing to give him another year to grow. 11:09
• Don planned to instead pursue a different five-year-old buck he named Turning Point and let Doubting Thomas live another year. 11:39

land-management

• Don has spent more than thirty years steadily improving his farm’s habitat and deer herd. 2:25

legacy

• Terry urges viewers to look at what Don built and consider what legacy they can leave for future generations. 3:39
• Don sees the farm as his grandfather’s legacy, one he has built upon and intends to pass on to his kids and grandkids. 33:50
• Don closes by asking viewers to consider what legacy they are building and what they are passing on to future generations. 35:28

mentorship

• Terry says he never pressures Don on whether to shoot or pass a buck, leaving the decision entirely up to him. 10:27
• Al Foster had a serious talk with Don about whether to shoot the deer, though he said he’d support whatever Don decided. 18:33

property-history

• Don’s world-class hunting property began as a plain 40-acre cattle pasture inherited from his grandfather, not a ready-made trophy farm. 1:07

tim-heath

• Tim Heath, a friend of Don’s, has personally killed a couple of 200-inch bucks himself. 9:08

twin-bucks

• Terry recalls telling Don that two bucks in trail photos were twins because they looked nearly identical. 5:22

Deer activity

• Doubting Thomas (history) 2:38
• Doubting Thomas (history) 4:59
• unnamed buck (history) 5:55
• Doubting Thomas (history) 6:36
• Doubting Thomas (trail-camera) 6:55
• Doubting Thomas twin (history) 7:04
• Doubting Thomas twin (history) 7:16
• unnamed buck (history) 9:55
• unnamed buck (trail-camera) 11:49
• Doubting Thomas (sighting) 13:36
• unnamed buck (sighting) 14:20
• unnamed buck (hunt) 14:23
• unnamed buck (history) 14:39
• unnamed buck (hunt) 15:07
• Doubting Thomas (hunt) 17:34
• doubting Thomas (sighting) 18:06
• unnamed buck (harvest) 23:40
• unnamed buck (harvest) 24:04
• Doubting Thomas (history) 30:48

Sponsors this episode

• Real World Wildlife Products

The episode traced the story of Doubting Thomas, a buck Don and his twin likely produced on or near Don’s own farm. Terry noted research suggesting killing a doe keeps her buck fawns close, while a surviving doe pushes them 5-20 miles off, and recalled that Don had once shot two does whose twin buck fawns later became trail-camera regulars. Don repeatedly passed Doubting Thomas, once judging him only mid-190s, later giving him another year in favor of pursuing a different five-year-old buck, Turning Point. After neighbor sightings, a serious talk with Al Foster, and Terry’s warning that regret would follow if someone else took the buck, Don finally decided to shoot him. Don discussed his three-decade habitat build-up from a plain 40-acre pasture, his herd-management philosophy of protecting top bucks while culling lesser ones, and framed the farm as his grandfather’s legacy, closing by asking viewers what legacy they were building.

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