omicron1792
5 year old buck +
Is there a hunter these days that doesn’t use them? Seems like much ado about nothing.
Interesting discussion with Don Higgins on the Land Podcast
- Thread starter Hoytvectrix
- Start date
The only way someone can kill 200" bucks is if there are 200" bucks to hunt. That said hunting a 'specific mature ' 200" buck is no harder than hunting a 'specific' mature 140" buck. Both animals are the same. The real accomplishment isn't killing a 200" buck. The real accomplishment is consistently growing 200" bucks. To do that the principles are simple. Age and nutrition. Then it becomes a numbers game. How many fully mature bucks can you grow that have been on peak nutrition every day since they were in their mommas belly for the rare outlier to exist. Says easy does hard. I know----genetics, genetics, genetics...whatever. My experience is that when your radically raise the nutritional plane over generations, epigenetic shifts the entire bell curve of animal health including antler expression then---again---its just a numbers game to have the rare anomaly blow past 200. Congrats to Don on that accomplishment.
Brian662
5 year old buck +
I agree, except 200" deer draw a lot more attention from other hunters than 140" deer.
I believe one or two of Don's 200" were shot on his property, the others on permission farms. Again, all the credit to him for getting it done.
A question I have for you Baker and others - is if you believe the science around buck dispersal, there isn't a way for you to impact a buck's potential from inside his mother's belly all the way to his maturity, unless you harvest his mom at the right time. Or you own several square miles. Best you can hope for is to gain a buck after dispersal who already has great genetic makeup and had a healthy mother, then you can do the rest. At least that's the way I see it.
Couple of thoughts. First you absolutely can impact a bucks potential after its born. NUTRITION. Putting a buck on a peak 100% nutritional plane 365 days a year for life makes a profound difference in every age class. We see 15% 20% swings in antler quality in Mexico in droughty years vs. wet years. It takes protein supplementation to even out the swings though nothing completely compensates what nature does. . I propose that many deer herds around the country are on a less than ideal diet for much of their life. The reciprocal is the ag belt...which consistently grows terrific bucks...aka Don Higgins.
Buck dispersal is a very cool aspect of deer behavior. Thats why it takes scale to influence overall deer performance. The vast majority of situations is where folks can only effect their own habitat hoping to influence deer movement but little opportunity to change herd dynamics. But with scale consider this. If a bucks mommas mommas, mommas momma's is on a very high nutritional plane for life followed by all subsequent generations, then the potential of the buck fawned from that has been profoundly impacted by epigenetic response and has far more potential than the same scenario with compromised nutrition. So the question becomes how to create that scenario.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Yes.
With all the respect in the world….
I just have to say… while I am mostly against fencing deer for hunting, I have the utmost respect for you and what you’ve done. You’re posts have, really single-handedly as trite as that sounds, made me have a much more nuanced point of view on the topic.
With that said, I do feel like fences are too often used as a band-aid for a poor purchase decision.
I also am no fan of Higgins’, though I’ve come to appreciate that he is as ignorant and oblivious to the hunting habits and conditions of 90% of the hunting public, especially in the Deep South, as my 4 year-old is to differential equations. With that understanding, his opinions are much more palatable.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
He’s very open that trail cams have changed the game and can be a very effective tool as you point out. He just has been more vocally cautious on cell cams than I’ve heard him be an advocate of them. If a guy believes what he says, he uses trail cams primarily to find huge bucks and annual data to pattern them I.E. this buck shifted to this area on these dates the last 2 years so it makes sense to target him on those dates this year.
I’m pretty sure he’s said he’d be ok with trailcam bans but hes going to use them if they are legal. I don’t disagree with you on the point that trail cams and cell cams likely have an impact on age class but so do crossbows.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Interesting and thought provoking take.
I think it’s more that he relies on the deer that don’t live on his place year round coming to his place during hunting season and also that it would be terrible for business and reputation. Certainly some of those deer eat a lot of corn/beans from ag neighbors before it’s harvested.
Without a doubt, Higgins’ little place would be a turd without the backup from his non-hunting neighbors.
He mentioned on the podcast that he’s looking for another farm. The one he has is a legacy. I’ll be interested to see whether he’s able to find another with as little competition.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Just listened to 20 minutes of the exodus podcast with don…here’s what I learned. Don loves Don.
bwoods11
5 year old buck +
I actually learn from Don! He gives good advice ! However…The bragging is just not necessary! Comments like “ I’m the only guy in the world that would go back and take a nap before looking for a 200 inch buck”
Maybe ? But, what’s the point of that comment ?
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
From my 20 minute exposure to him…he knows how to kill big bucks, he obviously has access to good land, but something seems off. An Andre D’aquisto vibe. I prefer a bill winke type.
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hillrunner
5 year old buck +
I'd say Don lands somewhere between Bill and Andre on the arrogance scale with Bill being a humble likeable guy and Andre being as arrogant as they come. All 3 are skilled big buck hunters. Bill and Don have similar approaches to whitetail with Andre bring completely different.
Like was mentioned by someone else, I like Don a lot better on other people's podcasts than his own. He and his co host spend most of their podcast bloviating and saying nothing of significance. Constantly reminding us that they only tell the truth and won't try to sell us anything that doesn't work. Over and over--- every podcast.
Bill
Administrator
To let you know he's not excited to have just shot a 200" deer. It's work to him. You could take a nap at lunch during a work day then just to get up and go back to work. Same for him.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
I've known a lot of athletes who nap on the bus ride or find a spot right before a game to catch a quick nap. For them it's a stress relief, or sometimes a way to make time pass quicker. May be the same for him?
Mortenson
5 year old buck +
I thought he was sick or something when that nap happened? Didn't he have 'rona? I go back n forth on Don. Never listened to a single podcast in my life and not on fb, so I'm out of the loop, but a few years ago I remember thinking he seemed humble/modest and then after googling him again now he seems awful important. Jury still out for me.
bwoods11
5 year old buck +
My point wasn’t the nap itself . It was the fact that he said “he’s the only guy in the world who would do that “ . He also said he’s the only guy in the world that would pass a 200 inch buck (3 year old).
Like I said before , I like his podcasts/videos and actually learn from him. It’s just one thing he could eliminate, the self pats on the back.
Let the success do the talking !
Like I said before , I like his podcasts/videos and actually learn from him. It’s just one thing he could eliminate, the self pats on the back.
Let the success do the talking !
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