Don Higgins / Higgins Outdoors

Don Higgins / Higgins Outdoors Higgins Outdoors is a multi-faceted business offering a variety of services and products
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06/16/2026

Formula for success -
Have goals so lofty that you rarely achieve them and dreams so big that you seldom share them.

06/15/2026

Don Higgins has used rope scrapes for years to locate, inventory, a...

We have set a release date of July 1st for the video of my hunt for Doubting Thomas, the 203” buck I shot last season. T...
06/15/2026

We have set a release date of July 1st for the video of my hunt for Doubting Thomas, the 203” buck I shot last season. This video includes some of the best footage of a mature buck that I have ever filmed and is more than a typical hunting video. We dig into the history and development of the property that produced this incredible buck and show multiple years of video footage and photos of him.

For many years I have promoted July 1st as the date for hunters to deploy their trail cameras to capture velvet bucks so to help get you motivated this year, we chose this date as the release for this video which can be seen on the chasing_giants_tv YouTube channel.

He is still here! I didn’t really expect him to be here more than a day or two but here he is again this morning. It wil...
06/13/2026

He is still here! I didn’t really expect him to be here more than a day or two but here he is again this morning. It will be interesting to see how long he remains a yard ornament. The crazy thing is that we have yet to see his mother. I’m sure she is staying in the switchgrass field that comes right up to our backyard. Oh yeah, deer don’t like stands of pure switchgrass 😂 … I guess my deer didn’t get that memo!

This little guy (or girl) has been staying in our yard for the past few days. His momma has figured out that this is abs...
06/12/2026

This little guy (or girl) has been staying in our yard for the past few days. His momma has figured out that this is absolutely the safest place she could have possibly hid him. It is interesting that first thing in the early morning he will be curled up somewhere in the yard but soon after sunrise he moves into the landscaping right against the house.

You can absolutely train the deer on your property to behave in certain ways that benefits both you and them. I doubt if there are very many properties that have more mature bucks on a “per acre” basis than what I have in the fall and winter. I have spent over 30 years training the local deer herd that my property offers the safest option with diverse and sectioned bedding cover, unlimited and extremely diverse food sources including some that cannot be found anywhere else, and enough does to keep the bucks home for a larger percentage of daylight hours. Creating great deer habitat and providing food is only 1/3 of the puzzle. The other 2/3 is how that habitat is layed out or arranged and how the property and deer herd is managed.

We got up this morning and saw this fawn laying just 20’ outside our bathroom window. I really wasn’t surprised as we ha...
06/08/2026

We got up this morning and saw this fawn laying just 20’ outside our bathroom window. I really wasn’t surprised as we have a lot of deer activity close to our house. Every year I find at least one shed antler in our yard; This spring I found two.

When we started building our new house a lot of folks questioned the location. “Do you think it will affect the deer on your property?” Was a question that I heard a lot. Obviously the location of the new home had very minimal impact. We regularly see deer in our yard.

I tell my consulting clients that “deer will accept humans and human activity as long as the humans stay where they are supposed to”. I believe that how a property is managed is as important as the habitat on the property. Deer, and especially mature bucks, are not going to spend much time where they experience danger or feel threatened. I could easily do all of my doe management from my patio but I will never do that because they would catch on very quickly and I would then see very few deer out my windows.

Did a short walk to check out the habitat this evening. Photo 1 - the miscanthus clumps are showing up nicely among the...
06/05/2026

Did a short walk to check out the habitat this evening.

Photo 1 - the miscanthus clumps are showing up nicely among the switchgrass. It’s crazy to think that the misguided purists won’t give miscanthus any credit as a great addition to many properties. I’m consistently seeing quail within and around my miscanthus screens.

Photo 2 - the apple crop looks fantastic on most varieties this year. The specialty varieties offered by bloom a little later than many others making them less susceptible to late frosts during bloom.

Photo 3 - the early bloom species like this butterfly w**d are bringing some awesome color to the pollinator plantings on the farm.

With many whitetail land managers now planting Generation-2 soybeans for their incredible drawing power, we hear a lot ...
06/04/2026

With many whitetail land managers now planting Generation-2 soybeans for their incredible drawing power, we hear a lot of comments regarding browse pressure on young soybean plants. This can be a real challenge when establishing a soybean plot. Managers use a variety of methods to address heavy browse pressure including higher seeding rates, sprays, and electric fences with varying degrees of success. The extra effort sometimes required to establish soybean plots is well worth it once hunting season begins.

In this photo of a young soybean plant, the cotyledon is circled. If a plant is browsed off above the cotyledon it can recover and continue to grow into a productive plant. However, if the plant is browsed off below the cotyledon it will die. Keep this in mind when making management decisions concerning browse pressure.

In light of recent life changing events, I have had plenty of time to slow down and reflect on a lot of things. The word...
05/28/2026

In light of recent life changing events, I have had plenty of time to slow down and reflect on a lot of things. The word “loyalty” keeps coming to mind as so many folks have reached out to offer prayers and words of encouragement. Loyalty is something that I strongly value. When I see certain people or hear their name, I instantly think “loyal”, some because of the loyalty they have displayed and others because they have none. I notice and note a persons loyalty which is something that I value above most other traits. I am blessed to know a lot of loyal people but I have also been exposed to a few snakes. Anyway just a random thought as I scroll through social media this morning and as I see posts from folks I know sometimes the word “loyalty” instantly comes to mind and sometimes it’s just the opposite.

I have to shake my head at some of the nonsense being spewed by young people with a whole lot of online knowledge but ne...
05/24/2026

I have to shake my head at some of the nonsense being spewed by young people with a whole lot of online knowledge but next to zero real world success. As a wise man one told me -

“Knowledge without mileage is worthless”

I am sure there will be plenty who will disagree with me today but in the future will realize how little they knew and how foolish they were. I know because I was once there! The older I get the more I realize how little I know.

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