This is the video transcript. To watch the video for this episode click here.

GRANT: We’ve all heard of an October lull but what happens when a cold front occurs in October? With Heath and Lindsey Martin, they believe that’s a good time to be in the woods.

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GRANT: This year Heath and Lindsey had scouted some new food plot locations on their Kansas lease; had found a couple of openings and planted some Eagle Seed Monster Wheat in those openings, and placed a couple of Redneck ghillie blinds next to ’em.

GRANT: Heath likes the simplicity of broadcasting Eagle’s wheat with the native grass areas, and then when it rains, the wheat germinates, the grass is going dormant, you’ve got an instant food plot.

GRANT: With a great cold front for October forecast, Heath and Lindsey are excited to go hunting.

GRANT: The forecast seems to be holding true, so Heath and Lindsey hit the road for Kansas.

GRANT: This hunt occurred during the early pre-rut. There’s not much scrape activity yet, so Heath and Lindsey are gonna focus on the food plots.

HEATH: (Whispering) We’re tucked into a ghillie blind here – a Redneck ghillie blind overlooking a little – had a little quarter acre, a little wheat food plot – Eagle Seed wheat food plot we put in, and we had a Trophy Rock on this big ole’ rock out here in the middle of the food plot, anyway.

HEATH: (Whispering) We will shoot some does or a doe today if we get the opportunity. There’s a couple of good mature bucks that are coming through here occasionally. I don’t know if we’ll see ’em today, but, you know, obviously, that’s why you go hunting, so. We had a rain come through last night – kind of the first cold front of the year. It’s gonna be super high pressure today and tomorrow. It’s gonna get down in the low, like 37 tomorrow morning. It’s in the 40s this morning, so the next couple of days should be pretty good hunting. So, we’re gonna hunt a day or two and see what we can get into.

GRANT: Heath is up first, and just as the sun’s coming over the horizon, a couple of does slip into the plot.

GRANT: Heath makes a perfect double lung at 15 yards; the doe expires just outside the plot.

HEATH: (Quietly) Probably a 15-yard shot. It don’t get much better than that – just a nice broadside, perfect, still. They didn’t know what hit ’em. The other does – the other doe and that little buck stood around for several minutes before they actually ran off, so. First day to hunt in October – October the 15th – whew, we got one down.

GRANT: Check out the hole that Deadmeat broadhead put in Heath’s doe. We’ve seen this over and over again this year and are super impressed with this head.

HEATH: Well, we got my doe drugged back out here in the food plot here in front of the Ghillie blind here, and I just can’t say enough about these Ghillie blinds. They’re just phenomenal. You tuck these things back in a tree stand – back under the timber here on the edge of the food plot, and we (Inaudible) this doe about 15 yards. She didn’t have a clue we were anywhere in the country; stopped her; had plenty of time to make a good shot; hit her dead center. You know, perfect double lung and she runs 100 yards. I mean that’s classic, how you want to do a whitetail hunt, so.

HEATH: This is the first time we’ve been out this year here on October the 15th. Like I said, there was a cold front come through last night with some rain. It’s pretty cool this morning with a brisk northwest wind and it’s gonna be even colder tomorrow. So, we’re hoping the next couple of days are really good, but for now we’re celebrating. We’ve got backstrap in the freezer. We’re not gonna go hungry this winter.

GRANT: It’s been a successful day in Kansas and it looks like there’s gonna be fresh backstraps for dinner.

GRANT: The next morning is Lindsey’s turn. The temperatures have dropped to 37 degrees and that’s quite a treat for this time of October.

GRANT: The wind is still good for the blind where Heath hunted yesterday, so they return to the same spot.

GRANT: After they settled in the blind, they could see several deer in the plot.

GRANT: Once light starts breaking, a beautiful doe walks 23 yards from the Redneck Blind.

GRANT: Great double-lung shot, Lindsey.

LINDSEY: (Whispering) Well, good morning. This is our last morning – Heath and I’s last morning here in Kansas for this trip, and…

HEATH: (Whispering) Oh.

LINDSEY: (Inaudible)

HEATH: (Whispering) Big buck. (Inaudible)

GRANT: While Lindsey is talking about the doe she just shot, Heath spots a big buck.

GRANT: Within moments coming toward the plot is a beautiful 10-point buck.

GRANT: When he gets close, he skirts the plot and keeps on going.

GRANT: It’s very quiet and Heath and Lindsey remain calm and let the live decoy continue enjoying the Trophy Rock. They hope that that young buck will signal to the more mature buck that it’s calm and there’s no reason to be alert.

GRANT: Suddenly, the big buck circles back into the plot just off camera.

GRANT: When the young buck moves off, the 10 makes his way toward one of Lindsey’s shooting windows.

UNKNOWN: (Whispering) (Inaudible)

HEATH: (Whispering) Yeah. Good shot.

LINDSEY: (Quietly) He kind of ducked and rolled a little bit. He ducked a lot and rolled a little bit with the shot. So it ended up being a little bit higher than what I would have liked. But we could hear him huffing out there, so, feel pretty confident, um, we got in his lungs. And so we may give him about 10 more minutes. And we’ve got several blood trails out there to track. So, gonna fill lots of, lots of venison in the freezer after this couple of days. So I’m excited, and I guess with that, we’re tagged out in Kansas.

GRANT: There’s two neat observations about this buck. Did you notice he sniffed his way to the Bloodsport arrow Lindsey used to shoot the doe? And did you see how far this buck dropped?

GRANT: Lindsey’s shot placement was perfect – right on the brown and white line – but this buck dropped so far he actually went down on his front leg.

LINDSEY: Well, so here’s my doe for the morning. She went – oh, probably, by the time she kind of swooped around – she probably went about 50 yards or so. Um, piled up out here, so. Man, she’s a pretty doe. She got a pretty hide on her. And so I’m proud of her. She’s gonna make some, she’s gonna make some good venison for the freezer, that’s for sure.

GRANT: After recovering the doe, Lindsey picks up the trail of the buck.

LINDSEY: (Inaudible)

LINDSEY: Whoo! Well, here he is! Yeah baby! (Inaudible) the arrow. Oh, he’s a big guy.

LINDSEY: He gave us a really good blood trail; easy to follow. Um, he ducked a little bit, so obviously the arrow was – arrowed him just a little higher than ideal. But it was a strong blood trail that was really easy to follow. So those trackers do a really good job with my bow.

LINDSEY: I am proud of him. It was a fun hunt this morning. We have had a couple of really fun days this – over the last few days out of that food plot, so. This time of year – mid-October – they’re hammering that wheat. Um, had a little cold front come in for the past few days. The pressure was right and the deer were sure moving. So. They were good to me. And like I said, I’m tagged out here in Kansas.

GRANT: Congratulations Heath and Lindsey on a great trip to Kansas. That’s three deer down in just a couple of days, all due to a cold front during October.

GRANT: You ready to go hunting, Pops?

GRANT: Back at The Proving Grounds, we’ve also been busy.

GRANT: Last week Daniel shared that I recently took my dad for his two-year post-chemo checkup. It’s a huge praise that no cancer was found and I certainly appreciate all the prayers from GrowingDeer viewers. But I got to tell ya the chemo’s been really rough on Dad. He’s lost a lot of weight and he’s still fighting to recover.

GRANT: When we returned from the Mayo, Dad was ready to get in the woods.

GRANT: Let’s do this. Is that crosshair focused? Is that better? What works? Is that better or worse?

GLEN: Hold it right there.

GRANT: Is that where you want it?

GLEN: Umm-hmm.

GRANT: Daniel had harvested two does from the Prickly Pear food plot last week. But there was still a good pattern of does using the area.

GRANT: Based on the forecast wind direction and the ease of getting Dad to that plot, interns Wes and Tyler moved a ghillie blind to the east end of that plot so we could get Dad within about 10 feet of the plot; take him out of the truck to the blind; and have a hunt.

GRANT: We were celebrating no cancer found after two years. And it was my dad’s 87th birthday.

GLEN: Getting pretty old, but I still love to hunt. I’m fresh out of Mayo; I got a fairly good checkup. I’m gonna try my luck on bow hunting again. And I love to hunt. I appreciate my boy taking me and he’s done wonderful for all these years.

GRANT: And today is my dad’s 87th birthday. So, we’re hoping God blesses us with a birthday buck. Last year my dad killed a buck on his birthday. We’re hoping for a repeat this year.

GLEN: Yes. I hope we spend ‘em bigger this year.

GRANT: But you’d take a doe wouldn’t ya?

GLEN: Yup.

GRANT: How about a turkey? Would you shoot a turkey?

GLEN: You better believe it.

GRANT: Yeah, he likes fresh turkey.

GRANT: So, we’re gonna get quiet here. We’ve got a food plot. We’re back to Prickly Pear. We’re actually hunting over the older part. We used to have a little hidey hole food plot. We expanded it this summer; we’ve shared that with you. But in the hidey hole we’ve built up more organic matter. And we’ve been in such a wicked drought that where we had more organic matter, it’s actually held more moisture, and the crops are doing better.

GRANT: Out where it was brand new, the timber was cleared. Of course we didn’t have any organic matter built up yet, you can tell the crop is not growing near as good there as where we have years of organic matter. Just another testimony to the Buffalo system. But today it’s all about celebrating Dad and 87 years of good health and being a great dad. And we gonna have a great hunt.

GLEN: I appreciate the buildup.

GRANT: My dad – which we all lovingly call Pops – and I think alike. I can’t think of a better way to spend my birthday than spending it in the deer woods.

GRANT: Tyler, Dad and I got settled in, and it wasn’t long before a deer entered the plot.

GRANT: We saw the young deer in the plot and Dad was ready to sit back and enjoy the sights.

GRANT: A bit later, we spotted a buck across the plot and I could tell my dad’s excitement ramped up several levels.

GRANT: As the buck fed closer, I could tell my dad was getting ready. He was holding a crossbow, but I could also tell he was extremely excited.

GRANT: The buck was about 35 yards when Dad decided to shoot.

GLEN: Grunt.

GRANT: (Whispering) You were high. You shot over him by a couple feet.

GRANT: I could tell before the arrow got to the buck it was gonna be high.

GRANT: (Inaudible)

GRANT: The buck ran off unharmed; Dad and I had some hugs and laughs and celebrated being able to hunt at 87 years of age. I can’t wait for Dad to feel a little bit better so I can take him hunting again.

GRANT: I want to take a moment and sincerely thank all of y’all that have been praying for my dad’s recovery. Pops started me hunting when I was very young, and I’ve continued that tradition and started Raleigh and Rae hunting at an early age, and we still enjoy hunting together.

GRANT: So, I was thrilled a few days after my dad’s birthday when Rae told me she was getting out of school a tad bit early and could hunt that afternoon.

GRANT: One of our food plots called Blue Hole had a good pattern of deer using it and that was an ideal spot to take Rae.

GRANT: Normally, we only hunt the plots in the bottom by the creek on a strong north wind or a cold day when the thermals are going down. If we have a south wind going up the creek, it tends to just swirl in the bottom. But with the forecast of a 20-mile-an-hour wind, I assumed there wouldn’t be any swirling, and our scent would be pushed out of the area.

RAE: (Whispering) It’s Friday afternoon, and we’re out here in Blue Hole. It’s about 70 degrees right now. We’ve got a good wind. There is rain and a cold front coming in tomorrow, so hopefully, the deer will be moving. Um, tonight I’m looking for either a bigger doe or a nice size buck. We’re not in Southpaw’s area, but that’s fine. I’ve shot a couple bucks out of this field before, so hopefully it’ll work this year too.

GRANT: Only a short time after entering the blind, we spotted a fawn in the plot.

GRANT: Then we saw another group of deer entering from the east as we expected.

TYLER: (Whispering) (Inaudible) Get ready Rae. I think there’s the three. See to the left? Can you see ’em?

RAE: (Whispering) Oh yeah, I see ’em out there.

TYLER: (Whispering) There’s seven.

GRANT: This group fed down the hill and ended up about 30 yards in front of the blind.

TYLER: (Whispering) Take the one you want, Rae.

RAE: (Whispering) Okay.

GRANT: (Whispering) The one on the left (Inaudible).

RAE: (Whispering) Yep. I’ll wait for it to turn broadside then I’ll take her.

GRANT: (Whispering) 37 yards; measure 40 yard pin. There you go.

RAE: (Whispering) Are you good Tyler?

UNKNOWN: (Whispering) (Inaudible)

RAE: (Whispering) Yeah, click the safety. You good?

UNKNOWN: (Whispering) No, no, no, no.

RAE: (Whispering) Let me know when. One on the left.

GRANT: (Whispering) 37 yards (Inaudible).

RAE: (Whispering) Um. Yeah. Oh, she’s moving.

GRANT: (Whispering) Forty (Inaudible). No, no, no she’s not.

RAE: (Whispering) (Inaudible).

UNKNOWN: (Whispering) Whenever you’re ready, Rae.

RAE: (Whispering) I can’t…

GRANT: (Whispering) (Inaudible)

GRANT: Something alerted the deer and I could tell they were on edge.

GRANT: (Whispering) No, no, no. Rae, take that front one that’s just standing there.

RAE: (Whispering) Front one?

GRANT: (Whispering) (Inaudible)

RAE: (Whispering) You ready?

GRANT: (Whispering) Closest to it (Inaudible) yards.

RAE: (Whispering) Are you ready? Are you ready?

GRANT: (Whispering) In the (Inaudible). In the (Inaudible). Perfect. Watch where she goes in right beside that tree.

GRANT: (Whispering) It looked good to me, didn’t it to you, Tyler?

TYLER: (Whispering) Perfect shot. Perfect shot.

RAE: (Whispering) Good, good.

GRANT: (Whispering) Perfect shot.

RAE: (Whispering) (Inaudible)

GRANT: (Whispering) Perfect shot.

RAE: (Whispering) They started to look like they might spook, might not. So, we decided to just – when the one turned broadside – I went ahead and shot and it looked like a good shot. I felt like I had a good follow through, so hopefully we’ll be able to go up and recover it.

GRANT: So we’ll have to track…

GRANT: As normal here at The Proving Grounds, everyone huddled up to help us recover the deer.

RAE: Hey, Rhett found it.

GRANT: Oh, we got a lot of ’em. Oh, we got arrow (Inaudible).

RHETT: Yeah, it broke.

RAE: It broke?

RHETT: No, that’s (Inaudible). That’s it’s cross bowed. So…

GRANT: Yeah, it cross bowed. It is covered with blood.

RAE: So, it’s good?

GRANT: Just leave her there, yeah. Yeah, you’re covered with blood.

RAE: Solid.

GRANT: We recovered the arrow, picked up a blood trail and let Rae take the lead.

RAE: There’s some.

GRANT: Okay, keep going.

RAE: There it is.

GRANT: There you go.

RAE: Normally I don’t hunt the weekdays just because I have a lot of homework, but I’ve been like, “Homework later, hunting now.”

RAE: I’ve been hunting since the start of bow season and like, actually, taking it really seriously. But I haven’t been able to shoot anything yet, but I’ve always seen a bunch of deer, but they’ve never been in range. So, finally tonight this one came in range and got a good shot, so that’s really exciting.

GRANT: After pictures and celebration, of course, we continued the tradition and let Rae drag the deer back to the Yamaha.

RAE: Okie-dokey.

GRANT: I’m very thankful my dad taught me how to hunt and I can continue sharing those events and memories with my daughters.

GRANT: Number 10; 30 to go.

GRANT: The following afternoon Dad still hadn’t quite recovered and the kids were all busy, so Tyler and I went to a plot we call Gobbler Knob and climbed in a couple Summits.

GRANT: It wasn’t long before we saw the first deer – a spike. I knew he’d get a pass, but fortunately a doe was behind him.

GRANT: I don’t know why this always seems to happen, but the young buck fed out in front of the tree and even in front of the hay bale blind while the doe ventured into the timber and didn’t give me a shot.

GRANT: I’m glad it worked out this way because I really enjoyed watching this young buck feed all around and even sniff and mess with the hay bale blind.

GRANT: Finally, the doe returned out to the road edge and presented me with a 30-yard shot.

GRANT: My shot was a little high, but I knew the drag would be easy.

GRANT: Oftentimes when I shoot a deer and it runs off or makes a disturbance, I’ll instantly hit my Messenger grunt call. That disturbance probably sounds like a buck chasing a doe, and pair that with a good grunt call, it’s liable to bring a larger buck in the area.

GRANT: It wasn’t long after I hit the call that the young buck was right below our tree clearly searching for the source of that grunt.

GRANT: Then, a mature doe came up the same road as the first two deer.

GRANT: She became just a little alert when she passed the dead doe and then started feeding in the plot.

GRANT: I try to pick trees that have good cover when I’m placing stands. And this one had about a five or six-inch limb just to the left of my stand.

GRANT: I took the shot when she finally squared up and this one was high also.

GRANT: Gosh, I’m shooting high tonight.

GRANT: Clearly, I had a case of doe fever as I spined both these does. But both of ‘em dropped in their tracks and Tyler certainly wasn’t complaining.

GRANT: (Whispering) My site pattern is a little bit high tonight, but two for two and no dragging, so I’m gonna take it.

GRANT: In the Ozark Mountains, shooting a deer is not the only consideration but the drag can be even a bigger consideration. You want to be able to get the Yamaha as close to the deer as you can.

UNKNOWN: (Inaudible) until lunch tomorrow. It’s gonna rain all around…

GRANT: The pre-rut is heating up here in the Ozark Mountains and just this morning Tyler and I were out again. I hit the grunt call a few times and had different yearling bucks respond to the call.

GRANT: Starting live video. Hello folks, let’s try this again. I messed up ‘cause my daughter was calling. I always take my daughter’s calls but we’re back live tonight. I don’t want to be sticking my knife all in that eye of the round ‘cause, folks, that’s one of the best cuts of meat.

GRANT: Now, turn it this way, Tyler, so people can see. I got to film and hunt this afternoon. We planted food plots today. All of us went out there and planted 16 bags of seed today ’cause it’s gonna rain tonight. I’m just blessed with a great job.

GRANT: We have a goal of removing 40 does this year at The Proving Grounds and so far we’ve taken 12. In the afternoons we take does, we usually process ’em and do a Facebook live – sharing techniques from that hunt and other tips. So, be watching our Facebook and tune in for the next skinning shed Facebook live.

GRANT: Pops – thank you for asking. If you’re a Christian and you believe in intentional prayer, pray for my dad. He got over the cancer but the chemo was tough on him. And my dad just had his 87th birthday the other day. We took him hunting, and, man, had a fawn come in he didn’t want to shoot; had a two-year old eight-pointer come in. He thought it was a big deer. I never told him any different. He got so excited he was like a 7-year-old – not 87 but a 7-year-old. And so, of course, my dad – 87-year-old – got a green tag shoot any deer on my farm. I think he’s gonna get better and be back out here hunting with us this fall. So, y’all pray for Pops and I’ll keep you posted.

GRANT: There’s bunches and bunches of you writing that you’re praying for Pops and I really appreciate that. That’s very important to me. Thank you so much. Thank you all. I can’t say all your names ‘cause they’re just rolling through too fast. Thank you.

GRANT: And did y’all know this? I mean, I keep, you know, I keep records. I’m a data geek. About 25% on the mature bucks I’ve tagged in my life have been tagged when I already shot a doe out of that stand, that hunt. And they come smelling that doe. The best thing you could do is have a dead doe laying in front of your stand. Don’t get out of your stand and walk over there to it and drag it in the woods…

GRANT: It can really be busy during the pre-rut trying to spend time with family, work and go hunting. But even if you’re busy, don’t forget to slow down and enjoy Creation. And most importantly take time every day to be quiet and listen to what the Creator is saying to you. Thanks for watching GrowingDeer.