Thanksgiving Wish

With much gratitude today my wife and I are reflecting upon what is good and what God has given us. We especially are thinking about my nephew Gunny Sgt. Jeff who is serving his fourth tour, second in Afganistan. It is service men and women like him that are affording us the remaining freedoms we have.
 It is in that spirit that we wish you and your loved ones a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
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Check out my new blog at http://wildlifeadvantage.blogspot.com/
Call 410-742-1445 or go to http://www.dougwigfield.com/ to purchase the sika print "Closing the Gap", the Sika Seducer call amd other hunting items. Go to http://www.crowmart.com/ for Crow Hunting Merchandise.

Coyote Hunting

Went to Dorchester County in the p.m. to meet an acquaintance and try to help them out with a big problem... coyotes. Snuck in the back along the river in a big hardwoods. (Too hot, full moon, mosquitos, not hungry, not inquisitive). Got in with the proper wind. Used an injured cottontal sound out of my Foxpro. Also the adult female attracting sound. Both were to no avail as we never laid our eyes on or heard one. We'll try again when the weather is cold.

Hunted sikas in the p m. Warm...mosquitoes out. Never saw any sikas and heard a few sikas bugling. Will give you another report on Saturday, the beginning of Maryland Rifle Season..

Somerset am and Delaware pm

Went to Somerset Co. to sneak around a little and put out two cameras for the owner.

pm - Set up on a field...a field where I've killed frequently. All came out on the other side where another friend was. He said the majority were 6 monthers. I never saw any on my side. Its raining tonight ... we'll see what that brings for tomorrow. I'd like to do some doe reduction in Delaware and Somerset.

Joshua's First Deer Hunt

   Saturday, Nov.13, was the Youth Deer Hunt here in Maryland. Joshua, my grandson, and I have been talking about this hunt since he received his Hunters Safety Certificate in the Spring. A very good friend gave me an invite to bring Joshua for his "first deer hunt". I've spent a 35 1/2 year career as a wildlife biologist and I can say that this is the best managed farm for deer, both whitetail and sika, that I know of. I gratefully accepted.
   I admit I was touched and equally grateful when the farm owners son (now taller than I am) came to me, handing me a gun case and said, " I'd like to let Joshua use the youth model rifle that I killed my first deer with on this farm." Definitly a very generous offer...things were falling into place. We sighted in the Remington, Youth Model Seven, 7mm-08 on Wednesday and Joshua shot it well with a 2 1/2 " group, great for any first timer and for most experienced riflemen. I couldn't find any of the "reduced recoil" shells that Remington made but had a regular on the Maryland Whitetail website offer to load some up for Joshua. The rifle loved them and Joshua's shoulder did as well. I really appreciate his kindness in taking his time to load them up.
   Joshua's parents dropped him off at the house on Friday evening. We prepped for the hunt, along with having fun, by looking at kill shots on animals standing at different angles, talking about what animals we would try to shoot, load up a back pack with drinks and snacks and take a shower with no scent soap.
The scentless clothing was set out and off to bed we went as 4 am would come early.
   It was a short night. I woke Joshua up, we got dressed and ate some breakfast. We Google Earthed and looked at the days game plan. We also checked the weather and new it would be cold at first with the wind out of the North...pretty good for our location.
   . It was going to be a fun day. We met the landowner then made our way to the elevated shooting box. We saw seven whitetails and one sika but all were moving and wouldn't give Joshua a shot. One was was too far for his maximum effective distance. All in all a good morning. We left the box at 11 and decided to get back to the same spot in the early afternoon. We met a friend and his nephew for lunch They hunted that morning in a different county and his nephew killed one.
   Back to the box at 2:30 we encountered a problem. Not only did we want to get in that box blind but so did a bunch of wasps...much to Joshua's chagrin. We conquered that problem and got down to the task at hand...killing a deer. We saw and got good photos of a red fox, a bearded hen turkey and a couple of furry old groundhogs. The shadows started lengthening as he anticipated the deer coming to the food plot. At about 4:40 an adult doe came into the plot. Joshua got the sights on it quickly giving him a good quartering away shot. I asked, "are you on it" and he said,"granddaddy, can I shoot?" I said squeeze and at the report, the deer went off its feet for good. He turned and said "I got it granddaddy". I'll never forget that moment.      After some high 5's and hugs we got to the deer for some photos, loaded it up and headed for the lodge where our host soon arrived for a first hand story, more high 5's and more pics.

   It was a fantastic day...a great time together and the reception of another hunter into the ranks. Thanks for a wonderful day Joshua. I am very proud of you. A big thanks to our host...priceless.

Heavy Winds Brings On Needed Chores

First - had my trucks engine de-carbonized / cleaned; something needed once a year at the number of miles it has and the kind of gas we have to use.

Second - sighted the 7mm-08 , Rem Model 7 that my grandson will use on Saturday, Youth Deer   
               Day. I'll take him on Wednesday to the range to shoot some. I'll keep his shots to 100
               yards or less on Saturday. Hopefully I'll have a mess of photos to put on here Saturday.

I'm going to hunt with a friend up in Talbot County tomorrow morning. Hope to see some of those big old bucks cruising around. Will hopefully have some pics tomorrow.

Put Lethal Weapon Out

After 2 bottles of dry gas and waking the neighbors up with backfiring, etc the 4 Runner finally straightened out enough to use it. It is still cutting off sometimes when I come to a stop. I'm checking the fuel filter and de-carbonize the engine tomorrow.

I purchased another camera this afternoon so I'll have some good photos to document Joshua's first kill (fingers crossed) 

Drove to where I will take Joshua the first morning of the youth hunt and put out some corn and LW. He stands a good chance of seeing a sika as well as a whitetail. I hope a big old stag comes in for his first deer. Grand daddy would love that. The Seducer will hopefully do the trick one more time.

Vehicle Trouble - Of All Times

Yup...the 4 Runner goes on the blink yesterday afternoon. After turning out of the driveway, the engine started sputtering and backfiring with a severe loss of power.  What could it be...??? water in gas, clogged fuel pump, bad plugs, carbon build up??? I maintain it properly but it is a '99 and has 175K + miles on it. Of course it happened when all the shops are closed for the weekend.  Saturday is the Youth Deer Hunt and my grandson is primed to kill his first...we've got to get there.Wish me luck with the vehicle.

Friday...No Hunt Day for Me

   Well, this was catch up day with Wildlife Advantage and Crowmart. I filled orders, got them to the PO and ordered more merchandise. The Seducers are selling well with Gander Mtn, Shore Sportsman and Woolford Store reordering. I also had a MWC'er stop by and pick up two bags of Lethal Weapon.
   I'll support the wife tonight by attending one of her extravagant, choral programs. They are worth going to and she is definitly worth supporting.
   I'll get out after whitetails again tomorrow and get the grandson out to shoot his rifle in prep for "youth day". If you get out there use a full body harness and, by all means, don't come home muttering "I should have tried........"    Doug

Big 8 point Falls on Election Day

I headed for Somerset County yesterday to check out the whitetail sign and the two new food plots. After seeing some scrapes and running out of daylight, I took a stand where I killed a 3 1/2 year old   8 pointer two years ago. I rattled but never saw a deer. You don't always see them or none came close. The food plot looked real good.

A.M. - cold...30s. I decided to still hunt and continue to scout sign. I checked out the cherry grove ... found a couple new scrapes. Moved across the berm to the front field. After checking out an old ladder stand in a narrow, wooded funnel between the marsh and the field  I stepped back out into the field and turned to be face to face with a shooter buck, 70 yards away looking directly at me. 8:30 am. Rather than bolt he stood there while I tried the old Indian trick of trying to look like a deer lol bent over (nothing ventured ; nothing gained), moving out of his sight while grunting at him. Completing my manuever lol I peeped around the bush and grunted once more. Much to my surprise he started walking in my direction. I quickly nocked and arrow and watched the edge but more so watched down wind, in the woods behind me. Sure enough; he circled down wind. He presented a 36 yard, broadside shot. Magically, nothing was in the arrows flight path except him and I delivered the slick trick to his vitals. The hit was a little high and took one lung out (found out later) ... a grueling tracking job ensued. I stuck with it and then the landowner showed up and helped. He and I continued with diligence and found him at about 11 am.
   He was a big bodied 8 point, weighing 191 lbs. ..a fine specimen of an animal. I'm pretty sure I have him on camera from last year. I'll check his teeth for age but I think he is a 3 1/2 er. Since my camera broke I will  post a photoes when I can.
   In my estimation the bucks are cruising now at all hours of the day looking hard for estrus does. Its now time to rattle, grunt and use decoys. Good luck, be safe and be aggressive.
                                              Remember: "It won't work if you don't try it"