A First With My Sika Hunting

Stags are on the move now and I had one exciting morning. First light had a small 6 pt stag come through at 25 yards. With the knowledge that there are better animals in the area and a good look through my 10 x 42s, I decided to give him a pass. At 8:22 a m I heard a bugle about 100 yards out, I responded with some vocalizations and got ready. At 8:30 splish splish at 30 yards... another smaller 6 pointer (10" beams with small tops and 2" hooks). The dude on my shoulder said "shoot, shoot, kill him"; but my mind thought of bigger stags. Resisting the urge I passed this stag as well. This is a first for me ... two passes on 6 pointers in one morning ... call me crazy or post a "KICK ME" sign on my back. They should both be great stags next year.

Stag Report

The stags are starting to crank up a little bit. Saw quite a few wallows and heard some sparse bugling. Have to go out of town for two days ... darn it .... Hope to hunt Monday and will have some stag news then. Good luck to all.

Sika Update

The sikas are active somewhat with some bugling occurrying during the cooler days we had recently. Some wallows are being made as well. The pic shows a big one made in a dryer piece of upland not more than 75 yards from a marsh. None of my newly fletched arrows have been loosed at any stags or good eating hinds at this point. My recurve does what I make it do every day ... still practicing a lot. Consistency doing the right things is the key for me. Make em ALL count. Shooting a recurve is a lot like golf ... forgetting to perform one technique properly can really send the arrow where I don't want it to go. Good luck to all who go in the next few days.

The Recurves Shall Return

Took my new recurve made by Trad Tech and new arrows made by "moi" and headed for Delaware yesterday evening with good friend who also carried an older recure made by Herters (nice bow by the way). With the wind out of the NNE we hunted in a hedgerow on a soybean field. Deer started appearing at about 6:30 pm. Most were does and fawns with a couple of small bucks in the crowd. By plain ole stinkin luck neither doe got close to either reurve.  Good news...the mosquitos were almost non existant. The temperature was fantastic...low 60s...and felt great.  We got out at dark none the worse for wear.   WARNING TO ALL DELAWARE DEER:  "Beware the recurve - we shall return"

On another note about one of my favorite critters ... check out a great blog for some good, basic sika deer information:
                 http://www.thewilltohunt.com/2011/09/guest-post-introduction-to-marylands.html






http://www.thewilltohunt.com/2011/09/guest-post-introduction-to-marylands.html

Its Almost That Time..Sika Time That Is

 

Bow season for sikas in Maryland will soon be here…not soon enough for many of us. Hopefully, you have been out doing your homework the past month of so. However, a little event named Hurricane Irene may have disrupted things and caused some changes for you. The flooding caused by one of the biggest storms Maryland has experienced in a long time may have temporarily pushed the sikas off of your marsh and wetlands into more upland areas. Where they will eventually end up is a crap shoot. One thing you can count on is that if you have good sika habitat they will fill it. It’s also possible that the high water caused some mortality but these animals are pretty doggone hardy and have instincts that can and do get them through a lot of seemingly tough conditions.

 

One thing I do know is that, after a long dry summer, the heavy rains have flooded over the mosquito eggs on all the mud flats and hordes of mosquitos are abundant in the tidal and fresh water marshes. Some Eastern shore natives have stated that this is the worst they have ever seen it. Sp pay special attention to the Therma Cell tip below.

You may have been ready as far as knowing where you were going to plop down the first day but this storm may cause you to have to prepare all over again. Whether you prepared early or are just starting the following are some tips that may be helpful in getting ready to pursue this most worthy of game animals. 

· Sikas leave lots of visible evidence that they are using the area. Stags mark areas with wallows; the equivalent of a whitetail’s scrape. They are normally found on islands, tumps, fingers of land that are slightly elevated above the marshy part of their habitat. These muddy holes average one to two feet in diameter and stink as the stags often urinate in them then wallow or roll around in them just like bull elk do. During the heavy rut you can often smell the stags before you see them. They also thrash and rub bushes and pine saplings and break off phrag stalks. Trails are fairly easy to find and follow in a marsh. As with other species check for trails and droppings. Of course, you can’t beat physical sightings. Trail cameras can tell you a lot about the sikas using your area.

· ID’ ing areas where bugling is occurring gives you great advantage in knowing where the stags like to hang out if trophy racks are your thing. The best times to listen are sunrise and sunset especially on cold days of course you can hear them at any time not just during the rut. High temperatures sometimes tend to shut them up.

· Make vocalizations as sikas are very vocal animals and you can call in males and females alike. In calling stags you appeal to 1) dominance and 2) sex drive. Challenge a bugling stag with a bugle and/or growl and you’ll find out quickly if he thinks he’s the baddest stag in the area. With hunting sikas through the years, I’ve found that you usually can’t call a stag 300 or 400 yards across a marsh. So, you need to move to the stag’s core area which, often times, is a thick phrag or briar bed. It’s important to be quiet and not blow the stag out of the area. Once you get set up close to his bedroom, a challenging bugle can get him to close the distance quickly looking to make contact with the intruding stag. Use some whines, soft whistles or chirps (hind/cow talk) and you may sweet-talk him in. Hinds and calves also respond to all of the sounds. You can team up with a friend; one calling with the other out front. Always be cognizant of wind direction when setting up. Distances can vary depending on the weapon used. The Sika Seducer is the premier call marketed and sold widely. Elk calls can be modified as well.

• Sikas like to move early in the morning and at last light…that’s not to say that they don’t move at other times. Make sure you arrive early and stay until the end of legal shooting time. During the rut, however, stags are active and moving all day. The best stags I’ve taken have been cruising at mid day.

• When hunting the sika marshes it’s good to use a GPS or compass as the marshes all look similar at night and even sometimes during the day. I sometimes will tie a cylume or glow stick up in a tree (home base so to speak) if I have to head out into the marsh to find a sika that’s been hit.

• Use Google Earth or a similar program to help in your quest for taking a sika. The satellite images available now are invaluable in helping you understand a lot about the vegetation features in the territory you are hunting in. Small islands of vegetation, phragmites beds, openings in heavy cover and mud flats will be very apparent.

• You’ve seen this stuff called phragmites, phrag or common reed. The leaves are about 2” wide and 20” long. In August it develops multi-branched, feathery-looking plumes at the top of a stem which grows to a height of 10’ to 12’. It normally grows in various-sized clumps or beds, often out-competing other marsh plants. It spreads by seed dispersal as well as by a rhizome or an under –the-surface root system. These dense beds provide travel corridors and resting cover that sikas absolutely love. Fight your way into one of them and you’ll see what I mean. Especially during the rut, stags love to cruise these beds in search for hinds in estrus. Find a tree/s inside a bed and you’ll surely see deer although there are not many openings. Station yourself between two beds and you’ve found a great spot as they move from one bed to the other.

• In typical wetland vegetation still hunting works well. Sneaking along quietly in heavy cover can put you face to face with sikas quite frequently. A subtle splash here and there along with some low-volume vocalizations sounds quite natural and can actually draw a deer to you. Make sure to move into the wind to avoid blowing your cover. They spend most of their lives not able to see more than 20 yards in front of them. You can definitely use this fact to your advantage.

• The marshes that sika like so much are interlaced with rivers, creeks and guts. Shallow draft boats with Go-Devil motors, kayaks and canoes are ideal for getting into good sika habitat. Why not utilize a boat as they can get you into places that many hunters can’t get to. You can cover a lot of territory and see a lot of interesting things out there besides. This mode of travel might even help you find some great duck hunting spots as well.

• It pays to listen to the weather report as unusually high water levels will temporarily move sikas onto higher ground. Change your tactics and hunt the islands and higher ground in these conditions. Frozen marshes with a lot of ice will do the same.

• Don’t neglect hunting natural food that produce hard mast like acorns and soft mast like persimmons. Feeding or baiting works extremely well for sikas. Corn is the most popular bait followed by others like: sweet feeds, corn/soybean mixes, small grains and pellets. Spin feeders, drop feeders and just plain ole putting it on the ground will do the trick. Sikas love food plots and agricultural grain crops as well.

• Sika decoys work in the right situations, especially where the decoy can be seen for a long distance like on the edge of a needle grass / short grass marsh or food plot. Sikas, especially stags will come right to them especially during the rut. Give them a try.

• Irene has put water into places that rarely has water. With that comes mosquitos; usually lots of them. With that, do yourself a favor and invest in a Therma Cell. These devices will keep the mosquitoes off you which keeps you from making a lot of unnecessary motion. The light smell doesn’t seem to bother them. The next best thing is a bug suit I often use both.

• Don’t be afraid to use a ground blind for sikas. Normal precautions must be taken however. Make sure they’re scent free and you place it downwind. Unlike with turkey hunting, it helps to have shoot- through netting covering the openings. It also helps to brush it up to blend in with existing vegetation and/or tuck it in some existing shrubs, needle rush or common reed.

• Practice shooting a lot as these are small animals with small kill zones. The smallest whitetail target will make a large sika stag target.

• The jury is out concerning scents and lures as I don’t think enough hunters have experimented enough with them to give a definitive thumbs up or down. If they have…no one is talking. One good sika hunter I know told me he once had sikas licking the leaves that he had sprayed an apple flavored foam on. Marketed and sold currently is The Sika Bomb and Downwind Scents Foam.

• Knee or hip boots are advised depending on the water levels in your hunting area.

· Concerning the proper camo; if you’re hunting from the ground then its good to match the habitat. Otherwise being still, scent free and playing the wind is much more important

· The peak of the rut occurs around the third week in October. I like to hunt late September and early October best as stag movement and bugling really increases then.

Good luck this season…get out there and have fun.

Sight in Drenalin

I might be weird but I use the recurve and the compound depending on where I am taking a stand. I shoot at least on session with the recurve each day but only shoot the Matthews once every two weeks. Before the Delaware opener I wanted to make sure the pins were still sighted in on the compound. My first pin covers 1 - 30 yards. The second pin 30 - 40 yards. Third 40 - 50 yards and the final pin 60 yards +. Didn't have to move them much and was good up to 60 yards (I doubt that I would ever shoot at any animal that far unless it wasan elk or moose.

Also finished making a dozen arrows for the new recurve. I needed to change to a Beman MFX Classic 500 instead of the 400s I've been shooting. They fly better as I was on the fence with the 400s. The new ones with 200 grain BH weighs in at 548 grains making them almost 11 gpi. I fletched them with three, 5 inch, yellow barred feathers. They do really fly well. I hope to deliver some broadheads from it into some nice deer this year. 

Labor Day Dove

Had an invite to shoot doves along with about 8 others. Went out at about 1 pm and had a pretty good shoot. Used the 20 ga. Beneli Montefeltro and 7 1/2 shot. The wind was about 15 mph and made shooting tough at the end of the field I was on (downwind end). Some of the doves boosted by the wind made me look foolish more times than I want to remember. Maybe I should practice shooting the shotgun a little more as the recurve gets all the attention these days.  My shooting was not up to par but I was able to take 11 of the 15 bird bag limit. Two of the fellows got their limit before I left. Hope everyone had as good a time as I did. Topped off the day with a nice labor day meal with my daughter and her family.

Look out dove if I get a second chance at you.

Looks like the remants of Hurricane Lee will be getting to our area the next 4 days. Hope the next big one in the Atlantic right now doesn't hit the East coast. 

Delaware Deer Opener

Met a friend there at 5 pm. The wind was supposed to be out of ENE switching to ESE around 7pm. Well, it swirled frequently enough to screw up the hunt. A doe and two fawns came in fron 125 yards but only because the old doe smelled something foreign...me. She came in as close as 10 yards keeping the brush between she and me and couldn't make me out although she had me pegged. She moved off quickly and never gave me a shot. She won...I lost this time. It was a nice evening and wasn't too hot...truly good to get out again. Five months to go. Saw a fresh rub.

The Perils of Summer Hunting Chores

There are always chores that need to be accomplished prior to archery season. Problem with these is that its hot, especially this summer, and the insects can drive you crazy. The mosquitos haven't been too bad with the serious lack of rain but the flies are still flying away with chunks of my flesh hanging from their mouth parts. The heat must have had some serious effects on my brain as one morning I decided to get out and take a scouting / work trip in one of my lower shore county hunting areas. I tucked my pant legs into my socks and sprayed with Permanone before putting on my boots (learned to always do this).  Good thing...when I got back to the truck I had no fewer than 150 deer ticks on each lower leg ... fortunately all were dead. Best thing was ... no chiggers.

Time to Resume the Blog

Yep, the season is drawing closer...dove shooting then archery deer in Delaware (Sept 1) and Maryland (Sept 15). I've been preparing in many ways...work at hunting properties and shooting my new recurve. I'll start regularly posting again starting tomorrow.

Sika Show on Winchester's Dr. Deer This Week

Welcome if you just watched Winchester's Dr. Deer on the Sportsmen's Network. The sika deer is a most worthy species to hunt filling a niche in some very challenging habitat here in Maryland. The most exciting thing is that they are very vocal animals being members of the elk family. With that a very good method to use in hunting them is employing vocalizations to call them in ... a method that many use and are quite successful with.

Check out my website, www.dougwigfield.com to learn more about the species, where to hunt them and to purchase a Sika Seducer Call if you try your hand at hunting them. Also, don't miss the opportunity to purchase the sika deer print, Closing the Gap - Maryland's Sika Deer, painted by nationally acclaimed wildlife artist, Wilhelm Goebel.

Any questions, don't hesitate to give me a call or shoot an e-mail.

Doug

Still an Adrenalin Rush

I saw a longbeard in strut on Friday afternoon and had a friend call me that evening saying he saw him in the same area right before roosting time. He called me yesterday evening and again told me he saw him in the same spot with two girlfriends. (I call that Eastern Shore Roosting). That was all I needed to find myself there early this morning with bow and decoys in hand. I used a little two sided, teepee blind and set out a Smith hen and a jake in semi strut 20 yards from me in good view of any approaching turkey.

A good gobble sounded about 125 yards back in the woods when I was making final prep. I moved about 20 yards to my right and called on the slate; he cut me off with another gobble. I moved back to the set up and picked up the bow and crossed my fingers...my expectations were high. No more gobbles, but in about 5 mins. he walked out of the woods (typical 2 year old, about 8" beard), by himself catching sight of the decoys. As soon as he saw them he gobbled and dropped into strut. He moved out about 35 yards, gobbled and strutted his stuff slowly across in front of me heading towards the DSD. No drumming but an occassional gobble. A hen unknowingly helped me out by yelping as she came out within 10 yards of the decoys.

Then a longbeard came out from the opposite direction making a beeline for the first gobbler (could mess things up); which promptly ran him off. The first tom went back into strut and started moving slowly towards the decoys again. I came to full draw as he went behind two huge pines and estimated an 18 - 20 yard shot. He finally strutted out broadside, I settled the pin at the top of the drumstick and squeezed...the arrow hitting the mark. He couldn't run and flapped to a stop about 7 yards. Hands on him, heart still pounding; the end of another great bow hunt. Time 6:05 AM.

The Slick Trick broke both legs and tore up part of his breast...what a mess. Things happened so fast that it wasn't until then that I realized I hadn't hooked the arrow up to the string tracker. The arrow went completely through and laid next to him. What a hunt; still as exciting as the first bird forty eight years ago.

April 27 Gobbler

   After 48 years of not missing an opening week of turkey season, this time it was different as my dad passed a way that week....it really didn't feel important as family comes first. I needed to make sure my mom was settled and okay.
So, Wednesday morning, I finally decided to venture out into MD's turkey woods. It felt good to be there to greet the sunrise and hear the chorus of spring birds again. I got set up on a gobbler first thing but watched him fly down and follow a squad of hens making a racket. This time, my calls were in vain.
I quickly moved to another area where I heard a bird gobbling. I couldn't raise him...probably a mess of hens with him as well.
Through mosquito whines and a strengthening wind I thought I heard a distant gobble. I thought I knew his approximate location. Closing the distance to half I laid on the Gibson trumpet call and he gobbled...but only once. I traveled about 150 yds. through a pine plantation and dared to get within 4 rows of an old woods road...he should be close.
I purred on one of the Cypress Swamp glass calls and caught movement as a hen appeared on the road. Patience. I purred and clucked again. As another hen appeared 25 yards away I thought I heard the familiar drumming sound made by the gobbler. Patience, drumming then a fan and a good beard. I mouth clucked, the head went up and a load of 7's put him on his back. I paused, raised my eyes and said "that ones for you dad".
Moving towards the bird I noticed the beard but my eyes naturally gravitated to the legs...my gaze was greeted with a huge set of spurs. They were both over 1 1/2 inches with the beard at 11 inches. I was blessed once again. Thanks for being there dad.

I'll be spending time in the afternoons hunting with my grandson and attempting another longbeard with the bow.

Gone for a While

Its been a while since I've posted....haven't felt like it. The last time I was getting ready to launch into my favorite type of excitment filled hunting - spring gobbler. But life sure changes quickly. I went to Hagerstown on Monday to take my dad to a regular doctor's check up. I go to make sure mom and dad hear and understand what the doctor tells them. Dad had some really bad health issues that resulted from a heart attack 1 1/2 years ago. 

His blood pressure and heart rate was taken and they were very concerned about low pressure...enough so that the doc admitted him to the hospital immediately.  It went downhill quickly from there. On Tuesday the family was called in surrounding dad with love and support. After exhausting methods to right the problems the doctors told us there wasn't anything else that could be done.

I'll never ever forget how on a Wednesday afternoon his room was filled with love, stories, jokes, laughter, tears, family times, vacations, shooting matches, serving in WWII in N. Africa, one on ones, prayer and some singing of his favorite hymns.

With that dad went home to be with the Lord on Thursday morning. He was surrounded by the whole family and passed peacefully with no pain and with a whole bunch of love. The family collected many photos of dad through his entire life and his granddaughters Dana and Erin put them into a wonderful slide show. My wife and I put together posters of pictures and items from his life: police badge, uniform, hole in one club and ball, a letter from the White House thanking him for serving our country well, shooting trophies and team pics and his graduation pics from the FBI Academy etc, etc. It was a real tribute to dad's accomplishments. I had the pleasure of greeting many neighbors, acquaintences, policemen, and pistol team members who came to the viewing.

The service and burial was held with full military honors on Tuesday at the Rest Haven Chapel and Cemetary in Hagerstown. It was a beautiful service with my daughters and my wife and I singing two of his favorite hymns and my wife singing the Lord's Prayer. I had the extreme pleasure of delivering the eulogy. We heard the 21 gun salute and a wonderful melody from a bagpiper. My mom and sister knew dad would be pleased at the whole affair.

Dad and I were close. Although he didn't hunt, he was a top competition handgun shooter all his life. He introduced me to target shooting and guns at an early age. I started shooting as soon as I was old enough to hold a handgun with two hands. We shot together in the William Penn Pistol League for years. He continued until he couldn't hold compete in an entire match. He beamed each time I called and told him I killed a deer with the Python that he won so many trophies with. He was my hero as a policeman.

I will truly miss you dad.

Still Enjoying Deer Hunting Chores

Spent time with a landowner and another friend yesterday still laboring with the focus on next deer season ie. taking old stands down, puting new stands up, investigating and identifying stand sights and the "right tree" and with all that finding a shed or two. We all had a good time for sure.

We found a few sheds in that process. One that I lucked upon happened to be a monster LOL. There may be some history with the deer that carried it. Pouring over some pics will confirm that. Following are some pics of the "drops" and that "monster" shed.

Gobbler Season Fast Approaching

I'm still thinking deer but my favorite season is fast appraoching. DE will open first and I'm locating birds now. Joshua is getting ready for youth day in Maryland and turkeys are out and about in my favorite haunts. Someone asked on MWC about "first turkeys" so I posted and will place what I posted on here as well. I'll see if I can cut and paste it...here goes:

Fall 1963  -   Yes there were cameras then LOL.
                      My first one was a Fall bird taken at Piney Ridge, Sleepy Creek Mountain in West Virginia. That was the start of my first "obsession" ... turkey hunting. My mentor, Howard Beard of Hagerstown, had me over to practice calling and learn the art of turkey hunting once a week during the summer. I learned on a homemade diaphram call and proudly graduated turkey hunting school in September. Howard said, "now you are on your own boy (thats what he called me).    I remember the hunt like it was yeaterday....at o dark thirty on that October morn I made my way up the mountain and slipped 1/4 of the way down Danny's Ridge and stopped to listen, hoping I could hear where a flock of birds had roosted. At first light I heard some clucks, then some tree yelps, more clucks.......why how lucky could a kid be as I realized I was standing under a whole flock of roosted turkeys. What should I do as I thought back to all the sage advice, lessons and scenarios taught during the summer. I didn't dare move as I could see birds and branches moving among all the yelping and clucking. I remembered a key saying Howard taught me, "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"... it was given in the "don't wait for a trophy longbeard on your first turkey hunt boy" lecture. I would heed that bit of advice. The first bird that pitched off a branch and hit the ground came to a standstill about 30 yards from me. The bead on my double barrel 12 settled on its head and I slapped the trigger. At the sound of my shot the balance of the roosted birds erupted and scattered in all directions. I skidded to a stop at the turkey as the last few wingbeats subsided...looking down at my first wild turkey. I can still feel the weight of the bird on my shoulder and the wet spot where the blood from its head soaked into the back of my pant leg. I was busting with excitement only to walk into an empty cabin yard...why..my mentor and the other men were still out hunting. How could I contain my excitement? The hour spent waiting there, glancing at my turkey every few minutes, seemed like three. Finally I caught a glimpse of my Howard coming down the path to the cabin (actually he came in early to see if it was me that shot). He saw the excitement on my face as he followed my gaze to that bird laying on the bench. I probably told him the story of that hunt three times.  

Now, as I recall that moment 48 years ago, the most vivid thing that stands out to me now is Howard's hand on my shoulder and his assurring words to me, "I'm proud of ya, you did good, boy"..... Don't miss the chance to take a kid turkey hunting this spring..it will make good memories that truly last a lifetime.    

March Roars In

Its been a while since I've been on here. This is the time of putting away stuff used during hunting season and cleaning up equipment. I've also been selling unused equipment and clothing that has, magically, shrunk if you know what I mean. I am going to purchase some new camo from Day One. I, along with some other friends, have been scouting and preparing for next year; all the while keeping our eyes peeled for sheds...no luck in that department yet. Also doing some maintenance on treestands...can't overlook safety.

Spring gobbler season is fast approaching. Danny Pusey made me two of his fantastic slate calls as "winnings" from last springs MWC Turkey Contest. My partner and I racked up the most points for our gobblers and were receipients of these great prizes. My calls are slate over glass pots and they do sound good. I asked Danny for a medium pitched, raspy call and he delivered nicely. I'll see if I can post a pic here.

Last Years Model



Interesting Sight Yesterday Morning

I was heading out to do some scouting this morning in the deer woods. While driving I noticed what appeared to be a deer (strange looking from a distance) on the edge of a field about 80 yards from the road. As I got closer I realized I was looking at a mature 8 point breeding a doe. I pulled off the road, turned my camera on , hit the zoom feature and pointed towards the breeders but too late; they were both running into the woods. The doe was most likely a fawn born in May that came into estrus and was bred on February 11....almost Valentines Day. I know this happens but always interesting to see. She will produce a late fawn thats for sure. Wish I had the photo to attach. I'll just have to file this one away in the memory bank.

Crop Damage Shooting

A friend waits to eliminate some does from the population until after the season. We have gone three times and have taken 5 mature whitetail does; all with two young. He wants to take a couple more and that will do it for this season. I've seen one nice sika stag, a very nice 8 point and a 4 point whitetail. Both should be very nice deer next season.

End of Deer Season - MD and DE

Well, I ended the hunting part of deer season last night with a muzzleloader hunt in Delaware with friends. Posted up on a field to try to take a doe. Saw 8 deer, most on the other side of the field where a dad and so were located. I could have stretched a shot on a doe but would have possibly messed up an opportunity for the boy. He ended up taking a shot but missed.

Murphy's Law - across the road (still our property) 15 deer came out. One of my friends tried to put the "sneak" on them but no deal.

The last hunt for the sika stag occurred on Thursday...again with friends. My stag bugled once at about 75 yards but again wouldn't close until dark...pretty slick moves; not falling for any calling, water splashing, scents or a corn pile before dark. Hats of to you...I'll see ya next season.

Delaware Muzzleloader

Did a PM hunt on the field. Deer came out on the other side where the bait had been placed. The fellow on that side took a shot at a big doe and missed. None came out on my side of the field until too late to shoot. It was pretty cold but is already 15 degrees higher today. This evening should find me with a bow in my hands looking for that sika stag once again. Saturday is the last day...a sad day for sure. Will let you know what happens from tonights hunt.

Late Season Sikas - Part 2

Met the farm owner yesterday afternoon and got on stand by 3:15 pm. I took the same location as the last hunt but moved around to a different stand for the wind that we had. It was very cold but I dressed properly. Took the compound this time. Saw a single WT doe skirt my location at 4:40. Then at 5:00 a WT button buck came in and fed at 10 yards...never detected me...good...left in 5 mins. I was still looking for that stag that showed up the night before at last light. At the very end of shooting time a WT doe and two fawns came in. The fawns fed the doe watched from the sidelines. They fed for 10 mins then left. No sikas showed nor did any stgas bugle. The owner saw 11 WT does and fawns but did not take a shot. All in all, a nice evening...consider myself blessed to be out. One more week left in both Maryland and Delaware. Will try to get out a few more times.

Late Season Sikas

Have been hunting sikas the last two days at baited areas only to not see them in shootable times. The moon has been full for whatever that means. One evening I hunted a groundblind and had a couple whitetails come in before dark but no sikas. Yesterday morn I hunted off the end of a food plot and saw nothing but squirrels...a nice morning none the less. Two of us saw 0 movement. Yesterday pm four of us hunted and, unbelievably, not a hair was seen. My excitement...I had a stag bugle less than 100 yards from my position after last shooting light. Waited til dead dark and slipped out of there. All I could do was go home imagining how big he was.

If I can get my work done in time, I'll be heading over to Delaware for a late season doe...hopefully.

Another Good Goose Day

Met with good friend Dennis again for a "before the snow storm, late morning goose hunt. They flew in small bunches today which is the way I like it. They really liked my Shore Country call and Dennis' call and dropped right into the decoys. It tried to spit a little snow but is holding off until tonight. If the forecast comes to fruition, we may try some in the snow tomorrow.

Great Goose Hunting Lately

Sharing a goose blind with a friend in Talbot County has been most enjoyable the last few days. There have been plenty of birds. With some good calling and not so good shooting we have done very well. We gave them a break today. Thanks Dennis.

Hope to knock of some does this evening in Delaware. Will report back later.

New Year Hunting

Well, after spending enjoyable time with all my family over the Christmas, I am able to get back to some late season hunting. I'll try to get in one more rifle hunt with my grandson, Joshua. Sika with a bow is a given. I'll be spending lots of time in Delaware with the handgun and muzzleloader trying to fill  freezers. Delaware always proves to be a lot of fun with good friends. Fox, coyote and crow hunting are certain activities as well. I look forward to the fantastic full bodied mount that Jason is doing of the my monster 2010 sika stag.

With not owning any hunting land of my own, I would like to thank all of the landowners who have allowed me to enjoy the fruits of their labor and property. Its not just the taking of game animals buts its the experience in and with the Lord's handiwork that brings me such pleasure. As the credit card commercial says, the experience is "Priceless".  Please accept my very sincere thanks. Also, thanks to my hunting friends, you know who you are. I have enjoyed hunting with you this year.

May you all have a fantastic 2011.