Late Sept. Sika Hunt

A great view from a stand on a late September sika hunt. It was hot and the stag I heard cooling himself way out on the marsh never showed up in shooting light. More wallows are appearing - crank it up Mr. Stag.

Win a Custom Sika Seducer

Maryland's archery season has already started and the sika rut is starting to kick in. This 2012 - 2013 season I am going to give away a Sika Seducer (I will post a photo of the custom call when it comes in) made of a custom wood, not the standard walnut, complete with a lanyard and directional tube to a hunter who used the Seducer to call one in and kill it. The hunter must tell the story (a testimonial) of the kill by commenting to this post in the COMMENT SECTION. Along with the story, please leave your name and a way I can contact you if you win. I will draw a winner from those entered at the close of the season. Get those testimonies in and have a great season in the sika marsh.

The Sika Marsh - A New Season

It felt great to get out on the sika marsh again yesterday in Dorchester. Two things were missing which made it pleasant. All I could hear was wind; no constant buzzing attack by mosquitos; no need to fire up the ThermoCell. Also, a cool front pushed out the extreme heat  which brought out, big, puffy cumulous clouds in a deep blue sky and the need for a long sleeved shirt. Scouted enough to pick out a (hopefully) hot spot for some good animals. The sikas stayed out of range but it really didn't matter...one more season up in a stand. Heard the splashing ... can't wait to hear the bugles again.

Sika Seducer Call Sales Up.

The Doug Wigfield Sika Seducer call (including the instructional CD) can be purchased using a credit card or PayPal by ordering from my secure website www.dougwigfield.com or by calling me at 443-880-7847. You can also pick one up at the following stores:

• Angler's Sports Center, Annapolis
• Chesapeake Outdoors, Chester
• Shore Sportsman, Easton
• Chesapeake Classics, Cambridge
• Pioneer Sports, Woolford
• Winks Sporting Goods, Princess Anne

***If you would like to retail the Sika Seducer please call me at 443-880-7847

Sika deer are extremely vocal animals just like their cousins out west, the American elk. Sub species are found all over the world; here in the U.S. wild, free roaming sikas are found in Maryland, Virginia and Texas. They are also offered on game farms as well. Maryland's variety is the smallest of the sub species and originally comes from Yakushima Island in Japan.

Sika stags bugle and growl while both sexes, young and old communicate using chirps, mews, whines, subtle whistles and other sounds too complicated to describe. Especially during the rut, stags can be bugled in as they attempt to run aggressors out of their territories. The other sounds are effectively used to appeal to their sexual desires.

The Sika Seducer will make all of these vocalizations with the proper pitch, volume and clarity that is needed for hunting stags and hinds. It has been used successfully in Maryland, Virginia, Texas and a number of European countries. The Doug Wigfield Sika Seducer should be a tool in every sika hunters gear, especially if you are looking for every advantage.

 

Sept 1 - Hunting Season - Dove Hunts

   I can't think of a better way to open my season than a good ole dove hunt and thats what it was. A friend invited me over to his "dove field". This is the most well managed field of sunflowers I've ever hunted over. It was nothing but stalks of well formed, ripe sunflowers over bare dirt surrounded by an electric fence to keep the deer out of them. 10 of us surrounded the field at about 1:30 and the shooting commenced. Doves flew well and really turned on at about 3:30. After putting a decoy up on the wire I and my 20 ga. Benelli Montifeltro commenced into shooting mostly singles and pairs. Thanks to a friend whose dog retrieved a few of my birds that fell into the standing beans, I limited out (15 birds) at 4 pm; just after he limited out. Forgot to mention that there was a slight interruption in the fun as Md's NRP drove up and checked all the hunters. It was fairly pleasant for the ones who had the good looking female officer check them LOL. Two others got their limits; all killed birds and the most important we all had fun.
  Family members came in at 5 (when we quit shooting) and started fixing a feast out of this world.
After consuming crabs, burgers, grilled doves and all the "going with ems" and good fellowship and whopping stories my wife and headed home stuffed and tired.

   I was invited back to the same field yesterday and turned out to be the sole hunter. The wind at 2:30 was about 20 mph which made for some challenging shooting. Since no one else was gunning I posted up at one of the flyway entries to the field with the 20ga. except I changed from 8 shot to 7 1/2s because of the strong winds.. At 4:30 I racked up after putting 15 on the ground.
   Dove hunting is the way I've brought in the last 25 seasons. Its customary for me to pick up the first shot shell and take a big whiff of the burnt powder. I can't think of a better way to bring in the season. Thanks Mr. Landowner for opening up your property to me.