Sponsorships are important in our society to everything from golf tournaments to sports stadiums. It seems every venue or event has a corporate sponsor.

The folks at Toyota have agreed to be the Title Sponsor of the Outdoorsman Radio Show until mid-2007.

What this means that when I refer to the Outdoorsman Radio Show in promotional messages, it is, in fact, the Toyota Tundra Outdoorsman Radio Show.

The Toyota guys suggested that as a part of their commitment, they would provide a new Toyota Tundra pickup truck for me to drive so that I could report to our listeners my experiences and the places that I visited with the Tundra.

Each week or so, I will update this portion of the site with where I’ve been, who I’ve met and how the Tundra has performed. I hope you will ‘ride along’ on these mini-adventures with me and consider Toyota when it’s time to purchase a vehicle in your family.

Thursday, April 19: I met Tracy Groves at his home at 5 a.m. and by 5:30 we were headed into the woods. Tracy had located a few gobblers on public land. We heard one distant gobbler just after 6:00. Shortly afterwards what turned out to be a hunter or hunters were calling nearby. Within the hour another hunter came up the trail from the direction we were hoping the gobblers would travel. We were gone by 7:30.

We headed to a little spot in Baltimore County where Tracy had seen a longbeard the day before. We heard a hen purring and lightly clucking as she fed. Behind her, the gobbler let us hear him only once. We stayed quiet and listened to them walk and scratch, just out of sight behind a huge tangle of greenbriars. We snuck outta there to give us an opportunity for another day.

Tuesday, April 3: Kathy and I ventured to the Eastern Shore to pick out a new Yellow Lab puppy from a friend’s litter. Kathy fell in love with Maizey the moment she picked her up.

Maizey and her littermates – all yellow.

Maizey’s Mom

Here’s our new girl, Maizey.

Friday March 30: We drove to Laurel to the Artists Reception for Patuxent Wildlife Refuge’s Wildlife Art Show and Sale. Thanks to our hosts Ed and Lucy Grimes. We met Richard Clifton, the artist for this year’s Federal Duck Stamp and caught up with our carver buddy Warren Saunders, too. PHOTO: Our hosts, Ed and Lucy Grimes, faithful ‘Friends of Patuxent’.

Sunday, March 25: Kathy and I headed to Clarksville, Maryland to attend the Baltimore Chapter Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet. I was the Master of Ceremonies and had a lot of fun with another terrific group of conservation-minded outdoorsmen.

Saturday, March 10: What a day! The Outdoorsman Radio Show producer, Chris Klapproth and I rode to Horst & McCann’s Indoor Gun Range in BelAir to ‘Shoot for the Cure’ for the Susan Kohman Breast Cancer Foundation. Kathy rode along, too. We competed with nearly 70 shooters to raise money and awareness. Thanks to Karl from Essex and all who contributed.

Later that day we joined Tracy Groves and the crew at the Ellicott City Assembly of God for their Sportsmen Day. We met some nice folks including several listeners.

In the evening Kathy and I attended the new Maryland Chapter of the Quality Dee Management Association in Westminster, Maryland where I helped to present several awards. Visit the MD QDMA website www.marylandqdma.com.

John Horst, Allan, Chris Klapproth and Mike Horst at Horst & McCann Indoor Gun Range.

Kathy and I enjoy a venison sandwich at The Ellicott City AG Church. (Andy Aughenbaugh photo)

Allan Ellis (L) and E. W. Grimes III (R), present QDMA awards to Phil Norman (Howard County) and Bill Hamilton (Montgomery County) for Deer Project Managers of the Year and the Deer Research and Education Achievement Award to Dr. Mark Conner (Chesapeake Farms). (Andy Aughenbaugh photo)

Friday, March 9: Kathy and I attended the Central Maryland Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Foundation banquet at La Fountainbleu in Glen Burnie. Good food, good company – and all for the good cause of conservation.

Saturday, February 10: My last opportunity to goose hunt and my first hunt with my grandson, Jacob. A brisk day in the pit blind with not much to do but watch the hundreds of geese trade back and forth between a wheat field and pond about a half-mile away. So it goes… PHOTO: Scott, Tracy, Allan, JD and Jim with our limits of Canada geese.

Friday, February 2: We all met at the Howard County farm for a very special deer hunt. Mark Hoke had coordinated the day for a crop damage hunt for antlerless deer. The participants were wounded veterans. Some were in wheelchairs, some were missing limbs yet all were enthusiastic. The Pro Staff from Zink Calls, support staff from Walter Reed and the Paralyzed Veterans Association came out to assist, as did Tracy Groves and I. We only wound up with 2 deer. But, the experience for these guys that served and sacrificed for our country was outstanding. I’ll tell you, when you watch a man with two prosthetic legs climb into a ladder stand, you thank God for all that you have been blessed with.

Try this on two prosthetic legs. This vet lost his in Iraq fighting for our freedoms and safety.

A great time was had by all who participated in the special veterans hunt in Howard County.

Tuesday, January 23: Jim Schillinger, owner of Papa John’s Farm Market invited me to hunt his Anne Arundel county farm for geese. Jim and the entire family are all enthusiastic waterfowlers. Tracy Groves was also invited along with Jim’s son JD and Scott, Jim’s foreman. Jim’s black lab, Hannah stood by to retrieve. Since the geese hadn’t been flying until 8-ish, we weren’t in a big hurry to get to the farm by the crack of dawn. Tracy and I followed Jim and the crew to the farm and got set up by about 7:30. Jim uses mostly stuffers and a few full-body decoys. He sets about six pairs of his decoys on motion bases (manufactured by Dynamic Decoys). We hunted out of a corn-brushed, A-frame type blind. Jim and JD were the callers. A pair of geese showed up early and Tracy dropped one out. We bagged another out of the second toll; then a pair. The action came fast and furious after that. By nine o’clock, we had our limit and picked up the rig. The Tundra was parked in the farm lane a couple of hundred yards away. Jim had already retrieved his truck and trailer and was coming to pick up the decoys when I remembered the camera – in the truck. I walked back to the lane. When I got in the Tundra, I pushed the on-demand 4WD button for the second time in two days. I drove across the snow-covered frozen cornfield with complete confidence. PHOTO: Scott, Tracy, Allan, JD and Jim with our limits of Canada geese.

Monday, January 22 – Bass Pro Shop Managers’ Hunt with Sean Mann: I met Chuck Rieve (General Manager), Aaron Frazier(Assistant/Merchandising Manager) and David Helland (Hunting Manager) at the Bay Bridge and led the convoy to Sean Mann’s property in Queen Annes County. When we arrived we greeted Larry Duckworth (Facilities Manager), Norbert Wagner (Receiving Manager) and Tom Wagner (Hunting Associate). Sean met all of us and led Chuck, Larry, Tom and David to a field pit while Scott Christopher (Sales Manager, Sean Mann Outdoors) with his black lab, Zayda, gathered up Aaron, Norbert and I and trucked us to a spot where we could walk to a river blind known as the ‘Sand Spit’. I had expressed an interest in trying for some ducks. But, it didn’t turn out quite that way.We did bag a big mature drake mallard before the geese started flying. In all, we took seven geese and fared better than the fellows in the pit. Sometimes it just goes that way.Thanks you Sean Mann and Scott Christopher of Sean Mann Outdoors.By the way, the road and the farm lane were snow and ice-covered. I slid the Tundra into ‘on demand’ 4WD and walked right up the lane – no problem. PHOTO: Zayda, Allan, Norbert Wagner and Aaron Frazier.

Sunday, January 21: Tracy Groves invited my boss Chuck and I to an Eastern Shore shooting preserve for a day of shooting released pheasants, chukars and quail. Tracy and his friend, Randy Grimes met us there in Queen Annes County. The weatherman was calling for snow and about 3 o’clock it started. Out of 22 pheasants, 12 chukars and 50 quail, we were short one pheasant, over by one chukar and went 41 out of 50 on the quail. I even was lucky enough to down an all-white chukar. We finished up with a skiff of snow on the ground and it was piling up. The trip home was extended by an hour because of slow traffic and several accidents caused by the snow. But, the Tundra took all the bad weather in stride and never missed a beat. PHOTO: Tracy Groves, Randy Grimes, Allan and Chuck Rieve.

Wednesday, January 17: My annual diver duck hunt with David Ciekot (who writes for the Salisbury Daily Times and the Maryland Deer and Waterfowl Guide) is met with much anticipation. David’s favorite duck is the bufflehead and he collects buff decoys. The drake bufflehead has eluded me for several years. It seemed as if I couldn’t swing the gun fast enough to get a decent lead. I remarked to Dave that that was my goal today; to bag a bufflehead drake. David is a gracious host. He provides the boat, the decoys, the black lab, Evy, and the wonderful point blind on the Little Choptank. I provide the entertainment and I think Dave gets a kick out of my optimism and enthusiasm. The first batch of ducks were buffleheads. I was just shooting at ducks and bagged a hen. I really started to watch for only drakes after that. We had drakes in the decoys, flying by and landing just out of range. Nothing was working for me – I just couldn’t anchor one. We dropped a nice pair of scaup (bluebill) drakes and David shot a goose that surprised him while I was looking the other way. I think my frustration wore on Dave a bit when he got the boat out of the marsh and rearranged the decoys to attract buffleheads within range. It worked! I was finally able to bag two ‘bulletproof’ bufflehead drakes. I did the ‘Bufflehead Dance’ and David was quite amused. PHOTO: A fine day of diver hunting with a good friend.

Thursday, January 11: I love that cargo light in the bed of the Tundra to get my gear together for an early morning hunt. Went to Middle Patuxent Environmental Area for a managed deer hunt with the Howard County Recreation & Parks Department. This was my second attempt this season to help control the park’s deer herd.

Although I saw several deer in range, they were on the move in thick cover and didn’t present an ethical shot opportunity. Maybe next time.

I will say that the trail we are able to drive on to get to the stands was no problem for the Tundra despite frozen conditions on the way in and slippery mud on the way out.

Wednesday, January 10: The Tundra negotiated the tight streets of downtown Annapolis where a meeting of stakeholders for the Maryland Aquatic Reef Initiative was launched at the Boatyard Bar & Grill.

DNR officials, conservation groups and charterboat organizations as well as representatives from industry were on hand to show their support.

The program involves loading the debris from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge construction project on barges and placing it in Chesapeake Bay near Point No Point. The discarded tons of concrete will form structure – providing hiding places for fish and a habitat for shellfish. It’s a terrific program for fishermen to support.

Maryland DNR Secretary Ron Franks addresses the assembled stakeholders. Fisheries Director Howard King looks on.

Senator John Astle and board members of the Maryland Legislative Sportsman's Foundation voice their support for MARI

Friday, December 29: My buddy Dave Ehrig, who has been writing the Muzzleloading column for all 13 issues of the Maryland Deer Hunting Guide, drove down from the Reading area of PA to join me for a ML goose and deer hunt at the Howard County farm. Our host and my friend Mark Hoke were gracious in setting out the decoy spread. We entertained each other with hunting tales and bad jokes, including a discussion over which was smarter – deer or geese? Apparently, both were smarter than us that day. We watched thousands of geese go other places and never pulled the trigger. Too bad, I was looking forward to trying my new CVA shotgun.

Thursday, December 21: Remember the fellow, that I purchased the classic Model 94 .32 Special from? He invited me to a muzzleloader sika deer hunt in Dorchester County. The Tundra transported me down Route 50 to Vienna in no time – that ride is so comfortable and the cruise control works great.

This farm has produced some very nice sikas for the folks I’ve taken over the years including the team from Horton Crossbows.

The stand I was in had been very productive over the last several years. Not today, though. I heard two different stags bugling in the pre-dawn darkness. The closest one was actually roaring before and after he bugled – I had never heard that sound before! Quite exciting when you figure that a mature stag is within range and all he had to do was step into the open. It wasn’t to be…

Sunday, December 17: Loaded up our 7-year-old grandson in the Tundra and headed to a local farm to buy a couple of straw bales. Tossed the bales in the bed and went home for a very special day. This was the day that he got to shoot his new BB gun with his Pa and Mom-Mom Kathy. We plinked at cans and shatter-targets for two hours. He learned safe gun handling rules and his aim improved steadily as we shot. We took a break for lunch and went back out for another hour-and-a-half. To save our shooting and hunting heritage it is vital to ‘pass it on’ to the next generation. I know we made some progress today… PHOTO: Our Grandson with his BB gun and plinking targets.

Saturday, December 9 – Afternoon: Another deer drive at the Howard County farm. One hunter bagged one deer. Three came within my view in the thickest of cover and were very antsy. They stopped for a second and offered a low-percentage shot at one. The slug clipped a branch on its way to the deer and flew low left. I found it buried in a tree. I ended my firearms season the same way I started it – with a miss!

Wednesday, December 6: Left early for Cecil County to hunt a family farm near Cecilton. I have taken my best bucks from this property. I sat in the wooden box stand from daybreak on. I always say a little prayer when I get in the stand. “Lord, please keep all the hunters in the woods safe today. Let me see the deer before they see me. If the opportunity for a shot comes, let me make a quick, clean kill or a complete miss and let me recover the deer I shoot. Amen.” I was ready to get down to leave when I said, “Lord, if you are gong to send a deer, it better be quick!” I looked to my right and there was a spike buck walking towards the marsh. He stopped. I aimed, fired and he fell. The satisfaction of taking this nice buck was not that he was a trophy. I normally would pass him up. But, I was shooting an old pre-64 Winchester .32 Special that had belonged to a dear friend. I shot that buck in his honor and left him on the meat pole for my hosts to share with their families. It was a good hunt. PHOTO: This spike fell to a shot from that vintage Model 94 Winchester .32 Special.

Saturday, December 2 – Afternoon: Mark had tagged two antlerless deer that morning and invited me out for a deer drive. It was windy and cold. No deer.

Thursday, November 30 - Afternoon: I met Mark Hoke in Clarksville and followed him to a West Friendship dairy farm. We took our stands, 300 yards apart, on the edge of a cornfield. The landowner had seen some nice buck but was anxious to put a dent in the doe population. The weather was clear, warm (75-degrees) and windy. About 4:30 I heard Mark shoot. I kept watching in his direction and soon saw half-a-dozen deer slipping through the hollow behind me. They started up the ridge on my side and stopped, about 40 yards out. I picked out a fat doe and the Remington Buckhammer slug found its mark. It was the first deer I had taken with the H & R Ultra Slug 20 gauge. Mark tagged a pretty piebald doe earlier. PHOTO: Mark Hoke (L) with his piebald doe and Allan’s Howard County corn-fed doe.

Wednesday, November 22: I met Tracy Groves at 5:30 and we traveled to a western Baltimore County ‘undisclosed location’ to hunt whitetails. The NNE wind was against us but we managed to see a half-dozen deer including a spike and a four point just after daylight. The forky busted us and it was over almost before it started. But, Tracy showed me a video of a ‘shooter’ eight-point that keeps him coming back to that spot… PHOTO: Tracy Groves waits 25-feet up to videotape the action.

Saturday, November 18 The Championship Duck Competition: Back with Adrien Hansen to ‘Thunder Thighs’. You know the pressure is on when you are in a duck blind with a Beretta exec, a Marine General (P. X. Kelley, 28th Commandant and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) a doctor and a real estate and financial guru (Doug Lynn).

For the first time ever, no ducks flew at Thunder Thighs that morning. A grumpy Adrien loaded up all the shooters and bundled us off to Poverty Point Farm owned by a gracious Jim Buggs. Jim’s shooters were having a good morning. Doug Lynn and I shared a blind with Bob Gormley as our scorekeeper.

Your first four shots count towards a score for bragging rights and the Top Gun award. A potential top score of 120 (two doubles) is as high as you can go. Although I decked the first drake mallard, I got a little behind on the second shot. My third shot anchored a Susie and my fourth shot trailed behind. I finished with what I though was a respectable 40 as did Doug.

We then headed out to Fruit Hill Farm, where we were treated to a feast of victuals fit for an Eastern Shore land baron. John (JB) Tieder was our host. After the grand luncheon, all the new shooters were inducted into the Turlock Society (named after the characters who settled in Southern Dorchester’s Hoopers Island, from John Steinbeck’s ‘Chesapeake’). I am now, after downing my portion of god-knows-what ‘Marsh Mud’ a proud member of the Blackwater Tribe.

The final Awards Banquet and Auction at Sailwinds ended the Grand event.

Sunrise at Thunder Thighs

The day's bag at Poverty Point

Doug Lynn , my shooting companion at Poverty Point

Induction into the Turlock Society

Friday, November 17: First Hunt of The Grand National: Canada geese were the fowl-du-jour. The heaviest goose of the day would win the Governors Award.

Skip Watson, owner of Waterloo Farm hosted my hunt. I drove the Tundra to the farm since I had a quick trip back to Baltimore to pick up Kathy. The geese were again high and disinterested. But, one young pair popped over the tree line and responded to my pleadings on the Eastern Shoreman call. I dropped one and the other one evaded my blindmates shooting. Then it was time for some duck shootin’!

We managed to take fourteen of Skip’s mallards before I had to leave. I was thinking of the ham and oyster breakfast that I left behind as I headed up Route 50.

That afternoon we heard the reasons from Ladd Johnson for having the Grand National; increasing the duck population, promoting Dorchester County and providing scholarships to worthy candidates who major in the natural sciences. Skip Miller reviewed the rules of the Hunt. We also watched an Ag Department power point about the nutria’s role in marsh devastation in the county and beyond.

That evening the GNWA hosted its annual public Jamboree! at Sailwinds. Oyster fritters and soft crabs with T.G. Sheppard crooning to the crowd.

Skip Watson (center) hosted the second day's hunt.

A very surprised T. G. Sheppard reacts to a young lady 's dancing style at the Jamboree!

Thursday, November 16: Opening Day, Atlantic Population (AP) Goose Season: The long trip before daylight across the Bay Bridge to Cambridge was smooth, thanks to the easy-riding Tundra and the comfortable leather seats.

I was to meet decoy carver Warren Saunders at the Holiday Inn Express at 5:30 for a date with a couple of geese. I was also in town for the three-day 24th Annual Grand National Waterfowl Hunt.

I met Warren, Adrien Hansen and Tom Wilcox, along with another shooter who arrived early for the GN. I rode with Warren through Church Creek to the club’s farm ‘Thunder Thighs’ near there.

The geese were flying high and fast – with a tailwind. We managed to fool one group of about a dozen and took out three. I was able to scratch my limit from that bunch and was finished. Good thing; that was it for the morning.

Warren had to leave early and Tom hauled me back to Cambridge where we ate breakfast. I gave Tom, who owns a GM diesel pickup the tour of the Tundra. He was impressed.

Later, I met the actor, Wilford Brimley and the Outdoor Life Hunting Editor, Jim Zumbo – both nice fellows. Registration, Orientation and a Reception at Sailwinds rounded out the day. At Sailwinds, I also met our hosts for the event; retired Circuit Court Judge (Carroll County), The Honorable Raymond Beck and his lovely wife Pat.

Our Hosts Judge Ray and Pat Beck

Outdoor Life Hunting Editor, Jim Zumbo

Noted actor,Wilford Brimley

A limit on the first day of the AP Goose Season

Sunday, October 29: The Dayton Rod and Gun Club near Dayton in Howard County, hosts a series of Turkey Shoots each fall. The shoots are fun and can be profitable if your shotgun pellet is the closest one to the X on the target.

I ventured to DR&GC on October 29 with some sponsor prizes and blasted away at about a dozen of the events. I came pretty close on one of the rounds. But, hey who remembers who finishes second?

Clifford Holmes won the 10th shoot, which had the value-added Outdoorsman Radio Show prize package.

If you are looking for a little fun, stop by any Sunday at 11 a.m. or check out their website, www.daytonrodgunclub.com for details.

Thanks to Frank Hall for helping out with the photography.

Specialized 'turkey shoot' shotguns on the firing line.

Clifford Holmes won the Outdoorsman Radio Show prize package

Wednesday, October 25: My boss, Chuck Rieve, and I headed to Taylors Island in the Tundra to meet a friend with some private sika deer property. I let two cows slip by at thirty yards about 7:15. It’s okay, though; that wind nearly ripped us out of our stands. Hairy! No deer - no photos.

Saturday & Sunday, October 21 & 22: Indian River Marina hosted the Rocktober Fishing Tournament and Festival. Kath and I, Mark Hoke and Marcus Tracy represented Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Baltimore. We provided kids archery, casting and waterfowl calling activities. It was a smooth ride since Kathy set the Tundra’s navigation system to the exact address. Big stripers and tautog were the pursued targets by the angler. I’ll try to have some fish photos. The event benefited notable Delaware youth charities.

Kids casting was a hit.

Marcus Tracy helped many budding bowhunters.

Mark Hoke demonstrated waterfowl calling to the kids..

Thursday, October 19: Opening Day of the Early Muzzle Loader season! It's one of my favorite days to be in the woods. The Tundra effortlessly took me up 95 to Cecil County and to my all-time favorite deer spots. These woods have held most of the big whitetail bucks I’ve harvested and my hopes were high.

Alas, it was a very spooky day in the woods – no wind, still and overcast. What little wind there was blew right into the bedding area and towards a major trail. A deer caught my scent and busted me about 8:30. Nothing came by until nearly 6 p.m. when a doe and a yearling came out that same trail at 25-yards. I scoped them both and passed up the shot, hoping a buck would follow. Nope. …A great day afield regardless.

Tuesday, October 17: Howard County again. Only this time it was my second shot at the Howard County Rec. & Parks Managed Deer Hunt. Same park as last week only with more success. It was drizzling rain. I gave a listener, Ernie O. from Aberdeen, a ride to the parking area and we walked together to our stand sites. I set out some Vanilla Curiosity Scent Buck Bomb. About 8:15 three deer showed up downwind. I hit the bleat call to draw them closer but to no avail. The first one slipped into some heavy cover. I managed to squeeze a slug through an opening about a foot-and-a-half wide and into her vitals. I later donated her to a church food bank. PHOTO: Phil Norman, How. Co. Rec. & Parkes Deer Project Manager (R) with Allan. The one in the middle, a 17-month old management doe is just what we were after.

Monday, October 16: Drove to Howard County to meet noted fly angler and author, Larry Coburn. Larry has a wood duck honey hole – a tiny stream that runs through a Howard County farm. The woodies did not disappoint us. We both took our limits and Larry bagged a bonus mallard drake. These were my first wood ducks ever. What fun! PHOTO: Larry Coburn (R), the 'guide', and Allan with a nice brace of early season ducks.

Sunday, October 15: Kathy and I traveled up to scenic northern Baltimore County and visited with the Electric Bass Anglers at the weigh-in to the first half of the year-end ‘Classic’. We saw some beautiful largemouth and smallmouth bass being weighed-in and then released. We don’t have all the names of the anglers. But, as you can see, they picked up some real lunkers! The guys with the Tundra are the officers of the EBA.

Tuesday, October 10: I have been participating in the Howard County Rec. & Parks Deer Program for a number of years. On this day I was looking forward to the first hunt of the year (for me) at David Force Park. I was in my favorite stand location yet I did not see a deer. The hunter on the stand next to me harvested two antlerless deer. I was looking forward to hauling one out and ‘christening’ the Tundra’s spacious bed with its first deer. A total of seven antlerless deer were taken by the nine participants.

Monday, October 9: I qualified for any Maryland Regulated Hunt with my Remington 870 at the Associated Gun Club Range in Marriottsville. I had a nice conversation with the President, Del Cockey and Ron, the Range Officer. Three shots were all it took with about a 3-inch group at 50-yards. I’ve been using the Lightfield Hybred Slugs for over ten years and haven’t found a better round, yet.

Tuesday – Thursday, October 3-5: Allen Treadwell, on Bass Pro’s RedHead Hunting Pro Staff rode with me to Cambridge on Tuesday evening. He liked the ride, the navigation system and especially the big sunroof in the Tundra. He was in town to tape a sika deer hunt for Bass Pro TV.

We arrived later at the private farm on Elliott’s Island Road and prepared to hunt early Wednesday.

Overall, the weather did not cooperate at all and a full moon didn’t help. The temperature reached 85-degrees during the day on both Wednesday and Thursday. A deluge of rain cancelled TV taping on Friday morning. The deer just did not move. The stags holed-up in the thickest pines and stayed put. All the deer movement was after dark although a few glimpses of distant deer came very early in the morning.

My experiences went like this: Wednesday morning, I was about 15 minutes late getting into the stand. Just before legal shooting time a sika – I did not see the deer – busted me from about 20-yards and bolted back through the marsh. Plenty of mosquitoes found me, though. I suffered about ninety bites on my hands alone. I did locate a stag (by his bugling) about 300-yards away. I set up on him on Wednesday evening without seeing a deer. But, another stag sounded promising near another distant stand location.

My duck hunting buddy and Sika deer editor, David Ciekot, who works as a Field Technician for the Maryland Department of Agriculture Mosquito Control section, tells me that the area where we were hunting yielded about 100 mosquitoes per minute. They determine the ‘Landing Rate Count’ by using their own bodies to count how many land on them in one minute (no thanks!). Most of us used a Thermacell appliance while in the stands (except for Wednesday morning) and were not bothered a bit by the ‘skeeters’.

Thursday morning I was on time. The stag I heard the evening before let out a hair-raising bugle at 6 a.m. less than a hundred yards away. I could hear deer traveling through the marsh all around my stand. When daylight arrived, nothing was in sight. Thursday evening just at dark, that stag bugled again; closer this time. But, my time had run out.

Although the camera crew headed home, the hunters at the farm managed to harvest eight sikas with their bows from Friday evening through Saturday. All-in-all it was a great experience.

Allan with his pal, Allen Treadwell, RedHead Hunting Pro for Bass Pro Shops TV. This is the sixth TV show Allan has been a part of with Allen. Fortunately, the waterfowl shows turn out better than the deer hunting shows.

Chuck Rieve, Bass Pro GM and David Sutherland, Maryland Legislative Sportsmen's Foundation (our hunt coordinator).

Wednesday, September 20: Kathy and I climbed in the Tundra and headed to our nation’s capitol, Washington D.C. The occasion at the Hyatt was the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation Annual Banquet and Auction. We were representing Bass Pro Shops. At this event there were 40 senators and congressmen, who support fishing and hunting legislation, rubbing shoulders with the top dogs in many conservation organizations as well as the executives representing many manufacturers of hunting and fishing gear. Bob Delfay, of the Hunting Heritage Trust sat at our table. We had a nice chat with Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President and Sandy Froman, President of the National Rifle Association. Anne Arundel County Senator John Astle was there, too, along with representative of the Maryland Legislative Sportsman’s Foundation, Maryland Ducks Unlimited and the Maryland Sportsmen’s Association. I had a nice chat with Tom Delay, former Majority Leader of the House of Representatives who also served as guest auctioneer. The meals at this event are always different. This year we had an antelope chop and mashed potatoes as the main course.

Saturday, September 16: Kathy and I headed to the City Dock in Annapolis for the Grand Finale of DNR’s Million Dollar Fishing Challenge ‘The Return of Diamond Jim’. Keith Barreca of Toyota Maryland awarded the keys to the two Grand Prizes – 2006 Toyota Tacomas - to Quinton Mitchell from Baltimore and Frank Hendricks from Monkton. After the event, Frank Hendricks, a listener to the Outdoorsman Radio Show, approached me and handed me the tackle box he selected where the keys to the Tacoma were hiding. He requested that I give it away to another listener – maybe you – on a future show. Thanks, Frank!

Keith Barreca from Toyota with Quinton Mitchell, the winner of a new Tacoma in the $1M Fishing Challenge

Keith Barreca from Toyota with Frank Hendricks, the winner of a new Tacoma in the $1M Fishing Challenge

Thursday, September 14: Rainy morning. First hunt of the season! It broke my heart to get a bit of mud on the floor mats and splash the outside with mud and cow manure. Mark Hoke, with the Zink Calls Pro Staff ‘Z-Unit’ and Tracy Groves, the Bass Pro Shops Field Staff Pro and I ventured to a dairy farm in Howard County. It was Tracy’s first-ever waterfowl hunt. The rain was cold on our backs as we set out a few decoys. The ‘blind’ was a stand of goldenrod. A ‘hot’ electric fence separated us from the decoys. We rolled under it and both Mark and Tracy got ‘bit’. Our 90-minute wait, with the cows all watching from the barnyard, was rewarded by a trio of mature geese that slipped in low past the silo and took us by surprise. A quick greeting on the goose call by Mark piqued their curiosity and they swung around into the decoys - big mistake. Let’s just say that none of them will be taking any tales home to the roost. Tracy rolled the first two and I managed to take out the laggard.

Saturday, September 9: Kathy and I headed to Carroll County. We dropped off a donation to the Rescue Mission, had brunch and the stopped by the Reese VFD for the Deer Park Lion’s Club’s annual Smallwood Festival. The band was very talented and the funnel cakes were delicious.

Wednesday, August 30: We traveled to Lancaster, PA to a magazine distributor for the Maryland Deer and Waterfowl Guide. While we were there, we stopped at the Visitors Center then drove through Bird-In Hand and up to Intercourse. We stopped at the Farmers Market and a country store. We drove home and had plenty of gas left in the tank from the Kent Island fill-up on Saturday. Amazing!

Saturday, August 26: Kathy and I headed to Maryland’s Eastern Shore. We made a few stops along the way including Vonnie’s Sporting Goods. They were having their Season Opener Sale that day so we shopped and had lunch. The ride was smooth and comfortable. I filled up the tank for the first time on Kent Island. The mileage for the first thankful was 16 MPG. Not bad for a 4.7 i-Force V-8 with the AC blowing all the time.

Friday, August 25: Kathy and I decided to attend the Maryland state Fair. We used the parking area off Deereco Road. There was a tight parking spot next to the curb and the Tundra slid right in with no problem. “I like the power steering on this. Very nice touch,” I told Kathy.

Saturday, August 19: Kathy and I headed to the Maryland Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s annual banquet. Over 600 attended the all-afternoon event at Martins East on Pulaski Highway.

Friday, August 18: Kathy and I picked up the new Tundra early in the morning. The Regional Truck Sales Manager greeted me and showed me a few features. He programmed the navigation system to direct me on the shortest route to Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World where I had to report to work. The BPS Store Manager had to go for a ride right away and was duly impressed with the Tundra. That evening, Kathy and I went for our first ‘deer ride’ inn western Baltimore county and saw plenty of whitetails, including a couple of dandy bucks.