Doug Wood, 55, of Machiasport worked for the state of Maine killing coyotes for more than a half dozen years.
He described some of the natural predation he witnessed, such as coyotes ripping flesh from a living but wounded deer, and other violence his prey inflicted.
What he saw in the woods completely changed his approach to hunting and he vowed that no animal would suffer from wounds that he imposed. He would shoot to kill or not at all.
“I practice all year long. All of us — my sons, grandson and wife Anne — take hunting very seriously. Wounding animals is not acceptable. I haven’t wounded one since 2002,” Wood said.
His grandfather inspired his love for the outdoors. His family are animal lovers, so when they hunt, they want any kills to be quick and ethical, he said.
To that end, he has focused on the science and physics of shooting.
Wood knows from how far away he can shoot. He has a phone app that helps him figure out the drop in terrain from where he is to his target. And his new scope can be set according to caliber, range and ammunition being used with the turn of a knob.
All of this came into play when he shot a 198.1-pound, 6-point buck from 635 yards away this fall. He used a Ridgeline Christensen Arms 28 Nosler with an optic Leupold CDS custom dial system scope. The gun has a carbon fiber stock and barrel, making it lighter and stronger than steel, he said.
It was 17 degrees and not a breath of wind on the blueberry barren in Washington County where Wood was hunting on Nov. 6. He said the sun was at his back, lighting up the barren in a way that he could even see the antlers on the large buck.
He calculated his drop from the top of the hill, which was his only option for a place to sit and watch, and squeezed the trigger, killing the deer. He called friends to help drag the animal out. Wood cuts up his own meat and he plans to keep the antlers.
Wood has hunted this blueberry barren since 2007, and has built a couple of custom guns to hunt it, he said.
He first saw several large bucks from a distance at this barren several years ago and started researching what he needed for equipment and practicing with it once he had it. He uses a friend’s gravel pit, which has a 400-yard range, for target practice.
Wood has had no military training but one of his sons who did has helped him with some of the finer points of his hunting guns. He reloads his own ammunition so that he can make superior loads for accuracy and a quick kill.
He has shot a couple other deer in that same blueberry barren from more than 500 yards away other years.
He described one in which he was setting up a treestand for his wife and a buck appeared in the field more than 500 yards out. Wood had a gun with a good scope so he used his app to enter his ballistics information to calculate the drop, and blew the heart out the side of the animal from 565 yards away.
Wood advised other hunters to never shoot past their abilities. If a shooter cannot hold 10 shots within 5 to 7 inches, the distance is too great. Hunters should practice and know their own capabilities, he said.
“If you don’t know your ability, deer can be lost and wasted,” he said.