This past Monday and Tuesday my brother and I went on a Sika Deer hunt with Muddy Marsh Outfitters in Cambridge Maryland. As we arrived at camp I was pleasently surprised to see 3 Trad archers practicing. I thought one was familiar to me but couldn't place the face with a name. Well they finished the practice session and one of them walks up offers his hand and says "Hi I'm Terry Green". I responded with a "I thought I recognized you,you're Terry Green from TRAD GANG".Like he didn't know that already. The second archer walks up and introduces himself as Larry Surtees. While I didn't remember seeing an image of Larry anyone who frequents this site knows who he is. After more introductions and a short explanation to my brother as to why I was so excited we all prepared for the evening hunt.
As our guide Joe explained Sika Deer sightings and opportunities are 80% evening and only 20% morning.
My brother went with T.J. the owner/outfitter for the evening post. I was given hushed directions down a lane to my ground blind. As I approached the field edge I saw a huge flock of turkeys feeding which I counted at 37 plus. I had to somehow get to the blind. You can't get past that many turkeys without wings flapping. As I entered the blind I was hoping the turkey flush didn't spook and Sikas nearby. Well after dusk with shooting light quickly fading I noticed thru one of the side openings 4 dark bodies slowly walking along the field edge towards the feeder.When they got to about 40 yards out you would have thought the green flag just dropped after a long yellow at Daytona. Those 4 deer sprinted towards the feeder so fast the one of the fawns slid about 5 feet on the frozen ground below the feeder. After about 30 seconds another fawn came bouncing in like a Mule deer. I was hoping to shoot a stag but there were only 2 mature hinds and 3 fawns . The hinds kept looking in the direction they came from every few seconds so I was hoping more would shoe up. Judging by the fast approaching darkness I thought if I was going to take a shot it would have to be soon. While waiting for one of the hinds to seperate from the bunch and offer a shot I came to full draw 4 seperate times. Finally I thought I had one slightly quartering away. I went on auto-pilot. I remember the arrow being released but I don't remember my index finger locking into the corner of my mouth. Anyway a second after the arrow was on it's way I heard the unmistakable sound of a 580 grain arrow with a scalpel sharp woodsman leading the way striking flesh.All hell broke loose at the feeder. 3 raced back the way they came, the last fawn went back the way it came and one ran straightaway 80 yards towards the pines. About 5 seconds after she entered the pines I heard a loud crack and all was quiet. I gathered my stuff inside the blind, placed my pack in the lane and pulled our my trusty Wensel Bros. flashlight. A quick scan of the site only revealed a large clump of hair. No sign of the relective tape on my arrow. This was puzzeling to me but not of great concern. I walked back to the pickup point and met T.J. After retrieving his atv we went to the stand site to search for sign. A quick scan revealed nothing at the feeder. We struck off in the direction of the single hind. After being joined by his guide Joe all three of us began a precise search along the wood line for any type of sign. After 10 minutes or so T.J. said he had blood.By blood I'm talking 1/2 the size of a pencil eraser on a piece of straw (these guys are phenomenal) we followed a sparce (3 drops) blood trail for another 50 yards. At that point T.J. said he thought I may have just hit a leg. I insisted I clearly did not hear the sound of a bone hit. Anyway we move another 10 or so yards and found 2 spots of blood one on the left side where I said was thew entrance about thersize of a softball and one spot about 1/4 the size on the other . While T.J. and Joe were weighing the possibility of finding anything in the morning after the impending rain storm I looked to our right and spotted a thumbnail size drop.As I bent down to mark it Joe scanned his light out in front and said "there she lays". I'm sure you all know that feeling of relief/elation I felt in hearing those words and seeing my Sika in the flashlight beam. Upon examination of the deer we surmised that either in the increasing darkness and shooting from inside the blind I misjudged her position or she spun slightly upon the shot. My entry on the left side would have been perfect for a quartering away angle cutting the third rib from the front. However the exit was thru the next to the last rib from the back.
Both T.J. and Joe tell me that my hind was mature and a very respectable size "as sikas go".
OK it's time to stop this rambling.
In closing I have to say I hope I can sometime share another camp and hunt with Terry, Larry and their friend from PA Paul (sorry Paul but I don't think I ever got your last name). They were gracious and patient with all of my questions.
I'm going to take Terry up on his offer to post a photo as my experience with photobucket seems to be lacking.
Congrats on your harvest.
:archer:
Nice job, but we're gonna needs pics :readit:
Kevin
Way Kool, Great story.. I hope You have some pix.
Congrats, that is great man, thanks for taking us along.
Congrats...looking forward to the pix!
Congrats, sounds like fun!
Congratulations on your sitka! They're on my list of animals that I definitely want to hunt as soon as possible! Muddy Marsh Outfitters looks like the people to do it with too!
Very cool! Can't wait to see the pics.
Congrats to you guy!! I just missed you guys down there as i hunt down there alot. My buddy owns some acres right beside the blackwater refuge. No sika yet but still trying.
Again Congrats to you for harvesting your "Marsh Ghost"!!!!
tap tap tap... cant wait for pics congrats :clapper:
:thumbsup:
Can't wait to see the picture.
Bill
:thumbsup: now some pics,......
Congratulations and great write-up. What bow were you shooting? Can't wait to see the pictures!
Job well done.
I love hunting sika, more than white tail.
If you're not careful you may become a sikaholic like me.
I remember my first...which was my first time too! Wasn't any big ole mature hind...just a young'un. Wanted to climb down and play with her.
They're like turbo-charged water spiders in the way they move...jerking this way, then that.
YOu did quite well I'd say! Congrats! The meat is incredible BTW!
Congratulations! I just ate some loin steaks tonight from a hind taken a few miles from Muddy Marsh. I will be at it again Saturday. What a small world it is in Dorchester County! I met quite a few guys from different hunting websites down there.
Very good. Now you know why we are addicted to them.
Way to go Jamie. I got my first sika this year as well. Poor mans elk and as reddoge said, they can become addicting. I'm already looking forward to this years October hunt at Blackwater :thumbsup:
Congrats on a great hunt!
Thanks guys for al of the congratulations. Pictures are coming soon.
Robert- I'm shooting a Zipper riser with 50 lb longbow limbs, SBD string and 28" CE Heritage 150s 50 grain insert and 200 grain screw in Woodsman Elite. BTW the 56" length is an "experimental" length for Bill Dunn. I think I have the only set ever made. (Bill I guess the cat's out of the bag now). As soon as they see the picture you'll be getting calls. This bow screams a 580 grain arrow.
Way to go :clapper:
Here you go Jamie your Sika Congrats.
(http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii185/bofish-il/peep_002.jpg)
Congrats!
Bisch
Congratulations!
J
Well-done!
Nice Sika well done
:clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Very nice..
Looking good Jamie!! :clapper: :clapper: Man that bow looks short!
About how much does a mature sika deer weigh?
:clapper: That'a a tough throphy Congrats
Very nice, Congrats on a fine kill! :thumbsup:
Zip, I was told that a mature sika weighs between 80 and 100 pounds. Might be way off since i can't seem to get one but that is what i was told. Jamie definately got him self a great trophy that he should be dang on proud of!!! They are a very neat animal to give chase and for him to connect that is very awesome!! I have been told that it is the finest tasting meat of all the deer species in the US.
Again, Just AWESOME!!! You better watch out though, Hunting these swamp donkeys is addictive to say the least!!
Congrats
Take it from one who has chased them for 35 years an 80-100 dressed Sika would have to be a unusually large stag. Most I've seen are 50-70# and does run smaller around 45-55#. I once shot a 61# doe which was the heaviest doe I've ever killed. I got a nice fat spike this year and it was 56#. They are not large animals.
Congrats. They're a beautiful animal.
:clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Great story!!
Nice congratulations!!
reddogge, Rich, is right on as far as size of the Sika's. The stags are also a lot darker in color than the hinds (does). Rich mentioned that he shot a spike. A spike Sika can be a lot older than your average spike whitetail and a real nice trophy all in itself. I like hunting them in October when they're rutting. You've got to hear them bugle.
Great job, congrats on the Sika!
Way to go sir! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Congrats :thumbsup:
Congrats!!!
What kind of bow you got there?
Congrats again....sure nice meeting you and your brother...wish I'd have been back in that stand the last evening where he and I hunted that morning.
I've got some scenic pics....but did not get to photo the most scenic stand...that last morning stand...due to the rain, that stopped soon as we got into the stand, I didn't take my camera for fear of drowning it.
Congrats!
Cogratulations. Sika are beautiful deer, and you should be one happy fellow.
nice going
I would think that "Paul from PA" would be Paul Kimbol (Dragon Rider). Glad you had a good hunt. Meeting up with Terry, Larry and Paul would make any hunt a great one, and getting that Sika would only make it better.
Allan
Can't wait to see the pics... Congrats!!!!!
do you guys find them vocal in the rut?
in New Zealand they are the most vocal of the deer there.
Congats! I just shot a free range sika hind last weekend down in Tx. They are neat critters. Was somewhat surprised by the size. Weighed 110 live weight on the scale and had about an inch thick layer of fat all over her. Great eatin
Ozy, I can't speak for the maryland animals, but down in tx, they are very vocal in the rut.
Congratulations!
Margly
Not being sarcastic
are they all that little?
Maryland sika deer are very vocal, as they are elsewhere. During the rut they are susceptible to calling and quite exciting to hunt. The stags bugle a trailing whistle-like sound usually in a three call series. They also growl and moan, and the hinds mew and chirp like elk. In fact I use an elk cow call to hunt them. There are several subspecies. In Maryland we have the Japanese race and it is the smallest with mature does dressing 45 and stags 65-75 on average. Other subspecies get quite large. They rut in October which means we get to chase rutting stags in October and whitetail bucks in November. Shhhhh ... Maryland secret bowhunter's paradise!
Good information, Steve. I used an elk cow call myself this year as well. Got my first stag this year and can't wait for October to get here...and get wet again.
Steve writes: "They rut in October which means we get to chase rutting stags in October and whitetail bucks in November. Shhhhh ... Maryland secret bowhunter's paradise!"
Yep, now you've given us up!!
For those not familiar with Sika, here's a site that has some good additional information. You can also hear a call that sounds like the rutting stag.
http://www.dougwigfield.com/index.html
bravo !!
Jamie, it was my pleasure in meeting you and your brother -- 2 fine gentlemen!
Congrats on that Sika. I wish your brother would have had that herd that he saw coming back to the truck the last night a little earlier so he might have had one for the taking.
Hope to see you again on another hunt!
Larry
bobman, yes they are. Large 6 point stags are rare and most will not top 80#. The size doesn't take away from the fact they are a real trophy to take especially with a bow.
This stag was killed by a friend of mine last year. He didn't dress 80#.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/reddogge/Hunting/113.jpg)
I love sika deer hunting. I go every year in Blackwater refuge. Got this badboy this year. First 3X3 I ever saw, and first of course I killed. It only took me 15 years to get a nice one. 89lbs.
I also with a gun took (I think) the largest hind taken in years. It was 95lbs dressed. And old as dirt.
(http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn73/bigcountry_ky/Hunting%20Pictures/1022100930a.jpg)
very nice sir!
Beautiful stag, BC! Congrats on that trophy :thumbsup:
wow he's a nice one!
Nice Stag Mark! Every time I hear one bugle, it raises the hair on the back of my neck...
Those are two hogs for sure. Nice stag.
QuoteOriginally posted by JL:
Nice Stag Mark! Every time I hear one bugle, it raises the hair on the back of my neck...
No doubt, I will be sitting in my climber at 5:30AM catching a few ZZZZs, and hear on bugle just 10 yards away, and about fall out.
Thanks, probably be another 15 years before I see another 3X3.