Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Gold Medal Sika

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Gold Medal Sika

    Our deer season has been pretty slow. Too much rain and too much green. I hunted hard in October, not so hard in November, and finally shot a doe at the beginning of December. I had a couple of bucks at home I wanted to shoot (nothing huge) but they just never came out when I was there.

    I have been to Buff's Big Oak Bowhunting Ranch 3 or 4 times and I always enjoy the heck out of it. So, I said that all I wanted for Christmas was a chance to whack something at Marty's

    Marty said he had some nice sika bucks this year but one in particular was really exceptional and that I should plan to get there as soon as possible to hunt him. With it being New Year's weekend, everyone had to rearrange their schedules to accommodate the hunt but we made it happen.

    The first afternoon, Marty dropped me off at a big tower stand overlooking a clearing. I saw over 15 animals - about 7 different species - but not a single sika deer. As luck would have it, the buck we were after was seen at a different blind that night so the plan was to hunt that blind in the morning.

    The next morning, it was COLD and still. Thank goodness I had my Buddy heater and extra bottles of propane. Marty dropped me off at the Impala blind, which overlooks a steep ravine. I set the Buddy heater to "roast" and got settled in. I wasn't sure just how large this sika buck was but I figured I would know him when I saw him.

    The next hour and a half was pretty quiet. Nothing was moving other than squirrels. At about 7:50, I see a deer approaching from my right. Through the trees, I could tell it was either a small red deer or a really nice sika buck. I got ready.

    He slowly made his way through the timber, stopping every other step to look around. When he got to the feeder, he noticed that the window on the blind was open and he didn't like it at all. We got in to a stare down that lasted about two minutes. He finally started feeding, but facing me the whole time. I decided to just watch and let him get comfortable. I told myself there was no rush. If I didn't get a shot this time, he would probably be back.

    He fed quartering to me for about 10 minutes, occasionally glancing at the blind. I wanted to wait until he was comfortable enough to let his guard down. Finally, he turned and gave me a perfect quartering away shot. I drew my bow and brought my pin straight up the back of his opposite leg.

    I was so focused on the exact spot I wanted to hit, I don't even remember squeezing my thumb release. I just remember hearing the 85 grain slick trick slam in to the opposite shoulder and watching him run off with about half of my arrow sticking out - which worried me for a second but I could see blood squirting out with every step, which made me feel better. I didn't see him fall but I was confident that my shot had done the job.

    The guys came to pick me up. We checked out the sign, determined it was good lung blood and made the decision to eat breakfast and come back to track the deer with one of our young dogs. After breakfast, we loaded up the puppy and went back to the scene. The blood trail was pretty easy to follow but a great confidence booster for the pup. He went 100 yards straight downhill to the deer.

    Now, it's not very often that a buck gets BIGGER when I walk up to him but this dude did! His horns just seemed to get bigger and bigger every time I looked at them. I had guessed him to be between 18 and 20 inches tall on the hoof. Well, his short side was 23" and the longer side was a whopping 26 and 1/2 inches!

    Man, I was expecting to shoot a nice deer...I was not expecting to shoot a monster!

    He will most likely be in the top 10 bow killed sika deer this year. Just out of curiosity, I checked his jaw bone after Chance Love caped him and his teeth were completely dished out...he was about 7.5 years old.

    What a great place and great folks. I am so thankful for such great friends and for the opportunity to hunt and harvest such an awesome animal.

    Click image for larger version

Name:	SIKA02_small.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	169.1 KB
ID:	25076781

    Click image for larger version

Name:	scores.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	47.5 KB
ID:	25076782
    Last edited by Sika; 01-04-2016, 03:22 PM.

    #2
    nice!!! Awesome buck!!

    Comment


      #3
      That's great to see the results of the hunt and the smile on your face is even better.

      Comment


        #4
        awesome buck!

        Comment


          #5
          They need a Platinum Medal category for bucks like that. Congrats!

          Comment


            #6
            awesome deal !!!!

            Comment


              #7
              Awesome and Congrats! That's on my list of hunts!

              Comment


                #8
                Congratulations!

                I've spent a ton of time chasing the smaller version up here in Maryland.
                Really cool animals and great eating. That's a stud!

                Comment


                  #9
                  Glad you started the year off with a nice SIKA, Sika. Haha

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Wow.....Congrats!!!

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by pblaetz View Post
                      Congratulations!

                      I've spent a ton of time chasing the smaller version up here in Maryland.
                      Really cool animals and great eating. That's a stud!
                      For many years, I hunted a place between Fredericksburg and Kerrville that had a good population of free ranging sika deer. I enjoyed having them on our lease. So cool to hear them bugle in the Fall.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        That's a monster congrats.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Sika View Post
                          For many years, I hunted a place between Fredericksburg and Kerrville that had a good population of free ranging sika deer. I enjoyed having them on our lease. So cool to hear them bugle in the Fall.
                          It sure is, they almost sound like elk

                          Congrats on a great buck

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Congrats

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Good groceries. Congrats

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X