Sika deer

[txtrophy85]

I hunted this deer for 3 years....shot and missed him twice; once in 2015 and again in 2017 before taking him in late September of that year.

He was a whore monger and when you would see the does he would appear. He was bright rusty red with faint spots in early august then dark dark brown in September.

He was easy to read....in the mornings he was on his way back to bed on a high saddle on a ridge in some thick cedar and in the evenings he would make his way down off the hill to water. He must have gone down/back up over 300' of elevation each day. I walked that route several times and it was a beating...I would use it to train for Colorado before my elk trips.

anyway, he was a very visible animal. I kept bumping him early in the morning on my way to the blind. they would hang out in some oaks before the feeder went off. after a few times I got in the blind at 5 am and waited him out, that was his undoing.

[outlook8]

They were rutting hard on our lease last year during bow season. I generally have velvet bucks growing on camera late spring, then never see them again. I did see one doe in person, but let her walk. One guy shot a really nice sika buck opening morning of rifle season last year. His blind is in a very rocky area.

[Shane]

Those are some nice bucks!

I saw a really big sika buck with a herd of does during bow season a couple of years ago on our previous lease. They were out in the middle of an open pasture. That was the only time I saw the buck. We saw a couple does a couple other times on that place. They rarely came through our lease. We see them on camera every day on our current lease. Looking forward to the rut. Hopefully the bucks will come out of hiding to chase all the does we have on the place.

[Dale Moser]

Y’all are making me want to hunt a sika buck.


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[denimdeerslayer]

Those are some really good bucks!!

[TheHammer]

I was a guest of a buddy on his Del rio lease. They had a few scattered throughout the lease, but I remember him always saying, “Staying around water is your best bet for Sitka.” He ended up shooting one on a chum pile near a water trough not long after that. Obviously all animals need water, so it might be useless information, but it worked for him.

[glen]

Shane. Best advice is go spend the night out in late Spetember. They will be real vocal at night about 3-4 in the morning. Sound simulation to elk. I always saw them very early up high on ridges in thick brush. Almost never saw them out in open unless it was night

[BowhunterB]

We see a couple different kinds of sika. Some are chocolate-colored with almost black legs, neck, face and stripe down the spine. Others are more reddish-brown with white spots. They run together.

I think these are both same variety, just different color variations. From my experience, they seem to like to hang out up one hills primarily but will come out in fields to eat - mainly very early and very late. They do make a really cool whistle / bugle, like a mini elk. cool animals and wary. They often hop, kind of like a mule deer when the get scared.

[BowhunterB]

Those are some really nice bucks, a couple of the biggest I have seen anyone take. I have seen many of them mounted throughout the Hill Country and people will say they are really good ones. However, several of the ones we killed were bigger than any I had seen mounted and I think the ones posted above are slightly bigger than any we killed.
I think they are probably pretty regular visitors to the open fields at night. If you could find a good travel route from the field to the bedding area in the hills and can get in early, that might be another option in addition to trying to call.

[Patton]

Since we are talking about Sika, I hope you don't mind me posting this video Gets me amped up about hunting them! I'm going to try and cover some ground and call them in this October. Hopefully the monster I called in twice last year (sent you video of one of them Shane), wants to play again because I won't hold back this time
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpJI4G_Vt0o"]Luck of the Draw | Texas Sika Bowhunting - YouTube[/ame]

[Shane]

I was hoping you'd post that, Patton.

They're cool critters. I want one bad.

[Shane]

Right now, all I have are these. Hoping they attract a big buck when the rut kicks off.

[Patton]

Wish I had cell signal where I hunt for a cam like you.. I've seen doe/fawn families like that turn jet black and chocolate when they get their fall coat. Winter coats are pretty but those dark red/roan coats with the spots and black stripe...beautiful.

[txtrophy85]

Those are some really nice bucks, a couple of the biggest I have seen anyone take. I have seen many of them mounted throughout the Hill Country and people will say they are really good ones. However, several of the ones we killed were bigger than any I had seen mounted and I think the ones posted above are slightly bigger than any we killed.
I think they are probably pretty regular visitors to the open fields at night. If you could find a good travel route from the field to the bedding area in the hills and can get in early, that might be another option in addition to trying to call.

The one I Posted is no.28 archery SCI. Scored 109” even. They don’t differentiate the subspecies in North America which is a shame

Jim shockey holds the record for archery jap sika, his scores in the low 80” range.

[Torqman]

Are those dybouski (? Spelling) sika?