Thread: Sika SUCCESS

I don't hunt Sika too often, usually one trip per year during the roar for the past 3 years and I've only ever shot a spiker, although I did miss a massive 8pt stag 2 years ago!
But I really enjoy bush stalking them so I'm going to spend more time doing it, rather than chasing reds and fallow all the time!

Last week I headed into the Kaimanawas on a solo mission, they were barely making any noise, so when I stalked in to about 12m on a young 6pt stag on day 2 I decided to take him, he hadn't made a sound and had no idea I was there so I was happy enough with my efforts there! Carried on stalking for the day but only seen hinds.



This week I went back in with a mate, camping in -2deg, first day and a bit we hunted together but seen nothing and only heard one roar so I wasn't setting my expectations too high for the following day! 3rd day I headed off high on my own and dropped down into the bush from the open tops to have the wind advantage.
One stag let out a single call at about lunch time, he'd only roar once every 30-60mins then shut up again. I roared a few times and he would usually reply once before going quiet again. He made noise often enough that I was able to pinpoint where I thought he might be. I snuck in across to the spur I thought he was on and over the next couple hours I patiently made my way down the spur, coming across a big fresh rut pad and getting onto 6 deer over this period, but none of them being the stag I was after.



Once I reached the bottom of the spur I thought he had either given me the slip or was actually over on the other side. Every few minutes I could hear movement off to my right, but I wasn't able to spot any animals. There wasn't a lot of bush light remaining and I was a long way from camp so I started looking for a spot to cross the creek and head back up the ridge to make my way back to camp when I spotted a hind out to my right.... followed by another deer with some antler!
They had no idea I was there. The hind went out of view quickly and I knew the stag was only going to present me with a small window of opportunity to shoot, I lined up the gap in the shrubs where the hind had been and the stag would soon cross and I managed to get this nice 8 on the deck for my days efforts...





Might have really got that Sika bug now I reckon!!
1.5hrs of bush bashing back to camp in the dark, but he got the last laugh with a tine just under my eye!

Nice.
Ouch. You were lucky with that eye.

that's a real ripper 8 pointer.

Gotta be a good bush stalker to close the distance on Sika like that. Well done.

Spent 7 days in the Kaimanawas just before ANZAC day. Day 1 they were very few and far between roaring and he hawing. Day 7 both reds and japs were going nuts...all night long, hard to sleep through sort of stuff. Japs pretty much shut up come dawn, whereas the reds kept going till 9am ish.

Just wished we were able to have stayed another 7 days!!

Mean as well done

Thats a nice Jap , well done , thanks for pics and story

Cracker!

Bloody well done for sticking it out to the end, that's a very nice head.

Shithot

Nice mate those 8’s don’t come easy. Found this roar pretty bloody quiet on the japs where I was

A veeeeery good day, both are good

Lovely head. Well done.

Nice stag. Bloody lucky with that eye alright.

Good work mate top effort
Gotta be happy with that and the battle scar makes for a good story
Thanks for sharing

Bloody nice stag young fella

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