Thread: first sika trip and 3/8 th of a trophy

intitiaz and myself have just been on a 3 day fly in trip into heli sika oamaru private hut to chase sika for the first time. we landed, unpacked our kit, had a quick lunch and we were off to explore our block. we headed down to where i thought would be a good place to start our hunt. about 10 mins from the hut we come across a good clearing and because it was the middle of the day and the weather wasnt the best i wasnt expecting to see too much out and about but as we casually walked into the clearing i caught a glimpse of a white arse bounding towards the scrub, holey shit theres a deer! we quickly moved to try catch up with it as it made its way through the scrub into the bush. we ended up in another clearing hoping we would see the deer somewhere near by, shit there it is! no wait theres another! and another! 3 8 pointer sika stags made their way across the clearing pausing just for a moment to look at us before entering the thick scrub again, the first 2 got away clean, but the last paused and looked back at us just long enough for a shot, but due to there being lots of scrubby bushes all that was visible of the stag was his head above it. feeling i could pull a shot off i took my chance and fired, only to end up shooting off one of his antlers..... dam i shot high, the only time regret having my rifle sighted for 200yards. he stumbled away before either of us could get another shot at him. we tried to follow them into the scrub but lost them after it got too thick to walk through. all this exitement and we had barely been in the block for an hour! we spent the rest of the day exploring the block and looking for likely possies for that evening and the next day.





the 2nd day dawned, we were up at a sparrows fart and decided to head different ways to cover more ground. i headed to the far end of the block, stalking each clearing and terrace along the way but to my surprise no deer were seen that morning. looking around some more it seemed there was bugger all for the deer to eat unless they really like moss and tussock grass. we rested during the middle of the day then for the evening we decided to head to where we saw the 3 stags the day before. after watching a few clearings for a couple of hours we finally spotted a nice stag making his way across a bare patch way up in some scrub about 400 yards away. we moved to a possie that wouldve given us a good shot at him but he wasnt seen again. as daylight was starting to fade we decided to head to another spot we thought would be good while we waited for dark. we spotted a hind feeding 530 yards away and decided we would see if we could get her. calcs were made, scope dialled, booom. miss. we watched as the hind and 4 other deer we hadnt seen ran for cover. what went wrong? 530 yards isnt that hard of a shot i had done it many times before?? what i realised shortly after is i didnt account for the 18 inches of cross wind drift. another bloody amateur mistake that cost another sika. oh well shit happens.



on our last day we were up early again, the day wasnt looking very nice with heavy rain and wind. we headed to another good looking spot in hopes we could bag something before our pickup later that morning. after sitting in the rain for 2 hours we decided to pull the pin and head back to camp and clean up while waiting for our ride. even though we didnt manage to bag an animal we were still happy with our trip, we had explored some awesome bush, we had seen a few deer, had a shot at a couple, and even managed to score an antler with 3 points still on it, we thought 3 out of 8 still wasnt too bad for our first sika trip. next time well be on the money.

@initiaz

add your bits in too mate

3/8ths way to start anyway.

In just a few words I word describe the following:
first chopper ride,
seeing first wild deer (stag),
great hut and feed
stress free days - (out of civilization and all the noise)
experience and fun

AS bloody AWESOME...

Have droped an email to helisika to see if booking is available for 25th - 27th October.. Just cant wait to be back there with spring growth around..
The place is bloody filled up with deer everywhere and I guess with a little spring growth they will be every where that has feed.. Could see deer poo around the camp.. Was bit old but a good sign that they do come there for a visit.. lol..

Some extra prep is definitely needed aye @silentscope on long range shooting before heading back in there..

Bloody Awsme trip by the sounds.next trip won't be far away then.must of been a buzz to walk into 3 stags.nice post boys

Great start lads, we all have to start somewhere aye!....great feeling just to see a wild deer, i know it excited me, but when your a newbie (like me) you do hurry shots.....live and learn lads, live n learn......

That was a good read, had me on the edge of my seat! I had a bit of a trip like that in July. Hunted 3 days and missed one on both the first and third!

Originally Posted by initiaz

In just a few words I word describe the following:
first chopper ride,
seeing first wild deer (stag),
great hut and feed
stress free days - (out of civilization and all the noise)
experience and fun

AS bloody AWESOME...

Have droped an email to helisika to see if booking is available for 25th - 27th October.. Just cant wait to be back there with spring growth around..
The place is bloody filled up with deer everywhere and I guess with a little spring growth they will be every where that has feed.. Could see deer poo around the camp.. Was bit old but a good sign that they do come there for a visit.. lol..

Some extra prep is definitely needed aye @silentscope on long range shooting before heading back in there..

A good yarn you guys. Its a pity you couldn't get another bullet into that stag. A hit on the antler often makes them a bit groggy. Your shot was a 'bit high' alright.

You didn't get a chance to blood that knife????

Thats the way it rolls
Never been confident on head shots and have seen the jaw shot on a hind which was never found so always gone for the boiler room

When you cross over Sika Saddle and walking along the tussock there doesn't seem to be much sign. If you poke your head into the manuka on the right you will see a lot of pellets. They seem to wait just inside the bush edge till safe to come out

Originally Posted by sako75

Thats the way it rolls
Never been confident on head shots and have seen the jaw shot on a hind which was never found so always gone for the boiler room

When you cross over Sika Saddle and walking along the tussock there doesn't seem to be much sign. If you poke your head into the manuka on the right you will see a lot of pellets. They seem to wait just inside the bush edge till safe to come out

I don't know for sure but I always figured the pellets broke down quicker out in the sun and weather.
I bet a smack on the antler from a hi Power projectile would make the ears ring alright. A hit on the coronet even with the 223 will knock a big stag off his feet. You have to be quick and hit him again as he will be up on his feet and away in a different direction in a second or two.

A Jaw shot unfortunately is quite common with head shots especially side on. Big amount of Jaw. I have found the poor things a few days later.

Sika love manuka, it is warm.

The spread of sika down into the NW Ruahines is almost entirely through the manuka belts.

The remark about blooding the knife was aimed at Initiaz, I sent him my old Buck a few weeks back.

Originally Posted by Scribe

A good yarn you guys. Its a pity you couldn't get another bullet into that stag. A hit on the antler often makes them a bit groggy. Your shot was a 'bit high' alright.

You didn't get a chance to blood that knife????

Oh ya @Scribe that knife almost got blooded.. may b in the next one..

Originally Posted by sako75

Thats the way it rolls
Never been confident on head shots and have seen the jaw shot on a hind which was never found so always gone for the boiler room

When you cross over Sika Saddle and walking along the tussock there doesn't seem to be much sign. If you poke your head into the manuka on the right you will see a lot of pellets. They seem to wait just inside the bush edge till safe to come out

The pellets are everywhere.. Even if Blind folded, you work into the bush and grab a handful from the ground, open your eyes n you will see the pellets..hahhahaha...

good effort mate gutted u didnt get the stag!!sorry to be the bearer of bad news but il be in there from the 25th-31st of october

Hard case blasting a antler tip off. He will grow into a wise old sika that one