WHY HAVE I NOT GOT SIKA?

bauldy bob

Well-Known Member
Hi there can anyone tell me why sika are not on my ground ,there are sika about 5 miles as the crow flies between my woods full of roe, and another larger wood which also has sika,the river forth seperates the woods, but i know red have no fear of water and I know people who have caught roe in the nets on the forth while after salmon!
our ground has thick forestry and quite a lot of broadleaf woods as well,about 400 acres which is surounded by farmland small copses and roundalls ,as far as I know they have been in tullialan for years but never made the move over the water?
 
You probably do have Sika but their about as sneaky as deer get. If you really want to know then do couple of malassis/bran mix buckets and set up a trail cam if you can borrow one. You know the motion sensitive ones that take pictures as they're triggered by animals or people walking by. Ideally one with night vision IR flash and you'll maybe get a surprise. Malassis at my place is irresistible to Sika and draws them in quick then disappears fast.

If you can't get a cam with xmas coming check out bushnell trail cams on evilbay. One from the states isn't bad and would be here quick enough. To be fair though whatever empties you bucket will leave prints if it's in the right place and that's all you need to confirm.

ps, badgers love the mix too! Good luck
 
have you got sika

As I have said in other posts I saw the spread of Sika in Inverness-shire in the mid sixties. Considering one of the main sources was escapees from Dochfour on the north side of Loch Ness the animals quickly became resident on the south side and rapidy spread down the loch. This means they must have crossed the upper reaches of the river Ness before the canal becomes steep sided and impossible to cross.
All the woodland round me have good populations of Sika but just 5 miles down the glen they become scarse although this must have been their original route here. Indeed some woodlands dont hold any. these are more open woods and lack a thick understory. A few years ago next door had a big re-planting scheme planned. They had to reduce the Sika for this to succeed so in advance they cleared all the tangles of windblown lodgepole and brashed the trees up to a height of 8 feet to give visability for shooting. After this work was done the Sika moved out of their own accord with very few being shot. They just didnt like the more open wood srtucture when denser woods were nearby. They also seem to prefer the more acid soils or at least the vegetation that grows here.
I would add to the other posts that you should try lamping. Sika can be very nocturnal and are easily seen in a lightbeam from a vehicle in the dark. While i dont altogether believe in night shooting you can certaily see what deer you have this way. David
 
Been shooting there for over 20 years deer pheasants and foxes at night,never seen one ,it has got our syndicate puzzled! Found brashing high up a tree once about 5 years ago but came to nothing
 
I very much agree with David Browns comments.

In the areas I have stalked and managed in Scotland over many years, Sika have gradually spread right along the northern foreshore of the Dornoch Firth to a point now where they are everywhere.

They are and can be very elusive, and as a rule of thumb it will be wandering stags that will turn up first on a new area. I also personally believe that they push Roe out, as Sika are agressive deer. You will not find them on alkaline soils, they only prefer acidic soil, so if you have chalk running through your land this will also have some affect. They also like it wet, and the wetter the better. So swimming across a river is nothing to them.

Try waiting for the rut in September through to November as a rule, although it does extend on either side at times. If you have Sika on the ground or nearby it should be reasonably easy to work out if they are about on your patch.

ATB

Sikamalc
 
Almost 2 \3 of ground is peat covered forestry plantation almost identical to other forest but a bit smaller,also they have had real problems with poachers with dogs which I thought would force them to spread,but definatly not!would put money on not having any,in 20 years lamping ,driving pheasant shooting roe never seen 1
 
Fair number of Sika stags turning up quite far South. Heard of a stag being shot just North of Perth and even one about 20 minutes South East of Perth. The Argyll ones are slowly extending East / North East. Then there's the Peebles population also. They are all going to meet up eventually!
 
Sika in the tweed valley are turning up in places where they have never been sighted before, this is probably more likely due to large scale felling opperations rather than natural migration,i've been told that young stags (usually first to show up) tend to move west....

Nell
 
hopefully will get them eventually,bt there must be some underlying reason for it,dontknow how long they have been in tullialan for but seems to have been for many years ,the woods spread from fife over to perth and kinross does anyone know much about this population and how long they have been there?
 
countrysports5 said:
Fair number of Sika stags turning up quite far South. Heard of a stag being shot just North of Perth and even one about 20 minutes South East of Perth. The Argyll ones are slowly extending East / North East. Then there's the Peebles population also. They are all going to meet up eventually!

There are Sika just 10 min North of Perth mate had one this season .
 
Sika Spread

An interesting discussion you have started Bob. If you will permit me to enlarge it. This is a subject I have given a lot of thought to as I too used to stalk a lump of high forestry in the Yarrow Valley for Roe Does in winter and although I regularly saw Sika with my binos on the opposite side of the valley in 5 years I never saw one on my patch. The buck stalkers (Danes) would shoot the odd young Sika Stag but only one every three years or so. I too was puzzled by their absence from my bit.
Some thoughts to explain this. Sika, especially the smaller races, can tolerate very high population densities. They have been estimated at 35 per 100hectare of woodland. This means that if they colonise an area that suits them they can exist there for a long time before population pressure forces them to spill over into next-door forests. This time lag can be extended if the population is shot hard as naturally this slows the spill-over point being reached. As Malc has noticed the roe population also falls in these woods and I think this has a lot to do with the Sika's higher population density and the competition for food they provide. With wandering young stags can turning up for years before a breeding population establishes you cant say you have Sika till you see the first hind with calf on your ground. See this and its cracked!
There have been places where Sika spread has halted however as at the head of Strathdearn a large population existed for 20 years with no movement up the glen. Why? No-one knows.
I think that you will get them some day Bob but when only they will determine that. David
 
Bob you have no sika cause the Forestry commision anialated them,i have shot round that area for over 20yrs and new the deer well then all of a sudden no sika and very few roe i will fill you in with details if you PM me. The sika were introduced along with fallow in the 1800,s where the golf course is now used to be a deer park.Anyway i made a few enquires and it turns out the forrestry said that there were around 500 sika and needed thined out [BULL] so they basicly shot everything in sight there was allso a sindicate in the forrest and they were giving them hell as well and along with the lurchers they did not stand much chance,i did shoot a good few durring the day but seen and counted them at night they would even let me drive between them and there escape route even after shooting foxs in the same field,they are still there but not many i don,t want to say how many on the forums but PM me and i will fill you in on there history ect,there is still a chance for them
 
Back
Top