Which is the most difficult species to stalk.

roedeerred

Well-Known Member
Ok everyone may have a differant veiw on this but
For those with experiance in what order would you put them of course most people who stalk open hill hinds will find them possibly easier than say woodland hinds .
For instance my order of merit would be limited to species I have had access to.

so it would be Sika
Red hill hinds
Red hill stags
Roe
Munties (havent actually stalked them just sat in high seat and waited not stalking to my mind)

Fallow not shot one for more than 40yrs:doh:

CWD never had urge.

Now to put my head down and read replies;)
 
Just in after a weekend of stalking. One calf.

Without doubt, sika hinds in December and January!!!!!
 
I would say females are more difficult than males.
I shoot a lot of fallow and the bucks are much easyer
than the doe's. I don't know but i think its because
the bucks are booted out at the first rut.But the doe's
stay with the rest and learn to be more careful.
We often see small groups of yearling bucks that are easy
to stalk.We never see doe's with fawn's easy to stalk.
I will let others tell you about red.roe etc
I do hope i have been of some help
 
I have yet to try to shoot a Sika, Red or CWD so I speak with limited knowledge. I would like to think that Munjac though are the hardest to STALK-
  • They are much harder to see than most species of deer, before the stalk even comes. Due to size, habitat and solidarity.
  • Only really active at dawn and dusk.
  • Very vocal if one barks the whole wood knows to look out.
  • They are constantly on the move be it a slow walk or a gentle trot, you may get a safe shot one moment only for it to not the next.
  • Very small target area.
  • I just generally feel they are more astute than other species using all their scenses.
If you had 4 of each species in an area I am sure Muntjac would be the last to be found, no question :stir:..
 
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Keep opinions coming hopefully those new to the art will learn something.




You never stop learning till you stop breathing.
 
1. Sika, especially hinds later in the winter.
2. Fallow doe's, again later in the year when they tend to group up.
3. Red deer, again hinds later in the year much depending on the weather.
4. Roe
5. Chinese Water deer
6. Muntjac
 
They can all be very flighty, in my experience of the Scottish deer. Sika do seem to me to be the most challenging though. Having said that, getting it right when stalking can still leave them looking very vulnerable, even to the point of them seeming a bit silly. I've had Sika stags walk right up to me as I stood frozen on the right spot. I've even managed to lift the rifle and shoot some of those. And, I've lost count of the times I've had deer wander in from upwind to within a few feet of where I was hiding, usually out of season (I never get how they seem much smarter when they're in season :D). I once even tapped a young sika calf on the nose with my stick as I lay in a drain, just to be able to say I'd done it. As for Roe, they can let me drive machinery among them one day or bolt from half a mile away when I carry a rifle out of the house another day.
 
its difficult to truly stalk muntjac. They are on the move all the time so If your on foot it tends to be more of a stalk/ambush .
Regarding what is the most difficult it comes down to pressure not species. But of the deer ive shot the fallow in areas that get a lot of heat are good at staying alive.
 
All of them when there is frosted snow underfoot?

I sounded like an elephant in a pit of cornflakes on Saturday afternoon.

Forget about scaring them off in one wood - I felt as if was scaring everything off in 3 counties.
 
Goats, depending on location! Depending on what you call stalking, but getting to where they are is so so difficult mainly due to the fact they are in places man shouldn't walk/stalk/climb!
 
Sika must be like whitetails. We have a "5 second rule" which means that from the time a whitetail is aware of you, you have 5 seconds to get off your shot -whether you see it or not, the deer is off at a run. Most often it has figured you out long before you have seen it. All you get is track soup!~Muir
 
sika, saying anything else means you haven't stalked them

That's very true, I haven't. Although I can say out of the other four species I have stalked that Munties are without doubt the hardest. That's not including highseat work because that's not stalking just waiting. So until I've stalked Sika then my shout is Munties.

Paul
 
Hardest to stalk

Joint first Sika Hinds and Fallow Does
Then Red Hinds
Muntjac does
Muntjac bucks
CWD bucks & does
Sika, Fallow & Red males
Roe Does
Lastly Roe Bucks, or shooting fish in a barrel they are both about as challenging!
 
Females tend to be in groups more than males so they have more pairs of eyes on the lookout. For me sika are the most secretive AND have an adrenalin rush like a wounded mallard or african game.
 
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