Trophy sika

Alan413

Well-Known Member
Hi people.
I have a mate in USA that is very interested in coming over and taken a gold medel sika.
Just wondering how much this would cost him.
Cheers
alan
 
>??????????????

Not a question of money ...more a question of finding a suitable beast and then getting into it .... !

CVK
 
Wild gold Sika are worth top money. Not many in the Shooting Times review compared to Roe etc.
 
I always find it odd that for some reason those from the US always come here wanting some specific "achievement." I've no idea what is behind this and guess that it is merely a difference in cultures but to me it always seems like they miss out on the "experience" in favour of the "achievement." I guess they think I'm strange as well and I'm not saying there is anything wrong with such an approach but just pointing out that you can usually get a lot more of a hunting experience if you relax on the "objectives" a bit. I guess my attitude is also driven my a severe lack of disposable income, maybe your mate has the cash for a gold sika and a week at stags :)

However, it might be worth pointing out to your mate that for the sort of money he might pay for a gold medal sika he could have probably a week at red stags somewhere in the highlands. Sure his stags might all be cull beasts but he'd get to spend a week on the ground getting to know it, and to know the stalkers, and he might get to travel up the loch to his beat in a boat, or extract down the loch in a boat, or extract with a garron, or spend a day in front of the fire with a whisky as bad weather blows through, or sit behind a rock while the first snow shower of the season crosses the hill, or walk off the hill while the sun sets over the Atlantic and the ghillie steers a cull stag down to the track, or... Whatever happens he will have a lot of good stories to tell on his return and I bet each of his cull trophies has a cracking tale associated with it. Whereas with his gold medal sika he might be taken out into a park somewhere, plonked in a high seat, pointed at his sika and that is his hunt over. The latter is fine if you really must have the trophy, but it isn't really the hunt of a lifetime.
 
I always find it odd that for some reason those from the US always come here wanting some specific "achievement." I've no idea what is behind this and guess that it is merely a difference in cultures but to me it always seems like they miss out on the "experience" in favour of the "achievement." I guess they think I'm strange as well and I'm not saying there is anything wrong with such an approach but just pointing out that you can usually get a lot more of a hunting experience if you relax on the "objectives" a bit. I guess my attitude is also driven my a severe lack of disposable income, maybe your mate has the cash for a gold sika and a week at stags :)

However, it might be worth pointing out to your mate that for the sort of money he might pay for a gold medal sika he could have probably a week at red stags somewhere in the highlands. Sure his stags might all be cull beasts but he'd get to spend a week on the ground getting to know it, and to know the stalkers, and he might get to travel up the loch to his beat in a boat, or extract down the loch in a boat, or extract with a garron, or spend a day in front of the fire with a whisky as bad weather blows through, or sit behind a rock while the first snow shower of the season crosses the hill, or walk off the hill while the sun sets over the Atlantic and the ghillie steers a cull stag down to the track, or... Whatever happens he will have a lot of good stories to tell on his return and I bet each of his cull trophies has a cracking tale associated with it. Whereas with his gold medal sika he might be taken out into a park somewhere, plonked in a high seat, pointed at his sika and that is his hunt over. The latter is fine if you really must have the trophy, but it isn't really the hunt of a lifetime.

Good man.
 
I always find it odd that for some reason those from the US always come here wanting some specific "achievement." I've no idea what is behind this and guess that it is merely a difference in cultures but to me it always seems like they miss out on the "experience" in favour of the "achievement." I guess they think I'm strange as well and I'm not saying there is anything wrong with such an approach but just pointing out that you can usually get a lot more of a hunting experience if you relax on the "objectives" a bit. I guess my attitude is also driven my a severe lack of disposable income, maybe your mate has the cash for a gold sika and a week at stags :)

However, it might be worth pointing out to your mate that for the sort of money he might pay for a gold medal sika he could have probably a week at red stags somewhere in the highlands. Sure his stags might all be cull beasts but he'd get to spend a week on the ground getting to know it, and to know the stalkers, and he might get to travel up the loch to his beat in a boat, or extract down the loch in a boat, or extract with a garron, or spend a day in front of the fire with a whisky as bad weather blows through, or sit behind a rock while the first snow shower of the season crosses the hill, or walk off the hill while the sun sets over the Atlantic and the ghillie steers a cull stag down to the track, or... Whatever happens he will have a lot of good stories to tell on his return and I bet each of his cull trophies has a cracking tale associated with it. Whereas with his gold medal sika he might be taken out into a park somewhere, plonked in a high seat, pointed at his sika and that is his hunt over. The latter is fine if you really must have the trophy, but it isn't really the hunt of a lifetime.



I could not say it any better and I do like a whiskEy myself Irish mind you lol !!!!!!!!!!
 
I always find it odd that for some reason those from the US always come here wanting some specific "achievement." I've no idea what is behind this and guess that it is merely a difference in cultures but to me it always seems like they miss out on the "experience" in favour of the "achievement." I guess they think I'm strange as well and I'm not saying there is anything wrong with such an approach but just pointing out that you can usually get a lot more of a hunting experience if you relax on the "objectives" a bit. I guess my attitude is also driven my a severe lack of disposable income, maybe your mate has the cash for a gold sika and a week at stags :)

I have no idea about the fellow wanting to go to the UK for a Gold Sika , but based on my own thoughts rather .

The Red Stag while certainly a wonderfull animal does not have any special meaning to me . It has never more then casually intrested me . The Sika on the other hand for some strange reason has always been intresting to me and partially as I am sure because we have the formidable feral herd on the Eastern Shore .

I've stated on this forum before that I would like decent 8 point examples from a number of countries including England , Ireland , Scotland and Northern Ireland . As well as NZ and Japan .

To be totally honest for me Gold Silver Bronze makes no difference to me as long as it's a decent specimen .

Traveling all the way to England or Scotland to shoot "cull" animals as you call them and scrubs as I call them doesn't intrest me .

There's nothing wrong either with a fellow stalking from here to Alaska and back if thats what he likes . My own preference is to be in a high seat as you call it and wait for the preferred animal to wander by .

You could probably grasp a better idea of the typical Americaqn hunter if you watched some of the outdoor shows on our TV of some American self proclaimed Whitetail specialist shooting some big whitetail with his bow from a tree in Illinois or Ohio or Iowa or Kansas or where ever . Thats not exactly my cup either , but it is a good representation of what the gung ho whitetail hunter in America is all about .

It still amazes me to listen to what I call Red Neck hunters in the USA who just a couple years ago would look at a deer head and mention how many points they could hang a ring on and now the same one's will be talking about G2's , mass , spread etc etc . And to many of them it's all about who's got the most to brag about or atleast thats the way they come across to me !

Sure I still hunt whitetails and like to shoot big ones , but I'll shoot a doe in a heartbeat . But when I lay down cold hard CASH and travel many miles I want what I want and not what someone else thinks I should get !
 
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But when I lay down cold hard CASH and travel many miles I want what I want and not what someone else thinks I should get !

I don't dispute that for a second, nor do I dispute that it is a perfectly reasonable thing to want and that if it is what floats your boat then you should go for it. I was just pointing out to the OP that his mate could have a real highland stalking experience with the chance to get to know the ground, know the stalkers and come back with a lot of tales of adventure to tell rather than just climb up a tree and take a shot at his chosen deer when it walks past. For me one is stalking and the other is visiting Disney World, and I'd be willing to pay NOT to have to visit Disney World. I believe there is very strong evidence that a lot of people are keen on Disney World.

The money you'll pay for your 8 point sika stags would probably get you 2 or 3 weeks in the highlands so it is worth at least considering the sort of experiences that money might get you. You, and your family and friends, could spend a while here for example:

Eishken Lodge, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides

or here:

Morsgail Estate - Grouse Snip Woodcock Stalking Aline Estate Accommodation

or here:

Uig Hamanavay Lewis salmon seatrout fishing shooting stalking

No sika on any of those but some highland estates may be able to offer you sika stalking as well as reds, so you might get one 8 pointer for your efforts. Well worth at least thinking about as an alternative, though as you say a totally different adventure to gathering up 8 point stags but one that the OP might be interested in for his mate.
 
I could not say it any better and I do like a whiskEy myself Irish mind you lol !!!!!!!!!!

But if the lucky man was sitting in front of the fire in the lodge somewhere in Scotland watching the white caps trot up the loch and listening to the rain batter the window I'd bet there would be no E in his whisky :)
 
But if the lucky man was sitting in front of the fire in the lodge somewhere in Scotland watching the white caps trot up the loch and listening to the rain batter the window I'd bet there would be no E in his whisky :)

If the WHISKEY didn't come from Lynchburg Tennessee it pails in comparison !

Although a wee bit of Jameson's might just hit the spot .

All BS aside in my 50+ years and with Scotland in my heritage I've never developed a taste of Scottish whisky .
 
I always find it odd that for some reason those from the US always come here wanting some specific "achievement." I've no idea what is behind this and guess that it is merely a difference in cultures but to me it always seems like they miss out on the "experience" in favour of the "achievement." I guess they think I'm strange as well and I'm not saying there is anything wrong with such an approach but just pointing out that you can usually get a lot more of a hunting experience if you relax on the "objectives" a bit. I guess my attitude is also driven my a severe lack of disposable income, maybe your mate has the cash for a gold sika and a week at stags :)

However, it might be worth pointing out to your mate that for the sort of money he might pay for a gold medal sika he could have probably a week at red stags somewhere in the highlands. Sure his stags might all be cull beasts but he'd get to spend a week on the ground getting to know it, and to know the stalkers, and he might get to travel up the loch to his beat in a boat, or extract down the loch in a boat, or extract with a garron, or spend a day in front of the fire with a whisky as bad weather blows through, or sit behind a rock while the first snow shower of the season crosses the hill, or walk off the hill while the sun sets over the Atlantic and the ghillie steers a cull stag down to the track, or... Whatever happens he will have a lot of good stories to tell on his return and I bet each of his cull trophies has a cracking tale associated with it. Whereas with his gold medal sika he might be taken out into a park somewhere, plonked in a high seat, pointed at his sika and that is his hunt over. The latter is fine if you really must have the trophy, but it isn't really the hunt of a lifetime.
Cracking Description of a week on the Stags Caorach, I can almost smell the heather and feel the log fire cooking my toe's at end o'er day !!:)
 
Last year we kept seeing one stag in particular that is probably the biggest sika stag I have seen. Who knows what it will make until scored but there is no doubt it was well into medal class. Only twice throughout the whole season did we go out to try and specifically get that one as it was showing up fairly regularly on the march with the neighbouring ground. I had folk last year asking to come out for 'bigger' stags but to my mind and as Caorach points out, you can end up chasing ghosts and at what cost? If a cull has to be met and you start to overlook beasts for 'the one' you can end up chasing your tail and never catching it.

Fair enough with roe that may be territorial and keep fairly regular habits, but on Sika I would be saying take what presents itself to you (within reason) and just hope that the stag of a lifetime turns up at some point...
 
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I get your point but surely it's better to go for one good stag than to pull the trigger on a few scabby things? Especially if it's a one off?
Scabby things?? with the greatest respect Wildfowler, Have You ever done any Hill stalking for Red's, especially in the Highlands? I've hunted in Eastern Europe and Africa, nothing compares with Stalking a Red Stag in the Highlands, not just the Stalk but the occasion as a whole, regardless of the quality of its Hat on top, they are truly a magnificent beast !!
 
Scabby things?? with the greatest respect Wildfowler, Have You ever done any Hill stalking for Red's, especially in the Highlands? I've hunted in Eastern Europe and Africa, nothing compares with Stalking a Red Stag in the Highlands, not just the Stalk but the occasion as a whole, regardless of the quality of its Hat on top, they are truly a magnificent beast !!

Have to say, hill stalking in Scotland is my absolute favourite type of stalking/hunting. It is by far the nost skillful type of hunting that I have come across. Getting the wind right in a quarry is perfection itself. As for the beast, would rather shoot a cull animal any day over a healthy trophy...........
 
Scabby things?? with the greatest respect Wildfowler, Have You ever done any Hill stalking for Red's, especially in the Highlands? I've hunted in Eastern Europe and Africa, nothing compares with Stalking a Red Stag in the Highlands, not just the Stalk but the occasion as a whole, regardless of the quality of its Hat on top, they are truly a magnificent beast !!


Hmmmmm , it's great if a person is more into the experience rather then the end result . And it's far easier to be that way when one LIVES in the country .

For the life of me I cannot see how you guys can keep a straight face when you spew forth this stuff about being happy with ANY headgear . Do you honestly think people wanna fly half way around the world to say I went to such and such and shot a sub standard animal ?

Granted the medal stuff can go out the door as far as I'm concerned . But I atleast want a good mature animal with decent headgear .

Quite frankly I wouldn't book with someone who couldn't give me a 90% chance of getting a shot at what I wanted . If I'm paying for the hunt I'm not doing your culling until after I got what I wanted .
 
Hmmmmm , it's great if a person is more into the experience rather then the end result . And it's far easier to be that way when one LIVES in the country .

For the life of me I cannot see how you guys can keep a straight face when you spew forth this stuff about being happy with ANY headgear . Do you honestly think people wanna fly half way around the world to say I went to such and such and shot a sub standard animal ?

Granted the medal stuff can go out the door as far as I'm concerned . But I atleast want a good mature animal with decent headgear .

Quite frankly I wouldn't book with someone who couldn't give me a 90% chance of getting a shot at what I wanted . If I'm paying for the hunt I'm not doing your culling until after I got what I wanted .

Whhooaaa 6pt-sika!

What you 'want' does not necessarily fit in with what is 'needed' cukked to sustain the herd. Not where the deer are being managed properly. Don't get me wrong, it can swing both ways. We shot a lot of younger stags last year to make the cull and I would rather have seen more mature larger stags making up the numbers.

But aside from that, there is a saying you are no doubt aware of. A bird in the hand...

Surely a trip is far more enjoyable if undertaken with the attitude that it you will take what is presented but if luck smiles on you and an exceptional beast presents itself then all to the good? If however you have shot your share of stags over the years then I can alos see why you want that exceptional one. A bit like salmon fishing. You want to catch a fish, then you want lots and eventually you want the big, fish of a lifetime...

You have to remember that in the UK, shooting in general greater numbers of deer than can be available in the USA to the individual hunter means that we can be very picky as to what is shot and also very careful that a cull is sustainable. I have no issue in someone looking for a good representative head or indeed a medal standard one. But if you come with a fixed impression of what will be achieved and expect that 90% of the time, then 90% of your visits could end in failure...
 
Whhooaaa 6pt-sika!

What you 'want' does not necessarily fit in with what is 'needed' cukked to sustain the herd. Not where the deer are being managed properly. Don't get me wrong, it can swing both ways. We shot a lot of younger stags last year to make the cull and I would rather have seen more mature larger stags making up the numbers.

But aside from that, there is a saying you are no doubt aware of. A bird in the hand...

Surely a trip is far more enjoyable if undertaken with the attitude that it you will take what is presented but if luck smiles on you and an exceptional beast presents itself then all to the good? If however you have shot your share of stags over the years then I can alos see why you want that exceptional one. A bit like salmon fishing. You want to catch a fish, then you want lots and eventually you want the big, fish of a lifetime...

You have to remember that in the UK, shooting in general greater numbers of deer than can be available in the USA to the individual hunter means that we can be very picky as to what is shot and also very careful that a cull is sustainable. I have no issue in someone looking for a good representative head or indeed a medal standard one. But if you come with a fixed impression of what will be achieved and expect that 90% of the time, then 90% of your visits could end in failure...

I fully understand what you're saying . However you need to understand what I'm saying .

I don't wanna travel half way around the world to be informed after I arrive that I have to take some scrubber rather then what I anticipated . I'm of the opinion that the "guide/broker/etc" should be upfront about the whole deal . I mean if I buys my plane ticket , does all the BS red tape and gets there only to be told that I can only shoot broken racked one eyed etc when I was expecting mature representative specimens then somethings not quite right . I don't feel as a paying "client" shall we say that it's my resposibility to do the culling . Granted if I get what I'm after and have a couple days left over then culling is fine as long as I don't have to pay a trophy fee . But I don't want to be making noise taking shots at inferior animals until I have gotten what I was after . Do you honestly think everyone that comes to the USA after a 6x6 elk goes home with one ? A good many folks give in to lesser animals , a fair amount may even take a 6x6 and a far greater number go home empty handed . I opt for the empty handed if what I wanted didn't show itself .

As to the 90% I think it is fair to look for a place that gives you a HIGH % chance of getting a shot at a quality animal . Shots do not constitute kills . And I would consider a "shot" a decent killing shot inside 350 yards .
 
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gets there only to be told that I can only shoot broken racked one eyed etc when I was expecting mature representative specimens then somethings not quite right . I don't feel as a paying "client" shall we say that it's my resposibility to do the culling.

There may be a bit of 'lost in translation' here. A lot of the 'cull' stags shot by guests on hill estates are mature 6+ stags with representative heads.
 
Perhaps the answer is to make sure that the client knows whether you are offering a 'management hunt' with a reasonable chance at cull beast and/or representative heads or a 'trophy hunt' with a reasonable chance at a medal quality head...

The availability of the latter would of course be much less and you would have to be sure that the outfitter was respectable and not offering something unattainable...

Is that what you were getting at 6pt-sika?
 
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