Good morning on the Roe

sikamalc

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Just got back from West Sussex after a mornings stalk with a new friend off the forum. The rut is in full swing.

Watched a Bronze if not Silver buck mount a doe at least 6 times, just couldnt get the safe shot. Had another unsuccesful stalk on another reasonable buck, but the two doe's with him screwed it up for us.

However we managed to get a nice old 5 point buck right at the end of the morning. Good heart shot at 80 or so yards, ran down the field of oats and disapeared. Couldnt find the buck to begin with, and then my Bavarian picked up the trail and found it buried under a large clump of laid oats. We would have been there for a while trying to find it if is wasnt for the dog.

Total deer seen 10 doe's 3 bucks. Very good morning, lets hope the bad news on the foot and mouth does not affect the stalking, and it is contained. Fingers and legs crossed guys!
 
An excellent stalk Malcolm!
Firstly Malcolm may I thank you for a truely excellent stalk. A beautiful day, a fantastic guide and a brillant Bavarian! not to mention a superb breakfast!
I like many fellow stalkers have been had by 'so called' professional outfits and paid dearly for the privilage of looking at an empty field and paying well for the privillage.
Since joining this site I have been able to enjoy 2 of 3 invites from 'real' professional stalkers. Wayne Davies and Malcolm, thank you both for providing the opportunities and to enjoy your company.
With Wayne I was unlucky and with Malcolm I got a very nice old campaigner.
My message to new stalkers is FCUK the leaches that are destroying this sport and find yourself a true stalker that is prepared to share his experience with you! There are some excellent stalkers on this site, please help your fellow comrades. We all know how it feels to be 'All fired up and no place to go'!
Thank you also Rob Mac for this site. 'It Rocks'!
The Bradleys', Bagpussy's and Douglas's of this site can in the Gaelic, 'Away and shi-ite'!

I raise a glass to all of you, Jaeger, hunter, stalker and wish you all good hunting and a clean kill.

Regards Beowulf (formerly Carl Gustaf)

Thanks also to:-
Kammo - Jacket and Roe sack,
Barbour - Shirt,
Hoggs - Moleskin trousers,
Hunter - Wellies,
EEEr - Someone for the expensive but impractical hand made knife,
Boots - for the painkillers and muscle rub,
Sako - bullets,
Tikka - T3 rifle,
Lee Enfield - Bayonet (just in case)
Roger Whittaker - post hunting reflective once drunk music,
Mess'er Patel & Singh - Single Malt Lahore Whiskey. 'Birdy num nums'

God bless you! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Since joining this site I have been able to enjoy 2 of 3 invites from 'real' professional stalkers.

Thats whats it all about. I had a mate out the other night we seen 4 does a nice staggie just on the wrong side of the fence!! And I managed to call a nice wee 6 pointer which he promptly dispatched. I myself am looking forward to an invite Ive recieved to go out for Fallow. thats if the restrictions are lifted!!!!!



Wayne Davies and Malcolm, thank you both for providing the opportunities and to enjoy your company.

Well done both of you ;)

nutty
 
Cheers Nutty, I hope to repeat this later in the year for Sika in Scotland for two members off the site.

I always get a kick out of the adrenalin rush that another person gets when you finally get a result for them.

Happy days :D :D
 
I always get a kick out of the adrenalin rush that another person gets when you finally get a result for them.

I know the feeling bud! I was creasing myself when the staggie showed up my mate got so excited but it was over the fence so a proper no no!!

Do you have many sika on your ground?
 
I have two main areas for Sika one in the highlands of Scotland the other in Dorset, the Scottish area is about 8000 acres and I own the entire sporting rights, the Dorset area I share and is about 600 acres.

Both areas have good populations of Sika, and last season in Scotland we took 7 Stags in 8 days stalking, with one red letter evening when we took 3 stags.
 
Beowulf's Stalk

Is it just me or do other visitors to this site get the impression that Beowulf enjoyed himself at the weekend?

Great to hear it was such a success.

Cheers,

Rob
 
Ha! enjoyed myself! :D It was brilliant!! Malcolm is an excellent stalker, who takes great pride in providing very good stalking opportunities for his guests.
It was the first time that I got to see a great looking Silver medal Roebuck in the rut, serving his two Does with great 'alacrity'!

Malcolm's Bavarian was also very good at his job, so guess what I want for Christmas?

As you can see from my posts saturday on my return, I was very happy and rather drunk and full of mischief! :lol: :lol:

And I've got Scotland to look forward too!
 
Sika do seem to be a challenge. I've stalked Roe on Dartmoor, The New Forest and Sussex and Muntjac (with a Camera) in Warwickshire. Time I think to have a go at these enigmatic deer in their mountainous hidaways! Nice knowing you all! :cry:
 
The only chance that I've ever had at sika was in Sussex, I was out in the fallow rut, dropped a buck and, at the shot, a previously unseen (and unheard) sika stag with a cracking head stood up and ran off!!

There were not many sika at all in the area, we had never seen a stag before but a single hind was running with the fallow so do you think it possible that the stag sensed her presence and came in?
 
Hi Paul K. Sika can have a long and sometimes protracted rut, which can start in September and still be on the go in early November, although generally the height of the rut is about late September through to mid October. Again much depends on the weather and the area, ie Southern England or Scotland.

Sika hold very loose areas during the rut and when exploring new areas it is nearly always the stags that turn up first, younger ones tend to get pushed out by the older stags, and turn up in new areas first. This is generally when you get hybridisation between Sika and Reds, especially if there are no Sika hinds for the stags to mate with, and a good supply of Red hinds is on tap.

Sika also only like areas with acid soil, you will not find them in any numbers on areas of chalk for instance. They also like wet dense cover, and the wetter under foot the better they like it. They will happily swim, and in America they are found in the Chesapeake Bay area, living in water nearly all day.

It is a fair bet that the Sika you saw may have been there for sometime, especially as you said it was a mature head. They can be very elusive, and as the Sika hind you saw had been in the area for a while, and the Fallow rut was on, which is about the sametime as Sika, its also a fair bet that the old boy knew there was a hind in the area, possibly coming into season.

There are some areas in Northamptonshire that support Sika, and they are also establishing themselves in west Kent, near to Sevenoaks, and I often hear of new sightings which causes some discussion amongst the local stalkers. They are very successful deer and once established are very difficult to eliminate, and also to count. But to me they are probably the hardest deer to stalk and take a good head of, they do not put up with a lot of pressure from constant stalking, and of all the species in this country to me they are the most cunning and elusive.

They are also the hardest to kill, and it is not uncommon for them to show no reaction what so ever to a shot. I often tell my clients that the Japanese Sika are like the Japs in the last war, "no surrender", and that it is not dead until its gralloched.

If you still have the area you saw the Stag on, try calling him out when the rut is on. Use an Achme predator call, you will need to blow it very hard to get the right squealing noise that the stag makes in the rut. But it sometimes works a treat, and might be worth trying if you want to try and find him again this coming autumn. Good luck.
 
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