Sika Calls

[dan85]

Good morning all,

I have had quite a bit of success calling Roe in the past. I would like to give calling Sika a bash this year.

Has anyone had any success that they put down to a particular call (Make of call)?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Many thanks, Dan.

 

[Yorric]

Skeery works.

Ian

 

[caorach]

The Sceery "Special Elk" also works for me.

However, although I've had success getting the sika to respond I've had very little success shooting them In all the cases when they've come in they've been very wary indeed and they've often circled around in cover until the get my wind. It can be exciting, and great fun, but you need to think things out well in advance. If I call on foot then, mostly, I only ever see the tips of the antlers of the deer that comes in as the ground is mostly thick cover. A few years back one came in so close I could hear him sniffing the air in the rushes beside me but in the end I never got to see more than the tops of the antlers. So being set up in a high seat would be useful. However, I've tried that as well and it did give me a great view over the open ground around me, except that the high seat was on the edge of a little clump of trees that was downwind of me. I thought that the percentages were good with all the open ground all around, but no. The sika that came in all made their way into the clump of trees, got my wind, and ran. One of them actually crossed the open ground in front of me, but somehow he found a deep ditch in the ground and so he crossed it in the ditch - again all I saw were the tips of the antlers

With all of this in mind I'd encourage you to give it a go as it can be very exciting indeed but you need to plan out your location and on some ground where the deer are wary and under a lot of pressure they will use all sorts of cunning ploys to get your wind before you get a glimpse of them. I've seen video of people calling them where they just walk out of the trees into a field or similar and this is maybe a function of being under less shooting pressure but be aware that your deer might not cooperate so well if half the countryside are shooting at them.

 

[User00025]

The one thing I miss about last wife was the fact that she could scream Sika stags right up to you. She was very handy to have when we had guests. She also had a lot of conversations with Roebucks and from a distance I couldn't tell which was which.

 

[captdavid]

I'm hunting a place with both sika and reds, will yhis worth on either? capt david

 

[dan85]

I also forgot to add, that one of my Kiwi friends uses an app and a small speaker (which he swears by)!

Has anyone tried this approach?

Cheers, Dan

 

[caorach]

I'm hunting a place with both sika and reds, will yhis worth on either? capt david

Sika and reds sound rather different, to say the least, so although I believe calling will work with red stags the specific call I mentioned certainly won't as it produces the well known sika "scream" type noise. I've no experience calling reds but if you have sika on the ground then calling can be great fun, and very exciting.

 

[sh1kar]

Also use Ed Skeery elk call with great success. Majority of mine have run in ready for a fight and not so wary. Either set up over a wallow, ideally facing wood with wind in face using 24" bipod and sitting or just down a ride in woodland, or from a high seat. Often wait till hear one then try to call it in - start with sucking the call reed as not so loud and if that yields nothing then blowing. I would guess at least 50% success rate. This is up in Sutherland in big forestry blocks. Early mornings have tended to be better than evenings
S

 

[foxdropper]

Don’t overdo the calling as it’s very easy to do so .Nothing will turn him away more than constant calling .Dont try to equal the call you are hearing but rather call as a lesser beast ,this will bring in a wary animal as he thinks he can get the better of you .Calls and their strength directly mirror the stags age and statue so by calling like a lesser animal you are creating the illusion you are there to try your luck as an up and coming stag .Ive calling them in Scotland in dense cover and been rumbled every time by a stag coming in behind me .Almost needs two of you back to back on sticks .
These were all called on wallows .
The more open ground of Dorset lends itself perfectly especially if you can see the stag or know where he’s likely to come from .Had 3 come in one after the other in Dorset down on Matts ground and shot them all not through greed but as a service to the farmer .Young stags were harassing the sheep they were so wound up in the rut .Matt bagged another shortly after ,a better animal .
Matt managed another at another location in the afternoon called from a very long way away down wind .We were up on a knoll and saw the stag coming from three large fields away trotting like a pony .
One of the stags I called ,part of the three ,is now a shoulder mount .

 

[jubnut]

Sceery cow elk call. Don't whistle, use it to mimic hind chatter.

 

[foxdropper]

Called hinds with the stag call too that brought her attendant stag

 

[captdavid]

I'm interested in ageing I would guess the first three to be 2.5-3.5yo and the far right, old and going back?
In the last, one mature and the others also 2,5-3.5yo? capt david

 

[foxdropper]

I can tell young from mature and old but wouldn’t be as precise as to name the age mate .More of a roe man myself .Id like to know more about sika though ,learnt the hard way mind in the field .

 

[Cootmeurer]

Doug Wigfield makes an excellent called, the Sika seducer. His primary clientele is the sikas hunters here in the eastern U.S. We have a fairly large free ranging population in the marshes of Maryland Delaware and Virginia. originated from a small herd gifted by the Duke of Bedford.

 

[foxdropper]

Does he have a website mate

 

[Dunwaters]

Skeery cow elk or Nordic Sika call. The Nordic is really loud, best thing is to sound big enough to be a threat but small enough to have the snot knocked out of you. They can come in from quite a way off and have a habit of standing 2-3 yards back in heavy cover checking things out, all you see are eyes or antlers, they're also really sneaky and quiet.
They will also absolutely lock down on your position from a long long way out. I've managed to get a response from 3rd week of September through til middle of December. Mind you, if a stag already has hinds the response can be to herd them as far away as possible at warp speed.
Try not to shoot them all, they can be very vulnerable.

 

[rem284]

The closest I called a sika stag in was within touching distance. I was sitting on a burnside call with a client beside me. within minutes a stag poked his head out of the sitka to my left and only about 2 foot away. I touched the leg of the client who was on my right and pointed at the beast. The clients eyes almost popped out of his skull. The stag disappeared back into the spruce. I started to call again but couldnt because I started to laugh when I thought about my clients eyes popping out. He started to laugh too, so after we both calmed down we tried elsewhere. This was probably 10 years ago and if I think about surprise look on the clients face I still laugh.

The Skeery calls are the ones to use.

 

[Cootmeurer]

Does he have a website mate

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[foxdropper]

Thanks cootmeuer ,much appreciated .