I wrote this article for Rubs & Scrapes Magazine a few years back. It still ranks as one of my all time favorite hunting memories. Not just the deer I shot but the fact that I have met some great people through the Maryland Bowhunters Society and www.MarylandWhitetail.com
Enjoy
This past summer while in Ocean City, I took a quick trip to Assateague Island to look for Sika deer. I did not see any while there but I got to thinking and remarked to my Wife that I have lived in Maryland for 32 years and my 20th hunting season was coming up and I had never been to the lower eastern shore to hunt these unique deer. In fact I had never even seen one. The next few days I really began to wonder how I could best go about hunting for these little "Mini Elk", so when I received an email out of the blue from Joe Voelker informing me of an upcoming UBC group Sika deer hunt, I was excited to say the least as I had read about this hunt the year before in Rubs and Scrapes.
In the upcoming weeks I talked with Joe about the hunt via email. We had never met face to face, only through Marylandwhitetail.com where we both spend a lot of time. It sounded like we had about 7 or 8 guys that were in for the hunt. Some had been hunting for Sikas and others were rookies like myself. Joe told me that he had taken a few and knew enough to put me in the right general area. I was getting more and more revved up for this hunt and after meeting Joe and some of the guys that were going on the trip at the Marylandwhitetail bonfire I was even more so. I did as much reading and research as I could on these critters. I contacted Doug Wigfield about a Sika call. He was more than happy to answer all of my questions. He rushed me a Sika Seducer and instructional CD. The stage was set!!!
We were all set to meet on Friday the 8th of October. Problem was…so was the rain! The forecast was calling for a complete washout with dangerous wind. To say I was bummed when we all decided to bag the hunt would be an understatement. Joe, John Bogden and myself decided to make a go of it on Monday so with a little schedule rearranging we were back on again!!!
I had no trouble staying awake as I made the 3-hour drive at 2 in the morning from Smithsburg to Cambridge. Joe told me when I arrived at the WaWa that if he could show me a Sika he would be happy and feel like the trip was a success. I said I would be just as happy to hear one. After grabbing some snacks we hit the road towards Blackwater. As soon as we arrived on the refuge I saw a few calves and a spike Sika run across the road in front of John and Joe. We pulled into the parking area and Joe said his job was done because I saw those three. Within 10 minutes of hitting the trail we heard a Sika bugle somewhere in the darkness. The trip had already been a success and the sun had not even come up yet.
After walking for 45 minutes through knee high water we stopped to split up and go to our chosen locations. Joe said he was going to put me in the rookie stand. This is where he has had good success placing rookies in the past with lots of sighting and shot opportunities. We said our Good Lucks and decided on contacting each other via radio at 9:00 am. I made my way into a relatively open section of flooded timber with the aid of my flashlight. There are no terrain features to speak of, and minimal brush. I found a thin wall of grassy vegetation and followed it to a point where I spotted a good tree to climb. I laughed to myself, as this was the first time I had ever attached my climber while standing in water.
Once up and belted to the tree I got to soak in all of the amazing but eerie noises of a dark swamp. I heard lots of whistling wood ducks and other sounds as the sun came up creating awesome colors on the watery woods. I then heard the bugles of Sika Stags in two different locations. Soon after daybreak I spotted a small calf walking on my right hand side. I eased up and out of my seat and began messing with the deer with my call. She looked my way several times but seemed to show no concern or care in what she was hearing. I was not being very aggressive with the call as this was my first time and I was not going to shoot her anyway. I just wanted to see her reaction to some cow talk and if she would come closer. Just then I heard a tremendous crashing and splashing sound behind me to the right. I looked back to see a large Hind with an Awesome 3X3 Stag in tow. It had been a long time since I have come unglued like I did at that very moment! I knew the magnitude of what I was seeing. I knew some people have hunted all of their lives without seeing an animal like this, and he was coming right toward me. I struggled to keep my rangefinder still on the mounds of pine needles at the base of the trees, trying to get a yardage. The frustrated Stag sniffed and grunted as he came closer. I heard noise coming from the direction of the earlier calf. She was coming in to investigate. This caused the Stag to spin my way and right into my shooting lane with a 2X2 bringing up the rear. He stuck out his neck as if he was going to bugle but let out a frustrated uuuuhhhhhh!!!. He was now at 35 yards …broadside…I held it together really well considering the spaghetti legs from minutes before. I pulled the bow to full draw and settled the 30 yd. Pin in the middle of the lung area hoping to drop down for a heart shot. My arrow blew through both shoulders and took out the heart. The big boy could not go very far as he was running on his brisket. He made it a whopping 10 yards and piled up in the water.
I was now in complete shock. I just kept saying over and over to myself " I cant believe it…I cant believe it…Is this for real" I had to sit down and gather my composure. I looked at the time. It was 3 minutes till 8!!! I was done and deer were still running everywhere. I don’t know what they all were because I could not take my eyes off of my prize!
I climbed down and took some pics with my timer in the hour I had to wait for the guys to pick up the radio. It was excruciating. All I wanted to do was tell someone. I called my Wife but the service was terrible. Finally, a voice, it was John. "You guys see anything" I lost it! I don’t even know if I made any sense but the guys were right there with me in about 3 and half seconds to share the experience with me. We took more pics and started our drag/float back to the trucks. The Guys were great. They carried my stand and bow but I refused help dragging the deer out. I felt like I did not deserve this awesome trophy and wanted to work harder and drag him the mile back by myself. John went ahead and came back with a cart for me to push him on the dry ground for the last quarter mile.
Joe, John, and I headed to Taylor Island, where we met Doug Wigfield and Mark Andrews for lunch. These guys are the biggest Sika Nuts I have ever seen and they were so happy for me. We had a great time with lots of handshakes and high fives. We talked about the hunt over burgers and crab cakes. Last year I had only ever daydreamed of shooting a Sika and I now have made some great friends and taken a true trophy animal. I would like to say thanks to all the guys for helping make this happen by taking time to help a rookie out. Hunting with new and old friends is definitely one of the best parts of this sport. The whole thing adds up to one of the best hunts I have ever been a part of and I can’t wait to get back down to Sika country again.
Enjoy
This past summer while in Ocean City, I took a quick trip to Assateague Island to look for Sika deer. I did not see any while there but I got to thinking and remarked to my Wife that I have lived in Maryland for 32 years and my 20th hunting season was coming up and I had never been to the lower eastern shore to hunt these unique deer. In fact I had never even seen one. The next few days I really began to wonder how I could best go about hunting for these little "Mini Elk", so when I received an email out of the blue from Joe Voelker informing me of an upcoming UBC group Sika deer hunt, I was excited to say the least as I had read about this hunt the year before in Rubs and Scrapes.
In the upcoming weeks I talked with Joe about the hunt via email. We had never met face to face, only through Marylandwhitetail.com where we both spend a lot of time. It sounded like we had about 7 or 8 guys that were in for the hunt. Some had been hunting for Sikas and others were rookies like myself. Joe told me that he had taken a few and knew enough to put me in the right general area. I was getting more and more revved up for this hunt and after meeting Joe and some of the guys that were going on the trip at the Marylandwhitetail bonfire I was even more so. I did as much reading and research as I could on these critters. I contacted Doug Wigfield about a Sika call. He was more than happy to answer all of my questions. He rushed me a Sika Seducer and instructional CD. The stage was set!!!
We were all set to meet on Friday the 8th of October. Problem was…so was the rain! The forecast was calling for a complete washout with dangerous wind. To say I was bummed when we all decided to bag the hunt would be an understatement. Joe, John Bogden and myself decided to make a go of it on Monday so with a little schedule rearranging we were back on again!!!
I had no trouble staying awake as I made the 3-hour drive at 2 in the morning from Smithsburg to Cambridge. Joe told me when I arrived at the WaWa that if he could show me a Sika he would be happy and feel like the trip was a success. I said I would be just as happy to hear one. After grabbing some snacks we hit the road towards Blackwater. As soon as we arrived on the refuge I saw a few calves and a spike Sika run across the road in front of John and Joe. We pulled into the parking area and Joe said his job was done because I saw those three. Within 10 minutes of hitting the trail we heard a Sika bugle somewhere in the darkness. The trip had already been a success and the sun had not even come up yet.
After walking for 45 minutes through knee high water we stopped to split up and go to our chosen locations. Joe said he was going to put me in the rookie stand. This is where he has had good success placing rookies in the past with lots of sighting and shot opportunities. We said our Good Lucks and decided on contacting each other via radio at 9:00 am. I made my way into a relatively open section of flooded timber with the aid of my flashlight. There are no terrain features to speak of, and minimal brush. I found a thin wall of grassy vegetation and followed it to a point where I spotted a good tree to climb. I laughed to myself, as this was the first time I had ever attached my climber while standing in water.
Once up and belted to the tree I got to soak in all of the amazing but eerie noises of a dark swamp. I heard lots of whistling wood ducks and other sounds as the sun came up creating awesome colors on the watery woods. I then heard the bugles of Sika Stags in two different locations. Soon after daybreak I spotted a small calf walking on my right hand side. I eased up and out of my seat and began messing with the deer with my call. She looked my way several times but seemed to show no concern or care in what she was hearing. I was not being very aggressive with the call as this was my first time and I was not going to shoot her anyway. I just wanted to see her reaction to some cow talk and if she would come closer. Just then I heard a tremendous crashing and splashing sound behind me to the right. I looked back to see a large Hind with an Awesome 3X3 Stag in tow. It had been a long time since I have come unglued like I did at that very moment! I knew the magnitude of what I was seeing. I knew some people have hunted all of their lives without seeing an animal like this, and he was coming right toward me. I struggled to keep my rangefinder still on the mounds of pine needles at the base of the trees, trying to get a yardage. The frustrated Stag sniffed and grunted as he came closer. I heard noise coming from the direction of the earlier calf. She was coming in to investigate. This caused the Stag to spin my way and right into my shooting lane with a 2X2 bringing up the rear. He stuck out his neck as if he was going to bugle but let out a frustrated uuuuhhhhhh!!!. He was now at 35 yards …broadside…I held it together really well considering the spaghetti legs from minutes before. I pulled the bow to full draw and settled the 30 yd. Pin in the middle of the lung area hoping to drop down for a heart shot. My arrow blew through both shoulders and took out the heart. The big boy could not go very far as he was running on his brisket. He made it a whopping 10 yards and piled up in the water.
I was now in complete shock. I just kept saying over and over to myself " I cant believe it…I cant believe it…Is this for real" I had to sit down and gather my composure. I looked at the time. It was 3 minutes till 8!!! I was done and deer were still running everywhere. I don’t know what they all were because I could not take my eyes off of my prize!
I climbed down and took some pics with my timer in the hour I had to wait for the guys to pick up the radio. It was excruciating. All I wanted to do was tell someone. I called my Wife but the service was terrible. Finally, a voice, it was John. "You guys see anything" I lost it! I don’t even know if I made any sense but the guys were right there with me in about 3 and half seconds to share the experience with me. We took more pics and started our drag/float back to the trucks. The Guys were great. They carried my stand and bow but I refused help dragging the deer out. I felt like I did not deserve this awesome trophy and wanted to work harder and drag him the mile back by myself. John went ahead and came back with a cart for me to push him on the dry ground for the last quarter mile.
Joe, John, and I headed to Taylor Island, where we met Doug Wigfield and Mark Andrews for lunch. These guys are the biggest Sika Nuts I have ever seen and they were so happy for me. We had a great time with lots of handshakes and high fives. We talked about the hunt over burgers and crab cakes. Last year I had only ever daydreamed of shooting a Sika and I now have made some great friends and taken a true trophy animal. I would like to say thanks to all the guys for helping make this happen by taking time to help a rookie out. Hunting with new and old friends is definitely one of the best parts of this sport. The whole thing adds up to one of the best hunts I have ever been a part of and I can’t wait to get back down to Sika country again.
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