This past Monday and Tuesday my brother and I went on a Sika Deer hunt with Muddy Marsh Outfitters in Cambridge Maryland. As we arrived at camp I was pleasently surprised to see 3 Trad archers practicing. I thought one was familiar to me but couldn't place the face with a name. Well they finished the practice session and one of them walks up offers his hand and says "Hi I'm Terry Green". I responded with a "I thought I recognized you,you're Terry Green from TRAD GANG".Like he didn't know that already. The second archer walks up and introduces himself as Larry Surtees. While I didn't remember seeing an image of Larry anyone who frequents this site knows who he is. After more introductions and a short explanation to my brother as to why I was so excited we all prepared for the evening hunt.
As our guide Joe explained Sika Deer sightings and opportunities are 80% evening and only 20% morning.
My brother went with T.J. the owner/outfitter for the evening post. I was given hushed directions down a lane to my ground blind. As I approached the field edge I saw a huge flock of turkeys feeding which I counted at 37 plus. I had to somehow get to the blind. You can't get past that many turkeys without wings flapping. As I entered the blind I was hoping the turkey flush didn't spook and Sikas nearby. Well after dusk with shooting light quickly fading I noticed thru one of the side openings 4 dark bodies slowly walking along the field edge towards the feeder.When they got to about 40 yards out you would have thought the green flag just dropped after a long yellow at Daytona. Those 4 deer sprinted towards the feeder so fast the one of the fawns slid about 5 feet on the frozen ground below the feeder. After about 30 seconds another fawn came bouncing in like a Mule deer. I was hoping to shoot a stag but there were only 2 mature hinds and 3 fawns . The hinds kept looking in the direction they came from every few seconds so I was hoping more would shoe up. Judging by the fast approaching darkness I thought if I was going to take a shot it would have to be soon. While waiting for one of the hinds to seperate from the bunch and offer a shot I came to full draw 4 seperate times. Finally I thought I had one slightly quartering away. I went on auto-pilot. I remember the arrow being released but I don't remember my index finger locking into the corner of my mouth. Anyway a second after the arrow was on it's way I heard the unmistakable sound of a 580 grain arrow with a scalpel sharp woodsman leading the way striking flesh.All hell broke loose at the feeder. 3 raced back the way they came, the last fawn went back the way it came and one ran straightaway 80 yards towards the pines. About 5 seconds after she entered the pines I heard a loud crack and all was quiet. I gathered my stuff inside the blind, placed my pack in the lane and pulled our my trusty Wensel Bros. flashlight. A quick scan of the site only revealed a large clump of hair. No sign of the relective tape on my arrow. This was puzzeling to me but not of great concern. I walked back to the pickup point and met T.J. After retrieving his atv we went to the stand site to search for sign. A quick scan revealed nothing at the feeder. We struck off in the direction of the single hind. After being joined by his guide Joe all three of us began a precise search along the wood line for any type of sign. After 10 minutes or so T.J. said he had blood.By blood I'm talking 1/2 the size of a pencil eraser on a piece of straw (these guys are phenomenal) we followed a sparce (3 drops) blood trail for another 50 yards. At that point T.J. said he thought I may have just hit a leg. I insisted I clearly did not hear the sound of a bone hit. Anyway we move another 10 or so yards and found 2 spots of blood one on the left side where I said was thew entrance about thersize of a softball and one spot about 1/4 the size on the other . While T.J. and Joe were weighing the possibility of finding anything in the morning after the impending rain storm I looked to our right and spotted a thumbnail size drop.As I bent down to mark it Joe scanned his light out in front and said "there she lays". I'm sure you all know that feeling of relief/elation I felt in hearing those words and seeing my Sika in the flashlight beam. Upon examination of the deer we surmised that either in the increasing darkness and shooting from inside the blind I misjudged her position or she spun slightly upon the shot. My entry on the left side would have been perfect for a quartering away angle cutting the third rib from the front. However the exit was thru the next to the last rib from the back.
Both T.J. and Joe tell me that my hind was mature and a very respectable size "as sikas go".
OK it's time to stop this rambling.
In closing I have to say I hope I can sometime share another camp and hunt with Terry, Larry and their friend from PA Paul (sorry Paul but I don't think I ever got your last name). They were gracious and patient with all of my questions.
I'm going to take Terry up on his offer to post a photo as my experience with photobucket seems to be lacking.
Topic: First Maryland Sika Deer (Read 2656 times)
