Thanks CletusEX (Nick) for a successful hunt!

[Pappy]

Nick, a long time member here and good friend of mine invited me to hunt Sika deer with him this week. I had turned down this invite for the past 2 years due to my health but this year I was primed and ready to roll!

It was a decent amount of driving after working all day but staying ahead of rush hour wasnt so bad.

[Pappy]

I was hoping to get down there before dark, but the sun was fading fast

[Pappy]

Nick and I were in his boat before daylight and he took me to an island they own to get me in a stand. it was dark and being around water i did not take my camera. I did get a Sika deer and we would have gone bacl out at midday for some pictures, but the wind and tide were driving water out of the marsh and using the boat would not be an option.

After lunch, we went riding around this 2000 acre facility and Nick showed me some of the area. This house was built in the 1700's and now makes a pretty sweet deer stand

[Pappy]

The grave yard for the original settlers of this area holds 160 graves that date back to the 1700's

[Pappy]

The graveyard hasnt been kept up over the years but the craftsmanship still can be seen on these century old stones

[Pappy]

Nick was a great host and I enjoyed the hunt! I could have spent hours or even days just taking pictures

[Pappy]

The Sika deer is a relative to the Elk, although much much smaller. A transplant fron an island in Asia, they love the swamps and marshes

[Pappy]

The first thing i learned is that seeing these small animals in this marsh is HARD!!

[Pappy]

Hunting next to the cheasepeake bay is always cool

[Pappy]

Nick checks the shoreline, looking for arrowheads and such that get exposed from the surf

[Pappy]

Nick loves deer hunting but is an avid waterfowler. He scoped out some sea ducks as they were planning on hitting them next week

[Pappy]

Nick scratches his head wondering where the 2 that just ran by us at mach 3 went:p

[Pappy]

The area itself is insane for wildlife, relaxation and for me, the photograph possibilities are unlimited. I will be heading back down there to get more shots when deer season ends. The Blackwater national wildlife refuge is just down the road and its incredible for sightseeing.

[Pappy]

This is the area we actually hunted, although you can't see the island, it gives you an idea of the terrain. Needle grass hurts, the mud smells and dragging a deer through all of that stuff is alot of work:p

[Pappy]

Duck hunting is king here, and boats are made ready for the season that is underway.

[Pappy]

Todays project was building a dog loading ramp for when the dog brings back a duck from the water

[Pappy]

"Doc" figured out how to use it in no time:p

[Pappy]

Thats about all I have, again, I had a great time and getting a Sika deer for the freezer was icing on the cake. I cant thank Nick, his dad and the other hunters for making me feel right at home and I can only hope that I get another chance to get back down there and go after another one!!!

I hope you enjoyed the pics, and I wish everyone could get out and hunt or just observe what this world has to offer, then grill it with some onions and garlic:devil:

[Ghost-Rider]

Looks like a really nice place to hunt.



Is this what you were hunting ?

http://www.outfitters.cz/img/sika.jpg

[Pappy]

Im not sure what that was above, im sure it is a form of sika or such, but the wild ones in maryland are small. this pic borrowed from the web is a big sika buck. for whitetail hunters, a large sika buck might be the size of a small 90 pound deer and thier racks grow upwards with 6 point being the norm. does are smaller, with 60 pounds or so being an average adult.

http://www.fugleognatur.dk/gallery_showlarge.asp?ID=17936

[Ghost-Rider]

Yea the pic I posted was from google images, I think it said it was a Japaneses sika deer ?



I like the rack on them, different than a deer thats for sure.




EDIT : Different than a whitetail that is.

[jesseweaver]

tell us how it tastes. ive never had sitka before.

[QuadJunkies]

Encountering a gravesite like that would be so VERY COOL!
I LOVE history when its sitting right in front of you like that.

Looks like a great day :)

[Pappy]

Originally posted by jesseweaver
tell us how it tastes. ive never had sitka before.

Nick gave me one last year and man its awesome. very mild, no game taste whatsoever and IMO even better then regular venison! it is excellent table fare, thats why I did not pass up the doe i killed:p

[Ghost-Rider]

Originally posted by QuadJunkies
Encountering a gravesite like that would be so VERY COOL!
I LOVE history when its sitting right in front of you like that.

Looks like a great day :)

No joke, I really like that pic of the tree moving the gravestone.

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by Ghost-Rider
No joke, I really like that pic of the tree moving the gravestone.
I thought that was cool pic too!
And to find so many dating back that far and still entact is amazing!
Ive seen a few gravesites here thats about 100 years younger that are in very bad shape.

[Ghost-Rider]

Yea, the place we usually get our Christmas tree from has a little old church next to it and the cemetery there dates back to like the early 1900's maybe late 1800's and it's in horrible shape. You can't even read all the stones. Those in pappys pics look great still. Maybe it's the type of stone ?

[Pappy]

I dont know much about stones or the work that goes into them, but it will be cool to do some digging to learn about them.

most folks choose the ocean during the summertime, but i prefer the fall. much more detail and color around

[Ghost-Rider]

Looks like a real nice place overall.

And I'm guessing a lot of gravestones are Limestone ?

[cletusEX]

I'm glad you where able to come down and spend a day chasing these little elk. Definitely is different than mountain whitetail hunting.:p Those pictures came out great. If we get a chance we'll have to take a day and walk more of the property when the hunting season is over. There are some pretty cool areas of the property.

[derekhonda]

Originally posted by Pappy
This is the area we actually hunted, although you can't see the island, it gives you an idea of the terrain. Needle grass hurts, the mud smells and dragging a deer through all of that stuff is alot of work:p

Judging by that picture, cletus needs to get him an argo with tracks for the haulback, would definately makethings easier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUlrpruzXqo

[cletusEX]

Originally posted by derekhonda
Judging by that picture, cletus needs to get him an argo with tracks for the haulback, would definately makethings easier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUlrpruzXqo

We have had them in the past and they do not go too well down there. When the water goes out the banks are 2-3 feet vertical and they won't haul themselves out of the water. Plus they really destroy the vegetation and rut everything up, the Chesapeake Bay doesn't need any more help eroding itself.

[derekhonda]

Couldn't tell that the banks were like that, yeah they definately don't climb well and definately tear stuff up. Either way looks like a great piece of land, nice pictures pap.

[Pappy]

oh good lord would you ever bury one of those things in that marsh:p hunting in that stuff was a new expierence for sure, and i know that needle grass HURTS!(dont lean over to look for blood in that stuff, it will put your eye out:p )

[TRXMaddness]

Pappy... Were you here in VA for your hunting trip? Looks like you were on the eastern shore side of VA.

[Pappy]

eastern shore of maryland