Sika Deer Hunting Guides and Outfitters – Trips and Guided Hunts

The Sika Deer inhabits meadows, wooded and forested areas across many areas in the United States. Many hunting guides and outfitters will know the best places to hunt in their areas. Sika deer are just one of many different species of the deer family, which represent some of the most attractive and graceful of all mammals that are hunted. Most adult sika deer are some shade of brown, varying from pail gold to a very dark brown, just shy of being black, which helps sika deer blend in their surroundings.

In the beginning of spring to the beginning of summer, new antlers start to form on the sika deer, each growing out from a pedicel, {a bony stalk situated on the frontal bone of the skull}. In the growth process, they are covered with what resembles hairy skin, called “velvet”, which contains many blood vessels for the nourishment of the growing bone tissue. When the antlers have reaches it’s shape and size for this deer, the blood circulation in the velvet is stopped, the velvet starts to dry up, and the sika deer {buck} then rubs the antlers on tree trunks and branches or just on small rocks, revealing the antler rack with no velvet. The entire process is finished by fall, and the antlers will stay until winter, when they decay at the base and fall off, leaving only the hair-covered pedicels again.

Since sika deer are plant eating animals, they feed on all manner of plant life, but especially on twigs and leaves of trees and bushes. Food plots are a good way of making sure that this big game will stay in the same location. Your outfitter or guide should let you know if they are supplying this service. On land they are noted for their speed along with their grace. In the water the sika deer are excellent swimmers. They have an innate sense of curiosity. This sometimes directs them to the hunter, giving sportsman a unique opportunity for an easy shot. Many hunting guides and outfitters will use food plots that will lure this big game closer to the hunter.

They mature normally in autumn. At which time the bucks engage in competition to obtain the favor of the females. This also is the way they protect their harems from other bucks. After the buck mates with a female, following spring the doe gives birth to one or two white-spotted fawns. These new fawns are carefully guarded by the doe until they are old enough to fin for themselves. In the winter months, some of the deer gather together in herds. They search for food in winter by herding together in one area. This keeps the snow to less depth, making it easier to reach the grass underneath.

Scientific Classification: Sika deer belong to the family Cervidae. This deer is classified as genus Odocoileus, species O. hemionus.

Tips for Sika Deer Hunting