My first sika deer hunt with a co-worker down to Maryland proved to be a exciting and some what successful. I loaded up the boat on a Thursday afternoon and headed south. You may be asking why are you taking a boat? The sika deer are found in marshy coastal areas along the eastern shore. Maryland actually has state game lands or wildlife management areas for hunting. The areas we were going to hunt are located in the fishing bay area, which is southeast of Cambridge, MD. The specific hunting areas we were after are only accessible by boat.
This was definitely a first for me and it was an experience. My buddy Josh had suggested this hunt as he had hunted for sika deer before. Although the area he hunted did not require use of a boat. So with an early start the next morning we launched the boat and followed the maps provided by MD fish and game. The boat ride to the first stand of forest was a couple of miles. As we approached there was already a boat parked on shore. With this being are first hunt like this and the use of public land, we respected the hunter for being their first. We moved on another mile or so to the next stand of woods.
We slightly miscalculated the amount of time needed to get to the hunting locations via boat. As we unloaded out gear, a faint bugle of a sika stag could be heard in the marsh. The excitement of the hunt set in. By the time we arrived, day break was upon us. Josh popped up my ground blind while I moved in a bit further to take refuge under a tree. We sat for the morning and then began to scout the area. We were looking for travel pathways and signs of deer presence. After this we loaded into the boat and cruised a bit further down the creek. We check a few more launch points to land the boat and do some more scouting. We decided to stay out until the evening hunt and laid up on a sandy hill to pass some time.
While sitting on this sandy hill over looking the marsh, we had a red fox give us some company as he pounced through the grass looking for rodents. We had been having a full conversation but it seemed to not bother the fox at all. Josh would be hunting a nice stand of hard woods in the middle of the this forest as I would over see a horseshoe shaped marsh outlined by forest. Both spots seemed promising based on location. One thing I learned about the marsh area was the marsh grass could hide small elevation changes (1-2'). I was in my ground blind watching the marsh when three white tail doe stepped out. At first they could be seen to about mid chest but then with a few hops into the marsh, only the tops of their ears were visible. The grasp in front of me was only about 2 feet high.
I later hoped that the hadn't hid any sika deer that passed in front of me in the marsh. It is typical to see tripod type stands to gain elevation over the marsh grass to see the sika deer. You have to remember you are hunting something the size of a medium to large dog. Day one came to a close, a dark ride back to boat ramp only lit by moonlight overhead. Back to the hotel for food, a shower, and soft bed. We planned to get up an hour earlier to gain time in the morning for travel via boat. We even stopped for our food and gas that night to save time.
What only felt like minutes in bed came to an early morning. Another moonlit ride to the hunting area on my Carolina Skiff on a cool morning. We decided to hunt the same area for the morning from the previous day. The morning was supplemented by sika stag bugles from across the marsh in another stand of woods called chance island. This was enough to have us plan our evening hunt at chance island. I had taken refuge under a fallen tree on this morning, with the nice broad leaves hiding my body outline. Josh had traveled further into the woods by a pinch point near the marsh.
As I laid under tree around 9 AM, my phone rang. Josh had shot a stag and it was down. I quickly bagged up my stuff and moved toward him. He had hit the stag on the first shot, but it had hit the deer in the rear spine. He ended up shooting his whole quiver of arrows to lay this deer to rest. After a few minutes of enjoyment of the harvest, we field dressed the animal and headed toward the boat. We would pack it up with some ice prior to heading back out for the evening hunt.
The evening hunt was set for chance island. We arrived early and stalked in pretty far. We even passed two old cars from the 50's in the woods. How they got there was a mystery. An area surrounded by marsh and water was not accessible via cars. We scouted and chose a spot with a pond of water surrounded by marsh which was just outside of the forest edge. We were hoping to catch a deer coming out of the woods toward the marsh or vice versa. The ground blind was brushed in as I always carry some clippers with me.
So we sat, and sat. Time ticked on from seconds, to minutes, and to hours. The spot had seemed so promising and we even used the sika caller to try and lure in some deer. This evening hunt would not give us a chance to harvest a sika from chance island. We packed up, headed to the boat, ramp, truck, and home. The hunt was still worth it. The experience of using a boat to access hunting areas that are not accessible in other means provided an isolated feeling from the everyday hunter. This wasn't the typical drive to the woods edge in my truck and walk in a couple hundred yards sit down.
I am not big on quotes but this although a bit biblical says it all.
"Now then, get your weapons--your quiver and bow--and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game...."
Genesis 27:3
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