alexm Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 I took the day off work on Friday and headed down to Hampshire. The plan was to look for a Sika hind or Fallow doe as a priority or maybe a pricket if one presented itself. We headed down to a boggy area alongside a river known to be a favourite patch for Sika and stalked alongside the tree line looking over the river to the wood on the other side. After a short while we spotted two sika hinds lurking just inside the tree line about 200 yards away behind the wire fence. As they were out of our boundary my mentor suggested doing a dummy stalk just to see whether I could get the range down to something reasonable and to observe their reaction. Between us and them were a few scattered trees, the river, and then some grass on the other side of the river. I skirted along the tree line until I had a bush by the river between them and me and then stalked towards the bush ending up on a spit of land sticking out into the river. Gently easing onto my stomach I lasered the range which was now just under 100 yards, however the two hinds were glancing right and at the same time moving to the left. Scanning to the right I could now pick up a small group of sika stags also just inside the tree line. The benefit of this was that the hinds were moving into an area of the wood that was within our boundary so I backed up and the stalk was on! The hinds eventually emerged from the wood line showing that there were in fact 3 of them, one obviously larger, mature hind and two slightly smaller, maybe a year or two old. Following the brief I selected the smallest of the three and observed for a while to see if there were any calves around. By now they were walking back towards the right behind a line of trees. I was moving towards a patch of higher ground and managed to lose track of my hind as they were mingling back and forth as they went! I followed along for about 50 yards, finally managing to get set up on a small hillock, lying on my stomach, bipod deployed... however as they were moving between trees I had to wait until I had seen all three to make sure I was on the right hind! After what seemed an age I identified my hind, followed her behind a tree and waited for her to emerge.... Head pops out... neck.... shoulders.... stops, sniffs a bit of ground, then forward again..... Finally she stops, perfectly side on, lasered at 120 yds. I took an exact mark of where she was standing (lesson learned from previous), backstop was rising land to the wood line, settled the crosshairs for a heart/lung shot, slipped off the safety and gently squeezed off the shot. Now, having read about Sika I had heard they can be hard to knock over and I was prepared for a short dash, however the reaction to shot was quite unexpected. For starters the bullet strike hardly made a sound, in fact it sounded more like hitting earth which was immediately worrying. The hind kicked up, head went back a bit, then she was through the fence and into the wood, heading up hill and to the right then gone. At this point I was concerned. I was happy that the shot felt good, but the lack of audible feedback was worrying, and the hind looked strong as she disappeared from view. As we had to cross the river slightly downstream it took a while to work our way to where the hind had been standing. I am now glad I took the time to take some waypoints because we had to approach from a different angle. By lining up the trees on the other side of the river I was able to get back on the exact line I took the shot from and could find the ground she was standing on. There was a handful of hair, but spread out like it was I couldn't really say 100% whether it was side or belly. There was a few tiny spatters of what looked like lung tissue and a thin trail of blood. Certainly not the amounts of blood you would expect from a heart/lung shot. I am now more concerned! Has the shot gone low? My mentor agreed that we could be looking at a low shot... I am starting to feel pretty bad..... We followed the blood trail for 5 yards or so when there there was more tissue and a fairly good amount of blood, then a thin trail to the fence and then it petered out. Once we were in the wood we couldn't find the trail, so we split up and started covering ground in increasing circles. My mentor spotted the two other hinds further up the hill, this was encouraging... maybe they had hung on because mine was down?.... Finally, after about 15 minutes I found her, off to the left of where she had gone in, about 50 yards from the bullet strike. Bizarrely she had gone in to the right, circled up and round to the left before dropping completely in the opposite direction of where I expected her to be. Working back we found the blood trail, the majority of which was about 20 yards inside the wood line. I was immediately relieved to see that the shot placement was spot on (the gralloch later confirming high heart strike). There really is no feeling quite like that. Big relief! I guess this just goes to show that every stalk is different. The lack of audible strike could have been due to the acoustics of the surroundings maybe, or perhaps the bullet didn't expand quite as it should have? The lack of blood in the immediate vicinity again misleading. Either way, the job was done and a pleasing end to my first sika stalk! Rifle: Sako 85 Finnlight, .243, Federal Powershok 100gr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magman Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 And a wildcat predator 8 Well done and a nice right up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harv Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Quality Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Superb read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moses Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Well done mate, glad it all worked out well. Nice write up and congrats on your first sika Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staglioni Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Very nice mate what a good do stag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Brilliant write up I was there with you, that nagging doubt in the back of the mind and then the relief when you find the shot placement was spot on - excellent! P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Always have courage in your convictions, well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Great write up and great result, well done. It's odd how they can wander off with the best placed shots, and then drop stone dead to others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexm Posted December 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Thanks guys! Always have courage in your convictions, well done Henry, yes you are absolutely right, it's a confidence thing that can only come with more experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninj Posted December 2, 2008 Report Share Posted December 2, 2008 (edited) Enjoyed reading that, looks a nicely placed shot. I was very suprised when I heard how hard Sika were to bowl over, well done Edited December 2, 2008 by Ninj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernlad Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Nice shot. Good story too, would love to try deer stalking some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullet boy Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Well done Alex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scout Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Good clean result and an excellent write up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonna Shoot a Wabbit Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 well done, a fabulous write up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadkill Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 very good read and well done nice shooting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R C power Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 well done, nice write up & pic really enjoyed it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcmt Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 crackin write up bud, like the other lads said, i was there with you! well done fella Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishapoor Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 They are hardy *******, sika! Have to say that .243 is fairly marginal for them for my money, as your perfectly-placed shot illustrates! Imagine doing that at last light without a dog... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Thanks for sharing that with us. A great write up I really enjoyed reading. It's a horrible feeling when you think you've messed up, I'm guessing you're at about the same stage as me with your stalking and haven't shot that many yet? Like Henry said, you should have more faith in your shot. If it was 120 yards off a bipod with a .243, you'd be unlucky to be over an inch away from where you were aiming. You feel certain of the shot at first, then start to doubt yourself. It's great when it all comes together and you find what you've hit and see the shot was well placed. My buck in canada worried me for a moment. I went to where I thought it was stood after the shot and nothing, no blood or hair! I walked on for a bit and it turned out it was next to another similar tree about 20 yards further on. I found the Deer before the blood trail, which was then immediately evident. There was a pretty obvious sign of a hit and loads of blood, but I still didn't see it You keep at it with your .243 buddy. My buck managed around 50 yards after a heart shot with a .375H&H Magnum, so it shows these things just happen sometimes no matter what you whack them with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishapoor Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 ...I'm not at all surprised-your .375 would have whistled straight through that deer and probabaly barely opened up! I wasn't criticising our chap, merely poiting out the limitations of the calibre, particularly where conditions are less than ideal... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Sorry Ishapoor, I wasn't having a dig at your comment. Just offering a bit of support for the smaller guns, I know a few guys that regularly take big Deer with a .243. I'm not a fan of the calibre myself, but it works for a lot of people! The .375 round opened up alright, a bit too well if you'd have seen the exit wound I wont be using that bullet for Deer again (speer 270grn softpoint). I could have put my fist in the exit hole! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoskinz Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 hi great read mate and well done on your first sika hopefully many more to come Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexm Posted December 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Thanks for all the comments guys! They are hardy *******, sika! Have to say that .243 is fairly marginal for them for my money, as your perfectly-placed shot illustrates! Imagine doing that at last light without a dog... So far I am pretty confident in the abilities of the .243. In this case (in my admittedly limited experience!) having examined the damage to the heart I really can't see how a different calibre would or could have resulted in a significantly different reaction to shot without, as has been said, creating significantly more trauma to the rest of the carcass. Would the 50 yard dash not have been more likely due to the deer possibly being aware of my presence or perhaps slightly on edge with the presence of the stags? Thanks for sharing that with us. A great write up I really enjoyed reading. It's a horrible feeling when you think you've messed up, I'm guessing you're at about the same stage as me with your stalking and haven't shot that many yet? Like Henry said, you should have more faith in your shot. If it was 120 yards off a bipod with a .243, you'd be unlucky to be over an inch away from where you were aiming. You feel certain of the shot at first, then start to doubt yourself. It's great when it all comes together and you find what you've hit and see the shot was well placed. My buck in canada worried me for a moment. I went to where I thought it was stood after the shot and nothing, no blood or hair! I walked on for a bit and it turned out it was next to another similar tree about 20 yards further on. I found the Deer before the blood trail, which was then immediately evident. There was a pretty obvious sign of a hit and loads of blood, but I still didn't see it You keep at it with your .243 buddy. My buck managed around 50 yards after a heart shot with a .375H&H Magnum, so it shows these things just happen sometimes no matter what you whack them with Thanks njc! Yes, I'm still fairly new to it, having only really started at the beginning of this year. I'm sure the confidence comes with experience as there's heaps to learn with every outing. I was totally happy with the shot itself (or I wouldn't have pulled the trigger!) but when you see a reaction you don't expect you can't help your mind starting to race "maybe the scope has had a knock? maybe the deer moved at the last second? etc etc". It doesn't matter how happy you were 10 seconds ago then, only finding the deer and checking the shot placement can put your mind at rest! This one has been safely filed in the memory banks now though, so if it happens again I will hopefully be slightly less phased!... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishapoor Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Alex The chaps who regularly take big deer with a .243 will likely as not probabaly be taking neck shots, in which case (within reason) calibre is largely irrelevant. Even if they are regularly going for heart/lung I imagine they will be doing it sufficiently frequently to have absolute confidence in shot placement. In response to your comments re: being happy with the .243's performance on the larger/more hardy deer. I would say that one has a considerably smaller margin for error than with the more typical red/sika calibres. Look what happened when you shot yours perfectly. Imagine having managed to take her at the rear of the lungs, or too far forward for example. The larger calibres will give you a far better chance of finding her within a reasonable distance, rather than potentially losing her altogether... There are those who are happy to take moose with .243 and bonded core/other premium bullets. It most certainly would not be my first choice... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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