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FAQ
Our Sika deer sport handsome spotted coats being from the Manchurian genetic strain. They have established in healthy herds that now offer you top trophies to bow, rifle or green hunt. The best Sika head usually counts 8 points although a number of Non Typical Sika with more points have been shot in the “Black Forest Safari Park” area.
The Trophy Sika Stag has an antler length of around 30” and is usually a 4x4 with an SCI score in the 120 to 150 range. A top stag under the New Zealand measuring system would measure near 200 Douglas score.
The Sika rut commences in late March, peaking in late April and into May. The high pitched screams of an aggressive Sika Stag patrolling his scrapes is enough to excite the most wily hunter. Sika are a very vocal deer and their sharp alarm whistle from close by in the manuka will be guaranteed to make you jump. Practise the stags roar by saying Meeeee-ooooow, starting out on a high note and descending to a low one. An experienced hunter will need determination to outwit these elusive deer as they run for the ample cover within the Black Forest’s manuka and trees.
Free range guided Sika deer hunting within the ranges of the Kaimanawa and Kaweka Forest Parks is a great experience but a trophy animal will be harder to find. This will need to be booked well in advance and requires a helicopter flight to a private or public hunters hut.
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Cervus Nippon or Sika deer were presented to the New
Zealand Government by the Duke of Bedford in 1904. Six deer arrived and
it is claimed they were from the Manchurian (Chinese) strain called—Cervus
nippon mantchuricus, however many of our current Sika deer show all the
characteristics of the Japanese Sika Cervus Nippon Nippon, so the original
animals must have been of mixed race.
They were released into the Kaimanawa Ranges, to successfully colonize the wilds of the Central North Island. Within thirty years they had taken over an area of several million acres and they were more suited to the terrain and forage than the resident red deer who moved further out to more fertile country. In the East the Japanese strain of Sika deer dominate the herds, elsewhere a mix is evident. Today, Sika inhabit all of the Kaimanawa, Kaweka and Ahimanawa mountain ranges, Tongariro national Park and much of the fringe country. They have a distinct liking for dense scrub or manuka making hunting them a difficult challenge. |
Like the other deer in New Zealand, their antlers exceed anything grown in
their home country and are a most sought after trophy. Antlers grow to eight
points (with some exceptions) and anything twenty-five inches long or over
is considered a good trophy. The velvet of the Japanese strain is black where
as the Chinese derived animals have red/orange coloured velvet.
Sika are a pretty deer, being significantly smaller than red, a large stag would weigh in at 100kg/218lbs. They have a small petite face, the pelage is a dark, rich chestnut brown with varying degrees of attractive white spots. Sika are also considered to be one of the most cunning of all deer species. Their alarm squeal is something that any hunter will not forget. Today it is believed they range over an area of 8,000 square kilometres of the central North Island high country. Source material - “The Sika” by D. Bruce Banwell |