By John Tooher
Sika stalking The high mountains where we are to camp for three days.
I
t’s early September and the deer hunting season has just opened here in Ireland, as I eagerly await to be joined by my hunting colleagues at the entrance to the forest. The light coloured fumes from the Land Rover Defender are bellowing into the night sky and in the distance I hear the faint whistle of a Sika stag. Sika stags make three whistles as there mating call it’s eerie at the best of times but an unforgettable sound. Shortly afterwards, I am delighted to hear the guys’ jeep moving towards me up the gravel track and within minutes they have arrived safely. We greet each other in the muffled toned voices common method between fellow hunters, the deer may be kilometres away but no one is taking any chances! Parking our vehicles at the trail head in the pre-dawn hours, my focus now turns to getting my equipment in order, for this sika stalking adventure. We 26
were going to camp out on the hill for three days and re-hone our stalking skills after a 6 month hiatus. In Ireland the deer stalking season runs from 1st September until the 28th of February. Stalking followed by camping out on your hunting grounds is an incredible experience and I recommend everyone should experience it. Indigenous to eastern Asia, the Japanese islands, Taiwan and the mainland from Manchuria to Vietnam, Sika (meaning ‘deer’ in Japanese) were introduced to Ireland by Lord Powerscourt in 1860. The single stag and three hinds were purchased as ornamental park deer, but by now escaped the deer have flourished and are truly wild, occupying the entire mountainous county of Wicklow on the East coast of Ireland and have spread to many other counties. The population is estimated to be around 35000 animals. A stag weighs between 50-60kg and
Autumn 2020 Irish Country Sports and Country Life
hinds weigh between 30-40kg. An adult stag has a shoulder height of 70 to 95cm, while hinds are somewhat smaller, 50 to 90cm at shoulder height. Hinds give birth to generally a single spotted offspring from May to early June after a gestation period of 7 ½ months. Excitement mounts as we plot our route to take on the mountain but loading a heavy pack on your back brings you down to earth pretty quickly and so we are off on a three day sika hunt in the Wicklow Mountains. We cross the river that seems to be unusually high for this time of year but we maintained dry boots and the gaiters worked well. As we leave the forest and move onto the open ground, we scan the hills at first light making out shapes, the grey shapes of a herd of sika. As the seconds pass, the light becomes better for finding the deer still in their summer
