Japanese Sika deer hunt on Assateague Island. 2007 

My first Sika Stag on the island. Taken on October 16, 2007 with my flintlock during the primitive muzzleloader season. This is a prime Stag. They don't get much larger than this on the island. Dressed weight was 78 pounds with an estimated live weight at 98 pounds.

I have mine scored by the SCI sheet at 58 inches.

The records on MD website for the 2006 Maryland Trophy Deer Contest for deer taken in the 2004-2005 season has only three stags recorded over 58". Only one of these were taken in Worcester County where I took mine. The two largest were taken in Dorchester County on the mainland. Had I taken this that year it would have been the 4th largest entered in the contest. 

Also, see Sika: Maryland's Exotic Little Elk, an article by Brian Eyler, Deer Biologist for the Wildlife and Heritage Service, that appeared in a recent issue of The Natural Resource magazine