Tangent - though I'd love to hunt Rusa deer, they shouldn't be allowed either. This one from an overseas friend...
Well seeing as the bonus 50 points is just a flat adder at the end with any doe or buck, I could see allowing essentially any "deer" type to that 50 bonus point entry, be in Rusa, Sitka, Axis, etc....
No I meant Sika. I'm only 2 hours north of them and have hunted them a few times. Such a cool animal. The last person I remember entering one was @Hammer1171 don't remember the year of the contest though. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
That’s interesting. As far as I know the contest has always been limited to Whitetails, Mule deer and Blacktail.
this was covered a couple years back; but I don't remember the final verdict. I like the idea of limiting it to animals called deer (so no elk) native to North America. So I would be OK with a multiplier for Coues, but blacktails...I dunno I guess. They are pretty hard to hunt on top of being smallish.
Not to beat a dead horse, but are we talking about the same animal? This is a good Sika buck from Texas. I have no idea how they’re scored, but I’d guess this one scores way over 80”.
If it wasn't specific to species in NA, then it would open contest up a little more globally...and seeing anything like Red Deer or Fallow Deer pop up in this thing would be pretty neat.
"Sika" deer I thought were spotted...much like Axis deer. That looks more like a "European" Red Deer from one of those "Exotic Ranch hunts you can get on here in TX.
Well, as it stands now only Whitetails, Blacktails and Mule deer will count and multipliers are a thing of the past.
Not the same animals. The sika on the eastern shore here very rarely get over 100 lbs for a fully mature stag. Most are in the 50 - 75 lbs range. Although they were transplants from probably 100 years ago, they are now considered native to maryland. Very large population in a small area on the Eastern shores of MD and VA. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
This is one of the state records. Don't get much bigger than this. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Yeah they have a bunch of "whenever" season hunts on all kinds of animals out here....just gotta pony up for it. As far as Deer Type goes though, it still doesn't quite look like the Sika Deer found in MD, or other parts of the world. And after a little reading, it looks like "Sika" and "Red" deer have been known to cross breed creating a sort of hybrid. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what they did for these exotic hunts. Red Deer get much bigger than Sika, and as such a Hybrid would be larger as well making it more intriguing for big spenders to get out there and bag some of the "Largest" Sika deer in NA.
It is my professional opinion that Sika deer in Texas are on steroids and we must now institute mandatory drug testing before allowing any Texas-based deer to count in the scorecard.
Alright folks, the final verdict is that only deer species native to North America can be entered in the contest. This includes the following: Whitetail Deer (including Coues and Florida Key) Mule Deer (including Blacktail)
