Native to Japan, the wild, free-ranging sika deer of Maryland’s Eastern Shore are like miniature elk that offer visiting archers a truly unique bowhunting opportunity. A mature stag such as this one typically weighs no more than 90-100 pounds. (Photo by Michael Rickard)
April 09, 2025
By Christian Berg
Shadows lengthened across the swamp as the sun inched toward the western horizon. It was the final evening of my quest for a Maryland sika deer stag, and I could almost hear the clock ticking in my head as I anxiously scanned the flooded timber around my stand while precious minutes of shooting light slipped away.
Then, just like that, the stag appeared. Earlier that afternoon, a pair of sika hinds and an immature stag had approached from my right, splashing through the water as they closed in, giving me plenty of time to handle my bow and get ready before they emerged from the thick brush and marsh grass surrounding my perch. This encounter was completely different, and as my eyes burned a hole through the mature, 6-point stag as golden light from the setting sun silhouetted its body, I fully appreciated why the elusive sika is so often referred to as “the ghost of the marsh.”
Though not large by whitetail standards — either in body or antler size — this stag was a relative giant by sika standards, and even a novice marsh hunter like me knew instantly this was the opportunity I came for. As the stag stood on a hump of dry ground and stared intently in my direction, I did my best to settle my nerves and focus on making the shot I desperately hoped would happen. The only question was, would the stag standing some 80 yards to my northwest make it into bow range before nightfall?
History in the Making It’s no exaggeration to say my encounter with that sika stag was a long time in coming. I’ve worked in the hunting industry for more than two decades, and as a Pennsylvania resident who lives just a 3.5-hour drive from the sika deer territory on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, a hunt for these diminutive deer has long been on my “bucket list.” Yet, for whatever reason, other hunts always seemed to take precedence, and I spent years chasing everything from rutting Iowa whitetails and Montana pronghorns to New Mexico elk and even New Zealand red stags without devoting a single day afield to this unique bowhunting opportunity that is practically in my own backyard.
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Thankfully, that finally changed in December 2023 when TJ Jenkins, owner of Muddy Marsh Outfitters, called Associate Editor Mark Demko to let us know that he had a rare cancellation hunt and wondered whether the Bowhunter crew wanted it. Mark and I jumped at the opportunity, and with a three-day hunt scheduled for Dec. 18-20, we threw our bows and hunting gear into the truck and headed south with high hopes for an early Christmas celebration.
Sika country is flat, consisting of a mix of ag fields, small areas of swampy woods and lots and lots of marshland. During a sika hunt, you are rarely more than a few feet above sea level. Sika deer spend most of their time hiding in the marsh and can quickly disappear again after the shot. While my wait to chase sika deer lasted roughly 20 years, the history of sika deer in Maryland stretches back more than a century. The sika (pronounced SEE-kuh) found there are native to Japan and were released on James Island in 1916. The sikas proved well suited to the marshlands surrounding the Chesapeake Bay and established a thriving population that today inhabits the southernmost five counties of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, with the greatest concentration being found in the southern portion of Dorchester County. A separate population of sika deer can also be found on Maryland’s Assateague Island, where deer were released in the 1920s.
During the 2023-24 deer seasons, Maryland hunters took a total of 4,106 sika deer (1,912 antlered, 2,194 antlerless). Of those, roughly 89 percent were taken in Dorchester County, which is the only county in Maryland where hunters kill more sika deer than whitetails annually. It is also where Muddy Marsh Outfitters guides archery-only hunts on roughly 2,000 acres of private ground.
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Miniature Elk Though referred to as deer, sikas are more closely related to elk and behave much like miniature versions of their bigger, better-known and more widely distributed cousins. Sika deer have a defined rut that peaks in mid-October, and like elk, rutting sika stags make a bugling sound, or what Jenkins refers to as a whistle, to announce their presence.
“It’s higher pitched than an elk,” Jenkins said. “You don’t get the really deep bugle, but you still get the guttural growl.”
If you are ever fortunate enough to be sitting in a blind or stand in the marsh when a nearby stag sounds off, I can assure you it is an exhilarating moment that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.
Sika females, called hinds, typically weigh 45-50 pounds and bear a single fawn each spring. (Photo by Michael Rickard) Stags also wallow like elk and are known to travel great distances in search of estrous hinds (females). “You can’t pattern them like whitetails,” said Jenkins, who has been guiding sika hunters for the past 30 years. “You might see a stag on this piece of property today, and you might see him tomorrow or the next day or you might never see him again.”
Featuring darker coats and significantly smaller bodies than whitetails, a mature sika deer stands roughly 2.5 feet tall at the rump. Mature hinds typically weigh 45-50 pounds, with stags in the 60-80-pound range. “If you start getting up to 90 or 100 pounds, that’s a big sika,” Jenkins said.
Sika deer maintain white spots, mainly running down either side of the back, throughout their lives, and males feature darker coats than females, with longer manes on the neck and chest, again similar to elk.
As for antlers, a mature sika stag sports a 6-point rack (three on each side) that features an eye guard along with a main beam that branches near the top. To help you understand just how much smaller sika antlers are compared to whitetails, consider this: any sika stag that measures more than 50 inches is considered a true trophy, while Maryland’s No. 1 all-time sika stag logged an official net score of 771⁄8 inches. By comparison, the state’s all-time record typical whitetail scored 1946⁄8, while the all-time non-typical scored 2681⁄8.
Hunters at Muddy Marsh hunt from a variety of treestands and ground blinds. A good pair of rubber boots is a must when walking to and from your hunting area! Despite their diminutive size, sika deer are quite charismatic, and the unique opportunity to hunt them in marshland habitat where they can seemingly appear and vanish at will makes them more than worthy of pursuit. Jenkins typically books his hunts a year or more in advance and said demand has increased dramatically in recent years as more and more out-of-state hunters become aware of the opportunity.
“This is supposedly the only place in the world where you can legally hunt this [sika] subspecies in the wild,” said Jenkins, who limits clients to archery tackle as a way to limit hunting pressure and help hold more sikas on his carefully managed properties.
“People who have elk hunted know you can push an elk for miles, and this is the same way, I believe, with sika deer. If they are pressured hard and they go somewhere else and keep getting pressured, they’ll just spread out from there.”
After being introduced to Maryland’s Eastern Shore in the early 1900s, Japanese sika deer established a wild, free-ranging population in the marshes of the Chesapeake Bay and have been thriving ever since. Sika deer are well suited to their environment and are masters at hiding in the nearly impenetrable phragmites and marsh grasses. As for the specific advice he offers his bowhunting clients, Jenkins says sikas possess lightning-quick reflexes and are notorious for “jumping the string,” ducking down to load their legs to flee at the sound of the bow, often allowing them to avoid an arrow altogether. As a result, Jenkins tells his hunters to aim just behind the front leg, about three inches up from the bottom of the body.
“I have had people video them where they almost laid down on the ground before the arrow got there,” Jenkins said. “The average shot here is about 18 yards, and even at 15 yards they’ll jump a string. I tell people to aim low, and then if the deer does juke, you’ll have a better chance of hitting the top of the lungs. And if it doesn’t, you’ll blow the heart out.”
Happy Holidays Jenkins’ sage advice brings us back to where we started, with the big, 6-point stag lurking in the swamp. I held motionless as the beast carefully studied the area for several minutes before deciding it was safe to proceed. Slowly coming to my feet and shifting into shooting position, I waited until the stag’s head went behind a clump of trees to come to full draw and prepare for the anticipated 24-yard shot.
With the stag now standing in about 10 inches of water, I settled my sight pin on its chest, carefully following Jenkins’ instructions to aim a bit lower on the body, and sent the arrow on its way. Pandemonium ensued with the thwack of my arrow’s impact, causing the stag to splash furiously through the stained swamp water and out of sight. Listening intently in an effort to follow the escape, the splashing continued as the stag veered to the right, circled back in my direction and then seemingly fell, thrashing, back down into the water roughly 80 yards right of the ladder stand.
Suddenly, all was silent, the quiet indicating a successful conclusion to my sika safari. Gathering myself, both mentally and physically, I managed to tap out a text to Jenkins before slowly packing my gear, lowering my bow and awaiting his arrival. Had that really just happened?
I took this fine sika stag during a December 2023 hunt with Muddy Marsh Outfitters. It was a long time in coming, but well worth the wait! About 30 minutes later, I heard the engine of an ATV, then saw the headlights and heard the sloshing of the wheels pushing through the swamp. After climbing down from the stand, I walked Jenkins and guide Joe Magrogan over to where the stag stood when I shot. My arrow was completely submerged in the water, the broadhead buried in mud. I assumed a pass-through shot, but reaching below the surface and retrieving my arrow, it appeared to have been washed clean.
Fortunately, we could follow the stag’s escape path by the disturbed water, and Jenkins looked intently on clumps of marsh grass along the way to find small specks of blood. Knowing generally where I heard the stag crash certainly helped, and it wasn’t long before we were standing over the expired animal, allowing me to put my hands on the antlers for the first time. Amazingly, despite aiming low according to Jenkins’ instructions, my arrow had hit the stag near the base of the neck — proving yet again how quickly these animals can respond to the sound of the shot. Thankfully, the Rage broadhead found a major artery with its 2-inch cutting diameter and did its lethal job in seconds.
Honestly, as a whitetail hunter who has taken quite a few mature, Midwestern bucks, the stag seemed small to me. But as we grabbed the hind legs and began dragging it through the water back toward the ATV, Jenkins assured me this was a true trophy and likely at least 7 or 8 years old.
“You don’t know what you’ve just done,” he proclaimed. “Many locals hunt sika deer their whole lives and never kill a stag like this!”
Considering I’d also taken a sika hind while hunting from a ground blind on the first night of my hunt, and that Mark took a hind of his own on night two, we were very blessed indeed to be headed back to Pennsylvania with three sika deer, including a trophy stag, along with a pile of the best venison you’ll ever eat.
Associate Editor Mark Demko was fortunate to tag a sika hind during our three-day hunt. “You have been fortunate and had some good luck,” Jenkins said. “I’ve had guys come and hunt with me two or three times and not even see one, and guys like you come for the first time and kill several.”
Just as we hoped, Christmas had indeed come “early,” even if it did take me 20 years to finally go to Maryland and discover my sika stag gift under the tree!
Author’s Note: On this hunt, I shot a Mathews Phase 4 outfitted with an Axcel Bridge-Lock bowsight, Ultrarest Integrate MX2 arrow rest, Mathews Bridge-Lock Stabilizer and Easton 5mm FMJ arrows tipped with Rage Hypodermic NC broadheads. I also used a STAN Perfex Resistance release aid and Leupold optics.
Plan Your Own Sika Hunt! Don’t repeat my mistake and wait 20 years to hunt Maryland’s sika deer! If you’ve been looking for an affordable and totally different type of bowhunt, these miniature members of the elk family ought to be on your radar. They’re cagey, hard to hunt, make a unique trophy and provide some of the best table fare you’ve ever tasted, making a sika hunt one you’ll remember forever.
Although you can tackle a DIY, public-land sika hunt on the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge or the nearby Maryland Department of Natural Resources Taylor’s Island and Fishing Bay Wildlife Management Areas, the best bet for traveling bowhunters is a guided hunt with Muddy Marsh Outfitters. Owner TJ Jenkins and his staff have spent the past three decades building this archery-only operation into the Eastern Shore’s premier sika-hunting destination by managing their properties to provide quality habitat in tandem with limited hunting pressure.
Muddy Marsh generally offers sika hunts from the Friday after Labor Day through Jan. 31 each year. The daily hunting rate is $350, with a two-day minimum, and includes lodging. Non-resident hunters are also required to possess a Maryland non-resident hunting license ($160), non-resident archery stamp ($25) and non-resident sika deer stamp ($200).
For more information, visit muddymarsh.com or call Jenkins at 410-228-2770.
