I going to Dublin on Thursday the 24/4, and leaving on Sunday the 27/4.
I would like to see something hunting or gun related while I’m over there.
Any advice?

Hi Solvi I dont think there is much in Dublin itself, Wicklow which about an hour south of Dublin is the shooting centre of Ireland. Or if you have the time you are welcome to come up North for some shooting if you want

Hi Solvi.
The hunting seasons are closed but no reason why I cant show you some of our woods and deer[if they cooperate] some afternoon in the rain!
Pm me and we can arrange something

The Irish Deer Society is having its AGM IN laragh,Co.Wicklow the same weekend.There is an exhibition of trophy heads in the Brockagh community center on the Saturday 11am to 4 pm.
Irish trophies of red,sika [Japanese,Formosan and Manchurian],fallow and trophies from around the world.
This may be of interest to some of the members north of me also.

That sounds great.
How far is the show from Dublin and what is the best way to get there

It is roughly 11/2 hours drive from Dublin city centre.Now thats a moveable feast,traffic in this city is a nightmare.
In terms of distance about 60km.Are you hiring a car ? If so take a satnav and punch in Laragh,Co.Wicklow or Glendalough,Co.Wicklow.
Failing that give me a call and we can meet up.
As I said I can show you some of our woods and possibly we can see some reds on the National Park land not far from the exhibition.

sika98k are the formosan/mansurian sika park deer or wild? I thought all irish ska were japanese.

hi solvi along with sika98k i will show u some of the sika hybrid herds in wicklow if it suits u

quote:

Originally posted by Boghossian:
sika98k are the formosan/mansurian sika park deer or wild? I thought all irish sika were japanese.

I wonder how I passed my Deer Stalking Certificate ?A short precis,in 1860 Lord Powers court introduced 1 stag and 3 hinds[cervus nippon nippon] to his estate in Co.Wicklow.
They did what deer do and he gave some of the surplus to Muckross,Glenstal and Colebrook estates.
One of the differences between the subspecies[6] found on the Japanese Islands and the others[8] is black velvet on their antlers,the others all have red velvet antler.
I am not brilliant,just quoting from the stalker training manual,ahem,er, nowhere does it mention release of Manchurian or Formosan Sika.
Can any Irish stalkers throw any further light on this ? I felt sure there were releases of these here.
LATER....I did a bit of checking up on the exhibition,yes,indeed there are displays of the aforementioned sika.However the Manchurian and Formosan trophies come from the UK.

Hi Sika98, I'm ip North of you and would be interested in seeing the exhibition on the trophy heads. i saw the article in ~Irish Shooters Digest and it looks great. Let me know what you think, I know a few others from the North who are members here & would be interested too.

Many thanks & Hot Barrels

I'm up north and stalk sika on Colebrooke estate.

All these Irish members crawling out of the woodwork.

Guys, where have you been?

quote:

Originally posted by Claret_Dabbler:
All these Irish members crawling out of the woodwork.

Guys, where have you been?

B'Goarah... (Sp?),

It's gonna be a boozy one next time round!!!

Rgds,
FB

Kiri, there you go again abusing us poor Irish with racial stereotypes....

quote:

Originally posted by Claret_Dabbler:
Kiri, there you go again abusing us poor Irish with racial stereotypes....

Well, I hald back on my own national urge to put salad and Chilli sauce on all the meat at baldock!!


What we need to do is Skip dinner, and just start drinking while I light the BBQ. te coals being ready should coincide nicely with Kebab o'clock!!!

FB

The exhibition is in the Brockagh Community Centre,Laragh,Co.Wicklow from 11am to 4 pm on both Saturday26th and Sunday 27th.Admission 5 euro.
There is also a few other things on.It is the AGM of the Irish Deer Society being hosted by the Leinster branch this year.Look at WWW. Irish Deer Society.ie for more info
There is a bar within stumbling distance.

Hello Jcorry - Whats Colebrooke like? are they the Jap Sika or the smaller type. I and a few others stalk not too far from you and have taken small Sika off our patch, definately not Jap though as they are much too small

Hot Barrels
One Armed Bandit

Sika98K - Many thanks for the info on the exhibition, the bar sounds good too!!

Do you stalk Sika in Wicklow yourself. I've met a few folk who have been and said they really enjoyed it?? Is it difficult to get access to any??

Hot Barrels

One Armed Bandit

Hi,one armed bandit.Maybe those are Japanese sika you are taking.They are the smallest.
The man I stalk with has his own small herd of reds,fallow and sika.The sika[his] are genuine japanese and far smaller than what we take out on the area we stalk.
Yes ,I stalk in Wicklow.In general the land people stalk is either Coillte forestry,private forest or farmland.
It is not easy but it is possible to get access.
Either join a syndicate with a forestry lease, find some friendly farmers or take days out with the professionals.Claret Dabbler mentioned a while ago he had been down with one of them.
If you come down we can meet up and I can at least point you in some directions.
If you are in the east of the Province I am at Hollow Farm every Thursday afternoon.

Where has Solvi got to ? Are you coming to this?

quote:

Originally posted by SIKA98K:
Hi,one armed bandit.Maybe those are Japanese sika you are taking.They are the smallest.
The man I stalk with has his own small herd of reds,fallow and sika.The sika[his] are genuine japanese and far smaller than what we take out on the area we stalk.
Yes ,I stalk in Wicklow.In general the land people stalk is either Coillte forestry,private forest or farmland.
It is not easy but it is possible to get access.
Either join a syndicate with a forestry lease, find some friendly farmers or take days out with the professionals.Claret Dabbler mentioned a while ago he had been down with one of them.
If you come down we can meet up and I can at least point you in some directions.
If you are in the east of the Province I am at Hollow Farm every Thursday afternoon.

Where has Solvi got to ? Are you coming to this?

I have to agree, the pure japs in Kerry have very thin antlers compared to the Wicklow hybrids that frequently get passed off as sika to visiting hunters. Nothing wrong with hybrids mind you!
I do think it's queer that there is so much hybridisation in Wicklow whereas in other areas reds and sika live side by side without crossing...

Hi, I’m still here.
I am going over with a lot of coworkers for the weekend and I’m still planning my stay.
The best thing would be if you would send my a PM with your phone number and I will call you.

Hi Sika98, Many thanks for the info. The Sika we have seen are def very small, about the size of a Fallow doe of medium pricket. I neighbour of mine got a few Sika brought up from Wicklow many years ago as a private collection and these were large enough to pass as small/medium reds, particularily the stags. These were dappled like reds in summer coat and produced very good large heads with strong beams.

Thanks for the heads up on the access and I'd like to meet up. All being well I'll get to the exhibition. I know Hollow Farm well but dont get there much as I'm not far from the Tyrone Monaghan border.Do you pass this way much?? Let me know.

Many thanks

Hot Barrels

quote:

Originally posted by Boghossian:


I have to agree, the pure japs in Kerry have very thin antlers compared to the Wicklow hybrids that frequently get passed off as sika to visiting hunters. Nothing wrong with hybrids mind you!
I do think it's queer that there is so much hybridisation in Wicklow whereas in other areas reds and sika live side by side without crossing...

The question of the interbreeding between sika and reds is probably a totally different subject.
One of my friends got into deer farming[he breeds reds].a quick brief is he fenced off 100 acres of Wicklow countryside,went over it again and again to make sure there were no sneaky sikas hiding in the enclosure.3 red stags and a number of red hinds were released into the enclosure.
1 of the stags was a bit of a runt,the 2 bigger pushed him off and he slunk into the shrubbery.Hey bingo,come the spring he appeared with a big smile and 2 obviously pregnant sika hinds which had not been flushed out.
So it would seem the inferior reds cross with the sika hinds.
There is ongoing research here to see whether the fallow and sika interbreed in the wild.They will under artifical circumstances,ie captivity.

Sika98k

You bet they will interbreed in the wild! The number of Red/Nippon crosses I have seen in Wicklow should negate the need for 'research'. The incidence was worse than any other area I have stalked in.

(Arrgh - just reread your post and spotted Fallow+Sika)

Having said that - DNA analysis of Reds in Scotland reveals that almost every sample contained traces of Sika - even if several generations back. Alarmingly, many of the subjects looked to be completely whole blood Red.

It has been postulated that in a few years, only some of the Western Isle Red populations will be clear of Sika genes.

Interesting tale regarding the Red stag holding the Sika hinds. Accepted wisdom is that it is more normal for a lonely Sika to hold Red hinds in the wild. This does not occur commonly in parks where there are adequate numbers of hinds of the correct species.

Rgds Ian

I've heard of the Sika/Fallow cross breeding in the west, and I put it down to crossed wires as my friend is not a stalker, so I assumed he had his wires crossed.

I've seen a lone Sika hind that was running with a group of Reds in the borders. As Ian says I have heard that the number of hinds is the determining factor of the level of hybridisation or if they keep seperate.

FB

I feel we have hijacked this thread somewhat, but if anyone has a picture of a Sika/FALLOW cross handy, I would love to see it. I always thought it didn't happen.

Well Solvi, how was Dublin? did you go to the exhibition?

No, to many distractions, was there only for 4.days with my wife and people from work, so partying and just having fun took all my time.
My bank account is still hurting.

The exhibition was pretty good.
There were some fantastic Irish Red deer trophies. 1 of 11.7kgs with I think it was 21 points.Hmm so why travel to Hungary for a trophy like that ? Donegal is the place to go !!
A lot of good Sika heads and a number of good Fallow heads the like of which I have never seen outside the Phoenix Park.

Were the reds all taken in Donegal?

Can you post any pictures? 11.7kgs is a monster anywhere. Hope they don't start crossing with the sika too!

Sorry Bog I did not bring a camera with me.
However a photo of the big ,un is in the March issue of Irish Shooters Digest.page 16.
21 points and 219.88 CIP points.
Some of the reds were from Donegal,the Boyne valley and Connemara