Thinking about going sika deer hunting down around the Fishing Bay wma or Black Water wildlife refuge in Maryland. Anyone ever hunt them down there. Hows the hunting. I'd either go archery or muzzleloader. Only a 6 hour or so drive from western Pa.

Thanks for any input.

Lots of good memories from years of bowhunting BWNR. Learning curve is a little
steep at first, but once you lock in on those marsh ghosts it's tons of fun. bring waders, thermocell and a good gps/compass.

I plan to hunt it this year. Best time is the rut in early to mid October. They have an archery season that goes into the muzzleloader season. That is a good time for a stag.

For black water NWR you make a reservation at Recreation.gov. They have lots of information and maps on their website.

Thanks for the replys. Ill look into it delaware rob

This is what a friend sent me... when I asked her about black water. I can’t really speak for fishing bay.

We have a soft launch at 335 and you would need to be able to carry your jon boat and put in that way, not use a ramp, which some manage. A lot kayak. You can get into more shallow spots in the kayak, but can go farther in the jon boat, so its a trade-off.

The units with more woods and less phrag, and up north more, have some WT, but also some sika. Like D and N for instance. If you are starting from scratch and dont know where to go, M2 and U are good choices but they are large. We also have the new unit X off Peters Neck, so everyone will be "new" there except for the guys who used to lease it before we bought it this year. I suspect that place may be packed this year though since new, though you never know. People tend to go where they always go out of habit.

A lot of folks love hunting the marsh, and I have done it a lot as sika love phrag. But they can be very frustrating, as you will hear them right near you but not get a shot. That's not always the case of course.

And don't get fooled by a ton of tracks in the marsh- oftentimes its used at night mostly, and it seems the stags take a tiny path you barely notice. Ive heard that from others and seen it myself. Plus the tracks in mud are very obvious and can last a long time. Of course other hunters moving around will push them around and may do something unexpected too.

I'm no expert by any means but I listen to what everyone tells me (and everyone has an opinion!) and then test it out myself. Public land for sika is different than private, so a lot of the advice is for folks sitting over feeders. It's strangely addicting and frustrating all at the same time. Bring your thermacell! Early archery sometimes that isnt even enough so I got a bugtamer too!