John Fenton was born in 1959 in the heart of the Wicklow Mountain’s, an area best known as the “Garden of Ireland”. He was introduced to stalking at the age of 12 under the supervision of his father George. Starting to hunt at such an early age was of great benefit to John in learning the ways of hunting Sika, one of the most difficult, shy and challenging of all the deer species. Today John is hi
ghly regarded as a professional deer manager and one of the best sika guides in Ireland. He is known far and wide as John Sika Fenton, a name given to him by his Danish clients, a country in addition to others throughout the world where he is recognised as an expert hunter. Initially as the only professional hunter in his region John was limited to a maximum of 2 hunters per week and 8 hunters for the stag season. Throughout these years he would have shot 20 stags per season, a few of which were medal class. With numerous years of sound deer management there’s been a significant improvement in the number of medal quality heads that John’s clients have achieved. Examples of this increase include a group of 10 Danish hunters in week 41, 2010 that shot 33 stags in 5 days hunting, 8 of these stags were of medal class. These significant numbers show many that if anyone can fulfil your dream of shooting a sika stag then John Fenton is your man. In his 22 years of professional stalking no client of his taking a 5 day hunt has left empty handed, all hunters have shot at least 1 stag from their package. Johns preferred type of hunting is stalking on foot, walking along the forest rides and up the side of mountains. Hunting takes place on two outings per morning for 2-4 hours and in the evening for another 2-3 hours. Hunting is with 2 hunters and 1 guide where 1 hunter will be placed in a high seat and the second hunter and guide will go on foot. This provides hunters with the best independent experience whilst also receiving expert advice. Regular clients may be given instruction on how to hunt areas alone, dependant on their experience. An average level of fitness is required for sika stalking however we will always provide suitable hunting for each person’s standards. Hunting takes place over a divided area of 20,000 acres of farm land and conifer forests that run out onto open mountain moorland. The largest of these areas is the scenic 7000 acre Luggala Estate, unique for its good quality Sika Stags and the finest open mountain stalking. Hunters also have access to the 4000 acre Ballinacor estate, known for its quality Sika Stags and pheasant shoot. Its dense vegetation is ideal for challenging Sika hunting and the well managed farm land gives rise to top class Sika trophies. In 2009 a Norwegian hunter shot an impressive 11 point Sika Stag measured 229 cic points (gold medal). Best time to hunt sika. The best time for top quality stags is from week 39 to week 44 which is the sika stag rutting period. This period is the clients chance to hunt the Sika Stag the most difficult of deer species. The challenge and experience of the Sika hunt brings the same clients back to Wicklow year after year. You may also have the chance at time to shoot a mountain goat. November through to December is a good time to combine both stag and hind stalking. We advise that you book for a hind shooting package and if the chance arises to shoot a good quality stag then you are able to pay the trophy fee charge at the end of your stay. Best time for hind stalking is from November to the end of February or a combination hunt in January\ February for decoying pigeons and hind stalking. Contact Details;
Telephone: 00353 87 9857747
Email: [email protected]
