ORIGINAL: bigcountry
ORIGINAL: bull3540
They do well on game ranches that have other exotics like fallow and axis deer. I got mine near Ingram, Texas. When with other (exotic) deer it's clear that they are followers, not leaders. Since they aren't that popular I think their population is dwindling, but the meat is the absolute best, better than axis I think. If it's just a meat hunt you are after and the ranch has them I'd opt for one, if the price is the same for all exotics.
I think another reason they aren't sought after is that they are short and squatty with thick brown fur. They'd make good hair on buckskin I think. too.
Ones in the wild are anything but followers. They will run a whitetail twice its size out of the swamps. And they are the most aggressive deer. They can run a hunter over. I have killed several wild ones, and are much tougher than whitetails. I don't know about exotics. I won't hunt em.
The sika, not being native to the U.S., is an exotic. They do not compete with whitetail deer. There are wild populations in several states including Texas. They tend to wallow in mud and can be found in creeks and riverbeds. Native to Japan they are shorter than whiletail deer, and have a shaggy coat that runs from dark red to brown, with some of the subspecies having spots similar to axis.
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/sikadeer.asp
pics here;
http://www.thewildliferanch.com/sikadeer.htm
While exotics such as the sika can shift their feeding from forbs to grass, whitetails will die with a bellyfull of grass, thus leading to the inaccurate conclusion that they "run out" native deer from habitat that is really only subprime whitetail range. Numbers of sika and other exotics are above 250,000 in Texas alone.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/game_management/deer/exotics/