What is this deer?
 

I was told that this deer is a Dybowski Sika but from my research Sika' s have a white rump. This deer had a long dark tail you can see in the picture.

RE: What is this deer?
 

where did u kill that thing

RE: What is this deer?
 

I have 460+ acres in Leakey, TX. Way West. Anyhow we have exotics but the only things I have harvested are an Axis, Aoudad, White-Tail and now this? I was told it is a Sika but from re-search they have a pure white rump like a baboon and it' s hard to see the tail on them. This clearly has a long tail. I though it was a baby elk after i shot it but in Tx? It is hard to see but it had light colored spots hardly noticable on the rump. It was hanging out with a doe that had a white rump with spots which I though was a chocolate fallow. Fallow are often mistaken for Sika so I beleieved the guy that told me it was a Sika but I have yet to find a picture of a Sika with a tail like the one in my picture.

Jason

RE: What is this deer?
 

I would have let if grow up then you would know what is was. How much does that hoss weigh?

RE: What is this deer?
 

i thought the same thing it looks like a baby elk, but i am sure its not,wierd

RE: What is this deer?
 

It was about 140. Not the heaviest thing in the record book but was my first harvest for the season. I guess it was a meat thing not a trophy thing.

Jason

RE: What is this deer?
 

140 what? ounces maybe.

RE: What is this deer?
 

Don' t poke fun my friend, the picture doesn' t do justice for it. I don' t want to hear any criticism I just want to know what it is?

Jason

RE: What is this deer?
 

If you don' t know what it is, how could you shoot it???? Or is anything with 4 legs and a tail open season in Texas?[:o]

RE: What is this deer?
 

I thought it was a chocolate fallow! but was told it is a Sika. Either way it is at the processing plant and will be eating.

On my property if it is an exotic it is fair game.

RE: What is this deer?
 

After investigating some more, Sika' s have short tails. The tail of my deer is long and after looking over some pictures I have determined this to be a chocolate fallow. Only the fallow have a long tail as shown in the picture.

Jason

RE: What is this deer?
 

Not to poke fun or criticise, but if you don' t know what it is.....What tag did you put on it? I have never seen anything like that before.

RE: What is this deer?
 

In texas we only tag whitetails. Exotics do not have to be tagged just have to have a liscense to shoot it. I was right though, that I shot a fallow. See most of the exotics in texas have world class meat. For instance Axis, and Fallow both have a better tasting meat than a whitetail.

I would rather shoot the exotics for the meat and the whitetails for the trophy. But get the same satisfaction out of both. All of the animals are free range and all taste great.

Jason

RE: What is this deer?
 

That' s cool. I don' t know any of hunting laws down there. I wouldn' t know what the hell to do if I saw something like that walking around up here. LOL I prefer mouse or elk over deer, but I don' t too much of that meat unless my buddies shoot one. I' ll have to stick to venison unless I win the lottery someday. :D

RE: What is this deer?
 

It sure was an eye opener for me. I was sitting on a cliff while it was raining when they came out about 30 yards from me three of them. One a large doe, this little buck and a yearling. I let them graze for about 30 minutes thinking they were whitetail just wet. Well one of them turned from me and the butt end had no white. I thought to myself these are no whitetail they are an exotic so I took the buck. After I harvested the deer. I thought to myself I should have taken the doe but I was sure that another buck was around. I think the little buck I shot was an off-spring of the doe but about 2 years. The doe looked to be about 4 years old. And the little yearling sheesh.

During bow season I think one came out behind a cedar smelled me and screamed at me. About made me fall out my tri-pod. It litterally screamed scared me half to death. Anyhow I know they exist and will be looking for more.

Jason

RE: What is this deer?
 

bobo,is this a canned hunting area,I believe thats where exotics come from.By canned I mean pay for what you shoot,usually animals that came from another continent,not my cup of tea,but to each his own.

Joe

RE: What is this deer?
 

No the land is open range and I do not pay to hunt on my own property. When I say own it is actually a friends place. The friend does not hunt just owns the property for his own pleasure. He does scout around and take pictures. I found out that exotics breed like rabits. My property backs up to a game managed ranch like you talk about and is where the exotics come from.

Six years ago when I first started hunting on this place there was nothing but hogs and whitetail. Now six years later we have 3 or 4 heards of Axis with about 20 deer in each heard. I have seen a few Aoudad and now the fallow deer. It just adds to the excitement on what I will see next.

Jason

RE: What is this deer?
 

Looks like an elk to me...[:o]

RE: What is this deer?
 

I did research on elk they don' t have a tail more or less a little nub. The sika have the same little nub and so to red stag. I think all three are in the same family.

Jason

RE: What is this deer?
 

Is it possible it is some type of cross-breed?

RE: What is this deer?
 

What ever you do I wouldn' t eat the meat!!!

RE: What is this deer?
 

not to poke fun at your harvest, but it does look weird. congrats just the same.:)

RE: What is this deer?
 

Stump_MN_Hunter, how do you prepare MOUSE anyway?:D:DJust wondering.On a real small spit or do you prefer the roaster???:D:D

RE: What is this deer?
 

to be honest to me it looks like a horreficly inbreed DeerLOL

RE: What is this deer?
 

I can assure anybody that looks at this picture it is NOT an elk
tail is to long
legs are to long and skinny
it is way to small (a calf elk ways well over 140 lbs)
colors are all wrong

i would say it is a fallow (spots body tail) of some sort

RE: What is this deer?
 

Definately a fallow deer. There are 3 colors: chocolate, spotted (look a lot like axis), and solid white. Pretty weird looking breed. Their antlers have brow tines like an elk and then sweep back to a palmation, not unlike a cariboo. They do eat well. That one should be tender.

Elk, red deer, and sika are all genetically related and can interbreed. I know a guy who bred a bull elk with sika does (150-200lbs). They bred and had babies with no problem, but the young was as big as mama at 3-4 months of age.

For the uneducated, there are many so called " game ranches" in Texas that started many years ago. Because of hogs, old fences, a lot of exotics have broken out of these ranches and spread to " nongame ranches" . I have one like bobo. We have blackbuck antelope, axis, fallow, and sika deer. All game is wild and freeranging because there are no high fences in the area. I happen to think that axis is the best eating deer out there. It is leaner than beef, but has some marbling in the meat to make it more tender and jucier than whitetail. They are also bigger than the whitetail in my area, by about 50 lbs.

RE: What is this deer?
 

Come on Bobo, who are you trying to kid? Unless that' s Andre the Giant' s leg in the background, that deer wouldn' t weigh in at more that 100 pounds MAXIMUM. (Andre the Giant died a few years ago anyway).

Put away your peace pipe and come back to earth.

RE: What is this deer?
 

Not sure what it is but if that thing goes 140# you must be the size of Paul Bunyan!;)

RE: What is this deer?
 

Definetly NOT a sika, legs too long and head to big.

RE: What is this deer?
 

Ill put my money on a crossbreed for sure.

RE: What is this deer?
 

funky looking what ever it is.

RE: What is this deer?
 

It may be a cross breed.
It does happen.

RE: What is this deer?
 

Believe whatever you guy' s want to believe as for the size of the animal. However the deer in west texas don' t get as big as most of you guy' s are used to seeing. I' m sure since this was an exotic fallow that it could have gotten a lot bigger but hey to me it' s meat in the freezer.

I agree with txhunter58 if there were more axis on my place I would be throwing rocks at the whitetail to harvest an axis. Axis have world class meat rated number one in my book over anything else. I was told that the fallow taste similar. However the Axis are from Asia and the Fallow are from European' s. I' ve done my re-search on the exotice just because we have them on the property.

The deer I shot is deffinitely a Chocolate Fallow.

RE: What is this deer?
 

I ' m with BOWFANATIC. If that thig goes 140# you must be a giant. I would say more like 40#

RE: What is this deer?
 

Give it a rest guys. Who cares what it weighs. Are you the weight police? On the other hand, there are some guys who probably know what they are talking about just from a picture, so unless you weighed it Bobo, let it drop.

Obviously, it wasn' t a trophy and was shot simply for the meat, and I guarantee you that everyone on this board has eaten very young animals. The beef you eat is probably not much over a year if even that, pigs are usually slaughtered at maybe 6-8 months, and the " fryer" chickens your wife cooks are 8-12 weeks old.

It was a fallow deer. He will eat good. Nuff said.

RE: What is this deer?
 

I' m Not trying to ride your butt here, I' ve tried to look at this from your side. and I have no Idea what the laws are in Texas, and I have no idea what the thing is. However I just keep askin myself how can you shoot any game animal without positive identification. I' m not looking to take the high ground here I have my faults as well but If I' m not 100% sure of what I' m shootin at I don' t shoot.

RE: What is this deer?
 

Good point nyflyer. I certainly wouldn' t shoot anything without knowing what it is. However, you have to realize that exotic deer/sheep/antelope are very common in the area he hunts. The ONLY deer type animal that requires a license to kill in the area is a whitetail. This is not a whitetail or a whitetail cross, it is a fallow deer. Even though he didn' t know for sure what exotic it was, he knew when he shot it (with 3 individuals out in front of him) that it was not a whitetail, therefore it was legal to shoot without a license or tag. I am sure it seems very foreign to someone who hasn' t had the opportunity to live and hunt here, but it is the norm for here. Exotics are considered livestock. If he could have done it, he could have loaded this deer up in a trailer and sold it at an exotic auction.

You also refer to it as a " game" animal. To the state of Texas, it is not a game animal, it is an exotic. You can also hunt/kill exotics year round. There is no season. Wierd huh!

RE: What is this deer?
 

:)Thank you txhunter58 " I see said the blind man who really couldn' t see"

RE: What is this deer?
 

If you guy' s re-read the first post I was almost sure it was a fallow. What took me for a loop was that when i took the meat to our meat locker in town the owner said it was a sika. I started second guessing myself after that. However after research I knew it was a fallow. In Texas exotics are not native game and can be shot without even harvesting it for meat. So at least it' s at the processing facility. As for the meat fallow are said to be excellent tasting game.

I won' t waist my time on the weight subject.

Thanks to all those who have helped in some way.

Jason

RE: What is this deer?
 

Oh never mind