Quality of Antlered Game in South Africa?

[Sabre]

I have generally seen fallow deer offered by a lot of SA outfitters. However, the vast majority of trophy photos I have seen, the quality is poor in comparison to even free range fallow in other countries. I always assumed it was because of the habitat being much different than one they were designed for.

Another thread mentioned Sambar and Rusa Deer being at a SA outfitter, which I hadn't seen before. Maybe because I wasn't looking or just less common.

I have also seen Axis Deer listed in SA.


So, I have seen fallow deer in SA and I have seen many trophy photos of them from there. I have not experienced the others and haven't seen SA trophy photos of them. Are all the antlered species in SA generally smaller in trophy quality and more busted up (as compared to a habitat closer to their natural environment)?

I would love if some people had photos or personal experiences from hunting them there.

 

[Muskox]

Hunters Hill has Sambar, Rusa, Axis, Hog Deer, Pere David Deer and I have seen red stags on offer at other locations.

Never seen a fallow that was of decent size in South Africa.

I have killed 3 fallow bucks all in the 2.5-2.8 kg skull weight range around 147-160 CIC points. Here in Europe these are trophy size but small. Never seen a fallow from South Africa that was even close.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Never seen a fallow that was of decent size in South Africa.

Sure, they are not comparable to some of the monsters in Europe, but I think these are decent. There is no doubt that you have to hunt the correct area. All of these posted, are free range by the way.

 

[Muskox]

Those are quality bucks for sure.

I like the length. Something our Slovenian trophies are greatly lacking.

First buck is from 2025, other two bucks are from 2024.

The first buck was crazy heavy he was judged to be 8 years old.

The other two bucks have more length of tine, but he weighed more.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Very interesting the different scoring methods. Here, we would not consider the weight of the antlers for a second, and I would not be able to judge one by weight either. Over here, its all about length and the width of the palms. The tines are a bonus.
Very interesting indeed. One of those Fallows in Hungary that look like a moose is certainly a dream of mine.

 

[Muskox]

Very interesting the different scoring methods. Here, we would not consider the weight of the antlers for a second, and I would not be able to judge one by weight either. Over here, its all about length and the width of the palms. The tines are a bonus.
Very interesting indeed. One of those Fallows in Hungary that look like a moose is certainly a dream of mine.

Yes the 5kg-7kg fallows are insane!

They also cost $5000-7000.

A friend of mine killed a big fallow in Bulgaria and it was over $7000. His wife shot it, and she called him and told him not to shoot anything until they got it measured. He was there to shoot a gold medal red stag and she was going to shoot a standard fallow.

The guide got her goat, and she shot this 6.5 kg fallow and that ended the entire hunt for both of them. I think he shot a 2 year old wild boar and they were done.

Maybe you could find someone selling frozen fallow semen and build up your South African quality. there are some huge fallow in America now. I don't know what they weight ut they are close to the Hungarian guys in size.

 

[Muskox]

FALLOW DEER – Big Time Whitetails And Exotics

bigtimewhitetailsandexotics.com

 

[375Fox]

At least for fallow deer I don’t think the incentive to develop them is there. Their rut takes place before the majority of international hunters start coming to South Africa. It’s a nice add on at a reasonable price. I think they are popular with locals also.
The big “free range” fallow bucks in Europe are highly managed. They’ve had genetics introduced and developed by professional game keepers to get them there. Many cases even though they aren’t fenced, the fallow deer populations are essentially islands disconnected from other fallow deer populations. The true free range unmanaged bucks aren’t nearly that size. So I think it has a lot more to do with intensive management than nutrition alone. Free range fallow deer in New Zealand are relatively modest trophies also, same with red stag.

 

[Muskox]

Islands is an adequate word.

Wildboar and Roe deer are endemic and common pretty much everywhere in mainland Europe.

Red deer live where there is enough forest to hold them. Big areas without people.

Fallow deer and to a lesser extent mouflon are spotty. Both are way more common in Eastern Europe than they are Germany, but some forest have them.

Even in Rheinland Pfalz I See wild roe deer daily or at least weekly and I see reds occasionally.

I never see fallow deer or mouflon.

There are mouflon on the Donnersberg 30km from my house.

Fallow exist but they aren't common.

Both are heavily restricted by livestock fencing, and motor ways. I think that is the key.

I have done a lot of hunting in Europe, roe and pigs are everywhere. Reds are common. Fallow and mouflon are rarer.

Chamois are common in the mountains. Ibex are usually the result of a high fence, they are not common at all..

Spain has lots of their ibex, and they are common but the hand of man has moved them. Same as mouflon and fallow there.

Northern Italy has a lot of wild fallow, I think Ireland, England have more, not just game parks.

The epicenter of big fallow is Hungary, but Czech, Romania and Bulgaria also produce huge trophies.

 

[Red Leg]

Islands is an adequate word.

Wildboar and Roe deer are endemic and common pretty much everywhere in mainland Europe.

Red deer live where there is enough forest to hold them. Big areas without people.

Fallow deer and to a lesser extent mouflon are spotty. Both are way more common in Eastern Europe than they are Germany, but some forest have them.

Even in Rheinland Pfalz I See wild roe deer daily or at least weekly and I see reds occasionally.

I never see fallow deer or mouflon.

There are mouflon on the Donnersberg 30km from my house.

Fallow exist but they aren't common.

Both are heavily restricted by livestock fencing, and motor ways. I think that is the key.

I have done a lot of hunting in Europe, roe and pigs are everywhere. Reds are common. Fallow and mouflon are rarer.

Chamois are common in the mountains. Ibex are usually the result of a high fence, they are not common at all..

Spain has lots of their ibex, and they are common but the hand of man has moved them. Same as mouflon and fallow there.

Northern Italy has a lot of wild fallow, I think Ireland, England have more, not just game parks.

The epicenter of big fallow is Hungary, but Czech, Romania and Bulgaria also produce huge trophies.

I have hunted Austria quite a bit (Germany as well, but that was many years ago). The vast majority of Alpine Ibex of Austria are not behind fences. They are there and thriving thanks to King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy who in the mid-nineteenth century created a preserve for what was likely the last hundred or so surviving ibex in the Alps. These became the basis of the growing populations that are thriving today.

I am not sure what you mean by the "hand of man" has "moved" the Ibex of Spain? I have hunted them fairly extensively. The surviving four subspecies, the Pyrenean subspecies is extinct, inhabited their isolated regions long enough to display clear subspecies characteristics. The populations in the Gredos, Sierra Nevada, and Tortosa-Beceite were the most robust and genetically diversified. Interestingly, the human depopulation of many rural areas as a result of the Spanish Civil War helped preserve the animals until stewardship became important in the latter two-thirds of the 20th century. Those stocks have been bolstered in adjacent areas by restocking. I personally think the Gredos is the most handsome.

France has had excellent success in reintroducing ibex to the Pyrenees which is a boon for Spain as well. France is Using the Western Spanish Ibex (Gredos) for the restocking effort.

In my experience, free range fallow deer can be a fine game animal. However, in an estate behind a fence, they can quickly become habituated to humans which doesn't make for a particularly interesting hunt.

 

[Sabre]

Sure, they are not comparable to some of the monsters in Europe, but I think these are decent. There is no doubt that you have to hunt the correct area. All of these posted, are free range by the way.

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I have looked at your trophy photos before. When I was making the post you were actually the only outfitter I could think of that I had seen that seemed to consistently get into good size fallow in SA. I am sure there are others too.

I just noticed a pattern of most of them I have seen over there having thinner palms and pretty broken front tines.

What is your experience with the other antlered deer in SA, the Axis, Sambar, and Rusa? Do you see some areas that produce good quality of those as well?

For the record, I would be happy with all of those fallow you just posted and wouldn't consider them small or bad in anyway.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

I have looked at your trophy photos before. When I was making the post you were actually the only outfitter I could think of that I had seen that seemed to consistently get into good size fallow in SA. I am sure there are others too.

I just noticed a pattern of most of them I have seen over there having thinner palms and pretty broken front tines.

What is your experience with the other antlered deer in SA, the Axis, Sambar, and Rusa? Do you see some areas that produce good quality of those as well?

For the record, I would be happy with all of those fallow you just posted and wouldn't consider them small or bad in anyway.

The broken tines simply comes from time of the year that the hunt was conducted. If one wanted tines in tact, you would need to be hunting them real early season, before the rut. ( February-March)

I have zero experience with Axis, Sambar and Rusa and have never hunted them. Not sure that I would be comfortable to be perfectly honest.

 

[Sarg]

FALLOW DEER – Big Time Whitetails And Exotics

bigtimewhitetailsandexotics.com

Wow some of those an extra huge & even need two ear tags !

A lot is blood line, Fallow are one of my passions & max in NZ was in the 240DS scale - this is Douglas Score bit like the US Boone & Crockett scoring system.

Some areas:herds couldn’t even make the minimum score for our Record book 200DS & no Red Fallow ever made it, only Black & White Bucks as the big heads were only in Black Fallow locations & all up record was 247DS or so & a White Buck, that Buck was NZ record for 90yrs !

Now record is near 300DS & nearly all Red Fallow & from Free Range herds less than 25yrs -30yrs established.

My best from old days & over 100yrs old herds was 230DS - I was paid to cull a area that had new generation blood line, wild wild, no supplement feed or husbandry of any type, I tried to let good blood line Bucks live but did shoot a couple, my largest now 269DS with broken points & 4in off a brow.

So I think Genetics are the main thing - then feed - then age !

 

[Sabre]

At least for fallow deer I don’t think the incentive to develop them is there. Their rut takes place before the majority of international hunters start coming to South Africa. It’s a nice add on at a reasonable price. I think they are popular with locals also.
The big “free range” fallow bucks in Europe are highly managed. They’ve had genetics introduced and developed by professional game keepers to get them there. Many cases even though they aren’t fenced, the fallow deer populations are essentially islands disconnected from other fallow deer populations. The true free range unmanaged bucks aren’t nearly that size. So I think it has a lot more to do with intensive management than nutrition alone. Free range fallow deer in New Zealand are relatively modest trophies also, same with red stag.

Thanks for this perspective. I always assumed it was more about nutrition and habitat. But the management aspect makes a lot of sense too.

 

[Charlie64]

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Here are a couple that we shot in RSA some years ago. Nearly not as big as some European fallow, yet totally free range plus an awesome hunt (in shorts) and they were a fraction of the price of European fallow at USD 500/- per buck!

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[Sabre]

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Here are a couple that we shot in RSA some years ago. Nearly not as big as some European fallow, yet totally free range plus an awesome hunt (in shorts) and they were a fraction of the price of European fallow at USD 500/- per buck!

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I think you would be hard pressed to find them even in RSA for that price nowadays

 

[Muskox]

I think that is common across Namibia and South Africa in pricing. I have noticed that oryx that were $400-600 in Namibia and $800-1200 in RSA are now $800-1200 in Namibia and $1800-2500 in RSA.

Traditional cattle ranches aside. It's getting bloody expensive.

 

[Sabre]

I think that is common across Namibia and South Africa in pricing. I have noticed that oryx that were $400-600 in Namibia and $800-1200 in RSA are now $800-1200 in Namibia and $1800-2500 in RSA.

Traditional cattle ranches aside. It's getting bloody expensive.

That does seem to be the trend with everything the last 5 years or so.