Fallow Deer in Limpopo

[Deuce]

We are looking at heading back to South Africa in late May 2024. Wondering about fallow deer, but not sure of the timing for quality of game. I have read that the rut stars in March, but we would be months later.

I don’t want to waste days looking for a quality fallow if they will be broken up or if they will not be in prime condition.

Is looking to add one of these to my bucket list something to consider?

Deuce

 

[375Fox]

Are there very many opportunities for fallow deer in Limpopo? Usually if I see mention of them it’s eastern cape or free state.

 

[flatwater bill]

Hope you get the Fallow of your dreams there........I had to go to Spain to get mine........FWB

 

[Hyde Hunter]

a friend took a big one in the East Cape this past April

 

[WAB]

If you want a big fallow, RSA seems an odd place to go for it.

 

[Red Leg]

I can highly recommend southern Austria.

 

[Dewald]

I don’t know to much about fallow deer in SA. Every year some monsters are taken in pathetic small camps, and every year some free range deer get hunted here. They adapt very well to the mountainous vegetation in the Eastern Cape and a trophy stag can offer an incredibly tough hunt.

Bottom line to me is they are not indigenous to SA, so if you want a fallow trophy go to Europe and hunt one according to their traditions. There are more than enough indigenous plains game to hunt in Limpopo

 

[CoElkHunter]

If they are difficult to hunt in RSA and would take up a lot of your Safari time to hunt them, I personally would pass and concentrate on African animals. Just me.

 

[Sideshow]

Didn’t even know that they had them there. I know that they had Chamois around table Mountain though.

 

[Dewald]

Didn’t even know that they had them there. I know that they had Chamois around table Mountain though.

There are Himalayan tahr on Table Mountain that escaped from a zoo years ago. Sanity prevailed and they shot most of them a few years ago, but there are still a few left. And of course there are green movements trying to protect their rights to live there…

 

[Dewald]

Didn’t even know that they had them there. I know that they had Chamois around table Mountain though.

There are Himalayan tahr on Table Mountain that escaped from a zoo years ago. Sanity prevailed and they shot most of them a few years ago, but there are still a few left. And of course there are green movements trying to protect their rights to live there…

 

[Sideshow]

Are it was Thar new it was one of those two.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Fallow Deer arrived in the Eastern Cape of South Africa during the 1800's. They were brought over on ships by the British as food, and were released. Over time, they spread across big areas. It is possible to hunt them in free range environments. Keep in mind that its the only animal to shed its horns, so you will need to plan your safari according to that. I love them, and love having them in the Eastern Cape.
My advice would be to keep your safari between March and May, in order to get the best out of them. They like to break tines fighting. Rut typically falls around the 14th of April.

I would say that there are certainly better areas in the world to hunt them if you are looking for the biggest. Fallow in RSA are also about a 10th of the price. There are decent Fallow in areas in South Africa, hunted in a fair chase environment or free range. Area is key.

 

[Hunt anything]

If I was going to hunt an introduced fallow deer I would hunt it in Texas with Gizmo and the upside would be getting to keep some fine tasting venison.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Fallow Deer arrived in the Eastern Cape of South Africa during the 1800's. They were brought over on ships by the British as food, and were released. Over time, they spread across big areas. It is possible to hunt them in free range environments. Keep in mind that its the only animal to shed its horns, so you will need to plan your safari according to that. I love them, and love having them in the Eastern Cape.
My advice would be to keep your safari between March and May, in order to get the best out of them. They like to break tines fighting. Rut typically falls around the 14th of April.

I would say that there are certainly better areas in the world to hunt them if you are looking for the biggest. Fallow in RSA are also about a 10th of the price. There are decent Fallow in areas in South Africa, hunted in a fair chase environment or free range. Area is key.

So, basically the fallow have ANTLERS like red deer, wapiti, deer and moose that are shed every year. Everything else that is native to Africa has horns that are not shed? The one "horned" animal exception here that does shed its horns is the pronghorn. Interesting to me as to the WHY some animals evolved with antlers that are shed and some with horns that are permanent.

 

[Frederik]

Fallow will be found in the colder areas of South Africa definitely not Llimpopo if they do then it will be canned or penned.

 

[Nyati]

The third fallow deer @KMG Hunting Safaris is showing us is a very good trophy.

The best I have seen come from Hungary, but they are not cheap !

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

The third fallow deer @KMG Hunting Safaris is showing us is a very good trophy.

The best I have seen come from Hungary, but they are not cheap !

Yes sir. Hungary is probably the mecca of Fallow in the world, and even a dream of mine, but I think I saw that their price is around EURO7000. Big difference between that and $800.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

If I was going to hunt an introduced fallow deer I would hunt it in Texas with Gizmo and the upside would be getting to keep some fine tasting venison.

So you will rather hunt a Sambar in Texas than in Australia? Or anything else for that matter since everything there is introduced.

The Fallow have been here for more than 200 years. That's more native to this country than I am.

 

[375Fox]

Yes sir. Hungary is probably the mecca of Fallow in the world, and even a dream of mine, but I think I saw that their price is around EURO7000. Big difference between that and $800.

The biggest stags may be 7000 euros but most are considerably less. The third fallow buck photo you posted is really nice, but most South African bucks appear to be modest trophies. $800 is still a very good price but most fallow deer are in the $1500-$4000 range depending on the country in Europe.