Hog Deer - acquiring/keeping/breeding.....

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Noppy

Noppy

Well-Known Member
So Facebook chucked up a picture of a deer I hadn't seen before, which in turn sent me down a rabbit hole as I have 5 minutes of free time.

I was just reading about hog deer and then bizarrely it popped up saying available to hunt in the UK! So someone must've have them and a fair few if they offer hunting.

In a hypothetical situation
How easy would it be and what would the costs involved be in acquiring a pair of said deer. Also unlike fallow where there is quite a bit of literature on keeping. What height fences and areas are required to keep these deer?

Any thoughts?
 
If someone were keeping Hog Deer in the U.K. it would be in an enclosure and with a wild animal licence so hardly hunting.
I know that Muntjac are sometimes referred to as being pig like, is it possible that this is where the confusion arises?
 
John Willet used to keep a herd of Hog deer - also Manchurian Sika - on his land near Exmoor. I remember the Hog deer as resembling a cross between a Roe and Muntjac.
They were kept in large enclosures. John died in 2014 and I don’t know what happened to his deer.
 
Somewhere I've got a pair of hog deer antlers that I bought from Sam Farrow, of Dorset Deer/Southern Game Ltd, way back in 2012!

There are a few places in the UK with hog deer, at least according to the info on the BDS website on where to see deer in parks or farms:


Google doesn't turn up much in terms of hog deer hunting in the UK, other than Mike McCrave:

Hog Deer

Are you planning a hunting vacation in Scotland or England? If so, you have come to the best U.K. outfitter - Mike McCrave.
huntingvacationscotland.com huntingvacationscotland.com
 
willie_gunn said:
Somewhere I've got a pair of hog deer antlers that I bought from Sam Farrow, of Dorset Deer/Southern Game Ltd, way back in 2012!

There are a few places in the UK with hog deer, at least according to the info on the BDS website on where to see deer in parks or farms:


Google doesn't turn up much in terms of hog deer hunting in the UK, other than Mike McCrave:

Hog Deer

Are you planning a hunting vacation in Scotland or England? If so, you have come to the best U.K. outfitter - Mike McCrave.
huntingvacationscotland.com huntingvacationscotland.com
Click to expand...
Interesting that of all the various deer species listed as being kept in captivity there is no listing for White-tailed Deer.

After reading a mention of a herd of white-tailed deer in an old Hansard report relating to the introduction of the deer act, I enquired on this site some years ago if anyone had ever heard of white-tailed deer perhaps running wild in the south east of England in the past. No one ever replied in the positive so I assumed that the person mentioned in Hansard had made a mistake. I wonder why no-one has apparently ever kept white-tailed deer here in the U.K. but have kept other "exotics"?
 
8x57 said:
Interesting that of all the various deer species listed as being kept in captivity there is no listing for White-tailed Deer.

After reading a mention of a herd of white-tailed deer in an old Hansard report relating to the introduction of the deer act, I enquired on this site some years ago if anyone had ever heard of white-tailed deer perhaps running wild in the south east of England in the past. No one ever replied in the positive so I assumed that the person mentioned in Hansard had made a mistake. I wonder why no-one has apparently ever kept white-tailed deer here in the U.K. but have kept other "exotics"?
Click to expand...

This article by Dr Jan Eric Räihä references anecdotal evidence of white-tailed deer having been released historically in both Woburn Park and on Arran, although sadly I couldn't find citations for either source.

deerassociation.com

The Strange Story Behind Finland’s White-tailed Deer | National Deer Association

deerassociation.com deerassociation.com

From the sounds of it, the introduction in Finland has been successful - at least from a hunting perspective.
 
willie_gunn said:
Somewhere I've got a pair of hog deer antlers that I bought from Sam Farrow, of Dorset Deer/Southern Game Ltd, way back in 2012!

There are a few places in the UK with hog deer, at least according to the info on the BDS website on where to see deer in parks or farms:


Google doesn't turn up much in terms of hog deer hunting in the UK, other than Mike McCrave:

Hog Deer

Are you planning a hunting vacation in Scotland or England? If so, you have come to the best U.K. outfitter - Mike McCrave.
huntingvacationscotland.com huntingvacationscotland.com
Click to expand...
This is spot on. I mean not that I have land, money or am in any way ready to own deer. But that list is perfect!
 
Jelen said:
John Willet used to keep a herd of Hog deer - also Manchurian Sika - on his land near Exmoor. I remember the Hog deer as resembling a cross between a Roe and Muntjac.
They were kept in large enclosures. John died in 2014 and I don’t know what happened to his deer.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately Johns deer park is no longer, it was taken over by his soon but as far as I know most of the hog deer ended up at the game dealer, I thought it was Formosan sika he had but I’m probably wrong , I did cull a sika pricket there many moons ago but didn’t keep the head.
 
Ruby Tuesday 2 said:
Unfortunately Johns deer park is no longer, it was taken over by his soon but as far as I know most of the hog deer ended up at the game dealer, I thought it was Formosan sika he had but I’m probably wrong , I did cull a sika pricket there many moons ago but didn’t keep the head.
Click to expand...
Hi. I’m sure it was Manchurian Sika. John gave me a pair of cast antlers off of the biggest stag. Also a Hog deer antler that I used as a handle on a knife. His museum was amazing.
I wonder what happened to that?

IMG_0840 Medium.webp
 
Jelen said:
Yes. I bought the blade in the black at a gamefair then finished it off and fitted the handle. First gralloch I stabbed myself in the knee and never realised ‘till it started to sting about 15 minutes later :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Brilliant, thank you.

I have a couple of puukko blades that need handles added, and I'd not thought of using the hog deer antlers, so your photo has provided some inspiration! Just need to find someone willing to do it. I've put handles on "regular" blades, and re-handled Swiss Army Knives, but putting a handle on a puukko is beyond me.
 
willie_gunn said:
Brilliant, thank you.

I have a couple of puukko blades that need handles added, and I'd not thought of using the hog deer antlers, so your photo has provided some inspiration! Just need to find someone willing to do it. I've put handles on "regular" blades, and re-handled Swiss Army Knives, but putting a handle on a puukko is beyond me.
Click to expand...
I reckon you could do it. Luckily one of my antlers had a 4” straight beam. The hardest bit is drilling the hole central. I drilled mine slightly oversize and used rapid Araldite. This allowed me a bit of wiggle room to get the blade central (near as damn it). The hardest bit was getting the guard just right and I ended up with it almost too small on the cutting edge side . It is a very handy little knife for using on Muntjac and Roe.
Good luck.
 
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