Massive Welsh Fallow

paul k

Well-Known Member
I heard that a fallow buck has been shot recently in North Wales that weighed 265lbs, that's just a fraction under 19 stone. I'm not sure if that was clean or not but either way it's a hell of a deer.
 
how big ? ? ? Sounds like a tall tale, but suppose if you get seven foot people i bet it wasn't picking a living of the hills and pine plantations!
 
biggest fallow i ever shot was 185/6pounds dressed out with feet off but head and jacket on took me nearly 40 minutes to lift into back of shogun on a wet september morning single handed sounds like this taff was on steroids or mistaked it for a red instead
 
Paul, it does sound a bit too big doesn't it ? Give us some more details
 
Big Fallow

It would be a very big Fallow at that weight, but I have shot Fallow with clients just over 200lbs clean. These larger beasts do tend to pop up now and again. I well remember in Scotland about 16 years ago we shot a Red Hind, and that scaled out clean at 171lbs.

I also took a monster Sika Buck in same area about 4 years ago with an American client, and that weighed in at 175lbs clean. And no it was not a hybrid either.

So I would not discount it out of hand. It might even be an escapee from a local deer farm or park?
 
I was also very sceptical as this seems well above the normal range for even big fallow bucks but this comes on the best authority from a good source. It was shot on a well managed lowland estate in a fertile area with some limestone. The estate accurately records all deer shot and there are apparently some photos which are on the way.

Although the deer are on an estate these are not enclosed park deer and range outside the estate. There has been a potential silver medal buck in the area for two years but I'm not sure if this is the same animal.

I know the stalker concerned and although the info came second hand from him through a third party I'll try and get first hand confirmation.

I can confirm that a fallow buck was shot in the Forest of Dean by the FC stalker some years ago that weighed 214 lbs clean, I saw it and there is a photo in a book that I have.
 
Sikamalc, Yes like i say you get seven foot men and some fat ones!! If it was clean weight i could be very tempted into going into farming Fallow as i think it is exelent Venison that is of a milder less gamey type to that of reds, My sister in law cannot tollerate any other vension than Fallow.
I beleve they farm them in NZealand i wonder what weights they pull ?
 
Taste

Yes Kent, I would agree that Fallow is certainly a much milder taste than Red Deer venison. Reds can be quite gamey in taste, in particular I find later in the year when food is short and they spend more time eating heather tips which I believe can alter the flavour of the meat.

For me there is nothing quite like a piece of Sika Venison, which happens to be my favourite. Luvely stuff ;)
 
Oh, yes young Sika Fillet ! I personally like the gamey rich taste of most wild venson. my findings are most non- shooting game aclimitised guests prefer the Fallow.
My eldest daughter esspecially likes could fallow haunch cooked in Marmalade on her school lunch sandwiches. One winter we lived on practically no other meat.
Mind you the youngest at two years will raid anyones plate for rare cooked roe Fillet, strange thing is she tends to avoid most other meats.
Hey i gave roe fillet "cooked rare" to a guest the other week as she didn't want the roast pork we were serving - reason she felt sorry for the pig ! She has been a veggie for over twenty years previous, and stated she knew the Deer had a better life than the pig and i would have killed it cleanly!
I am not boasting of my acurracy here but it does put a different slant on things as portayed in the media.
 
I find that many people prefer muntjac venison as it is possibly the least gamey. At one time we had a local Chinese restaurant willing to take any muntjac we could get.
 
As all of my kids have flown the nest, its rather a waste to get a whole haunch of Sika out, unless we are having a dinner party.

So I tend to freeze the whole haunch, and when frozen solid take it to a friend who cuts the haunch into lovely big thick steaks with a band saw. It makes it so easy cutting when frozen, and they go down a treat on the BB Q with a knob of butter, seasoning and brushed with olive oil, served medium rare on a warm summers evening with a cold lager. Ahhhhhhhh sheer bliss, and food of the gods!
 
I work with some African chaps and they cannot get enough venison! Nearest thing to bush meat I suppose. Pity I can't sell it I'd make a small fortune.
 
Hi SikaMalc,

Not wanting to be pikki old boy but......... whats a sika buck????? :oops:

Theres always a smart arse ehh!

While were on about monster deer,

In 1993 I shot a munty buck he weighed 32lb..........skinned. He was huge I coud`nt believe my eyes when I walked up to him, he wasn`t any taller than other munties i`ve shot but bloody hell he looked like he`d been on steroids, as for the venison no different to any other munty, just as delicious

Choz
 
Ok Ok Sika Stag as they are a member of the cervus family. But if you have hunted/stalked thenm enough everyone in Scotland calls them Sika Bucks.

Smart arse :lol:
 
Well i`m not sure what you`d call hunting/stalking them enough but.... after 32yrs of stalking/hunting in various parts of the world, i`ve never heard anybody refer to sika stags as sika bucks, not even in scotland, but i suppose you can call them what you like.

Just curious as to why you don`t refer to them as stags :confused:


Don`t suppose you`ve got any of them Roe Stags up in your area ;)
 
Ha Ha funny man :rolleyes: Well after nearly 27 years of hunting in the highlands, there are quite a few stalkers who refer to them as Sika Bucks, which I know is technically wrong :rolleyes:

I have some very nice Roe Bucks on my area in Sussex as Mr B will verify, however if you prefer to call them Stags, thats fine by me.
 
Just making the point that I have never heard any stalkers using the term BUCK whilst refering to sika, please don`t take it the wrong way old boy, didn`t mean to offend :oops:

As for my preference`s I like to give all quarry their correct title so as not to confuse others and give the impression that I don`t know one from the other :rolleyes:

Couldn`t reply earlier been stalking and wildfowling for the past week or so, no earth shattering exploits, no fancy shots just 4 hard days on the hill and 10 hinds all chest shot( broadside) all within 150yds. Then 3 days fowling on the foreshore 6 wigeon, 1 teal, and 7 pinks, nearly as good as when I first started going up there with my Dad 38 years ago :D

Merry Christmas sikamalc and a Happy New Year "Av a gud un"
 
Bit off thread but I reckon fillet from any of the deer I have tasted is pretty acceptable to fantastic.
Order of preference after that
Muntjac
Fallow and Sika joint second
Roe, unless it's a very young doe then it's second
Red last, but as I've only ever had cull beasts, that's maybe an unfair comparison.
Never tasted CWD, but I hear they are really tasty.
On the subject of names, a landowner recently asked me to get rid of a couple of fallow "stags" for her, I think her only exposure to deer was when they attacked her orchard and via Bill Oddity, so her confusion was understandable.
I respect sikamalc, but I'm with choz on this one. Call them what they're meant to be or just admit defeat and use male or female and lose the tradition.
 
choz said:
While were on about monster deer,

In 1993 I shot a munty buck he weighed 32lb..........skinned. He was huge I coud`nt believe my eyes when I walked up to him, he wasn`t any taller than other munties i`ve shot but bloody hell he looked like he`d been on steroids, as for the venison no different to any other munty, just as delicious

Biggest muntie I've handled was a buck 37lbs head & legs on, and I heard of one that went 38lbs. On average down our way, clean weight for a big buck is 28 - 30 lbs. Are they getting bigger?
 
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