Deer terms?

captdavid

Well-Known Member
Have I got this correct? Elk and sika are called stags and hinds, and all others are bucks and does. What deer are spike(r)s as opposed to prickets? A follower is any fawn? thanks, capt david
 
Mature reds and sika are stags, young red/sika in their first couple of years are spikers, red/sika females are hinds,young less than two are calves, now to fallow males bucks, females does, males in the first couple of years are prickets, very young are fawns, roe male buck, female doe, young kids I think,muntjac/chinese water deer the same as roe, and yes followers are all the young calves/fawns/kids.
 
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I'll throw a spanner in the works and say it depends on what part of the country you are from.

For me Red and Sika are hinds, stags and calves. With yearling stags being staggies (for some reason it really gets under my skin when people call them prickets.)

Fallow are Bucks Does and Fawns, a yearling fallow buck is a pricket, a buck in his second head is a Sorrel, his third head is a Saul, Fourth is a bare buck an fifth is a master buck. Or that's how I understand it.

Muntjac a Chinese Water Deer are does, bucks and fawns

and finally Roe are Does bucks and kids.

Another term that annoys me is Sika Wallows. Sika have pits. Not wallows.
 
Fallow are Bucks Does and Fawns, a yearling fallow buck is a pricket, a buck in his second head is a Sorrel, his third head is a Saul, Fourth is a bare buck an fifth is a master buck. Or that's how I understand it.

I believe it's called a Sore, not a Saul (but might just be spell-checker!).

This would make it Fawn, Pricket, Sorrel, Sore, Buck (of the first head), Great Buck. But I think there are local derivations. Females are Fawn, Tegg, Doe.

Roe are Kid, Girl, Hemuse, Roebuck (of the first head), (Fair) Roebuck

Red are Calves, Knobber, Pricket/Brock, Staggard, Stag, Hart. Females are Calf, Hearse, Hind.

Isn't the Internet a wonderful thing!

willie_gunn
 
Nomenclature, according to the Devonshire hunt (1856)
RED DEER
Under a year: Calf
1-3 (male): Brocket
1-3 (female): Hearst
3-4 (male): Spire
3+ (female): Hind
4-5 (male): Staggart
5-6 (male): Stag
6-7 (male): Warrantable Stag
7+ (male): Hart
 
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Here are some of the terms some of them differ in different parts of the Country

SikaRedFallowRoeMuntjacCWD
Less than a year oldCalfCalfFawnFawn / KidFawnFawn
Yearling MalePricketPricket / Spiker / KnobberPricketYearling / Spiker
Mature FemaleHindHind / Milk HindDoeDoeDoeDoe
Mature Female without youngYeld Hind
Mature MaleStagStagBuck (Sorel / Sore / Bare Buck / Master Buck / Grand Buck)BuckBuckBuck
 
What's a switch? A pal of mine uses the phrase often and I'm too proud / daft to ask what it means exactly. I think it's a young red of some sort, but not sure exactly what.

Cheers

Bob
 
What's a switch? A pal of mine uses the phrase often and I'm too proud / daft to ask what it means exactly. I think it's a young red of some sort, but not sure exactly what.

Cheers

Bob
Generally speaking a deer which has just spikes and no tines due to damage/going back, often called a murder buck in roe.
 
I'llsay it again: "Two great countries seperated by a commom language." In the Us we have two native deer, and their subspecies, the white-tail and the mule deer. Elk are not considered by most hunters to be 'deer.' With our deer, we have fawns called button bucks and doe fawns. Next comes yearlings, does or fawns. We call most deer with on fork on at least one side spikes. These are usually yearlings, but can have inferior genes. I once shot a 5yr old buck with 2" spikes. I'll be hunting a 'spike' Elk this year that has had basically 'spikes,' less than three points for three years. After that we have does and bucks, with the bucks differentiated buy the number of points. East of the Rocky Mtns it's the total points, West of the Rockies it's the number on one side minus the brow tine. This reflecks the fact that most mule deer have small or no brow tines. Elk are cows, bulls and calves, and count points. A young bull with small 6-8pts is called a raghorn. Our 'exotic deer'; sika, axis, and fallow are called the same as our native deer. In texas we have some growing herds of red deer. they are generally refered to as bucks and does, some call them cows and bulls and those in the know, all six of us, call them stags and hinds. Any adult female without offspring is called barren. capt david
 
What's a switch?

It's what the stalker normally asks me to shoot when we've crawled 600 yards down a burn! There might be half a dozen Royals standing broadside on in the group but I can guarantee he'll lean over to me and whisper "when it gets up, shoot yon switchy beast tae the right".:D

A switch is a stag having one or both antlers as single beams with no tines. The antlers are good for making fishing priests out of, but not much else.;)

willie_gunn
 
In the NEW WORLD ,

Elk and moose are bulls , cows and calves .

Sika are stags , hinds and young .

Deer are bucks , doe and fawns . In some parts of the USA a female deer is refferred to as a "slick" sometimes confused with helicopters from the Vietnam War era LOL's !
 
Here we go again!!! What the heck is a fishing priest? Is a guy in a black robe and collar with a flyrod? capt david

a fishing priest is a stck made of antler or wood weighted at one end with lead and you use it to knock a fish or indeed a pheasant - it's called a priest as you are administering the last rights to the fish with it.
 
Here we go again!!! What the heck is a fishing priest? Is a guy in a black robe and collar with a flyrod? capt david

As Mr Lewis has said, a priest is used to knock a fish on the head (presuming you're not practicing catch & release). It's called a priest as its used to administer the last rites.

willie_gunn
 
What's a switch? A pal of mine uses the phrase often and I'm too proud / daft to ask what it means exactly. I think it's a young red of some sort, but not sure exactly what.

Cheers

Bob

But you also have a stag with switch tops!
this where the antlers may have a brow tine but no other tines. A true switch has no tines.

both types of switch may not necessarily be a young beast it may be an old beast going back or just an old one that's been missed previously
 
a switch can be any age over 2 years. and i would call a follower a yierling, as in a hind yearling and calf would be a hind, calf and follower.
 
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