New Zealand Safaris
Fallow Deer Hunting
A striking trophy with vivid colours
The only other game animal with palmation like a moose, fallow deer have a reputation for disappearing behind a blade of grass.
Most Recent Trophies
Palmated Antlers, Vivid Coats
Fallow bucks are a striking trophy — vivid coloration in their coats, and the only other species with palmated antlers like a moose. Introduced from Europe, they have spread through much of New Zealand and are now well established, and we have some of the biggest bucks in the country. This is an ideal hunt if you are an “antler lover”.
Fallow deer hunting requires both stealth and good eyes, as they are extremely wily. Unlike other deer, fallow bucks during their rut (croak) make a rut pad, or stand on a seasonal rut pad, and wait for the does to come to them. On our free-range properties it is not uncommon to see up to 100 deer on a single fallow pad. New Zealand Safaris has exclusive hunting rights to two of the top free-range and wild fallow deer properties in the country — we guarantee no other New Zealand guides have access to this quality and quantity of fallow deer.
Hunting Fallow Deer
Hunters have the option of free-range or fair-chase estate hunts on private land. The estate hunt is on 3,500 acres where some wary bucks rival the biggest in the world, scoring between 220 and 300+ SCI. Spot-and-stalk is preferred; it’s common to walk up on bucks hiding in very little cover, so quiet, deliberate footsteps are required to get into range between 30 and 250 yards.
Hunting Fallow Deer — A Few Things to Know
Small in size and well muscled, fallow deer weigh around 200 lb and have incredible speed and agility, so time must be taken when stalking them. Wild, free-range hunting is on private wilderness land — some of the top properties in New Zealand for quality, age and numbers, exclusive to New Zealand Safaris.
An all-round exciting deer hunt, this is a great combination in timing with the Red Stag, Elk and Sika rut, which runs from early April to mid-May — and it yields excellent meat to take back to the US, which we can help with. In New Zealand there is no seasonal restriction on hunting fallow deer, so generally they can be hunted year-round; for trophy bucks, they are in hard antler from March to September.