I'm in the process of getting my own ranch out in the Hill Country and would like to learn more about fallow.

I'm sure a lot depends on the genetics, like whitetail, but how old is a typical "trophy" fallow with good palmation? Any idea how much protein and/or alfalfa fallow consume per month, on average as I know range conditions (i.e., rainfall/drought, grass, browse, acorns/mast) could/will impact this? What is their preferred natural food?

The ranch I'm looking in to has mostly oak and cedar cover on it. I plan on planting some food plots, but don't know if I'll get them to take with the herd pressure.

Just getting started in this and want to learn so take it easy on me.

Thanks,
Tim

Fallow deer genetics can be iffy from what I have seen. Lots of deer out there today with a split or double palm genetics which I do like. They are feed hounds from post rut till the rut starts. They can consume lots of free choice protein if it is available. I would guess that a mature buck will 4-6 lbs per day on average from post rut till rut starts. They tend to homestead a feeder in Oak/Cedar country with poor grass/browse. Once the rut starts they do not eat to much from what I have seen and drop weight fast. Rainfall and pasture condition can effect how much they will eat but it has to be during the time they are eating and if they are not in the rut. Year round food plots will help as fallow are grazers for the most part but eat more browse than axis. Most of the bigger fallow I have seen were 5-6 yrs old. If you are going to try to raise really nice WT then I can say that the fallow will make your hunting in the fall for WT difficult at times. Mature fallow bucks in the rut get an attitude sometimes. Your feed consumption will be high for the amount of return you get from you hunts if you are feeding free choice year round IMO.

Would agree with everything said above. Will add that young fallow are pretty dumb, but they smarten up when they get big. Can be tough to grow them to the right age if you have friends/family hunting that are unfamiliar with them. Would suggest getting the best possible genetics to start with, there's a big difference between an average fallow and a whopper. Don't skimp on the does either as they carry 1/2 the genetics.

BTW, they don't do very well in drought, and I would consider them very close to WT in terms of reproduction rates and feed habits.

Tim,

The German answer would be that a buck needs to be 8-10 years old before he is a shooter.

I'd cull anything that had weird antler growth or in-equal antler development before that.

If you get red deer or elk, the age is 12. And some bulls/stags will go 14 before they start going down hill.

Not sure what the percentage of immature fallow deer killed in America is, but it is huge! I bet 1 in 25 fallow bucks is allowed to mature to his potential in the United States.

In Mainland Europe most land owners are not shooting them before 8, unless they are culls.

Here in Australia, if it has horns it dies. I have never seen a 8-12 year old fallow buck in Australia outside of a game farm, they never get the chance.

I have seen fallow deer in Africa, Australia, Europe, Asia (Turkey), and North America. They also exist in Chile and Argentina.

Our American genetics are pretty good, as are the genetics in Europe. Australian genetics are junk, as are the ones in New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina.

Cull junk heavily! Let the good stuff grow up.

Thank you all for the info.

I do not plan on focusing my efforts towards trophy WT at this point, but that is interesting to know. My family and I enjoy exotic venison much more so than WT, so that is why we are getting a place out in the Hill Country.

The place we're working on acquiring already has axis and black buck on it, supposedly about 30 of each. There are also an unknown number of native genetic WT.

Once we close on the contract and we actually take possession of the land I plan on starting off by doing as thorough of a game survey as possible. When we know what we have we'll be able to plan better for what we want.

The property is a little over 200 acres, so I'm not sure what the carrying capacity versus my wallet's willingness to pay for the feed will lead towards for a total herd number. I'm thinking we'll likely remove some of the BB and axis to make room for a few fallow though.

Thanks again and any other info would be appreciated.
Once we own the place I'm sure I'll post more questions in the Land forum.
Tim

If the property already has 30 each of axis and blackbuck plus the WT, you are already overstocked.

Thinking the same thing Don.

x2 Blackbucks reproduce like rabbits also with 2 young per yr in 2 birthing periods. 60 hd plus WT already will equal an animal to around 2 acres. Way overstocked unless you plan on having to feed lots year round. You will not have much native habitat to help you with that many mouths on it. My advice would be to buy you a few stocker fallows from a good breeding operation and see how you like them. Your feed bill will be steep if you do not take a few numbers of the other species off. With just the numbers you have now you will be looking at feeding around 200 lbs/day. Blackbucks eat a lot of feed for their size but you can put up a feed pen of panels to keep them off of it. Axis do not eat as much as other species on free choice given a choice of native forage over pelleted feeds. Also on free choice feed you can get a fallow to trophy class at a much earlier age than just on native pasture but at a price.

The ones I watch and have hunted do not mature until 5 or older,
and they seem to be somewhat less aware than Whitetail or Axis,
and therefore can be easier to kill..Many are white so fairly easy to observe...The ranch next to my buds in Tarpley has about
5 or 6 bucks on it and 2 are fairly mature...they tend to be a gentler and somewhat easier to domisticate animal..Also their hair is quite long on their underside which makes gutting one less than enjoyable...DD

XXXX 3, really awesome info.

Years ago I had a few fallow. A couple of spotted and a white one. I had a hunter here from Germany. He would not shoot the white one as he said it was bad luck to take a white animal. Anyone else ever come across this thinking?

No I have not ever heard that Don. Also, what I have seen is that the lighter colored and spotted fallow will grow much bigger antlers than the dark color phase fallow.

These may be of interest to ya:
Forage Mgmnt

TAMU Overton Ryegrass Study

The below information is from the Wikipedia page on "Deer in mythology"

"Shinto

Deer are considered messengers to the gods in Shinto, especially Kasuga Shrine in Nara Prefecture where a white deer had arrived from Kashima Shrine as its divine messenger. It has become a symbol of the city of Nara.


Hungarian

In Hungarian mythology, Hunor and Magor, the founders of the Magyar peoples, followed a white stag. The stag lead them into a brand new land that they named Scythia. Hunor and Magor populated Scythia with their descendants the Huns and the Magyars. To this day, an important emblem in Hungary is a many-antlered stag with its head turned back over its shoulder.[12]


Manufactured mythology

Quintus Sertorius, while a general in Lusitania, had a tame white stag which he had raised nearly from birth. Playing on the superstitions of the local tribes, he told them that it had been given to him by the goddess Diana; by attributing all his intelligence reports to the animal, he convinced the locals that it had the gift of prophecy. (See Plutarch's life of Sertorius and Pliny the Elder's chapter on stags (N.H., VIII.50)"

There is also a page dedicated to white stags. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_stag

Thank you all for the info. Any more is appreciated.

we don't have a large herd..maybe 40 or so that we hunt and another 30-40 that we use for breeding. A mature fallow is really similar to WT. 5-6 years old is about where they top out. One thing I would suggest is don't put out a free choice feeder out...they will eat you out of house and home. It has also been our experience that the lighter colored fallow normally have longer beams but less points and smaller palms. Our fallow normally have 6-9" palms @ 3 years old and a mature one normally has 9-12" palms. I'd spend the extra $$ and get you someone's breeding pair and something from a sale to subsidize the herd. keep the breeding pair or animals in a pen and let some loose every year.

Got any pics? I'll buy every 9" 3yr old you have.

I will see if I can snap some pictures this weekend while not guiding some clients we have coming in. BUT we are not going to sale any. We have a gold mine on fallow herd genetics. We raise them and use them to supplement our hunting pastures.

Straightline across the palm? If you got any 9-12" palm ones send me a pic and I will send you a hunter if he likes them.