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So my brother just sent me the below pictures following an evening hunt, asking me what species I thought it was. Area is Parawera, Waikato. Not somewhere we commonly hunt and I'm really only familiar with fallow and red deer.
What says the forum? Sika? Bigger than a fallow buck, guessed as standing 1m at the shoulder.
https://i.imgur.com/RNSV5Tm.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/XbTDXTH.jpg
Rusa
Honestly, that's what I wondered too. But I thought they were mainly around Galatea way?Quote:
Originally Posted by Double tap
Antlers look rusa-like, but I would expect the animal to be much bigger if it was a rusa, so I'll guess Sika.
Escappee. Pretty sure there was a blocl with some around that area.
a dead one...and hopefully a tasty one....
Definitely Rusa I would say...!
ignoring the antlers looks to have that different / rougher Rusa hair coat
Thanks all - consensus seems to be Rusa (also dead and hopefully tasty). Interesting, I wonder if it's a one-off escapee or there's actually a breeding population there somewhere?
There are wild Rusa in parts of the NI that would surprise many
That gets my juices going!! Makes me hunger to get back to New Caledonia. Only shot a couple of meat animals so far but a trophy hunt is definitely still on my hit list. Have what we consider family over there, love the place.
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I shot Mollucan Rush in Cape York years ago. They are smaller than the Javan variety but look the same. They are very good to eat.
Yes very good eating I favoured the rusa over the chitalQuote:
Originally Posted by Hurricane
A guy I know nailed a very nice stag near Mahia about ? 2yrs ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gibo
Rusa,Sika......never in my life of killing & eating game have I shot and noshed on either........have I missed out as far as yummy goes lol.
Do these chaps and chap..esses taste better than say Whitetails,Fallow???
ya dead right Gibo - there are rusa at Rere back of Gisborne escapees - the one that did suprise me was a sambar shot at Moki North Taranaki -saw the head shoulder mounted yup sambar- sika at Ruatoria- and I saw a photo taken by DOC of a few whitetail released at Port Waikato (I understand all shot by DOC ??) the one that did piss me of a bit were wapiti and wapiti crosses released at South Taranaki -that just fucks up the local red strains -perhaps we should just shut up and enjoy the hunting yuk yuk
lucky enough or is that old enough to have eaten most of them -fallow ,white tail ,sika in that order really good -rusa is okay but dont bother with sambar- bloody awful like venison mixed with saw dust
I shot a very average eight in 1993 that was single-calling at the time, and then a red-hybrid in 1995 from the same area ( also T skull suture, brows well off the pedicles). South-eastern corner - from the Kaitoke area release apparently. After that I think the sika traits became too diluted as I never heard or saw any more, so probably not the place to go these days for sika.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mohawk .308
sika in the mid/southern ruahines
I guess we are all different as fallow is last on my list.
My list of best to worst (but still great) goes like this:
Muntjac
Roe
Chital
Rusa
Whitetail
Red
Fallow
But I’m happy with any, and the fallow in my freezer is bloody good.
Cheers
Hog deer would be the best I have hadQuote:
Originally Posted by Hurricane
sika are right up there.....seriously good fodder for a chap....Quote:
Originally Posted by doinit
speaking of eating venison...whatever you fellas do BE VERY VERY CAREFUL what you feed your Mrs when she has a belly full of arms n legs...I made mistake of feeding her fallow that wasnt really the very best specimen while she was carrying our first child....and she has hated fallow ever since,no matter how good of fallow or how hard I try to fool her its a red...nope she can pick the taste and wont eat it..... pisses me off as fallow are getting easier to get and are much lighter to carry out.
Thanks, but probably no need. Was only wondering how many more there might be wandering around the area.Quote:
Originally Posted by 7mmwsm
I'll be interested to see how this one tastes compared to the fallow and red I'm used to. Should get a bit this weekend.
Rusa, sika, red then fallow. Fallow tastes like mutton to me.
Slice fallow meat very thinly, then on to a hot bbq with sizzling butter, 1 minute a side....delicious! Don't marinade it.
Haven't tried them all but hog deer is the best I've ever eaten
Muntjac...mmmmm....just an absolute bitch to skin....
Rusa shot n the Wairarapa 2 weeks ago by one of my boys.
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100% that's a rusa. Referring to original poster
@gillyQuote:
Originally Posted by gilly
Nice. From one of the game parks, or a wild one?
Reds during the roar Worcester sauce was our friend.
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Yep theres a handful in pockets on the mid East side. Have shot a couple off the No mans rd as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yesmate
There’s been the odd one knocked over in the Whirinaki - Waipunga area too.
The weight of the head and neck relative to the body size - def isn't a sika and not sambar so really narrows it down a touch. Also quite short in the length of head although could be the camera angle a bit too!
The favourite deer meat for eating thing is a bit of an interesting one, the best meat is that which is properly prepared and treated I reckon. Had red which was garbage, not well butchered and carried out bone in in rubbish bags and left to sweat. Next with a bit of educmacation old mate gutted and boned it out and left it hanging overnight in 2degC which sorted out the heat and bone issue, much better and a longer drive home... Fallow if done properly and correctly hung just melts in your mouth, but like anything treated wrong its as gamey as. There's a lot to be said about taking the neck out at the base of the skull and letting the thing bleed out at the kill to get rid of a lot of the stuff that causes the gamey taste in the meat, although it's not a shot you take unless things are pretty much perfect.
An escapee we think.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxx
I fried up a bit of Rusa for lunch today - tasted pretty good to me. Not sure I'd pick the difference from a decent bit of red deer steak. My experience with fallow has been mixed - some very mild, one young buck that was unpleasantly gamey. I'd put Red & Rusa equal first place ahead of fallow based on my experience.
I’ve been told before that there’s rusa between Owairaka Valley Rd and Arapuni Rd. Thought it was BS, apparently not.
Fallow bucks can be rough April to NovQuote:
Originally Posted by PaulNZ
