What species is this deer?

What species is this deer? There are both red deer and Wapiti escapees in the area and this doesn't look quite red to me, perhaps a hybrid? What you reckon? A couple of fellas shot Wapiti in this area two weeks ago. Is it going to be any good to eat?

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Looks like a red, any pics of its arse?

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Originally Posted by Gibo

Looks like a red, any pics of its arse?

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Perv

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Originally Posted by HNTMAD

Perv

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Always ;)

Looks red to me. There’s a continuum in the features between reds, through a hybrid to a wapiti. A couple of the more easily seen features are the shape of the ears. Wapiti very round and furry, reds sharp points and smooth. Rump patches are another. Waps are very light to white and more importantly the tail is the same color as the patch. Reds tails are reddish brown in the light colored patch.Hybrids also tend to be browner in color though not always. I work on a deer farm and in the shed or the paddock you do get used to telling them apart if you have a mix up but it’s no always obvious, in a hybrid they can go down the middle or throw either way. Especially hard to tell when they are young gets easier when they get older. Plus when they get older the hybrids want to kill you, makes it easier then.

Thanks @Mararoa your expectation is exactly the sort of detail I was looking for. Big advantage you working in the industry and seeing the differences every day. Thanks for taking the time. What age do you reckon she is?

I see a bit of wap in the neck colouring.. bit hard to really answer for sure though without having a mix lined up in the paddock or the deer shed. The hybrids can be very much a spectrum, especially after a few generations.

It is I think a lot easier to tell when they are standing up too, well that's my take on it. The stance in the boys seems to be a little different between the reds and the waps or hybrids, and as the man up there said the reputation of the wap crosses is stroppy. I avoided them doing the crap I had to on the farm after the first warning, I can find problems all by myself without going looking for them!

But from what it's worth, looking at the pics and then reading down I went "red".

Scruffy old winter red

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big old red hind

Yeah looking reasonably old to me, rather long thin nose

Moose!

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Big old red hind aka “Long Head” haha

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Originally Posted by Mararoa

Looks red to me. There’s a continuum in the features between reds, through a hybrid to a wapiti. A couple of the more easily seen features are the shape of the ears. Wapiti very round and furry, reds sharp points and smooth. Rump patches are another. Waps are very light to white and more importantly the tail is the same color as the patch. Reds tails are reddish brown in the light colored patch.Hybrids also tend to be browner in color though not always. I work on a deer farm and in the shed or the paddock you do get used to telling them apart if you have a mix up but it’s no always obvious, in a hybrid they can go down the middle or throw either way. Especially hard to tell when they are young gets easier when they get older. Plus when they get older the hybrids want to kill you, makes it easier then.

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That's possible the best discription of the different things to look for I have ever read. Thankyou

@r87mm I thought it looked like Moose too! Gotta go to Specsavers!

Nobody has really stated what it is.

It's a dead deer.

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Originally Posted by Happy Jack

Nobody has really stated what it is.

It's a dead deer.

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It's venison now !!!

Would a hind this age be any good as steak or roasted? Or is she strictly mince or diced for stew? I'm not expecting her to be tender, what do you reckon?

steak the steak cuts(back steak and biggest muscle groups from rear end) and mince the rest......weve just about forgone stews in favour of butcher made cumberland flavoured venison sausages or savalouys..between $8-10 per kilo for processing...we more than happy with that as know what we are getting is glueten free (as must have for celiac wife) and contains just what we give butcher plus flavour bits.

I reckon the key to being tender is ageing. If you can keep it cool hang it for a week with the skin on. Any less than 4 or 5 days is asking for a chewy piece of meat. I’m also a fan of a good marinade, so giving it another few days to soak in the fridge will soften near any creature up. One of the benefits of living along way south is it takes a long time for venison to go of as long as you keep the flys away.

Yeah was just going to say that - a fridge converted to hang sections of meat for 10 days also works if you don't have a chiller that will take a whole animal.

Two big plastic buckets one with lots of holes drilled in its base inside the other work well in the fridge.the meat can leak into cavity between them.

@Maraora good advice, thanks.
Shot it on Thursday and got it into a chiller, skin on, within a couple of hours.
We were planning on doing the business tomorrow, but might leave it another day to Thursday.
Thanks all for advice. This is definitely the oldest deer I've shot so getting it tender is going to be important.

the best red deer I have ever had was an old dry hind when gutting her did not look like she had ever had a fawn aged in the garage for 4 days and cut up absolutely the best venison steak

I shot one of these earlier in the year. When my daughter saw her, she called her Hindzilla.

Ate the first slow cook venison casserole tonight, tender as, moist and delicious. Thanks for the advice Team!