North Queensland Chital Deer

Hi all, first post here so G'day, I'm located in far north queensland across the water and I joined this forum as I have picked up more information on this forum then people over here, I swear they all think it's a big secret over here. Any way thought I would share some exploits I get up to, in queensland Chital are a declared pest and have no season, regulations and this far north they don't even have a designated rut. The block of land I shoot these on is a night time only thing which is perfectly legal in QLD and very effective. Our general method is to drive though the bush, find them with the spotlight, then get off the vehicle and stalk them through the scrub at night with scope mounted torches.

I do have some older photo's but these are from Saturday night, first photo is my first kill with my new second hand sako A1 in .222 I got for this purpose, other photo's show the other 3 we ended up with so four in total including a cracker stag. As you can see the variations in growth, My stag was in velvet, the big fella was all roughed up and the middle deer in the photo had not long cast his antlers as there was still blood weeping from the top of the nub. 4 deer means 4 freezers with meat, it's always good when we get to go home with 1 each.

Cheers

At least you are wearing boots! Nice work

According to them Crocs are the future haha. Cheers

Nice Stag and some good veni.
What is the reasoning behind the nightime only hunting?

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Nice Stag and some good veni.
What is the reasoning behind the nightime only hunting?

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Bit of blanket rule, bit of a backstory but the owner is now in his 80’s and is pretty easy going, there is the fence line that surrounds the property is split by a head land sought of like a tee intersection, the property owners sugar cane on one side and his neighbour on the other, the neighbour was allowed to allow people access, friends, family etc. I won’t say too much but there was quite a few random people popping up on the property, how it came about with no more day time shooting, was the owners grand children use the property for motorbikes and fishing, camping etc. (it’s a fairly small property). One day the kids were there and two random people walked up in camo and with rifles, and told the kids to get off the property and they should not be there, luckily their older cousin was there and told them Excuse me mate but this is my property and you need to leave now. It got a bit heated and the property owners son was called (the kids father).

The two gentleman were not locals from approx. 2 hours away and they were escorted off. The only thing they could think of was that the neighbour got a bit greedy and was charging people money to gain access. Never proven and always denied. So the owners son said ok from now on no more day time shooting full stop! The neighbour has since sold and moved on.

Ah I see.

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This was another nice boy off that block, this one took an 87gr Speer Hollow point through the front of the chest from my .25-06.

Gee they are all in great order and good solid bastards too

Nice. A Chital is definitely on my to do list. My wife's father and her cousins hunt them in Uruguay and despite living there for nearly 2 years and returning to visit family once or twice every year I have never quite managed to get myself organized and go out for a hunt. I took some photos of a couple out on a crop paddock when we drove past when I was over there last year, very pretty deer and pretty good eating too

They are a nice looking deer alright. Good stags and I presume they would be good eating?

Hi Am88, do the deer do much damage to sugarcane? Is this why they are in such good condition?

The footwear seems pretty appropriate to me, I remember the Nth QLD weather (from the perspective of a cool climate visitor)!

Hi Am88, Nice looking deer Chital. There is a bunch roaming loose on the moonie highway, between Moonie and St George. Left overs from a deer farm apparently. Saw the early on morning. In Qld getting access to private land is a REAL problem and many charge for the privilege so I now head to NSW with my R Licence. Great pics and thanks for sharing.

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Originally Posted by Mooseman

They are a nice looking deer alright. Good stags and I presume they would be good eating?

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Beautiful eating yes, between the 5 main species the Fallow and Chital are meant to be the nicest, followed by Sambar, Followed by Rusa and the worst tasting are apparently the reads, not personal experiance just an article I read, I have personally only eaten Sambar and Chital, can say the Chital was a nicer meat, not as strong flavoured.

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Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

Hi Am88, do the deer do much damage to sugarcane? Is this why they are in such good condition?

The footwear seems pretty appropriate to me, I remember the Nth QLD weather (from the perspective of a cool climate visitor)!

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They do when the cane is shooting up mate yes, when the cane is large they don't really go into it, but when it is knee high and nice and sweet they do not mind having a chew.

yes it's fair to say we lost our fair share of sweat that night, there were a few storms around and no breeze. very humid

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Originally Posted by Hunter3030

Hi Am88, Nice looking deer Chital. There is a bunch roaming loose on the moonie highway, between Moonie and St George. Left overs from a deer farm apparently. Saw the early on morning. In Qld getting access to private land is a REAL problem and many charge for the privilege so I now head to NSW with my R Licence. Great pics and thanks for sharing.

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I have heard that myself from a roo shooter there, they get around the buggers, they turn up in places you would not think.

Nice. I shot a couple of good stags out Charters Towers way ten years or so ago. Great experience and beautiful deer. I have three skins with me here in NZ.

Chital are outstanding hunting. An interesting fact is the Chital are the only deer I believe that have solid hairs. (rather than hollow). This is why the skins make great floor mats. The hair does not break and snap like other deer. The other rather interesting thing about Chital is you can have some stags in velvet throughout the year. Here's a stag I shot near Charters Towers back in 2013.

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Originally Posted by Hunter3030

Hi Am88, Nice looking deer Chital. There is a bunch roaming loose on the moonie highway, between Moonie and St George. Left overs from a deer farm apparently. Saw the early on morning. In Qld getting access to private land is a REAL problem and many charge for the privilege so I now head to NSW with my R Licence. Great pics and thanks for sharing.

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I had to look up R licence.... you're not serious are you?

R license in NSW enables you to hunt on public land. State Forest.

You might be thinking of R rated? :)

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Originally Posted by Dicko

R license in NSW enables you to hunt on public land. State Forest.

You might be thinking of R rated? :)

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The guy is from QLD so I looked up R firearms and got this;
(R) Machine guns, fully automatic large calibre military weapons. (https://www.qld.gov.au/law/crime-and...t-gun-licences)
which would make deer hunting a lot of fun but it seemed to me, probably not practical!

My father in law has been shooting deer and heaps of pigs on his place out of Inverell, these pests are much more problematic now than they were before the drought. You guys shoot up that way at all?

[QUOTE=Southcity;944145]Chital are outstanding hunting. An interesting fact is the Chital are the only deer I believe that have solid hairs. (rather than hollow). This is why the skins make great floor mats. The hair does not break and snap like other deer. The other rather interesting thing about Chital is you can have some stags in velvet throughout the year. Here's a stag I shot near Charters Towers back in 2013.



I organized this Chital hunt with two friends and after some research took the punt on an outfitter based near Townsville. Its always a little risky wondering what sort of experience you will have. Organizing it on behalf of others also puts a little pressure on. What I can say is we had a fantastic experience and the outfitter lived up to recommendations. It was a very good property he hunted, he was professional, feed us well, accommodated in a farm cottage and above all knew his stuff. He got us onto three great trophies, allowed us to shoot some hinds for skins and his expertise and attention to detail head skinning and preparing the trophies was commented on by the taxidermist.
If any one is interested I am happy to pass on his contact details.(I have done this for others and he has delivered a good hunt. From memory the cost was around the $AUD2700 - 3000 mark including trophies and hinds. He picked us up from Townsville and dropped us back.

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An R Licence is different to a category R on a Firearms Licence. The NSW R Licence is obtained after sitting a test and allows one to hunt in NSW state forests. This is governed by the DNR (Dept Natural Resourses) Open book test. In Qld NO hunting in State Forests or National Parks. So only on private land with permission. So to hunt deer I have to go to NSW.