Thread: Melanistic (Black) Red Deer

So i took my nephew and another dad son combo out for a hunt in the weekend trying to get some meat for the freezer and get onto a deer for my nephew.

Managed a nice eating red yearling in the evening and went for a look in the morning and ended up shooting this thing stuffing her face on the crop paddock
I initially thought it was a fallow but i have never seen fallow there in 13 years of hunting the property
On closer inspection and talking to a few fellow hunters im pretty sure that its a Melanistic (Black) Red Deer
Im after a bit more information on them if anyone knows or has anything?

The deer was only young, yearling or 2 year old and when i skinned it, it had black fatty around the tail (which fallow don't have)
Lets hope it doesn't blow up here as it did on facebook haha im sure there's quite a few less keyboard warriors here

Not sure why the photo of the rifle is there!??
Admins can you remove? I can’t seem to

Nice rifle, have you got a picture of the Black Red deer?

Hungarian fallow?

Half breed ?

It sure looks like fallow deer features, is the tail like a red deer or longer like the fallow?

that's what i thought when first looking at it

Freaky

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short stumpy tail like a red

Is this the first moose shot in NZ this century?

Originally Posted by burtonator

short stumpy tail like a red

Sure is a strange one, as stated above could well be a cross between the two species.

I recall a Red of the that colour when I was farming them. Just one. It was born on the place and stayed that colour until it was sent to the works as a 2 year old. Its mother had been captured out of the scrub (Wairarapa) and was an ordinary Red. To me, yours is another one. Too thick in the neck and big in the head for a Fallow doe.

Also the hair is much more like red. Pretty unusual. Shame it's dead.

Has it got 2-3 inch long widely spaced guard hairs on the body....?

Originally Posted by Nathan F

Half breed ?

Fallow and Reds can't crossbreed, two different genus, fallow = dama dama, red = cervus