Deer Recovery In France

[airedale]

Several fellows on the Airedale board use their dogs here in the states to recover Deer, had this photo sent in from a hunter in France using his dog to recover Deer in the same way done in the states, Fallow Deer instead of Whitetails.

Al

[Marion]

Looks just like american woods! And man that must be a fun hunt and a great looking deer too

#ThankYouForLessOverzealousModding #WeDemandUnlimitedLikes
#WeDemandADislikeButton

[DoubleDose]

Looks like the deer Robert DeNiro's character was hunting in the Pennsylvania woods in the movie The Deer Hunter!  

[mowin]

Wonder how they taste compared to a whitetail. The deer not the dog..lol

Edited January 28, 2021 by mowin

[Northcountryman]

Awesome , beautiful animal!!  I thought that Europe had those Red-Deer--are those the same thing?

[G-Man]

5 hours ago, mowin said:

Wonder how they taste compared to a whitetail. The deer not the dog..lol

They taste fine, game farm in cherry creek has /had them idk if they are open anymore. Been years since I was there .

[Northcountryman]

Rack almost resembles a Caribou , right ?

[moog5050]

33 minutes ago, Northcountryman said:

Awesome , beautiful animal!!  I thought that Europe had those Red-Deer--are those the same thing?

I think the fallow are much smaller. Not the same deer.  Red stags can get big like elk.  

[Shoots100]

I've never tasted fallow deer, but have eaten red stag many times.

We call it gourmet and much better tasting(to me) than venison.

 

[DoubleDose]

2 hours ago, Northcountryman said:

Rack almost resembles a Caribou , right ?

Rack is more elk-like than caribou, MO.

[Dinsdale]

8 hours ago, mowin said:

Wonder how they taste compared to a whitetail. The deer not the dog..lol

Tastes like chicken, the dog. Not the deer.

 

Hunted fallow in Spain, very good table fare. Took one of mine to the hotel I was staying that had a bistro type place on first floor. They made a couple dishes with that and a whole neighborhood showed up for one heck of a party. They did up my mouflon sheep too.

Honest, of everything I have eaten in the cervid family, whitetail is on the bottom of just about any game I have tried. A 13yr old tahr (type of goat) is right there too.

 

Also on the dog thing, everywhere but here, having a tracking dog is part and parcel to ethical hunting. Dog goes right in the field with you, not just when you can't find something. Some of the dogs I have hunted with track 4-500 animals a year. Especially true on game ranches in South Africa. The dog gets to track even bang flops, just to keep in practice. 

With hunting dogs, running baboons with specialist dogs is the single best time i have ever had afield.

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by Dinsdale

[Pygmy]

14 minutes ago, Dinsdale said:

Tastes like chicken, the dog. Not the deer.

 

Hunted fallow in Spain, very good table fare. Took one of mine to the hotel I was staying that had a bistro type place on first floor. They made a couple dishes with that and a whole neighborhood showed up for one heck of a party. They did up my mouflon sheep too.

Honest, of everything I have eaten in the cervid family, whitetail is on the bottom of just about any game I have tried. A 13yr old tahr (type of goat) is right there too.

 

Also on the dog thing, everywhere but here, having a tracking dog is part and parcel to ethical hunting. Dog goes right in the field with you, not just when you can't find something. Some of the dogs I have hunted with track 4-500 animals a year. Especially true on game ranches in South Africa. The dog gets to track even bang flops, just to keep in practice. 

With hunting dogs, running baboons with specialist dogs is the single best time i have ever had afield.

 

Dan. my experience is not as broad as yours, but I will agree that of the cervids I have tried, whitetail is at the bottom of the list....Caribou, taken before the rut is succullent...Moose and elk are very good.. My experience with mule deer is limited, but a buddy and I took two adult mulie bucks in an early season ( velvet) above treeline hunt and they were excellent..Better than any whitetail I ever had....  YMMV....Never ate caribou during the rut but I have heard that it is so rank that even dogs won't eat it....All my caribou have been fat pre-rut animals killed in late August or early-mid September....I have also heard that mule deer get pretty strong during the rut...

[Dinsdale]

30 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

Dan. my experience is not as broad as yours, but I will agree that of the cervids I have tried, whitetail is at the bottom of the list....Caribou, taken before the rut is succullent...Moose and elk are very good.. My experience with mule deer is limited, but a buddy and I took two adult mulie bucks in an early season ( velvet) above treeline hunt and they were excellent..Better than any whitetail I ever had....  YMMV....Never ate caribou during the rut but I have heard that it is so rank that even dogs won't eat it....All my caribou have been fat pre-rut animals killed in late August or early-mid September....I have also heard that mule deer get pretty strong during the rut...

Hunted either end of the Quebec caribou season and the winter animals were good too. Ridiculous cold. Shame those days wont happen again with population crash. Have had red deer in Portugal,  Spain, and New Zealand similar to elk imo.

Axis deer is also outstanding, and you'd rank it right up there.

Have had moose from various places and it never has disappointed. 

Top 5 overall in no order, 

Caribou, Kudu, Zebra, Moose, Springbok

Top 5 eating deer family

Caribou, Moose,Elk, Axis, Fallow

Edited January 29, 2021 by Dinsdale

[mowin]

1 hour ago, Dinsdale said:

Tastes like chicken, the dog. Not the deer.

 

Hunted fallow in Spain, very good table fare. Took one of mine to the hotel I was staying that had a bistro type place on first floor. They made a couple dishes with that and a whole neighborhood showed up for one heck of a party. They did up my mouflon sheep too.

Honest, of everything I have eaten in the cervid family, whitetail is on the bottom of just about any game I have tried. A 13yr old tahr (type of goat) is right there too.

 

Also on the dog thing, everywhere but here, having a tracking dog is part and parcel to ethical hunting. Dog goes right in the field with you, not just when you can't find something. Some of the dogs I have hunted with track 4-500 animals a year. Especially true on game ranches in South Africa. The dog gets to track even bang flops, just to keep in practice. 

With hunting dogs, running baboons with specialist dogs is the single best time i have ever had afield.

 

 

1 hour ago, Pygmy said:

Dan. my experience is not as broad as yours, but I will agree that of the cervids I have tried, whitetail is at the bottom of the list....Caribou, taken before the rut is succullent...Moose and elk are very good.. My experience with mule deer is limited, but a buddy and I took two adult mulie bucks in an early season ( velvet) above treeline hunt and they were excellent..Better than any whitetail I ever had....  YMMV....Never ate caribou during the rut but I have heard that it is so rank that even dogs won't eat it....All my caribou have been fat pre-rut animals killed in late August or early-mid September....I have also heard that mule deer get pretty strong during the rut...

I'd love to sit down with you too and look at pics and listen to your experiences.  

I've had moose, excellent.  Caribou, yrs ago, probably 30+, so really don't remember. Elk is darn good too. The best I've tasted, black buck from Texas.  Unfortunately,  all these critters were taken by others, lol. 

[crappyice]

Dan. my experience is not as broad as yours, but I will agree that of the cervids I have tried, whitetail is at the bottom of the list....Caribou, taken before the rut is succullent...Moose and elk are very good.. My experience with mule deer is limited, but a buddy and I took two adult mulie bucks in an early season ( velvet) above treeline hunt and they were excellent..Better than any whitetail I ever had....  YMMV....Never ate caribou during the rut but I have heard that it is so rank that even dogs won't eat it....All my caribou have been fat pre-rut animals killed in late August or early-mid September....I have also heard that mule deer get pretty strong during the rut...

Late August you say for delicious Caribou?!?!! I don’t teach or run a camp in late August!!!!!!! Might you have suggested my 50th birthday present....in a few (but not too many) years of course!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Uncle Nicky]

12 hours ago, Pygmy said:

Dan. my experience is not as broad as yours, but I will agree that of the cervids I have tried, whitetail is at the bottom of the list....Caribou, taken before the rut is succullent...Moose and elk are very good.. My experience with mule deer is limited, but a buddy and I took two adult mulie bucks in an early season ( velvet) above treeline hunt and they were excellent..Better than any whitetail I ever had....  YMMV....Never ate caribou during the rut but I have heard that it is so rank that even dogs won't eat it....All my caribou have been fat pre-rut animals killed in late August or early-mid September....I have also heard that mule deer get pretty strong during the rut...

I WAS stupid enough to take home the meat from a rutty caribou, killed in Newfoundland; the guide warned me, but I wouldn't listen. It was pretty sad, but the dogs WOULD eat it,  I wasn't able to give any away to humans, other than jerky. It tasted like VERY strong mutton.

[Northcountryman]

I would LOVE to get me some Elk; arent they(i.e., DEC) trying to bring them back in NY? 

[Pygmy]

5 hours ago, Northcountryman said:

I would LOVE to get me some Elk; arent they(i.e., DEC) trying to bring them back in NY? 

I don't think so....

[Grouse]

DEC is hoping to increase the Moose herd right now, but no plans for Elk at this time.

[airedale]

When it comes to eating different game animals and birds a lot has to do with how it is prepared. I have had the chance to try just about everything at one time or another. From Possums to Moose and everything in between, some was a lot better than others but all were at least palatable except for one and that was Pronghorn Antelope, I did not like it at all, the smell or the taste. It was just fried in butter with some salt and pepper, yuk!!

Al

[Northcountryman]

16 minutes ago, airedale said:

When it comes to eating different game animals and birds a lot has to do with how it is prepared. I have had the chance to try just about everything at one time or another. From Possums to Moose and everything in between, some was a lot better than others but all were at least palatable except for one and that was Pronghorn Antelope, I did not like it at all, the smell or the taste. It was just fried in butter with some salt and pepper, yuk!!

Al

Really, have you ever had Mountain Ram?  I wonder if thats any good...

[wolc123]

25 minutes ago, airedale said:

When it comes to eating different game animals and birds a lot has to do with how it is prepared. I have had the chance to try just about everything at one time or another. From Possums to Moose and everything in between, some was a lot better than others but all were at least palatable except for one and that was Pronghorn Antelope, I did not like it at all, the smell or the taste. It was just fried in butter with some salt and pepper, yuk!!

Al

All that, and more for sure.  What the animal had eaten is important, along with how it was killed.   Probably most important, is how it was handled after the kill and before it is cooked.   That is the area where folks struggle the most.  It always amazes me that many, including at least one trained chef, have no concept of how rigor mortis affects red meat.

[Chef]

I've never tasted fallow deer, but have eaten red stag many times.
We call it gourmet and much better tasting(to me) than venison.
 

Probably because any red stag you have ever eaten was farmed? That grain feeding adds to the flavor. I’d bet wild red stag tastes just like our venison


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dinsdale]

10 minutes ago, Chef said:

I’d bet wild red stag tastes just like our venison


 

It doesnt.

Under that logic,elk (or any other cervid) are the same. But that's clearly not the case, as even in this thread to those who have hunted multiple species.

[Shoots100]

On 3/6/2021 at 3:59 PM, Chef said:

Probably because any red stag you have ever eaten was farmed? That grain feeding adds to the flavor. I’d bet wild red stag tastes just like our venison


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've tasted wild stag from three different continents and it all has tasted way better than any venison I've cooked and tried, even farm raised venison.

Stag hunting in New Zealand is on the bucket list.