Fallow deer

Appearance

Smaller than red deer and larger than roe deer. The summer coat is rusty brown with white spots; in winter it is plainer and greyish brown. Dark (black) and pale (white) colour variants also occur. The tail is longer than in other native deer and is frequently flicked.

The buck's antlers broaden into palms at the top. Bucks weigh 60–100 kg, does 35–55 kg.

Originally native to the eastern Mediterranean, it was introduced by humans to most of Europe. It favours open woodland and a mosaic of forest and fields. In Hungary large populations live in southern Transdanubia (e.g. around Gyulaj) and in some forests of the Great Plain.

It lives in herds; outside the rut, does with fawns and bucks mostly form separate groups. The rut takes place in October to early November; bucks give a characteristic belching groan and wait for does at their rutting stands. Fawns are born in June–July.

Mainly a grazer, it eats grasses and herbs, and acorns and chestnuts in autumn.

• Track: between red deer and roe deer in size, 5–7 cm long, relatively rounded.
• Droppings: small, cylindrical dark pellets, often in heaps.
• Rutting stand: ground scraped and marked with urine by the buck during the rut.

The trophy is the palmate antler, also scored under the CIC system: beam and palm length, palm width, coronet and beam circumferences, tines and antler weight are measured. The gold medal threshold is 180 CIC points.