Eastern Cape Bowhunting Association

An East Cape Fallow

Every hunter knows this Fallow, some have dined and wined on him, spoken of him around the campfire, some have locked horns with him and other have just enjoyed his company. In all my years of bowhunting, my most memorable experience has been hunting Fallow Deer, to me, the gentleman of buck. Like most gentlemen, they like to move around mid morning and take their midday nap, then in the late afternoon they join the Ladies for snacks and sundowners.

My good friend, Neil Schoeman of Swaershoek Safaris, is the venue for many Eastern Cape bowhunters in search of Fallow Deer. For the last decade I have hunted on Neil’s property and have taken many Fallow Deer using various hunting methods, making Fallow Deer hunting my favourite. There is nothing to beat the adrenalin rush during the rut hunt. It is like having ring side seats at a big fight where the prize fighter is ready to knock down any of his opponents bold enough to step into the ring. The rut lasts for about 7 weeks, anytime between March and April. It varies annually by a week or two depending on the climatic conditions. It is important to hunt the rut early, as that’s when you’ll find large groups of big stags gathered in areas, sparing for the best territory with the most Doe’s.

It is easier to rattle in a big, aggressive stag in the pre-rut than to try stalk into his territory during the later rut, as he then tends to move his females away rather than stand and fight. Normally when this happens one or two younger bucks will come in looking for a scrap. When two big stags fight it is very aggressive and noisy, giving you the perfect opportunity to stalk them. Throwing his head back, the stag gives a throaty belch directed at the doe’s and jostles for position in their ranks. One can gauge the size of a buck by the deepness of this sound. Marking of territory is done by urinating on patches of upturned earth near scrapes he then laces the area with a musky scent from glands on his face. Roaming buck entering this area trigger the territorial buck’s instinct to fight, some fights being so intense that your presence is sometimes goes totally unnoticed. The clatter of their horns can be heard over long distances one imitates this for rattling the stag in, by using a pair of dried antlers.

To get a nice sound out of a pair of antlers one can dry them in the oven at low heat for 1 to 2 hours. It is best to have a hunting partner when rattling for a stag; it’ll give you more time to concentrate on the shot and will allow you to position yourself better for the perfect angle. Your shooting lines and marker distances should be memorised beforehand, one must at all times keep your partners position in mind, things happen so fast and with all the confusion of the buck moving around and with buck fever setting in it is easy to throw in the towel for your partner before the fight has even begun. These stags come in fast, aggressive and pumped for a fight, leaving your adrenalin filled heart pumping in your throat not knowing if he’ll break his charge. Later into the rut the lightweights fight for the scraps but don’t get me wrong, these buck are still aggressive. I have had 4 to 5 buck coming in to check out the competition. They stand on the outskirts of the fighting arena and step in to the fight zone once the challenger has been dealt with. At the end of the rut these prize fighters look like they are in the 13th round of a bout and in bad need for a blood Doc. The Fallow Deer has the most delicious venison, especially just before the rut as the animal has fattened up for the rut. They do not eat during the rut and this layer of fat is used to survive, only having two things on its mind and one is to fight. During the rut, the meat gets a musky goat smell and tastes the same and is not good to eat. Trophy hunting is about all you can do this time of the year, for trophy hunting one has to work fast with the cape to get it cooled and salted, as they tend to be more prone to hair slip during the rut. I use a salt solution in cold water; it cools the cape down and salts it at the same time.

My first encounter with Fallow Deer was during the rut a few years back. Neil called telling me to pack my things the rut had started. It was not long and my VW Syncro was chewing gas all the way to Somerset East. Meeting Neil coming down the steps of his large old farm house I knew I was going to enjoy this hunt. I could hear the belching and clutter of horns in the distance and Neil’s broad welcome smile and his words ” you hear that ” had me itching to get going. Wasting no time on idle chatter we got ready to go, being my first rut hunt I did not know what to expect. Neil, an old hand at rattling the animal in, set me up 30 yards away from him while he started to rattled. My only experience was some programmes I had seen on ESPN on how they rattle and call Whitetail and Elk in. I was expecting the same - little did I know.

The plan was set and we waited, me with my Mathews Legacy and Neil with his oven baked Fallow antlers. Up ahead we could hear the bellows and clutter of antlers of the first bout taking place. I found a head high acacia thorn tree and took the shady side to set-up 100yards down wind of the main fight. Neil started to rattle, my heart rate jumped up a notch - this was it. I was watching up wind for any reaction from the fight zone and was fully expecting the stag to come from there. I heard a faint clutter of stone but did not pay much attention to it or its direction as I had prepared myself mentally for where the buck “should” come from. To my right, unbeknownst to me, a large buck had already honed in on me, with all Neil’s rattling and my movement I had just become his first contender. The clutter of stones intensified and become a charging bellow, breaking bush at 20 yards. That’s when he caught my attention, now at 10 yards and at full speed, he lowers his antlers onto his back to clear through the thorn bush, the last barrier between me and him. Taking me by surprise, the shock cramps my voice and my adrenalin filled heart into my throat - all I could manage to get out was a squeak, and I was not sure if it came from my throat.

All I had time for was to hold up my bow with the hope he would ran into my knocked arrow. I felt very vulnerable and time seemed to freeze. The feeling of being on ground zero just below the stag as he broke his charge, a mere 5 yards from me, was unnerving. Still curious, he trots off 15 yards to my left marker then turns his head and looks in my direction. My heart beat thundering in my ears kick starts my primal instincts as I feel buck fever shaking life back to my limbs. I try a whistle to turn him, but nothing comes out of my still dry mouth. Luckily Neil, an old hand at this, gives a quick rattle to turn him and at the same time two younger buck break bush between Neil and myself catching the big stag’s full attention. He moves off towards them only giving me a parting glance over his shoulder. Neil and I now find ourselves with ringside seats as they start to size each other up. With the loud clutter of horns round 1 is sounded. In amongst the dust and movement I wait for the big blow as the big buck opens up for a shot. That’s when I decided to throw the towel in for him. A short sharp jab to his ribs from my arrow makes him stumble. The opponents sense his weakness and hone in to put in the final blow. Being winded, my buck moves off and his legs start to buckle - exit one prize-fighter. I look across at Neil and get a broad smile and the thumbs up. By this time the smaller buck, feeling very pumped with himself and his kick ass moves, starts another a scrap with the other smaller buck. If it were not for the rut and their bad tasting meat this time of the year, I would have popped him with an upper cut. As we stood up, they cockily moved off, very slowly, not knowing if they should stand and fight. Not far from the arena we picked up one retired fighter.

My hands still shaking uncontrollably, I shook Neil’s hand and so started my passion for Fallow Deer hunting.

Peter Meiring
ADDO ARCHERY & BOWHUNTING SAFARIS