They are an interesting and attractive deer species that I know virtually nothing about .

Anyone care to enlighten me ?

The main herd is based around Charters Towers in northern Queensland. Particularly around a couple of stations. It is pretty much a pay and be guided hunt. There are lots of deer with the challenge being finding a large set of antlers without missing tines from fighting.
Having said that there are some other herds popping up around the place in places like southern QLD and New South Wales. Access is not going to be easy for them without some local knowledge or paying a guide.
I havent hunted chital but that is the general idea that I get from the mags and on the internet forums. I am planning on having a go in the near future though.

A mate has some just north of Brisbane.I'm sure a hunt can be organized around feeding time,where you can pat them first.

And what are their names ...? Prancer , Dancer , Rudolph, Donner , Blitzen perhaps ?

Pm me with some details there Easy , if you please .

I hunted a stag behind high wire at Watervalley last year. The chital herds were very alert and always made use of the thick patches of bush as soon as they were aware of humans nearby. Unlike many other species - fallow, reds, rusa - which often standed stareing for a while before running off.

The Chital or Indian Spotted Deer is in my opinion the most beautiful deer species in the world. I would love to see more of them in the wild as they leave fallow for dead for wariness.

I hope to see, photograph and film some in their native country, India, in December.

NitroX .
Is it all too easy at Watervalley ? Seems from what I read that there is so much game that it's really only a matter of finding a head that meets your expectations .
Is it much of a challenge to bag a good head there ? Not being facetious .
From what I have read it sounds like you drive around glassing game , then once you find something you like , hop out , stalk a bit and shoot .

quote:

Originally posted by NitroX:
The Chital or Indian Spotted Deer is in my opinion the most beautiful deer species in the world. I would love to see more of them in the wild as they leave fallow for dead for wariness.

I agree 100% with you. Beatiful and (for me) the most spooky deer of all. And the meat is EXCELLENT !!

L

Thanks John - for the great photos .

Those are really pretty deer.Its a real shame we dont have them here in NZ , but hunting in Oz is good too.

I have checked out the Watervalley website and they have a wide range of species .

The thing that amazes me is the prices that outfitters want for guided hunts and the trophy fees well . Maybe we are spoiled for cheap hunting here in NZ.

Lorenzo is right the steaks are very good.Nice and tender soaked in olive oil and garlic. The chital or axis deer may have hard antlers in the summer, or winter in Florida , it is unique or mixed bloodlines perhaps. I also found them to be timid, fast and lots of fun .

quote:

Originally posted by Bushchook:
NitroX .
Is it all too easy at Watervalley ? Seems from what I read that there is so much game that it's really only a matter of finding a head that meets your expectations .
Is it much of a challenge to bag a good head there ? Not being facetious .
From what I have read it sounds like you drive around glassing game , then once you find something you like , hop out , stalk a bit and shoot .

Read the original post perhaps.

quote:

The chital herds were very alert and always made use of the thick patches of bush as soon as they were aware of humans nearby. Unlike many other species - fallow, reds, rusa - which often standed stareing for a while before running off.

quote:

The Chital or Indian Spotted Deer is in my opinion the most beautiful deer species in the world. I would love to see more of them in the wild as they leave fallow for dead for wariness.

Quantity of game does help of course. Having numerous stags does not make them LESS sporting or not. If you walk around in the bush in "Whop Whop" where poachers, spotlighters, trigger happy twits have shot everything in sight, of course it is easier where the deer are in "African plains game" numbers.

As for "high fence hunting" when the average hunter has access to 5000 acres, just because the hunter can not jump the boundary fence to hunt the neighbours property when the herd flees does this make it more "sporting" because at WV you have access to two 50,000 acre blocks? The deer can still flee.

In the photographs above:

The tree behind is typical of trees in that block. The thickly leafed branches are down to the ground. The chital stand camofalgued in the shadows and 90% of the time see you before you see them. Then you have to be able to see the stag.


The bush behind is very thick. 40 deer can sit in there and you only see glimpses as they move around away from you, until eventually running out the other side to the next lot. The chital run very quickly into the bush if they are aware of you.


Notice the chital. They are running. The red deer are standing around.


I hunted Rusa with a German acquaintance on WV. The Rusa did stand around stupidly a lot. The numerous red deer can stand around or run. Thet were in velvet and no one was shooting at them. In March you probably have a dozen or more hunters after them everyday. Fallow deer tended to make for the bush quite quickly too. They were also in velvet.

One thing I have noticed. Guys who never have hunted there, often because jumping a fence to poach is completely free, drive around and say contemptuously, "the deer just stand around". But how many big trophy stags did they see ie standing around or at all in hard antler?


Do it or not. Make your own choices and let others do the same.

Lets get back to something more interesting, ie chital and chital hunting.

My stag. Not a monster but a reasonable representative trophy from those I saw. The best except for one seen outside the fence on the road reserve! One brow tine on this one was broken.

Rifle is a BLR .308 Winchester.

The weather was hot, mid to high 30 degress C.

I want to go back and try out the Tikka double in 9.3 mm as I am confidant it can handle 200 to 250 yard shots.

The chital hunting story

More photos from WV including more chital

Are you planning a Chital hunting trip Muzza?

T-P yes I am looking into a hunt sometime in the future, just factfinding at present tho.

NitroX - great pics mate , and a nice representative stag too .
Too many people get hung up on wanting a world class trophy when they can have a nice representative head and great memories for a little sweat and lots less dollars .

Thanks to everyone who has contributed in this thread . Fascinating stuff.

There are a few adds in the back of the Sporting shooter for guides in the Charters Towers area of QLD that do Chital. If you don't get that mag Muzza, let me know and I'll get it for you.

Thanks mate , have seen a few of them in other hunting mags as well .

John

quote:

Originally posted by NitroX:
The chital herds were very alert and always made use of the thick patches of bush as soon as they were aware of humans nearby. Unlike many other species - fallow, reds, rusa - which often standed stareing for a while before running off.

Thats interesting because during a recent trip to New Caledonia I found the rusa to be very spooky. Even deer in a no hunting area ran as soon as they saw any sign of people.

Also, the NC rusa is the best venison I have ever eaten.

Fergus

What's with the gum leaf in the mouth?

The aussie equivalent of a Euro tradition??

TrackersNZ

I was hunting with an Australian-Austrian gentleman. So we did the "Waidmannsheil". He also wanted to send photos to a friend back home so wanted the "last meal" in the stag's mouth and also the sprig in the hat.

Fergus

Never hunted New Calendona. The Rusa at WV were not very flighty. Unlike the chital which were wary.