Talking about chital it was noted to me recently that the chital (axis) in the USA came from India whereas the strain in Australia came from Ceylon (Sri Lanka)- which may account for the size differences between the heads of US and Australian chital.

I dont ***think** chital were native to Ceylon but they may have just been different genetics to those that ended up in the USA, perhaps the result of inbreeding??

Another interesting oint is the fact that Texan chital are widely known as the finest deer meat, whereas our N.Qld chital are almost inedible. Obviously this would have a lot to do with their browse but who knows if other genetic factors are involved?

I havent eaten any from other parts of Australia - (waterValley, SE QLD) - it would be interesting to hear of others experience.

Chers
Matt

Hey Matt,

We ate some nth. Qld chital that I took last year and it was great. I only got to try the back straps though.

Cheers,
Mark.

Chital from Watervalley is OK. Reasonably gamey, compared to fallow which isn't very gamey of course.

It would also depend on the age of the stag, whether it was rutting etc.

Deer of Australia,A Bentley, the definitive work on the deer species we have here tells us on page 115 (78 ed) that the only colony of spotted deer were procured from India,not ceylon..and believe it or not were farmed at Bathurst NSW being eventually a herd of 400 strong.

Not fallow either as the words are "this fine herd of chital etc"

Matt
Chital from the Hermidale NSW area are excellent eating. Some of the best venison I have ever butchered and eaten

Hmmm.

come to think of it I have eaten some from the New England region where I live (a long time ago and I didnt shoot it) and it was pretty damn good.

I dont know why most of the venison from FNQ is bad - most of the areas I hear about, it is very tough, even the filets.

Cheers
Matt

Interesting ... in the USA, when you order "venison" off a menue it is usually either Red Deer or Axis Deer. The meat is one of the finest.

We have a huge number of Axis in the Hill country of Texas, but they seem to be difficult to establish elsewhere. Very finicky animals. I bought 15 Axis Deer about 3 years ago (5 bucks 10 does) and I think I have about 15 today. We shot one this year and that is it.

Beautiful animal though.

What size heads do you guys expect from a mature Axis there?

Wendell

It depends where you hunt but in the premium wild-and-free area (Charters Towers - Far North Qld) you can expect to see stags in the range 29-32 inches main beam. 32 inches is an exceptional head by Aussie standard although the odd freakish one can grow longer.

Here is a 32inch specimen from last year..
Cheers for now
Matt

Nice chital,by the look of his guts hes starting to blow up very quickly in the heat.

Matt,

That is not any different than here. A good Axis is 28-30 with 32 consider pretty darn good. Every now and then, someone will shoot one 34-36, but that is a very rare occurance.

I would say the heads are not any different there from here.

Matt,

Our axis/chital here in Hawaii supposedly came from India too in 1867 (Tomich, Mammals in Hawaii, 84). They are really good tasting, and are some of the best venison I've ever had, really putting whitetails to shame.