North American Introduced Hog Deer Hunting

Hog Deer

(Axis porcinus)

Current SCI all time record: Score 90 5/8 - Texas, Hondo - 10/94

Description: The coat is an ochre-brown colour, although adult males generally darken with age. The young are spotted with white freckles, and reminiscent faint spots may be visible in the summer coat of adults. There is a darker band running down the spine. Built as a creeper, the hog deer has relatively short legs and a stocky figure which is lower in the front than the back. The face is short and wedge-shaped. Males bear three-tined antlers, mounted on short pedicels on the forehead, which may grow up to 60 cm / 24 inches in length.

Other Common Names:

Size:

Range: (Indigenous to, but not huntable in, southeast Asia): Lightly hunted in Texas until populations build; periods of antler growth vary, but most appear to come into hard antler starting July-August.

Natural History: The term 'hog deer' is derived from this deer's habit of running through the forest with its head held low, ducking under obstacles in the manner of a wild pig, rather than leaping over them like most deer. Cover is taken as soon as it is feasible. During flight, the tail is held erect, showing the white underside. Hog deer are gregarious only when conditions are favorable and do not form a "unit" at these times, fleeing in different directions rather than in a herd. When alarmed, hog deer make a whistling vocalization or a warning bark. Home ranges vary widely in size, but average about 70 hectares. Males are aggressive, and may become territorial at low population densities, marking the boundaries with glandular secretions. During the rut, males gather in open meadows, pawing the ground during antagonistic encounters. Harems are not created, with males courting and defending a single female at any given time. Unlike many other deer species, hog deer do not have a rutting call. Population densities may be as low as 0.1 animals per square kilometer in riverine valleys, rising to over 19 individuals per square kilometer in grassy flood plains.

Hunting Characteristics: