Jaydog DOESN'T go hunting - Muntjac Deer

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jaydog

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What's a Muntjac you ask? This:
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And yes, its tiny.... :redface:

I'm in England next week for work and have a day at the end before I fly back so my wife offered me a guided hunt as a birthday present. These guys are in season now and something completely different so I figured they would be a fun change. The hunt will be 'stalking' style and if all goes well I will be travelling home with the the skull of one of the tiniest and oldest kinds of deer on the planet in my luggage. Special bonus: they have FANGS!! :rockOn:
 
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Jay - there is a member on Traditional Working Airedale Terriers, her handle is Penny Taylor, and she hunts those with Airedales and a variety of lurchers. It should be fun!
 
Lots of them in my home country of Laos. Fast little guys and can be aggressive when cornered. We usually used dogs but have gouged (sometimes fatal) the inexperienced ones with their fangs. When you actually tug on the fangs, they feel lose but somehow are super sharp and seem to tear up the dogs like cats claws. Good luck and have fun.
 
I can't wait! Plane leaves tomorrow and Saturday is the hunt. Packed my Canadian hunting/firearms paperwork, hunting pants and wool shirt and my Vortex binos. Light and easy.... I wish all hunts were like this!
Thinking of posting pics- I'm off to find my gopro camera. That could be handy! Wonder what else will get added in the next day....??
The fangs they have are just plain cool. Having a tiny herbivore that fights with giant canine teeth is one hell of a mind bender. :Slavex:
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I've shot a few of them, you gotta be quick on the draw. They are spooky, and don"t stand around. They're
also pretty tough. Common to find the bullet under the hide on the oposite side. A trophy with two intact fangs is rare, they
break them in fights. I shot one with it's neck all sliced up, had just been fighting.
Good luck and good shooting.
 
migrant hunter said:
I've shot a few of them, you gotta be quick on the draw. They are spooky, and don"t stand around. .....
Good luck and good shooting.
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Any tips? I'm always ready to listen to experience. :)
I've watched a bunch of youtube videos to prep and at least have an idea of how they move with that twitchy gait. They seem easy to call in too, which would be a fun trick to try.
 
They don't move like a deer, they almost look and move more like a pig. I'm not an expert, probably shot half a dozen or so. I moved here from Northern Ireland, but I hunted in England a bit for Fallow. Munties were more targets of opportunity. I really liked stalking in England, surprisingly high deer density. I will go back to hunt when my son is old enough!
 
Very exotic little critter. That should be a great hunt, one I've always wanted to do.

Are you taking a gun with you, or are you just going to rent or borrow one over there? What do they use...22Hornet?
 
.243/100gr used to be the min legal for all deer in England, pretty sure they reduced that to .22 centrefires for Munties and Chinese water deer.
I'd still be leaning towards .243, and I used to use a .22-250 for Roe in Scotland before I went .243 for everything. I'd rate Munties as tougher than Roe, certainly thicker skinned.
 
jjohnwm said:
Very exotic little critter. That should be a great hunt, one I've always wanted to do.

Are you taking a gun with you, or are you just going to rent or borrow one over there? What do they use...22Hornet?
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c-fbmi said:
Using a shotgun I assume.
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I have seen videos of guys using .243, .270 and .30-06. No shotguns. I'm renting a gun but have no idea what yet. Fingers crossed for some nice British firearms!

tootall said:
Man, those things must be smaller than Texada Island deer!

More info here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muntjac

So what does a guided hunt cost?
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Having shot tiny Texada deer (you can pick them up with one hand!) I'm ready for these guys. :) Full size adults should be ~35lbs.

Cost is cheap but somewhat unknown. My guide has dissappeared with some questions unanswered (total cost being one of them!) but I think he is off hunting and should reappear on Monday. Until then, I'm packed and ready and willing to pay 500 pounds British for a hunt. I've seen multiple outfits asking for 175 pounds plus 'trophy fee' for Muntjac so I should be fine money wise.

I'm out of touch with being guided though- what does a guy tip for regular service? Stupendous service?
 
c-fbmi said:
Using a shotgun I assume.
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Why would you assume that?

You will have a great day, what part of the country are you going? Go easy tell the stalker that you just want a representative animal and have fun if they are around you should see a few, the old saying "see a few you have a lot, see a lot your overrun" really is the case with munties. Im not sure about them being tough, they weight 20-30lb on the hoof, I stopped shooting them with a 243 because they would almost explode.

With munties they are more of a pest species deer, you should not pay anymore than £150 for the day and unless its a medal then you shouldnt be paying any trophy fee, you are paying for the "day" that means that you can shoot as many as you see, we have no bag limits on deer so the limit is what you see and shoot, remember also that English stalkers have a very jaded view on US/Canadian shooters so only take stationary shoots that the stalker says to take, no shooting them up the azz and if its not broad side dont shoot.

Contrary to what many on this site believe, hunting is alive and kicking in the UK, you can only dream about the numbers of deer a recreational stalker in the UK shoots and a pro will be in the upper hundreds and alot will be in 4 figures.

As far as tipping, its up to you if you but the more animals you shoot the more you tip and if he is boiling the mount for you then thats about £75.

edited to add that thinking about it, £175 is a fair price for an out of towner but the trophy fees?
 
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Good advice UKDave.

I was hoping to get an opportunity at one when I went, but it turned out my friend's land really only has roe, and an occasional fallow.

When I was there in 2008 the minimum for all deer species in England was still .243. IMO, with proper bullets the .22 centerfire rifles would be perfect for roe and smaller (the stalkers I talked with agreed).

Mind you, having said that, a friend of mine who was a stalker in SE England for a long time preferred the .338 WinMag for Muntjac. He stated there wasn't much to eat on their front half anyway, and when hit with 200 grain NBT, you didn't have to worry much about those tusks! Lol.
 
jaydog said:
I have seen videos of guys using .243, .270 and .30-06. No shotguns. I'm renting a gun but have no idea what yet. Fingers crossed for some nice British firearms!
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Yeah, I hear the Brits are fond of the Rem 770 and the Savage Axis.:)

Kidding aside, it might be wise to look into the legalities of both exporting from the UK and importing into Canada. It would be a shame to have that neat little trophy skull confiscated by customs when you get home, simply for lack of some form or permit that could have been easily obtained ahead of time.
 
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