Where to hunt Brown Brocket Deer
The Brown, or Grey Brocket Deer (Mazama gouazoubira) is a small, vary and solitary creature. It tips the scales at about 50-65 pounds (20-30 kg), and dwells in the forests, woodlands, dry deciduous forests and cerrado (a kind of tropical savannah landscape found in Brazil) habitats in Latin and South America. Brown Brocket Deer hunting is offered by a few outfitters in Argentina.
Price distribution
The price for a brocket deer hunt in Argentina is made up of the daily rate and the trophy fee. The daily rates are typically priced in the $300-$500 a hunter a day range, and the shooting fees range from $1,500 to $2,500. Most hunters are reluctant to cover the travel expenses to Argentina to hunt just one animal, and prefer a combination hunt for a number of species instead.
Learn more from our blog story
Brown brocket deer is not the only brocket deer found in the Americas. There are many species and subspecies in the Mazama genus, and all are intriguing creatures, with great importance for local peoples as a food source, and figuring prominently in the Maya culture and other indigenous cultures of the region. Little is known, however, about them. Read why is it so, and why the brocket deer can compete with the whitetail as the most widespread and numerous deer in the Americas
7 Jul 2019 Brocket Deer: Americas’ Most Mysterious DeerWhen to hunt Brown Brocket Deer?
Brocket deer do not apparently have any fixed mating period: like with many tropical-dwelling deer, a female may be in estrous at almost any month of the year. Some studies, however, indicate a peak of mating activity in March – May and September – November. The former interval is usually considered to be prime time for hunting Argentina, as it is then when the majestic red deer have their "roar".
Hunting methods
Brown brocket deer are diurnal, and tend to avoid dense woods. They prefer scrub and bush type covers, browse on the edge of shrub and bush and open places, and would visit agricultural plantations if any in the area, or fruit trees that are ripe and dropping heavily. Stalking is by far the most popular method of brown brocket deer hunting. All kinds of brocket deer are extremely wary and cautious (small wonder, considering they’ve been hunted non-stop ever since humankind reached the Americas), and approaching it may be quite a challenge, but the routine is not too different from the methods used for hunting other big-game animals in Argentina, most notably the red stag.
Why hunt Brown Brocket Deer?
According to many sources, while overall population of brocket deer is stable, some local populations may be heavily pressed and even go locally extinct due to population growth, increasing hunting pressure, and habitat loss to plantations of various crops. In such scenarios, sports and trophy hunting can be an efficient conservation tool. A hunting concession provides a way to generate income out of the wilderness, without the need to convert it to a soy bean farm. Money that the local communities receive from tourism compensate for the loss of subsistence hunting as a food source, and revenues from hunters finance game wardens who enforce game laws. However, this only works if there’s sufficient demand for the species in question. Hunting brocket deer is an unusual experience, and the short straight antlers of the buck will be a long-lasting souvenir of the chase.
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