Where to hunt Red Brocket Deer
The Red Brocket Deer is the biggest representative of the Brocket Deer family, small deer unique to the Americas. A browser and frugivore, it inhabits tropical forests, cloud forest, woodlands and savannah in Central and South America east of the Andes, and up to the Rio Grande in the south. This page also covers the Yucatan Brocket Deer, which some authorities classify as a subspecies of the Red Brocket Deer. The Yucatan Brocket Deer is on the smaller side in terms of size, but is similar in behavior; true to the name, hunting opportunities for this species exist in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
Price distribution
While Brocket Deer have a great significance for the subsistence hunters within their range, legal opportunities for an international hunter are rather limited. Perhaps the most readily available Red Brocket Deer hunt is found in the Yucatan. This is a true hunting adventure, that will cost about $5,000 for a 7-day hunt before the trophy fees. The trophy fee for a Yucatan Brocket Deer is about $3,000
Learn more from our blog story
Little is known about the Brocket Deer family, in spite of the fact that they can compete with the whitetail as the most widespread and numerous deer 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. Learn more about America's most mysterious deer.
7 Jul 2019 Brocket Deer: Americas’ Most Mysterious DeerWhen to hunt Red Brocket Deer?
Hunting in the Yucatan is conducted during the dry season, as in the wet season the mud roads present a big problem, while the animals are scattered around the jungle rather than concentrated over water sources. There are two hunting seasons in the Yucatan: the spring one, that runs from March till May, and the fall season, that takes place in September - November. Most big-game hunters prefer the end of the fall season.
Hunting methods
The Red Brocket Deer relies on fruit and seeds of trees for its nutrition, and takes to dense rainforest habitat. In the Yucatan, the most popular way of hunting Brocket Deer seems to be hunting from a tree stand positioned strategically next to a group of trees that are dropping ripe food. The tree stand is often nothing more than a hammock, and taking a shot from the uncertainty of this position is quite a challenge. Most shots being at close range, a shotgun loaded with buck shot is the weapon of choice. Other ways of Brocket Deer hunting, including spot-and-stalk on the fields of maize, are also possible.
Why hunt Red Brocket Deer?
Red Brocket Deer bucks carry short, unbranching antlers, but these are the souvenirs of the adventure, not the reason for it. The real reason to hunt the Yucatan and the other jungle where Brocket Deer dwell is the whole of the experience. It is the immersion into an unusual habitat, and the hunting traditions that date back to pre-Columbian times. It is the sounds and smells of the jungle. It’s travelling the dirt roads and swinging on hammocks. A trip to the Yucatan is more than a hunt, it’s an adventure!
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