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Red deer

Cervus elaphus · Introduced/exotic big game · Big game

Red deer (Cervus elaphus): Stags typically 160-240 kg and 175-250 cm long, shoulder height about 95-130 cm; hinds much smaller, 120-170 kg. Reddish-brown in summer; greyer or greyish-brown in winter, with a rump patch. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Red deer with large antlers standing in shallow water
Photo by Diana Parkhouse on Unsplash
Scientific name
Cervus elaphus
Family
Cervidae
In North America
Introduced
Range
Native to most of Europe, the Caucasus, Anatolia, Iran, parts of Western Asia and the Atlas Mountains of North Africa; introduced to the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South America. In Texas it is an introduced, uncommon exotic; the Mammals of Texas says such introduced species are mostly limited to a few exotic game ranches and seldom found in free-ranging populations.
Biology

How to identify it

Stags typically 160-240 kg and 175-250 cm long, shoulder height about 95-130 cm; hinds much smaller, 120-170 kg. [1][2][3]

Reddish-brown in summer; greyer or greyish-brown in winter, with a rump patch. [1][2][3]

Only stags carry antlers; in larger European stags the top tines form a crown or cup. [1][2][3]

Smaller than the North American elk, which was once treated as the same species. [1][2][3]

Compared with the elk: Elk are larger, and their stags bugle during the rut where red deer stags roar; European red deer antlers end in a crown or cup of tines rather than the elk's throw-back top tines. [1][2][3]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

  • Elk · Cervus canadensis

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a red deer before you act. Compared with the elk: Elk are larger, and their stags bugle during the rut where red deer stags roar; European red deer antlers end in a crown or cup of tines rather than the elk's throw-back top tines.[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

How it behaves

Mature animals stay in single-sex groups for most of the year [1][2][3]

The rut runs from August into early winter; stags roar, where elk bugle, and may hold as many as 20 hinds [1][2][3]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Native to most of Europe, the Caucasus, Anatolia, Iran, parts of Western Asia and the Atlas Mountains of North Africa; introduced to the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South America. In Texas it is an introduced, uncommon exotic; the Mammals of Texas says such introduced species are mostly limited to a few exotic game ranches and seldom found in free-ranging populations.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. BIOLOGICALRed deer

    Wikipedia · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Wikipedia

  2. Natural Science Research Laboratory, Texas Tech University · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Natural Science Research Laboratory, Texas Tech University

  3. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Texas Parks and Wildlife Department