The Illusive Peruvian Whitetail

by Brittany Boddington • August 17, 2011 • 5 comments

This was one of the most fun hunts I have ever been on and by far the hardest. These whitetail are unlike any other that I have ever heard of, they don’t even behave like deer. We were 11,000 feet up into the Andes mountains and these deer acted like mountain goats! We would spot them from across a mountain range and by the time we got close they would vanish into thin air, I found out later that these deer actually crawl on their bellies from bush to bush to stay out of sight. I didn’t believe this was possible until I saw it myself. I’m not sure if they developed this habit to avoid the many puma in the area or to stay out of site of the farmers that traverse the mountain sides to go from village to village but it was truly amazing to watch! The Peruvian whitetail is much smaller then our North American whitetail and they much bigger ears. There are two different types of Peruvian whitetail and although they often get grouped together their antlers are actually very different. Depending on where you hunt in Peru your trophy will vary greatly. In the mountains where I was hunting you can find eight point bucks with horns that wrap forward around their eye area which is very different from the coastal area’s whitetail that very rarely get to eight points and have much smaller antlers that grow strait up. I think it is pretty interesting that they are all classified the same and yet they look so different but I guess that just means I need to get one of each! I didn’t get my deer this year but I’m already re booked for next year and this time I’m going to spend a lot more time in Peru! The mountain hunt  is a very challenging hunt but it covers some of the most beautiful and interesting country in the world!

In The Urban Huntress • Tagged , ,
  • Hunter white

    awesome story

  • Dan Williamson

    Nice story hopefully next year you'll connect. Looks like a real tough hunt. Thanks for sharing better luck next time.

  • Dan Bettes

    Very cool, Brittany! Really like your articles. I hope you get a couple next year!

  • mike

    Come on give us some more details!!! who are you hunting with, what are you shooting, what part of peru are you in???

  • claudio

    Hello, I really liked reading the article. I tell you about the 4000 meters above sea level there is the "taruka" whose hunting is difficult due to the altitude where you can hardly walk. The white-tailed Peruvian is a ghost but taruka is even harder to hunt. Greetings from Peru.