Deer or Elk??? Help Identify This

[JustinsDad]

This guy was snooping around my buddies feeder for a few weeks last year. In Kilgore Texas. Supposedly no elk in the area. Neck looks kinda elk like but hind end looks like a deer to me. I don’t hunt East Texas much for deer. I live in the west. Most deer I hunt are blacktail so I’m asking for help here. What is this?

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

Red deer.

 

[Marshian]

I thought maybe a red stag so I googled “red stag and Kilgore Texas” to see if there were any game farms around. This popped up which you may have heard of from last fall.

Mysterious East Texas elk can be legally hunted

A mystery with antlers in East Texas, but it's not a deer. Gregg county officials say on Saturday, drivers near East Texas Regional airport spotted what appeared to be an elk standing in the road. Gregg county sheriff's deputies ran the elk off into the woods.

www.google.com

 

[p_ham]

The crown up top suggests red deer to me.

 

[AggieHunter]

People I know have had elk, fallow, and axis on their texas properties that just escape the exotic ranches

 

[shootbrownelk]

Red Deer, no doubt.

 

[JustinsDad]

Yea after googling it I think you guys are right. Must be a Red Stag. I guess it could have escaped an exotic ranch. My buddy has lived there his whole life and never seen one until this guy came wandering along. Thanks