Deer Species You Can Hunt in Argentina
In Argentina we hunt two true deer, the red stag and the fallow deer, plus three species hunters add to the same trip: blackbuck, mouflon and water buffalo. All five were introduced and now live free range. We hunt them spot and stalk, one-on-one, with rifle or bow, mostly in the La Pampa area from March to August.
Not one of these animals is native to South America. They came from Europe, India and Asia, went wild on the big ranches of the pampas, and today make Argentina one of the few places where you can take a red stag, an antelope, a wild sheep and a buffalo in the same week. This guide covers each species, where and when we hunt it, and how they fit together in one trip. For every program we run, see our big game hunting in Argentina page.
First, a Word on "Deer"
Strictly speaking, only two of the five are deer. The red stag and the fallow deer grow antlers of bone, drop them every year and grow a new set. The blackbuck is an antelope from India, the mouflon is a wild sheep from Corsica and Sardinia, and the water buffalo is a wild bovine from Asia. All three grow horns, which are never shed and keep growing for life.
We cover all five because that is how hunters plan a trip to Argentina: not by family, but by what they can hunt on the same ground, in the same season, with the same guide.
Argentina's Huntable Big Game at a Glance
Species | What it is | Where we hunt it | Season with us | Terrain | Rifle or bow | Trophy notes |
Red stag | Deer (Cervus elaphus) | La Pampa area (North Patagonia) and Patagonian Andes | March 1 to August 31; roar mid-March to mid-April; Andes in March and April only | Calden woods and plains; mountain valleys in the Andes | Both | 350 to 550 lb; branched antlers with 10 to 16 or more points |
Fallow deer | Deer (Dama dama) | La Pampa area | Within the red stag season, March to August | Calden woodland and its edges | Both | Broad, palmated antlers on mature bucks |
Blackbuck | Antelope (Antilope cervicapra) | La Pampa area and Buenos Aires area | La Pampa: March 1 to August 31. Buenos Aires: year-round | Open plains | Both | 45 to 70 inches SCI on mature males in our areas |
Mouflon | Wild sheep (Ovis aries musimon) | La Pampa area | Within the red stag season, March to August | Open plains, crop fields, edges of the woods | Both | Spiral horns up to about 31 in along the curl |
Water buffalo | Wild bovine (Bubalus bubalis) | La Pampa area only | March to August, as an addition to a red stag hunt | Thick calden brush | Both | Bulls over 2,000 lb; 70 to 110 inches SCI in our areas |
Species figures come from published ranges and from what we see in mature animals on the ground we hunt. Every hunt in this table is free range, spot and stalk on foot, with a guide working one-on-one with you.
Why Every Species We Hunt Is Introduced
Argentina does have native deer, and we do not hunt any of them. The best known is the huemul, which lives in small, scattered herds in the southern Andes. Argentina declared the huemul and its northern cousin, the taruca, National Natural Monuments under Law 24,702 of 1996, and the huemul is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The country's other native deer, such as the pampas deer and the marsh deer, are not part of any hunt we offer either.
Everything we hunt arrived from somewhere else. In the early 1900s, landowners on the pampas stocked their estates with game from other continents. Red deer came from Central Europe to La Pampa, most sources say between 1904 and 1906, and were later released in the Andean lake district near Bariloche. Fallow deer and mouflon came from Europe in that same wave, blackbuck from India and water buffalo from Brazil. Over a century, the animals that got loose spread, went wild and became the free-range herds we hunt today.
Red Stag: The Center of Every Trip
The red stag is the reason most hunters fly to Argentina. A mature stag weighs 350 to 550 pounds, carries a crown of points at the top of each beam and roars during the rut instead of bugling like an elk. For the basics on the animal, start with what is a red stag.
The season runs from March 1 to August 31, and the peak is the roar, known locally as la Brama, from mid-March to mid-April, when stags call day and night and come out of the timber. The roar is also the best time to add other big game species to the same hunt.
We hunt red stag in two landscapes. In the La Pampa area, the region many hunters now know as North Patagonia, stags live in the calden woods and feed out onto the plains. In the Patagonian Andes the hunt moves to mountain valleys, with a useful season of March and April. Our red stag hunting guide covers both, and red stag hunting in Argentina shows how we run the program.
Fallow Deer: The Deer of the Calden Woods
A fallow buck usually weighs 130 to 220 pounds, a little lighter than a typical whitetail, and from about three years of age his antlers turn broad and flat, a shape called palmated. Coats range from chestnut with white spots to almost black or almost white.
In the La Pampa area fallow deer live inside the calden woodland and feed along its edges, so the hunt is slow and close: reading sign, working the wind and glassing into clearings. Fallow bucks groan rather than roar, and their rut falls in the southern autumn, inside the red stag season. Most hunters take one in the middle of the day, when the stags are quiet. Fallow deer and mouflon are both part of our big game programs.
Blackbuck: The Antelope of the Open Plains
The blackbuck is an Indian antelope: a jet-black buck with white eye rings and long spiral horns, standing in a herd of tan does on flat, open ground. Mature males in our areas score 45 to 70 inches SCI.
Blackbuck rely on eyesight and a top speed of around 50 mph. The hunt is long glassing followed by a careful stalk with very little cover, and shots run from 50 to 300 yards. In the La Pampa area it is usually the second animal of a red stag hunt. In the Buenos Aires area, about three and a half hours by road from the city, blackbuck can be hunted year-round. Blackbuck is one of the species we hunt in both areas.
Mouflon: The Wild Sheep That Watches the Horizon
The European mouflon is a wild sheep from Corsica and Sardinia. A ram usually weighs 77 to 121 pounds and carries heavy spiral horns that can reach about 31 inches along the curl, never shed, so an old ram shows his age on his head.
In the La Pampa area mouflon walk the open plains and crop fields and use the edges of the woods for cover. Where a deer trusts its nose, a mouflon trusts its eyes, and it can pick out a person at well over half a mile. You glass open country, find rams at distance and plan a stalk that never shows you on the skyline. Most hunters add a mouflon to a red stag hunt in the same week, often along with a fallow buck.
Water Buffalo: The Biggest Animal in Argentina
A mature water buffalo bull is the largest animal you can hunt in the country: more than 2,000 pounds, scoring 70 to 110 inches SCI in our areas. It is not a bison and not a Cape buffalo, but an Asian bovine whose ancestors arrived in Argentina in the early 1900s and went wild.
We hunt water buffalo only in the La Pampa area, where free-range herds live inside the thick calden brush. It is a tracking hunt at short range, with shots at 50 to 100 yards and often closer, and the species bowhunters ask about most. It is offered from March to August as an addition to our red stag packages. You can see it with the rest of our big game hunts.
Where in Argentina These Species Are Hunted
The La Pampa area (North Patagonia). This is where our own ranches are, and the only area where all five species live on the same free-range ground: stags and fallow in the woods, blackbuck and mouflon on the plains, buffalo in the brush. You fly overnight to Buenos Aires, take a short domestic flight to Santa Rosa and drive to the ranch.
The Buenos Aires area. About three and a half hours by road from the capital. This is where we hunt blackbuck year-round, and it suits a short trip or a hunt outside the March to August window.
The Patagonian Andes. Mountain country near Bariloche, reached through Buenos Aires or Santiago de Chile. Here we hunt red stag only, in March and April.
We do not rank one area over the others. The right choice depends on your dates, the species you want and how much time you have.
Combining Species in One Trip
This is where Argentina stands apart. Most hunters build the trip around a red stag and add one or two other species from the same ranch, in the same week, with the same guide. A typical plan hunts stags at dawn and dusk during the roar, glasses the plains for blackbuck or mouflon at midday and spends a day tracking buffalo in the brush. Many hunters also add a day or two of wingshooting or fly fishing.
Every trip is built to measure around your dates, your number of days and the species you want. Our big game hunting in Argentina page lays out every program in one place.
Free Range, Rifle or Bow
Every hunt on this list is free range, on open land, spot and stalk on foot, with a guide at your side from the first glass to the last photo. That is the main difference from the exotic ranches many American hunters know at home, where the same species often live behind game fence, as we explain in Texas vs. Argentina.
Every big game species we hunt can be taken with rifle or bow. Getting inside archery range of a blackbuck or a mouflon on open ground is a real test of stalking, while a buffalo in the brush puts you close from the start. If you plan to hunt with a bow, tell us when you book and read about bowhunting in Argentina. Before you fly, we send a packing list for the hunt you have booked.
What Our Hunters Say
Connor, from the United States, hunted with us in March 2026 on a trip that combined blackbuck and red stag. This is his review on BookYourHunt, word for word:
"The game was all larger than we had any right to expect; world class blackbuck and red stag. All 4 hunters in our party tagged out. The cleaning service was incredible. The chef cooked meals that tasted and looked like they came from a 5 star restaurant. Every. Single. Time."
You can read the rest of our verified reviews, currently 9.1 out of 10 across 27 reviews on BookYourHunt. After the hunt, the meat is never wasted: it is processed, eaten at the ranch and shared with the families of our guides.
Frequently Asked Questions
What deer species can you hunt in Argentina?
In Argentina we hunt two true deer, the red stag and the fallow deer. Most hunters also add blackbuck, an antelope, mouflon, a wild sheep, and water buffalo to the same trip. All five are introduced species that live free range today.
Can you hunt Argentina's native deer?
No. Argentina's native deer are not hunted with us. The huemul and the taruca are National Natural Monuments under Law 24,702 of 1996, and the huemul is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Every species we hunt was introduced to Argentina in the early 20th century.
Is deer hunting in Argentina free range?
Yes. We hunt red stag, fallow deer, blackbuck, mouflon and water buffalo free range, on open land, spot and stalk on foot, with a guide working one-on-one with each hunter.
When is deer hunting season in Argentina?
The red stag season runs from March 1 to August 31, with the roar from mid-March to mid-April. Fallow deer, mouflon and water buffalo are hunted within that season in the La Pampa area. In the Patagonian Andes the season is March and April, and in the Buenos Aires area blackbuck can be hunted year-round.
Can I hunt more than one species on the same trip?
Yes. Most hunters build the trip around a red stag and add one or two other species from the same ranch, in the same week. Every trip is built to measure around your dates, your number of days and the species you want.
Can you bowhunt deer and other big game in Argentina?
Yes. Every big game species we hunt, including red stag, fallow deer, blackbuck, mouflon and water buffalo, can be taken with rifle or bow. Tell us when you book and we plan the hunt around your bow.
Which species can I hunt year-round?
Blackbuck can be hunted year-round in the Buenos Aires area, about three and a half hours by road from the city of Buenos Aires. The other species are hunted within the red stag season, from March to August.
Where in Argentina are these species hunted?
All five species are hunted in the La Pampa area, known as North Patagonia, where our own ranches are. Blackbuck is also hunted in the Buenos Aires area, and red stag in the Patagonian Andes in March and April.
Plan Your Hunt
Tell us your dates, whether you want to hunt with rifle or bow, and which species you would like to take. Owner-hosted since 2002, we build every program around the hunter. See all the programs on our big game hunting in Argentina page, or contact us and you will be talking to the owners.
