Fanged Bucks! - Larry Weishuhn

“That looks like a teddy bear crossed with a saber-tooth cat!” said a young lady pointing at a

photo of a Chinese water deer in the Scandinavian Prohunters booth at the DSC Convention

where John Langdraf and I were visiting with Sofia and Stefan Bengtssen about an upcoming

Swedish moose and Finland whitetail deer hunt.

“Good description! They really do resemble what she just described.” Commented John. He

added, “Let’s put that one our next to hunt list!” I nodded in full agreement.

Following our successful whitetail deer hunt in Finland, on our flight home to Texas, John again

brought up Chinese water deer. “I think next year’s hunt should be to England for fanged deer.

If you’re interested I’ll talk to Patty (www.theglobalsportsman.co) about setting up another

hunt with Scandinavian Prohunters.” I could not say “YES!” fast enough.

As a wildlife biologist, lifelong hunter and a “deer enthusiast” I had long wanted to hunt

Chinese water deer (Hydropotes inermis), which were native to southern Asia, specifically China

and Korea, and had been introduced into England in the late 1800’s where they are now found

a sizeable portion of England. Males, or bucks, do not develop antlers like many others of the

Cervidae family, save some of the musk deer found in Asia. Instead of antlers Chinese water

deer grow elongated upper canine teeth, fangs, that males use quite effectively when fighting

over territory or females. These fangs are pointed and sharp on the backside and, they can

grow up to nearly 3-inches in length. Interestingly too, does can have litters of up to eight.

Their kind seldom weighs more than 30 pounds. As their name suggests they love grass/reed

flood plains and marshes near waterways. During the years I yearned to hunt their kind, I read

what I could, watched what shows I could about them and talked to those who had hunted

them. To say I was thrilled over the chance of finally hunting Chinese water deer would have

been an understatement!

As we approached our early March 2026 departure, John and I made certain to procure the

now required VISA from England, booked direct flights from Austin, Texas to London, England

via British Airways through PWP Travel, then checked with Patty Curnuette with The Global

Sportsman who serves as Scandinavian Prohunters’ USA booking agent for last moment details.

John and I met at the Austin, Texas airport then soon boarded our flight to London. We had

decided to use rifles Stefan and Sofia would provide rather than take our personal firearms,

thus avoiding red tape and headaches. Stefan had assured us we would have accurate rifles;

Mauser, Tika or Blaser, and shooting Hornady ammo.

Our flight was uneventful, although a bit long. Not a “plane sleeper” I watched numerous

movies crossing the Atlantic.

After clearing England’s Customs, we headed to a hotel next to the airport to meet Stefan and

Sofia. I had last seen them a couple of months earlier at the 2026 DSC Convention and Expo in

Atlanta. While “catching up”, Stefan mentioned we would be joined by Scott Chambees and

Richard Capote, their wives and a friend of theirs. Scott and Richard like John and I were

hunting Chinese water deer and muntjac.

A few minutes later all arrived; introductions, a quick cut of coffee and we loaded into two

vehicles and headed toward Beccles, north-northeast of London in the Country of Suffolk.Three

hours later we arrived at the Waveney House Hotel, built in 1540, our truly comfortable base

camp for the upcoming week.

Over a most delicious “dinner”, of course I had “fish and chips”, a sampling of local pub’s Scotch

whisky, then off to bed. Our next morning would be a bit lazy start having us mid-morning

meeting Adam Gage who oversees the management of the finest Chinese water deer habitat in

all of England. We would be using Adam’s rifles. Thus, a quick trip to the range where we

learned each of the four rifles were sighted-in at 100-yards, albeit one 2-inches high at that

distance; Hornady ammo, accurate and dependable. The “deadly” part of Hornady’s slogan

would come later.

Late mid-morning John and I joined Adam to hunt Chinese water deer on a broad, wet, short-

grass and reeds flood plain. I noticed Adam grabbed his spotting scope. “We’ll glass with

binoculars to spot them, then I’ll use my spotting scope to see how long their fangs are, if both

are intact and determine if the buck is worth stalking or taking.” He continued, “With our

current full moon, deer have been feeding during mid-day. Look for them standing and feeding

but also bedded. When we spot one to go after, load the rifle and follow me, staying behind me

so we look like one. When within a hundred yards of so, I’ll set up the shooting sticks and point

out which deer to take if there are more than one. Most of the bucks tend to be solitary, but it’s

also not uncommon to see several fairly close together.”

Adam lead the way. We followed, John with the rifle, me with a camera to record his hunt for

an episode of our weekly “A Sportsman’s Life” digital television series on CarbonTV.com and

our YouTube channel of the same name.

We had walked a quarter mile, spotted several near and distant Chinese water deer which did

not interest Adam. Then, we spotted five scattered between taller weeds. Our guide peered

through the spotting scope. “The closest buck has a long, massive fang on his right, but is totally

missing his left. He’s huge! The buck to the far right is one I think we will want to take. Let me

look at him just a little longer to be certain.” Seconds later, “John, I’ll set up the shooting sticks,

get comfortable on them, find the buck in the scope and get ready to take a shot if I tell you the

buck is one we should take. He’s an older buck, with thick fangs, and the points are well below

the bottom of his jaw. Fairly certain we will want to take him.” With that I slid in behind John

and waited.

A couple of moments later, “Indeed a proper buck, one we should take!” I watched as John

“settled in”, pushed the Tika’s safety to “fire”. I then concentrated on trying to get the buck he

planned to shoot on camera. Moments later the suppressed shot sounded. I watched the buck

fall, 120-yards away. “Great shot!”

A couple of minutes later we were at John’s buck’s side taking photos. His buck indeed did have

long, pointed and sharp fangs, as well as a split ear, the result of a fight. In touching the deer’s

hair, it seemed a bit bristly, not unlike that of an African klipspringer. Truly a handsome and oh-

so unique deer.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hunting a different area looking for, but not finding a

muntjac. Typical of all hunting camps it did not long to spend the night.

Morning came early! Adam hunted with Scott and Richard, John with Sofia, and I with Stefan.

Stefan and I had hunted together several times in the past including red stag in Scotland and

Sweden, reindeer in Norway, fallow deer in Denmark, roe deer in Sweden, as well as fishing for

salmon and shooting waterfowl. Beyond being my choice of outfitters in all of Europe and

beyond he too has become a great friend, and a frequent and respected donor to DSC and DSC

Foundation fundraisers.

We started at first light walking along a field-forest edge hoping to find a long-fanged buck

Adam had seen there a few days earlier. We soon spotted several Chinese water deer, does and

young males, a couple of muntjac females and many, many pheasant. Rounding a corner, we

spotted twelve deer feeding in the greenfield. Quickly we walked behind a screening of tall

grass and weeds and headed toward the deer to get a better look.

Through my 10x42 Stealth Vision binoculars I could see one of the deer had long fangs. Both

were present. “Let’s get closer if possible.” Instructed Stefan. A short time later he set up the

shooting sticks. “Second one from the left, the bedded one!”

The crosshairs settled on the bedded bucks vital, I gently tugged the trigger. And…I saw the

bullet strike the ground just beyond the buck’s back. Then, watched as all the deer disappeared

over the slight rise behind them. “Hmmm..” said Stefan…”The good thing is you did not hit or

wound him and we can continue hunting.” He hesitated, “Isn’t that the rifle Scott shot? I seem

to recall it was shooting at least 2-inches high at 100-yards.”

“That or I simply missed!” I replied.

A short time later we met the rest of our hunters. They had a delicious mid-day meal, I had a

Coke and tea, still feeling a bit “puny”! We headed to the backside of the property Adam

managed for Chinese water deer. Said Adam, “I’ll take Scott and Richard on a walk, then when

both have a deer, I’ll return for you Larry, and we’ll go look for one!” Sounded like a plan.

Stefan, John and I “kicked back” and glassed the wet, grassy plain. Interestingly, we watched

from a distance as both Scott and Richard took their bucks.

A short time later Adam returned to where we waited, “Larry, if you’re up for a rather long

walk, there’s a place where I saw a really good buck a few days ago.” Adam knew I had been

dealing with a “stomach virus”! I assured him if a good buck waited, I was more than capable.

Soon we were nearly a mile from the vehicle. Along the way we had spotted several Chinese

water deer, which after looking at them through his spotting scope, Adam deemed females,

young bucks, or older bucks with broken fangs! We continued walking.

Off in the far distance we spotted a couple of deer. Adam after watching the one on the left

declared him a buck, but too young. The one on the right much farther away he declared a

really good buck with both fangs reaching well below the bottom of his jaw. We headed in that

direction. After cutting the distance to about three-hundred yards we stopped to glass the buck

we hoped to take. Suddenly he started running, heading from our far right to the left still at

least three hundred yards away. Then just as suddenly he stopped and started feeding along

the edge of a small canal. “Let’s get to that gate with the little bridge. Should put us about a

hundred yards of him. We can use the gate to help break our outline and possibly as a

secondary rest for you. I closely followed Adam trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

We soon cut the distance to 125-yards. We stopped, Adam set up the shooting sticks. The long-

fanged buck was walking slowly left to right, but behind a berm. All I could see of him was his

head, neck and very top of his back. I watched as he walked, stopping occasionally to nibble on

a tender morsel. “Larry, there’s a break in the berm about twenty step in front of him. I’ll stop

him there so you’ll have a shot!” said Adam. I followed the deer through the scope.

As the buck stepped where I could see his full body, Adam barked. The buck paid no attention

and kept walking. I decided to shoot him while he was walking, pushed the Mauser’s safety to

fire, followed the buck’s forward movement and pulled the trigger. My buck fell. I heard Adam

say “Good, perfect shot!”. No sooner had I shot, I bolted in another Hornady round and

centered the crosshairs on the downed buck. A few moments later I accepted Adam’s

congratulatory hand.

At my buck’s albeit wet side, he had fallen into the water after the shot, I marveled at his long,

pointed and sharp fangs. A prayer of thanks, then several photos. A dream of forty plus years

had finally been realized! A little while later we photographed the three bucks taken that

afternoon.

With all four hunters having taken extremely long-fanged Chinese water deer, a bit of a

celebration ensued that evening.

The morrow would bring more adventures including looking for “vampire deer”….