The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of slaughter method on the meat quality of farmed fallow deer. Twenty bucks (19 months old) from the same herd were divided into two groups. Half of the animals were slaughtered by head and neck with a hunting rifle (calibre 0.308 Winchester, Brno Rifles, Czech Republic), while the other group was stunned in a restraint box with a captive bolt (JP6 9×20, Antreg, Czech Republic) and subsequently exsanguinated. The carcasses were immediately processed and chilled. Physical parameters (pH, colour, Warner-Bratzler shear force and cooking loss) of meat from three muscles (longissimus lumborum, triceps brachii, and biceps femoris) and carcass damage were measured. Slaughter method did not affect the pH of muscles, measured at 5 different intervals over 48 hours post-mortem. The carcasses from the free-bullet method had significantly less overall damage compared to the captive bolt method carcasses. The meat samples from animals slaughtered using freebullet showed lower Warner-Bratzler shear force values (i.e. were more tender), with the greatest effect seen for the biceps femoris muscle. Overall, the observed differences in meat quality were not substantial, yet free-bullet slaughter may contribute to higher quality carcasses of farmed deer. This research was funded by projects: METROFOODCZ research infrastructure project [MEYS Grant No.: LM2023064], including access to its facilities, FTZ Internal Grant Agency at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, [IGA-20243112], and project MZE RO0723 is also acknowledged.