the stag

[Two_Sheds]

Good for the herd, or not?

Biggest animal in Britain shot by trophy hunter

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[Two_Sheds]

Mods, this should've gone in Wildlife ... could you move me s'il vous plait?

[PAULW]

The question to ask is how long has this stag been the main man and was there a danger of him breeding with his own daughters, and for all the bambi lovers the only reason there is such a large number of deer on Exmoor is they are managed, wild ,free but managed.

[Two_Sheds]

I understand the need for a cull.

I just feel sorry that this magnificent animal was shot for fun ("sport"). He was fit and healthy, but as the biggest was of course fatally attractive to the "hunter".

Are the thousands paid for the kill going to support wildlife?

[PAULW]

Well I suppose you could have had the park ranger shoot the beast, he wouldn't have minded he gets paid to do a job anyway, or you can sell the stalking, a skilled marksman crawling around in the wet for hours with a chance of bagging a trophy and paying thousands of pounds for the privilege with the money has you say going towards paying for the maintenance of the park.

[rustylady]

I totally agree that the herds need to be managed, but culling should be done by experts, not trophy hunters.

[PAULW]

How do you define an expert , someone who is employed to do the job or a sportsman that has successfully shot hundreds of animals over many years.

[rustylady]

Point taken Paul. I just hope it was a clean kill and the animal didn't suffer.

[FionaH]

Perfectly reasonable to cull the herd, its been done this way for years. If they can make a bit of money at it at the same time then fair enough. As RL says as long as it is a clean kill etc.

[PAULW]

I think you will find that a clean kill is the ACME of any sportsman's priorities when hunting live quarry.

[ginger ninger]

I agree the deer need to be maintained and the unhealthy/old stags culled to keep the herd healthy, but to take the biggest stag in the middle of the rut...surly even you Paul can't see the sense in that? He was a magnificent animal and should have been left to carry on until he was deposed by a bigger, stronger male. Natural selection not human interference should have been the order of the day.

[binley100]

I agree the deer need to be maintained and the unhealthy/old stags culled to keep the herd healthy, but to take the biggest stag in the middle of the rut...surly even you Paul can't see the sense in that? He was a magnificent animal and should have been left to carry on until he was deposed by a bigger, stronger male. Natural selection not human interference should have been the order of the day.

Seconded...........

[TEB]

I agree the dear need to be maintained and the unhealthy/old stags culled to keep the heard healthy, but to take the biggest stag in the middle of the rut...surly even you Paul can't see the sense in that? He was a magnificent animal and should have been left to carry on until he was deposed by a bigger, stronger male. Natural selection not human interference should have been the order of the day.

Natural selection wont work in this case as the deer hasn't any predators left in this country other than man. I am not sure whether this animal was killed legally or not and that is a problem with me. I have heard though that a lot of the hype is because of the photographer who is probably making a nice wad on the back of this and who has had his photo syndicated (last year).
Also its about 3 weeks into the rut now and the stag would have done his duty and there may also be the likehood if was top dog for a number of years that he may have been mating with his daughters.

[Brengirl]

"Killed by trophy hunter". A good headline - but who knows?

[ginger ninger]

Natural selection wont work in this case as the deer hasn't any predators left in this country other than man. I am not sure whether this animal was killed legally or not and that is a problem with me. I have heard though that a lot of the hype is because of the photographer who is probably making a nice wad on the back of this and who has had his photo syndicated (last year).
Also its about 3 weeks into the rut now and the stag would have done his duty and there may also be the likehood if was top dog for a number of years that he may have been mating with his daughters.

I can take you point on board TEB, but it still doesn't alter the fact that it was a very sad end to such a beautiful animal.