Got my heaviest red to date tonight....

They will be at their heaviest right now just before the Rut. Had one of about 6 years old last year right at the end of the rut which was 300lb clean. I wonder what percentage weight was lost whilst rutting? Do you know what age it was and the pre-gralloch weight out of interest? Must have been over 500lb? I'm guessing you are nearer Thetford and it was a Breckland Red? The ones over on the coast seem a lot smaller.
MS
 
Brecks indeed mick, I didn't weigh him prior to gralloch so I couldn't say, but I know my clutch smelt dragging him out! He was quite an old animal I would say, will have a look at his teeth tomorrow though.
 
Wow, 25 stone dressed, amazing isn't it - same species but nearly twice the weight of those from the hill in NE Scotland.
 
I what I though was a rubbish 2 year old last month which turned out to be a 4 point yearling and weighed 74kg clean! Just goes to show that ageing from antlers is a bit of a lottery at times!
MS
 
Any pics of these giants lads I'd love to see them , my permission is in Suffolk too but reds just seem to pass through
 
My largest was shot on 25/09/87 by an American client, shot on the open hill but by its appearance I would have said that it was a woodland stag, uneven head eleven points but fairly short beams.

Observing the stag prior to and during the stalk he did not seem any larger than normal, his weight only becoming apparent when I went to gralloch him.


Shot in a shallow bowl which required an uphill drag of around a 150 yards before a longish downhill drag to where
the argo could get to , it very soon became apparent that the client was either unable or unwilling to help drag and I could not manage the initial uphill drag on my own, if I could have got it out of the bowl I would have managed the downhill drag OK.

I realised that I would need to get help to retrieve the carcase and with the distances involved it would need to be the following day, the client who was only with me for the one day though he was stalking in Scotland for a week on a different estate each day, wanted a full mount of this stag and wanted to take it with him when he left that evening, he had made arrangements with the sporting agent that he had booked through to deal with any trophy's.


So full gralloch head and legs off and a full cape skinned from behind the shoulders, carried the head off leaving the carcase to be collected the following day after taking steps to keep the Ravens off it until my return.

Returned first thing next morning with a couple of helpers, weight of stag when in the larder 23st. or 322lbs.

Those that have a larder and send carcases to the gamedealer will be aware that a carcase will loose weight over time the biggest loss in the first few hours, for larder records it was normal to add 1lb for every stone in weight if a beast had to be left out overnight, this being the average weight a carcase would loose.

Taking into consideration the weight of the skin involved in the cape and the fact
that exposing that much more flesh to the air with skinning the weight loss would be some what greater than normal.

The true clean weight of this beast would have been somewhere in excess of 350lbs or 25st.
 
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My largest was shot on 25/09/87 by an American client, shot on the open hill but by its appearance I would have said that it was a woodland stag, uneven head eleven points but fairly short beams.

Observing the stag prior to and during the stalk he did not seem any larger than normal, his weight only becoming apparent when I went to gralloch him.


Shot in a shallow bowl which required an uphill drag of around a 150 yards before a longish downhill drag to where
the argo could get to , it very soon became apparent that the client was either unable or unwilling to help drag and I could not manage the initial uphill drag on my own, if I could have got it out of the bowl I would have managed the downhill drag OK.

I realised that I would need to get help to retrieve the carcase and with the distances involved it would need to be the following day, the client who was only with me for the one day though he was stalking in Scotland for a week on a different estate each day, wanted a full mount of this stag and wanted to take it with him when he left that evening, he had made arrangements with the sporting agent that he had booked through to deal with any trophy's.


So full gralloch head and legs off and a full cape skinned from behind the shoulders, carried the head off leaving the carcase to be collected the following day after taking steps to keep the Ravens off it until my return.

Returned first thing next morning with a couple of helpers, weight of stag when in the larder 23st. or 322lbs.

Those that have a larder and send carcases to the gamedealer will be aware that a carcase will loose weight over time the biggest loss in the first few hours, for larder records it was normal to add 1lb for every stone in weight if a beast had to be left out overnight, this being the average weight a carcase would loose.

Taking into consideration the weight of the skin involved in the cape and the fact
that exposing that much more flesh to the air with skinning the weight loss would be some what greater than normal.

The true clean weight of this beast would have been somewhere in excess of 350lbs or 25st.

that is a big animal for the hill! Blimy! I have weighed the head of this one and it is just shy of 20kg, the gralloch would have been somewhere in the same ball park, so I would say that whole, he weighed around 300kg, we breed them big round here........
 
My biggest went 375lbs larder weight with it half skinned as I wanted a shoulder mount
the rest of the skin and head went a further 50lbs

but it was not a 2 man drag ... Lol

P1010563.jpg
 
My biggest went 375lbs larder weight with it half skinned as I wanted a shoulder mount
the rest of the skin and head went a further 50lbs

but it was not a 2 man drag ... Lol

P1010563.jpg

that a Cheshire red?

Mate of mine stalks Martindale and he's had one off there that went over 28 stone on the scales. Not entirely sure what it's state was when it was weighed. I think he had one that went bigger when stalking with chrisc from the forum. As he was there I'm sure he'd be able to tell the story better than me.

Novice
 
He bent my stretton gambrel, the hoist groaned a bit though! I had do do monkey spankers trick of hoisting him from a hook through the H bone as I couldn't get him high enough to weigh when hung from the hocks.
 
that a Cheshire red?

Mate of mine stalks Martindale and he's had one off there that went over 28 stone on the scales. Not entirely sure what it's state was when it was weighed. I think he had one that went bigger when stalking with chrisc from the forum. As he was there I'm sure he'd be able to tell the story better than me.

Novice

lake stag 2.jpg hello novice I think you mean this stag.

regards chrisc
 
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