Funny, the variety in antler shapes on one bit of ground.....

deerstalker.308

Well-Known Member
View attachment 34058 These are two stags shot this season, within 10 yards of each other (on different days a week apart), the one on the left has some serious weight to it but is very tall and leggy where as the one on the right is not only lighter in overall weight, it's is more squat but lacks pearling or texture of any sort, and totally different colour. Funny the variations you can get within a species really. Based on tooth wear I would say both were around 3 or 4 yrs give or take..... Just a post for observations same really, if anyone has any insight I'd be interested to hear it.....
 
I would say they are not dis similar in style although one is strong with the mass/wieght high in the antler ( may have improved if left) the other wieght/mass has dropped to the brow tines. If i had to guess from pic , i would say right animal is older than left but looks can be decieving.
We have 3 main looks of head on our ground from v-shaped , u-shaped and heart shaped with the top points heading towards each other. we dont tend to get the wavy wind blown tops you see further north and very rarely see a very flat wide span either.

We also have a deer park that had 6 initial breeding stags from different lines , 7yrs on you can see the same style of the originals in the young stags that are now 5 and 6.
 
The one on the right did, to be fair have a substantial chunk of someone else's antler lodged behind his right eye....it was an old injury, might have had an impact on antler growth, certainly impacted on his body weight and condition, it might also explain the asymmetry of the antlers too I'm guessing.
Perhaps I'm over analysing the antler shapes, but these two seemed very similar and yet very different but you are right, the one on the left had potential to get bigger and better without doubt.
 
I'd put them the other way round, the one on the right looks younger to me based on the scoop of the brow, the angle in the coronet and the colour would also back this up to me although i wouldn't rely on it on its own. The variation and speculation is what makes antlers interesting in my opinion.
 
I guess it also depends where the have come from, they might both be shot on the same ground but may have come from separate ends of the county?
 
I guess it also depends where the have come from, they might both be shot on the same ground but may have come from separate ends of the county?
fair point , we get stags with black resiny antlers and we are 5000ha of vertical tundra. Stags do seem to range a fair distance in search of better feeding to winter and recover from rut and i'm certain individuals can quit an area travel considerable distances from where they were born. we sometimes see a travelling stag in the rut come galloping across the march, roaring, down the hill side across the valley floor up the other face ,on and out and away where he's heading or ends up who knows , just wish i could cover the ground so quick.
 
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