Going back?

[AntlerHunter]

I've been intrigued into what age large bucks/ stags are living to before they start to go back. There's a few red stags I have noticed to go back over the years, however they've lived on for a number of years after doing so. I understand that most of the time, an animal is shot once it starts to show signs of going back, as it's prime days are over and its time to let a new bloodline through. And so my question to you is, have any stags or bucks gone back in your area? And if so, what age do you believe the animal to be? Another point i'd like to raise is what age is found to be prime for a lowland red stag. I've always found that ageing a stag, once its fully grown without its tooth sample is very difficult, as once a stags antlers are pretty much as big as they'll ever be they stay the same(ish) shape and size for 4+ years before regressing.

 

[tarponhead]

Have a look at Roy Lupton's video on Fieldsports Britain - he had a Fallow buck that was about 10 or 11 I think, before he decided it was time to take it. I wonder what difference there is between species and if there is Yoda-like Muntjac under a tree somewhere, of impossible age?

 

[AntlerHunter]

cheers, I'll give it a look, different species tend to live to different ages, with smaller species living longer

 

[Goingback]

In my mid thirties........