When to shoot a Red Stag

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HungarianHunter

HungarianHunter

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Hi

We doing some background work for our clients for the Red deer rut in Hungary. I thought why not ask the UK hunter what they think about one of the Red stag we took a photo of.
Please see the photo and comment what you think. Age?Wight of the antlers?Shoot him or leave him for a couple of year and explain why?
 

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Knowing where you are at first glance he looks relatively young with spindly legs. But. Thick neck. Big sagging gut. Long nose. Dipping back. Hindquarters not so muscley ( why initially thought young). He’s old. Oddly coronets look flat not much pearling

On balance. Whack him
 
If that were in Suffolk I’d hazard 6 years old or thereabouts, maximum, the tines suggest to me he’s got better to come, brow tines are very curved, long and upright, those coronets whilst quite wide as said before don’t look sloping, again suggesting middle aged as opposed to old, definitely not a baby, but I suspect has better to come, but without knowing what the local genetics and comparative heads are like it’s hard to say.
 
Just zoomed in on the coronets and they could be more sloping than first thought, I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him but that’s based on me knowing there are much better around to infill….
 
Tricky on wild life camera photos and specially for hunters not seen Hungarian Red Stags.Even hunters from North Hungary not sure about the size of the South, South West Hungarian Red Stag. I would like to see more comments and i would open Pandora box by my comment what i think :)
 
Game dealers offering sh!te money leave him until prices pick up.
(put the roe, fallow, sika or runtjac in the freezer, all taste better than a big old red)
 
For the amount of points he has he doesnt seem to be carrying much 'weight' in his antlers and depending on the bloodlines of the area that lesser weight of age may just be normal.
 
Having hunted with George on Reds in Hungary, there is a world of difference between Reds, especially highland red and Red deer in Hungary. The size of some of these stags in Hungary are huge, in body and antler growth.
Now I do not profess to be an expert on Red deer in Hungary, but by the looks of the stag in photo, I would say he is in his prime, in my opinion.

I have taken many Scottish Red Stags, and will be doing so this year with clients, and also European Reds in Northumberland, which again were huge. Some of these big European stags dont take long to get some large heads.
 
He looks like he's still heading towards his prime to me based only on my knowledge of the reds in East Anglia. I would expect the spread of the antlers to be wider than that on a stag in his prime and older. I wouldn't shoot him this year and then revisit next year to see if I was correct in my thoughts. If he looks lighter this time next year then he's in trouble.
He may be as young as 3 years old but it's difficult without having any knowledge of the stags in the area.
 
Purely based on a stalking experience based south of Lake Balaton many years ago, leave him for another year and see what he looks like then.
 
I find the best time to shoot them is just before they turn and walk back into the forest never to be seen again, if only I followed my own advice last time I saw a big royal stag 🤦‍♂️
 
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