He was a 4 year old Red Stag. He was killed during the roar in 2005, I suspect a spike jabbed him in the side while he was fighting another Stag.

I noticed that I hadn't seen him in a couple months, I wondered if he just got his butt kicked and left town to hide in the hills or if was killed. Unfortunately, I found the latter to be true.

I found him floating in a pond on the North side of the ranch.

What a shame too. Can you imagine what he would have been in 4 more years?

My Deer are New Zealand and European crosses (for lack of a better description) not sure the lineage.

My question is that I have seen this type of palmation a few times in NZ Stag, but it does not seem to be all that common. Is this a trait of NZ stags or European Stags.

I took a lot of pictures but none looked right until I took some with tables and chairs etc as a point of reference.

I have seen one head a little bit like that.

It had some palmation,ill try and find a photo.

thet arn't commin but i have also seen a NZ red stag shot years ago but it wasn't as palmated as that one of yours
wicked head shame he died the way he did

These pictures do not do him justice. I wish I could find the right angle to show the mass that goes along with the palmation.

Oh, well. I hope he had some "fun" before he died. Maybe in 3-4 years I will see little "tiny's" running around.

Neat looking Rack.

Wendell

Great pick-up. Very nice 'souveneir' skull and antlers. I have never seen a red like that in the wild.

PS Wendell, what are you adding to the water?

quote:

Originally posted by NitroX:
Wendell, what are you adding to the water?

Well, since you asked, one case of Miller Light per 1000 gallons of water.

Actually water is a very sensitive subject right now. We are in the grips of a horrible drought. I will have to haul water this weekend from 15 miles away to give them fresh water. I have never had to do this.

There are waterholes on the ranch, but most are a long walk from where the hinds and stags like to stay. The distance is not too far, but the terrain is rough.

Oh, the secret is to pour the Miller Light in your mouth while delivering the water.

Wendell, I didn't know we had Moose back home in Texas!! That thing is a stud!

That is funny. I thought about changing his name to "Moose" This would have been more appropriate than Tiny.

Actually his name was "Tine-e". The previous year he had very long main beams and very long tines ... thus the name "Tine-e". He looked like an Elk. Why the sudden and drastic change in antler configuration is beyond me.

He is the only Deer I have ever named.

That is a strange, but beautiful head Wendell.

Would you ever get a replacement cape and mount him up, or just leave it?

I have no immediate plans to mount him, but the thought has crossed my mind many times.

Maybe some day I will have it done, but the backlog of unmounted trophies seems to grow bigger each year and I don't see it slowing down either!

I will build a nice red oak base and display him properly however.

Interesting antler formation there, do you think this may have lead to the stag getting beaten/killed in a fight?
Did you see any evidence of stab wounds on his side, or is it just a distinct possibility?
Regards,

Gabe B

Gabe,

They fight like nothing I have ever seen. It is likely that while he was fighting another stag of equal size, a spike came in and jabbed him in the side.

By the time I found him he was too decomposed to tell exactly what had happened. I knew it was only a matter of time before it happened. It is not all that uncommon.