Huge Red Stag

[Brithunter]

Hi All,

Whilst browing the web, in search of information on Stalking Red Stag in Scotland, I came across a web site and in the Gallery was this picture. I thought you just might be interested in seeing:-



I think you will agree this is a real monster, doubt many grow to this size especially as according to the site the stalking all takes place on the open hill so this is not a park stag. I would hate to think of the charge the estate made for such a trophy though

In fact this looks so big, that I doubt it would fit in my place

[flhuntress]

THAT'S A MONSTER!!!
NICE CAMO...HEE HEE GIGGLE GIGGLE. ;D

[deerslayer11]

Damit boy!

[Shorthair]

I really dig that Scottish camo! What do they call that pattern? ;D

[hunt4fun1]

It's called Glen Plaid. ;D

[Brithunter]

Hi All,

Now you may laugh, but the Scottish Plaid or more correctly tartan was developed to act as a concealment aid upon the Scottish moors. Each of the Clans and famous estates has it's own design, the Clan Tartan is to indentify the Clan members mainly, the estate tartan is certainly more of a concealment aid.

I recall reading about how one Laird chose his staffs tartan, he had several types/patters made up and got a couple of Ghilles to rap themselves in some of the cloth and go out onto the Moors wher the Laird tried to sopt them using binoculars. He selected the Tartan which was the hardest for him to see. Remember that the Scottish hills are covered in Heather, braken as well as grass and moss with lots of rock, that colour which you are laughing at it practical in such an enviroment, (real tree won't work here, no trees )as is the Deerstalker hat worn in the photo, although I can't see the bottoms of his legs, he could be wearing breeches or Breeks which finish just below the knee leaving the lower legs to be covered by Wool stockings (socks to you) which again funny as it may sound works very well.

Tartan clothing like that worn by this gentlman is warm comfortable, even when wet and has stood the test of time, being in use for hundreds of years. Not many folks go Stalking on the Scottish Moors/hills without getting soaked, even if it's not raining the ground is wet most of the time and a Stalk upon a group of Red stags will often entail a lengthy crawl to get into a final shooting position, Red Deer have good eye sight! if you are very fortuneate you will not have to crawl up a gully or through a peat bog. Due to the high rain fall in Scotland even in September any gullies are likely to have water in them, so crawling up one will get you extremly wet, Gore tex will not help you here as it will run down inside your sleeves and waist band, leg holes, you name it the water which is also likely to be black with peat will find it's way in

Wool at least retains it's warm properties when wet which it more than most man made fibres do, most Scottish hotels, shooting lodges will have a drying room to dry your clothes for the next days outing although a spare set of warm wool clothing it a good investment/insurance giving the other set further time to dry out properly

Cammo that does work quite well in a more modern sense is the British Armies DPM pattern, and you will see in in use there. My friend the gamekeeper does not even own a pair of trousers, he only wears Breeks and has done so all his working life. He is now 60 and has no intention of changing, in fact he also dresses that way when abroard. If you ever get the chance to Hunt in Scotland you are in for a severe culture shock, they take their huntinh and the traditions that go with it very seriously indeed, shooting wildly and at moving Deer is seriously frowned upon and will often get you thrown off the moor.

I recall hearing whole barrages of shots on my trip to Missouri, our neighbours had one Deer shot 5 times, this would not be tolerated in Scotland, the Ghille will select the beast to be shot, not the rifle. The shooting of Deer is a way of herd, deer management so shooting the best is not an option as they are required to continue the population. On well managed estates there will be usually a small surplus of good stags which are culled, attracting a premium price of course, but then this is one way to maintain the estate as it brings in revenue, but the main cull will be lesser beasts and of course Hinds which are shot at a different time of year to the Stags, which are also charged for, even the meat is sold. The rifle will get a joint in most cases and the head of course, the carcase remains property of the estate unless of course you elect to buy it, remember that Scottish estates are rarely fenced, most fences if used are to contain Sheep and Deer find them no obsticle, although I do undrstand that there are a few Deer fenced estates to cater for the trophy hunters who don't mind that sort of thing, I have found the wed site ot one which proudly procalims that a certain number of reared stags of trophy quality are released onto a fenced moor of "x" amount of acres, it's a large area Ok but the thought of this leaves a bad taste in my mouth

I hope that I have not upset you too much but some Americans find the way of hunting in the Old World so different that they cannot adapt to it, some of the European traditions are much more involved than ours or even the Scots.

[hunt4fun1]

Oh man,

we were just joshin with ya.

That's a cool story/history of plaid though. Also, a hell of an animal. I've seen em on tv but rarely that size.

[Brithunter]

Hi All,

Hey I am not uspet, just trying to educate ;D

I talked to Cliff the gamekeeper about this one, he used to work on a Scottish Estate and he said it's most likey a Forrest Stag, which means lowland and also it's likely a hybred. Either Red/Wapiti as this was done some years ago to increase the size of the Reds, or a Carpathian Stag a Red sub species normally found in Europe which grow huge antlers. He also said you wouldn't want the bill for this one

Of course he could just be a freak Red but that would be very rare.