to want to kick the bastard who shot this stag

[OnEdge]

Mindless cunt

mutable very possibly. Or some other useless parasite who contributes fuck all to society.

springheeledjack, that's a joke right? You wouldn't really think that a crowd of eejits peppering a stag with arrows to die a slow death is a better plan?
Just checking

If he had been left, he would now be mating with his children and grandchildren.

He has been the alpha male for quite a few years now so he has already spread his genes around.

his body will not go to "waste" - if humans don't eat it, wild birds and animals and insects will - the food chain.

We removed his predator. Numbers of deer are artificially high in this country. This is the right time to cull. You can't do it in spring or summer because of pregnant does and fauns.

We are now the predator.

It will probably have been a quick death - a high-powered rifle is usually used for deerstalking.

I'd say his death was preferrable to a cramped ride in a scary lorry to an abbatoir followed by the stench and sounds of death there.

I can't understand anybody who thinks it's any kind of sport to shoot stuff that is minding its own business.

I hope the ID of the twat who did it is leaked and his life is made a misery.

Whilst you are not incorrect on any count melted there is something which feels so wrong about some thug paying to shoot such a beautiful animal up against a wall in a park - just for the antlers and boasting rights.

horrible things go on all the time to both humans and animals but that doesn't mean the odd one doesn't pull people up short.

Do you have the same views on fishing?

Or only furry mammals?

Kreecher, I'm sorry you feel like shit. I wasn't attacking you, just that if you come on after all the reasons why this was so wrong have been explained and say "I don't know what the problem is" then you not having read the whole thread is the reason why you don't know what the problem is.

I echo what Gore said, obviously the incident you've mentioned is abhorrent and very sad indeed but it doesn't mean that other terrible things that happen are not worth a jot. It is fairly arrogant (and I am not referring just to you and your statement) to think that humans are the only species who matter. Every species has it's place here.

When people come out with the justification that shooting for sport goes back to the annuls of time and why is it so wrong to do it now they fail to acknowledge that in the years gone by people were unaware of the greater impact of their actions, whereas they are (or should be) now. For example, certain types of hunting are now illegal because a particular species are dying out. Unless there are some guidelines, and some respect shown when hunting legally this fate will become many more species. When this happens it is not only very sad for the species that is no longer in existence but also has a knock on effect to the survival of other species too.

And all wildlife is either artificially high or low because of hundreds of years of human intervention....maybe it's time we stopped trying to manage things so much.

SuePurbly yes it was- mind you I can't imagine there's that many folk in the country that can ride a horse, chase a stag, get an arrow out of a thingy strapped to their back, aim it, fire it and hit it- all at the same time

(God it's beginning to sound like an awayday for a load of merchant bankers now innit- even I'm starting to think: hmmm, that could be fun...)

"but that doesn't mean the odd one doesn't pull people up short."

And should do.

Lay off with the old hypocrisy argument melted. So what if people are inconsistent. We're not all perfect and logical. There is something horrifying about this particular death. The logic of your argument requires that unless we are all vegan who do nothing in anyway at all ever to cause harm to an animal, we have no right to an emotional reaction to something like this. If we all stopped caring and reacting to events like that we would be a poorer species. It's our care for and interest in things that don't materially affect our lives that make us an advanced species IMO.

Or we could carry on juggernaut-like not seeing and not caring but I don't think I'd much care for that.

But Kittens, this animal is not endangered!!

PortBlack - there is a certain skill in tracking an animal then getting close enough without it hearing or seeing or smelling you, and in the accuracy of shot. I don't do it but can see the attraction. (And I like the free rabbits/ducks etc I get as a result).

And just make sure the wolves don't get a taste for children!

No I can just see it Springheeled, it would be a management bonding exercise. Awful [hgrin]

Portblack, do NOT bring back wolves. I teach Forest School, just imagine my risk assesments or me having to explain to sad parents that little Billy has been eaten. Please no.

Yes to wolves, yes to bears! Let's have the whole lot back and make all those outward bound trip so much more exciting

Again, why can't they "cull" the ill and infirm or the elderly who might genuinely suffer (starvation) from their numbers getting to high??

If people need get involved at all.

What a beautiful animal. :(

Disco, I read that as you meaning pensioners

NO to wolves and bears! I have enough trouble with parents and children who are scared of mud.

Ha! DD took 3 of her friend for a sleepover at my parents' house. They have a huge garden and live on the slopes of the Mendip hills. We live in a town and most of her friends get no further than the park.

So they saw a deer, a badger, some buzzards, but they also got covered in mud, one of them feel over and sprained her ankle and another one backed into an electric fence and got a minor shock! I think that was aa fairly all round rural experience .

Well you know pensioners are always off winding people up sue atleast accordidng to mumsnet... time for a cull??

You are all mental.

How do you know that this was the top dog of the heard? How do you all know why it was culled?

This could of just been routine undertaken by the park ranger.

I also love fishing is this as bad?

read the link in the OP, Tomy

...specially before you start calling people "mental"

Twas in papers. Nicknamed the Emperor, v big antlers.

Shooting rights belong to landowner where it was, but was shot by city type (I think its the fact that he was a city banker that gets most posters goats - if he'd been a local, no-one would bother).

I think fishing is only bad if you chuck it back in, or if you are fishing an endangered species. Is that OK?

It's been widely reported in several newspapers and the stag was famous already Tomytom. What is mental about discussing on here what is in the papers?

Made me sad. I always think that a man that has to shoot things to feel good ought to just get the penis extension. Less hassle all round.

Melted, I know it is not an endangered species. Although, actually they are in some countries, perhaps not the same breed but other deer. I know for a fact that particular breeds of deer have almost been wiped out in Central America. The point I was trying to make is that there are, and always have been consequences for our shooting or hunting of animals, whether they be deer, or any other animals. My comment was on the justification of shooting for sport/greed/kudos - ie. "People have always, through history, shot animals and displayed their horns/heads on their walls so why should they stop now". Well because back in the old days they didn't know there could be consequences.

I don't have anything against culling, which is in the interest of the species including the animal being culled in a lot of cases. It's just shooting purely for jollies that I have a problem with.

For the record, this deer wasn't being "culled" it was just killed for the kudos from what I understand. It wasn't done by the park ranger, it was a life sold to someone for the "right price".

Tomytom, we know that it was a prime specimen by it's condition and the condition of it's horns in particular. As the stags get older their horns don't come back to their former glory and this is one of the markers for people who understand the proper parameters of culling.