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Nitro

No expert for sure but I can give you some tips if you want to know about picking a good one.

No.3 is a bit hard to tell, as Gryphon suggested because of the angle - looking up his nose. I dont think however he has a real lot of length and would probably be lucky to make 30in. Still probably a nice trophy for someone with a bit of weight and all and not bad for an Aussie Rusa. Having said that there are some good free-range ones getting about now, esp. south east QLD to compare them to.

The other stags are puppies, either no length, weight or both. To pick length compare the main beam length to the lenth of its face, if its only 2x the length it will not get a real lot of length. Need to find one closer to three times to get those proper long Rusa antlers. Weight is easy to pick, especially at normal hunting distances. If you are less than 200m and you need your binos to check weight forget it. Heavy, old stags should stand out like the proverbial dogs nuts - same as reds/fallow/buffalo - lots of different critters.

Stag 2 is a good example - light sticks, and no length either. If you were looking at him at a distance you would be straining your eyes to see his antler weight properly, especially with a bit of bush backdrop.

I'm not trying to be a smart arse here either just saying it like it is.

For those of you who havent seen what Im talking about I will post this image of a big New Caledonia rusa stag to show what Im talking about. This one is 34inches main beam - thats no world record for length either and enough 30-34inch stags can be taken in Australia, both wild & free and in game reserves. This ones got weight too - lots of it which makes it a truly great trophy. The biggest stags in New Cal grow up to 38 inches or more in the main beam!

Great photos Nitro - That new camera works great eh!

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www.huntaust.com.au

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