![]() Mortality for the mature Red Stags is usually from fighting, with most red deer hind deaths occurring from simply old age. ![]() Lifespan for Red Stag in Texas is generally 12-15 years. Due to the large appetites of these big animals, red deer stocking levels must be closely monitored and managed so as to ensure the nutrition requirements are met for all animals on Farrell Ranch. Increased completion for grass (preferred by cattle) require red deer to consume more browse. Increased competition for browse and forbs (preferred by whitetail deer and other species) push red deer to consume more grasses. The red deer is both a grazer and a browser and is very adaptable with regards to diet. Gestation is 7-1/2 months, with twins being rare. Full adult size for a red deer hind is realized at 4 years of age. The females or hinds reach maturity at about 24 months, are smaller than the males, standing 40-45 inches tall and weigh usually 165-220 pounds. During the “roar”, a Red Stag will lose 20-35% of its body weight. The Stags reach 45-48 inches tall at the shoulder and weighs 350-550 pounds after reaching full adult size at 4-5 years. One stag can breed about 30 – 40 hinds per season. Red Stags attain sexual maturity at 24-30 months and their productivity begins to decline at about 8 years of age. Any tine, in excess of four on the main beam, often forms a cup or crown at the top, and those Red Stags are referred to as a Royal Stag- highly prized by hunters everywhere. As the Red Stag mature, the horns increase in number of points, length and mass with mature Red Stags sporting main beams from 24”-40” long that grow inwards at the top with typically 4- 5 points per side. Red deer males develop “spike” antlers in their first year. Antler breakage, due to constant sparring and fighting during the rut or “roar”, diminishes the trophy quality of the antlers as the season continues. Only the male red deer or Stag have antlers, which begin growing each year as soon as the previous years’ antlers are shed in February. Red deer were first stocked for hunting on the Farrell Ranch in the late 1970’s.īoth genders of red deer are reddish brown in summer with a yellowish rump patch and turn darker grey in the winter. Red deer first were first stocked on game ranches in the hill country of Texas in the 1930’s, and now number over 5,000, found in over 82 counties in Texas. The huge antler sizes found today on Red Stags on the islands of New Zealand can be attributed more to available food supplies and possible interbreeding with released American elk than from some special or unique genetics. American elk or wapiti were once thought to be part of the red deer species group but it has been recently determined that elk are a separate species of deer.Ĭontrary to popular belief and advertising, the red deer of New Zealand are not one of these separate subspecies of red deer but rather are direct descendants of European red deer introduced to the South Island of New Zealand in 1861 by Lord Petre from a herd he held in Thorndon Park near Essex, followed by a series of releases of red deer to the North Island from Windsor Great Park and elsewhere within the U.K. The ancestor of all red deer probably originated in central Asia and resembled the Sika deer. ![]() Genetic evidence shows that red deer are not a single species but a species group, the exact number of which remains in dispute. Large numbers of red deer are raised on deer farms throughout the world where they are valued for their meat, hides, horns and velvet. Red deer have also been introduced to Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Peru, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina. The European red deer is one of the largest of the deer species, inhabits most of Europe, Asia Minor, Iran and central Asia and is the only deer species found in Africa.
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