Thread: velvet stag help

right just went to check a trail cam and boom, big stag standing in front of me. got a video on my phone but can't upload. question is when can I roll him, has about 12-14 points and it looks to be fully grown. don't want to shoot it when the tips are soft however.
what do you guys reckon?.

ps leaving him till the roar isn't an option as I won't be around

Late Feb

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Yep Feb 20th onwards coupled with a bit of local knowledge should see you right.

jeeez that's going to be a hard wait. biggest stag I've ever seen, I haven't even seen anything above about a 6 pointer haha. cheers guys....
velvet taxidermy... expensive? haha

If he is as big as you are describing and the royals are fully developed then he could start stripping in a couple of weeks time so could be fully hardened and completely stripped early Feb.

My mate just nailed a 12 pointer on his place. Waste of a big head imo should of left it. It wont go anywhere hes lucky enough not to get poachers.

I shot a stag on the 11th of January this year that had fully grown antlers and all his his tips were hard when I stripped the velvet off, but he was a fairly old stag.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Late Feb

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Really? you guys must have it a bit later there, we watch heads during velvet (because we cant shoot them) and big ones can be ready to go at about 10th January. The size of the head has a fair bit to do with it but I think you'll find age is a pretty significant factor. I've got a family friend who has deer and that's something he has closely observed.

Yep a bigger older animal will harden up earlier. Late Feb most all will be hard.
Haven't seen a pic yet so late Feb is safe advice.

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Bit hard to tell without a photo but if he's fully formed he will only be a few weeks to harden on the tips. A mate shot a nice 12 in the ruahines early Jan this year that was hard underneath the velvet.
If he's a cunning stag he will dissappear as soon as he hardens up so don't leave it too long to go after him.

yeah I don't want to have him shot by someone else.... in the new year I will go after him. if tips are still soft I believe you can still get them freeze dried or some bollocks .
cheers guys