1 6 Deer Breeding for Fine Heads 



If fresh blood is desired to be introduced into an unfenced deer- 

 forest, and there is a risk of the introduced stags straying and 

 getting shot or lost, I have been informed that it is a good plan 

 to build several enclosures too high for deer to jump over in the 

 places where the hinds are likely to congregate during the rutting- 

 season, leaving narrow openings in several places through which 

 the latter can pass, but too narrow for stags with horns to get out 

 of. A stag is put in each of these enclosures, when he is supposed 

 by his roaring to attract hinds to his vicinity. 



Here I am merely relating what I have been told, but it seems 

 to me very problematical if the outside stags would allow any 

 hinds to enter the enclosures. And a better plan, in my opinion, 

 would be to saw off the horns of any stags to be turned into a 

 forest just above the brow-points, so as to leave the brow-points 

 themselves, and straightening them if they are too curved to be 

 effective in fighting by sawing off the ends and then sharpening 

 the basal portion. This would have a two-fold result. The stags 

 so treated could defeat any rivals carrying their full horns they 

 might encounter, as these two sharp brow-points would get inside 

 the guard of their opponents, there being no beams or upper points 

 to hold them back ; moreover, as these maimed stags would not 

 have heads \vorth shooting, stalkers would leave them alone till 

 they had cast their horns and grown a new set, by which time they 

 would have served their purpose for at least one season. But 

 such stags would be sure to kill lots of other stags. 



I do not believe in turning out pure-bred wapiti or Altai stags 

 in a deer-forest, as they are too big ; but half or quarter bred 

 Altai-red-deer or wapiti-red-deer hybrids would improve the deer 



