THE RED DEER 
PARK STAGS’ HEADS 
A great deal of attention has, of late years, been paid to the upkeep 
and improvement of Red deer in English parks; but however great this 
care may be, however good the feeding, and however select the breed- 
ing, I think it unlikely — if not impossible — that we shall ever get park 
stags approaching those which formerly dwelt in these islands during 
Pleistocene and recent times, unless we import South-Eastern Continental 
Red deer and breed only from them. The ancient stock was simply an 
offshoot from Continental Europe, and the animals found here had 
practically a free run to the South. They were few in numbers, the feeding 
was as good as in Austria, and the winters less severe; but, with isolation 
came deterioration, and with the further isolation of parks, as well as too 
many hinds per stag, came a further decrease in the size and length of the 
antlers. To-day certain parks can show stags’ horns as fine as those of the 
Pleistocene Age, excepting in length, and in this they are a long way behind. 
At the present day, since the Stoke Park herd has become extinct, the 
Warnham Court deer are in a class by themselves for weight of horn and 
number of points, but fine heads of from twelve to nineteen points are 
to be seen at Langley, Melbury, Vaynol, Woburn, Welbeck, Ashridge, 
Er ridge, Knowsley and a few others. 
The extreme span of the best park heads runs from 30 to 43 inches, 
that of the Warnham stag of 54 inches being abnormal. The length is 
from 33 in. to 43| in., and the beam from 5 in. to 7 in. in circumference; 
points from twelve to twenty -six, only very rarely exceeding the latter. A 
remarkable stag killed at Warnham in 1894 and born in 1880, grew the 
following series of horns (the antlers of the first few years were not kept) : 
1888, 29 points; 1889, 34 points; 1890, 34 points; 1891, 37 points; 1892, 
47 points; 1893, 45 points (19 inches across the cup; weight of horns 
171b.); 1894, 45 points. 
Another remarkable stag from the same park, and possibly a son of 
the above, is now in my possession. The horns are longer and slightly 
heavier, but do not carry so many points: 
1893, 4 points; 1894, 15 points; 1895, 17 points; 1896, 21 points; 1897, 
18 points; 1898,21 points; 1899, 28 points; 1900, 24 points; 1901, 25 points; 
(weight of horns 17 lb.); 1902, 21 points; 1903, 32 points. Weight of horns 
181b. 
During the past year (1912) there were five stags with over twenty- 
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