Thread: Should I have shot this Deer?

TLDR: After a successful trip this weekend where I shot a spiker and a young stag for meat I'm after the guidance of the wiser and more game management minded hunters on this forum on whether I should have shot the young stag or not.


This is my second year hunting big game and I'm loving it!, headed off out of Christchurch on Friday afternoon for what I wanted to be a overnight hunt, but turned into two nights. I was targeting meat animals, whilst mindful that this region has alot of deer and hunters are encouraged to manage them as much as possible.

On the second night (because I spooked everything on night one and morning one) shot the larger of the two stags pictured first then shot the spiker. There was a third stag, looking same age as the larger one but with 8-10 points, so to me looked like it had alot of potential and was an easy choice to leave.

I didn't have the chance to shoot any hinds without fawns, which I would have preferred to over the stags.

I took all good meat off both animals and pack'd it some 6km with 1000m of elevation change in about 5hours back to my car, so I'm happy I didn't waste meat or an animals life. Pack weighed 50kg so right now I'm in some pain for it. Last time I carry two animals out solo.

My question for those of you with more experience and a heart for game management: Is the stag something I should have left because it has good potential or because we should always target hinds over stags or any other reason? If the stag has some marker of potential what is it?

Another perspective might be, that with high animals numbers in the area, as many as possible should be shot.