Stag hunting

Deer hunting is hunting deer for meat and sport, and, formerly, for producing buckskin hides, an activity which dates back tens of thousands of years. Venison, the name for deer meat, is a nutritious and natural food source of animal protein that can be obtained through deer hunting. There are many different types of deer around the world that are hunted for their meat. For sport, often hunters try to kill deer with the largest and most antlers to score them using inches. There are two different categories of antlers. They are typical and nontypical. They measure tine length, beam length, and beam mass by each tine. They will add all these measurements up to get a score. This score is the score without deductions. Deductions occur when the opposite tine is not the same length as it is opposite. That score is the deducted score.

Hunting deer is a regulated activity in many territories. In the United States, a state government agency such as a Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) or Department of Natural Resources (DNR) oversees the regulations. In the United Kingdom, it is illegal to use bows or rifles chambered in bores smaller than .243 caliber (6mm) for hunting.

On average, a stag hunt lasts 3 hours and covers around 12 miles. When the stag is finally caught by the hounds, it is at the point of total exhaustion. Scientific analysis of blood samples taken from hunted stags reveals a litany of suffering. In the early stages of the chase, glycogen and blood sugar levels fall sharply. As the hunt progresses, fatty acids in the blood rise, indicating high physiological stress levels. Red pigment in blood plasma increases, caused by ruptured blood cells. In the later stages of the hunt, high levels of muscle enzymes appear in the blood, indicating life-threatening muscle damage.