New record length roe trophy revealed

With the new roebuck season underway, the CIC UK National Trophy Commission has verified and recorded a new British roe record for the trophy with the longest average length antlers. The specimen, an old buck with a five point head, averaged 33.15cm eclipsing the previous contender by more than 1cm.

Taken by Robert Mann in Gloucestershire in August 2010, the trophy was awarded a gold medal with an overall score of 152.87 CIC points by a panel of UK Commission members including the senior judge Richard Prior. In addition to its exceptional beam length, the brow tines are among the most developed ever seen on a British roe.

Roe deer expert and senior CIC judge Richard Prior said: ?Robert Mann?s fine Gloucestershire head is a spectacular trophy, though without the regularity shown by some of its near rivals for length. At 152.87 CIC points, it?s a good gold medal, but short of the British record by the best part of 120 points.

Obviously this buck, in common with many good bucks which have come from Gloucestershire recently, benefited from abundant feeding to produce such a volume of antler growth. Personally, I am not in favour of ?record-chasing?. Students of roe will be interested to know about the extreme length of antler this species is capable of growing, but a trophy is of greatest importance to the stalker who shoots it and many lesser heads than this are doubly cherished by their owners for the memories they hold. That said, if I had seen that buck in my sights I would probably have had a heart-attack.?

The rest of this article appears in 6th April issue of Shooting Times.

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