When the realities of rural life come crashing up against the sensibilities of the urban masses, anger and recriminations often erupt.

That's one view of what has happened since the shooting of Emperor the Exmoor stag hit the national headlines yesterday, the day after the Western Morning News broke the story that this magnificent nine-foot tall, 300lb beast had been killed.

England's history is rich with the imagery of stag hunting and stalking; much of our forested landscape was created to support herds of deer; many of our pubs have hunting related names. But eating venison sausages in the White Hart is the closest most people now get to a way of life that was once deeply ingrained in the nation's psyche.

So when a magnificent stag, said by many to be the biggest land animal in Britain, is taken by a stalker with a rifle, for many it is not a continuation of that long and honourable history; not an essential part of the control of the deer herd; nor even a useful earner for the rural community. No; it is, in essence for some people at least, the shooting of Bambi's Father.

Two issues are raised by this incident. The first is a very basic question of whether it is acceptable for deer, even magnificent red deer stags like Emperor, to be controlled by culling. For those who don't believe that it is – and there are plenty of people who oppose the killing of animals for any purpose and even more who oppose their killing for sport – then there is no argument; killing the Emperor, was simply wrong. That point of view raises its own issues, of course, related to the management of deer numbers for their own good as well as for the good of agriculture and the general landscape. But if you take as your baseline point that all killing of animals is wrong, this is a fairly short argument.

For those who eat meat and see animals not as creatures who have rights but creatures for which we as humans have responsibilities, then this is an issue about whether Emperor was legally, justifiably and humanely killed and whether his death was worth the £1,000 reputedly paid by the stalker to shoot him.

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation, (BASC) which represents sporting shooters of all kinds, has no direct knowledge of this shooting, beyond the reports in the press. But if this stag was shot with the permission of the landowner, perhaps by someone who had paid for the privilege, using a rifle of the correct calibre to ensure a clean and quick kill in a safe place without risk to the general public, then, it says, no laws have been broken.

There are differences of opinion about whether the Emperor should have been spared during the rut in order to mate with the hinds and pass on his genes. David Kenyon, of the British Deer Society, says: "The issue with this stag being shot now is that the rut hasn't really started and he won't be able to pass on his genes this year. Not all reach the size and superb antler formation that this stag did. It had reached its prime. The landowners may have spotted another good stag and decided to let that one have an undisturbed run at the hinds this year. But if you are going to make that decision you should have made it last year…" That suggests even those who support the shooting of deer deplore this particular killing.

But if Emperor was considered by the landowner to be "going back" – declining at the age of 12 after many years of dominating the herd – and if he was humanely shot by a competent stalker happy to put money into the rural community in return for what was almost certainly a memorable day's stalking, a handsome set of antlers and up to 300lbs of prime venison, who is complaining?

Almost certainly not the Exmoor farmers and foresters who rely on shooting, now that stag hunting with dogs is banned, to keep the herd under control. Nor the hoteliers, publicans and other moorland businesses who cater for the country sportsmen who come to shoot stags, fish the Exmoor streams and shoot the pheasants. If, on the other hand, Emperor was considered by those who know red deer well to have had several years of rutting left in him with the potential to father many more magnificent animals to keep the Exmoor red deer gene pool vigorous and if the fee paid by the stalker never gets further than someone's back pocket, who really benefits? There are those who argue Exmoor's red deer are as valuable alive as they are dead and that visitors who come to see them, rather than shoot them, are worth as much to the local economy.

The best end to this story would be for the landowner and the stalker to come forward, tell us the manner in which Emperor met his end and seek to justify it. But country sports in Britain in 2010 are simply too loaded with emotion and anger for that to happen. Aren't they?

What's your view on the shooting of Emperor the stag? Write to: Stag debate, Western Morning News Newsdesk, 17 Brest Road, Derriford, Plymouth, PL6 5AA

Deerstalking near Hartland with Nick Wellington and Paul Messenger. Film by Adam Wilshaw.

Nervous deer at Derriford Business Park.

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