Hello Jim,
It was the privileg of the ruler to kill the stag with the edged weapon when it was caught and helt by the dogs.I was always astonished how a often elderly untrained man would manage it to kill a wild stag that certainly defenses himself by kicking and using his antlers.Visiting the hunting castle od Friedrich Wilhelm I.,the father of Friedrich II ( the great ) in Wusterhausen near Berlin, i found a picture showing him while killing a stag finaly.The stag was hold by hunters to the ground ,so that the rather well-built king was endangered in no way .Often the tendons of the back legs where cut so that the animal had no chance to run away.That was made wirh a bent hunting sword we call Praxe.The deadly strike was then made with the straight hunting sword ,the Hirschfänger.Yes ,cruel procedures and not imaginable in our times.I think a weapon to be used for these things must have a sufficient stability .These with rather short blades,tiny and fine hilts or porcelain grips where certainly made for presentation of the rank of the owner than for hunting use.
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