Did he have the proper license? If so then he DID have the right, by law, to take the buck. Few folks subsist on hunting any more. Those who do are called poachers as it is illegal in most places and rightly so. If we didn't raise our animals in mass, behind barriers of some sort, there'd be no animals left and we'd all be living off soyulent green. So, was it a shame? The person paid for the priviledge. He got a fine trophy. The stag was spared a lingering death due to old age and starvation and the bleeding hearts have had a good cry and wrung their hands repeatedly. If that isn't a win-win situation then what is?

If it's alive, it will die: that's inevitable. Nothing in nature is lost. It all serves a purpose. Something will eat it, every bit of it including the waste. This person was fulfilling this undeniable law of nature to the extent that he did indeed consume what he killed. At lest, I hope someone consumed it. The trophy part will be admired for year to come but it to must eventually re-enter the food chain at some point. Just because humans are the top predator at this juncture doesn't mean that humans are somehow exempt from nature's laws. We are part of the order whether you like it or not. Perversion is mummifying your remains and attempting to deny nature her share. It is an honorable thing to return the building blocks back to the builder when we are done with them. It's the way it's supposed to work.

This guy and thousands like him provide the capital for game management which protects stags and other game animals from over hunting. Over hunting, now THAT would be a shame and something to get worked up about. Thank the hunter who takes game legally next time you see a beautiful buck/stag, bear, rabbit, dove, grouse, quail, etc. because if not for the legal hunter and his ilk, there would be no game to admire, paint, photograph, etc. If you really are concerned, by a hunting license but take no game. That's what I do.