How far to prune back a dead vine?

[garymc]

I had a large number of muscadine vines that died back to within inches of the ground this winter, so I'm pruning them back. I'm wondering if anyone can answer a question about this. Several of the vines have a shoot coming out of the trunk 4 to 8 inches off the ground. Many also have shoots emerging from just under the ground from the trunk or a root. What I'm wondering is, when I have a choice of leaving the shoot emerging from the trunk 6 inches off the ground or pruning to the ground and going with a shoot or shoots coming out of the ground. The below pictures aren't the best example because the lower shoot emerges just above ground level, but these are pictures I have available at this time. All 3 pictures are the same vine. It would seem that a shoot coming up off one of the roots would only have a small portion of the root system working for it. On the other hand, I wonder if the shoot coming off the side of the trunk gets the use of roots feeding the other side of the trunk.

 

[grapeman]

I try to go with shoots that are as straight as possible, meaning straighter trunks later. The ones from the ground usually will be the strongest ans straightest. Some varieties will have 10 shoots growing straight out from the bottom area of the trunk, but they have a weak point of attachment and if kept often break later.