UK deer cull required.

[devon deer]

New research states that 750,000 deer a year need to be culled in the UK as levels have got out of control.
The research states the population is 1.5 million, but most hunting organisations feel the population is more like 2.5 million.
But its easy saying this needs to be done, getting it done in a managed way is another subject.
The problem is most hunters over here don't shoot sufficient numbers of females when they are in season, too many males get shot which isn't the answer.
They don't have any predators in the UK.
Please don't suggest we need wolves, bears, cats, coyotes as some one might take you seriously!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/07/deer-culling-massive-scale-expert
Cheers
Richard

 

[skimerhorn]

I guess you could start by only allowing on buck a year or something similar to what they have here in va called earn a buck tag where you can get an additional buck tag after you kill a certain number of does.

 

[shoots-straight]

Do they allow bowhunting? You might get a lot more does shot in close proximity to homes, and farms with archery equipment, where the landowners would be hesitant to allow rifle. Just a small fix though.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Please don't suggest we need wolves, bears, cats, coyotes as some one might take you seriously!

You should get some wolves. Britain is historic wolf habitat, and it's ever so much fun to deal with them.

 

[Southwind]

Here in Kansas we are allowed five antler-less and one antlered deer. I normally take 2 or 3 does to my one buck and there are some years I have taken only does. It is up to us individual sportsmen to manage the buck to doe ratio on a voluntary basis. Our Game & Fish dept does establish special antler-less only seasons after the regular season to help control numbers as well. This is when I normally harvest at least part of my does.

In hot spots the state may also issue nuisance tags in order to get control of higher density populations.

We are maintaining numbers but it is still hard to achieve a good buck to doe ratio. We although do have predation that you don't and with our drought we has had and population effect on the herd with EHD but that unfortunately has taken a higher number of bucks.

Our other problem in herd management is somewhat similar to yours in that our non-resident hunters who spend thousands to hunt here don't come to shoot a doe leaving the doe management to the residents.

I think were I in your shoes I would push for a special doe only harvest after the regular season with reduced price tags and see if that makes any difference for a few years.

If that doesn't stem the tide you may have to consider a mandatory doe harvest before being issued a buck tag. I really don't like that option but if you can't get good participation in the special season it may be necessary.

Does the UK have any meaningful public hunting or is it primarily private? You may have to find a way to encourage private land owners open their property for a special season.

By the way a roe deer hunt is on my bucket list and wouldn't have any problem harvesting a doe or three in the process of taking a buck.

 

[Big Fin]

I am sure if the UK government provided transportation, a plane load of Hunt Talkers could do some serious damage to a local population.

Does disease ever hit them when they reach high numbers, as is the case with our whitetails?

 

[devon deer]

Hi All,
Sadly there is no bow hunting in the UK, they banned it years ago
The only predator is the fox, but it will only take a young roe as a rule, and a lot of foxes get shot to protect lambs and game birds.
We do not want wolves!
There have been moves to get them reintroduced to Scotland, as you say they roamed the UK once along with bears, but no thanks, we can manage without them.
There is zero public land hunting in the UK, just freindly farmers, and no so friendly farmers as well.
In relation to disease there have been a few cases of blue tongue over the East UK but nothing major, TB is on the increase though.
Strangely enough the League Against Cruel Sports created a haven called barrondown for the red deer, the population grew to high density levels, and TB took hold, and sadly around that area there have been a huge increase in TB infected deer.
I am going out later today (after England beat Italy in the 6 nations rugby, i hope!) to try and get a hind or doe.

Just for reference, when me and my buddy came over to Montana last year we shot 2 Mule bucks and bought 2 OTC tags and shot 2 whitetail does.

And i agree, the hunt talkers on here would soon sort out the problem but our government wont pay out for anything they don't have to.

Cheers

Richard

 

[Southwind]

You certainly have some challenges to overcome.

Are there any good organizations that support sportsman's issues?

What are the current harvest limits?

Again in Kansas we are in the upper 90 percentile in private ownership and outfitters have leased up a lot of prime habitat and those properties normally don't see much management but we do have state owned public hunting areas and Walk in Hunting areas which are private lands leased by the state for public hunting.

If you have pro-hunting Parliament members it might be advantageous for your sportsman groups to study these programs and attempt to lobby those members to create an access program that is good for all concerned.

 

[SFC B]

Rchard,
I was lucky enough to live in Suffolk on a farm for a year while stationed at RAF Feltwell. The estate I lived on held Reds, Roes and Muntjac (it was adjacent to the Elveden Estate). My landlord was a nice man and a hunter....but.....would not hunt or allow hunting on his land (except rabbits via air rifle). With the lack of friendly access and excessive firearms regulations it doesn't surprise me. I have to say that the wildlife on and near the farm was almost excessive, Those freaking @#)(# pheasants woke me EVERY morning We had rabbits, the deer, pheasants, partridge, fox and badgers about. I surely would have liked to have been hunting while I was there but my only chance would have been paying quite a bit and I didn't have the $ at the time. If I return I would LOVE to take a Red...one of my top wishes Cheers Mate! Larry

 

[devon deer]

There are no harvest limits, the only limits are self imposed, i try to 'manage' the roe deer as they are territorial, but the next farm might not see it that way and the hunter there might undo the good i do.
The red deer are transient, so unless you hunt on a huge estate in my county of Devon which is rare, and i don't, you can shoot what you like.

We do have some hunting associations that lobby the government on our behalf, and when some lunatic goes crazy with a gun, which is thankfully very rare in the UK.

If one is a member of the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) this can open up some opportunities for access to Arran in Scotland, that is the nearest to public land you will get, or ever get, so its down to knocking on farmers doors or employing a guide.

As stated in above post, some farmers won't even let you shoot the deer, more often than not down to the perception that it can ruin an expensive days pheasant shoot, which charge big $ for a days shooting in some areas.

By coincidence the study was done near Elveden estate.

Any more questions please ask.

Cheers

Richard

 

[putm2sleep]

Trap them all and ship them to HuntCowCreek!

 

[SFC B]

You can't imagine how itchy my trigger finger got when I would walk the farm and see the Reds. Man, those are simply beautiful animals. I am still trying to get a couple of my English buddies to come over and hunt with me here. Now there is a trade hunt I would be interested in