What's your policy on Muntjac Doe?

J111

Well-Known Member
Hi there,

I've got a muntjac doe that I'm trying to decide whether to shoot or not. I'm aware of the generally held advice about shooting only young ones or heavily pregnant ones and wouldn't like to shoot her and then find that she was milky and so leaving dependant young. I'm probably not experienced enough to know if it's a young one but it looks like all of the other female muntys I've seen about. I've seen her a few times and there has never been a buck following here although I know there are a few about.. Any thoughts?

Cheers, J
 
yes I shoot a lot of muntjac leave the does for the moment and shoot the bucks ,if you are over populated with muntjac then obviously shoot the does ie pregnant ones
 
yes I shoot a lot of muntjac leave the does for the moment and shoot the bucks ,if you are over populated with muntjac then obviously shoot the does ie pregnant ones

I think that J111 was more asking for advice on assessing how pregnant the doe might be.
 
There have been discussions on here about how to tell if a doe was pregnant or not. And it seemed to be that nobody could be 100% sure.
not that that will help you at all.
 
We shoot muntjac does.

I will try to shoot them as heavily pregnant as possible. Muntjac does get to a size where it is pretty obvious they are pregnant.

If I see a buck chasing a doe I will normally leave the doe unless she is obviously young, as the chances are that any doe suitable for mating with has a youngster nearby.....or at least that's how I see it.
 
Its a difficult one, to be honest, if you want to control muntjac you really have to shoot all the does that you can and take a chance with the fawns.

The only time I would leave a muntjac doe would be if I actually see her with a young fawn or if she is being actively pursued by a buck indicating that she is most likely in oestrus having just had a fawn.

Obviously if you are not under any pressure to reduce the herd then by all means be more selective.
 
The shooting of does is important if you want to reduce the population.

If possible observe the doe before the shot, you should be able to tell if a doe is heavily pregnant through your binos and will also give you the chance to see if she has any dependent young in tow. If you see a doe leave cover and then look back, wait, as it can be an indication that she has a fawn bringing up the rear.

The more you are out and observing them the more you will learn and be able to make better judgement.
 
Hi there,

I've got a muntjac doe that I'm trying to decide whether to shoot or not. I'm aware of the generally held advice about shooting only young ones or heavily pregnant ones and wouldn't like to shoot her and then find that she was milky and so leaving dependant young. I'm probably not experienced enough to know if it's a young one but it looks like all of the other female muntys I've seen about. I've seen her a few times and there has never been a buck following here although I know there are a few about.. Any thoughts?

Cheers, J

What your policy is, or what others on SD may think, is not really the question you should ask. It is what your landowner wants that matters! What is his policy?
For example, the Muntjac population here in The Cotswolds is getting to the point where some landowners now tell me to shoot on sight, even is the shot will result in a less than perfect carcass for venison. So from the landowners point of view conservation (of their woodland, newly planted saplings and BAP-species plants) is more important than the ethical production of a clean carcass for venison. Muntjac are dealt with in the same manner as rabbits and fox.
 
What your policy is, or what others on SD may think, is not really the question you should ask. It is what your landowner wants that matters! What is his policy?
For example, the Muntjac population here in The Cotswolds is getting to the point where some landowners now tell me to shoot on sight, even is the shot will result in a less than perfect carcass for venison. So from the landowners point of view conservation (of their woodland, newly planted saplings and BAP-species plants) is more important than the ethical production of a clean carcass for venison. Muntjac are dealt with in the same manner as rabbits and fox.

in my case the landowner is fairly indifferent and so the managing of the whole woodland is up to me (I also do the felling etc for firewood) I have generally been trying to get the muntjac numbers down and have a small but stable population of roe and muntjac for meat and a healthy woodland.

cheers for all input
 
It'll be of no help whatsoever in this thread, but I have shot several munty does that were quite heavily pregnant but also quite milky when gralloched. Hard one and will come down to what you're happy taking.
 
I shot a doe last weekend - light was fading and I thought I better get down immediately and finish the session... As I was walking to the carcass a younger muntjac popped out. It was obviously a youngster but not that small. Sadly I could not get a shot. The doe was milky. I was wondering if the mother stays milky for a period while the kid has started grazing? It looked of a size, and was 5 mins at least in following the mother out, that implied it could have been grazing on its own.
 
Died in the wool munty haters will decry me for this, but, if I see a doe with a kid they're both safe. If a muntjac doe is the first deer I see while out, she gets shot. If I've already got a deer in the bag, I won't then shoot a doe.
My munty figures are still about 50/50 buck/doe.
 
Died in the wool munty haters will decry me for this, but, if I see a doe with a kid they're both safe. If a muntjac doe is the first deer I see while out, she gets shot. If I've already got a deer in the bag, I won't then shoot a doe.
My munty figures are still about 50/50 buck/doe.

Are there really such people??:eek:

They look like deer to me but just very conveniently small!:love:

K
 
It's a tough one, first as Klenchblaize says find one, then if you have the luxury of choice adopt Willie_Gunn's approach, otherwise it's Teyhan's "shoot on sight"
I've tried to select definitely pregnant does only to find they were still in milk, even when obviously & heavily pregnant - that didn't make me feel too good.
However, when shooting to get numbers down for instance when protecting coppice or SSSI I'll shoot any muntjac I see, and prefer to shoot does in order to try to reduce total population
It often pays to wait for a bit after shooting a doe just in case she had a fawn in tow, it'll come out soon enough, as might a young buck who was following her unseen to you

Yep KB there are indeed "died in the wool munty haters", I'm not one of them, and I suspect they're a minority - I can see that it might have been better had they not made it to the UK, but on the other hand they're fun to stalk being tricky little blighters, they definitely have a character of their own AND last but deffo not least, they taste so good and are pretty much the perfect size for the recreational stalker to deal with - pity they weren't easier to skin though.....
 
I'm with Erik on this one, as the land owners calls the shots would take a buck following a doe in preference and try not to leave followers that may be unable to survive?
Not usually much time to decide though?

Must confess to being Munty fan.:old: especially on the mile and a half carry out.
 
If you can afford to be picky choose the well rounded does, these will be the generally pregnant ones, but as with all deer species, culling does is the way to control population, so if needs be and you cant tell, then down she goes. Its a hard choice, but if control is your aim, this has to be the policy, if on the other hand your just out to enjoy recreational sport then you can be choosy, but this will catch up with you...
 
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