Lamping muntjac, was I breaking the law?

baguio

Well-Known Member
Tonight I shot a munty doe 10mins before last shot. I waited a few more minutes before retrieving the doe and gralloching her. Unfortunately, on retrieving her it was quite clear that she was nursing a young fawn. She also had no obvious foetus inside her.
Once I had bagged her up I unloaded and slipped my rifle before heading out of the wood using my head torch to light the way. I hadn't gone 20 metres when my head torch picked up the eyes of a couched up munty fawn which I figured was only days old. I looked away and retreated a good distance before un-slipping and reloading my rifle. I then lit up the eyes of the fawn and dispatched it. By this time I was probably 30mins after last legal shot.
I'm now wondering if I could have been nicked for lamping deer?
Opinions?
 
are muntjack not clased as vermin as there are no closed season on them as they are not native deer they are vermin :-|
 
Well you would not of been nicked if you had not told the WWW, I don,t know the status of muntjac, but would have thought that if it was to prevent suffering then you would have a good defence if someone was petty enough to take you to court.
 
are muntjack not clased as vermin as there are no closed season on them as they are not native deer they are vermin :-|

The reason that there is no closed season on Muntjac is because they reproduce throughout the year, not because they're vermin. They fall under the deer act as one of the UKs 6 species..

All bets are off (in terms of method of culling, time, season etc.) when it comes to preventing further suffering, although that is normally based around an injured animal scenario. I guess its open to interpretation really but wouldn't really want to try and have that conversation with my FEO or a judge..
 
Best practice is to only shoot muntjac does that are obviously pregnant , thus avoiding orphaning dependent young, could seriously restrict your doe cull of course.
 
Humane dispatch. (It's often dark at an RTA).
Some interesting comments so far, but this is correct.
Humane dispatch on deer welfare grounds contains exemptions for killing deer at night or out of season. However, muntjac are certainly NOT vermin and come under the same deer laws as indigenous species.
The deer would clearly not have survived without its mother for very long. Predation by foxes or starvation would be the most likely outcome here.
You made a very good (and lawful) decision! Well done.
MS:thumb:
 
Some interesting comments so far, but this is correct.
Humane dispatch on deer welfare grounds contains exemptions for killing deer at night or out of season. However, muntjac are certainly NOT vermin and come under the same deer laws as indigenous species.
The deer would clearly not have survived without its mother for very long. Predation by foxes or starvation would be the most likely outcome here.
You made a very good (and lawful) decision! Well done.
MS:thumb:
Yes and a bad first decision !!!
I thought it was called deer stalking but this sounds more like Gung Hoo stalking !
 
Yes and a bad first decision !!!
I thought it was called deer stalking but this sounds more like Gung Hoo stalking !

Obviously someone who has never had to control numbers or stalk in woodland with heavy cover.
 
Yes and a bad first decision !!!
I thought it was called deer stalking but this sounds more like Gung Hoo stalking !

Bad decision? I can think of only a handful of times out of hundreds when there has been time to watch the muntjac long enough to properly see if it is pregnant before it dissappears again. You'd never get any shot if you were not prepared to get it wrong occasionally.
 
Bad decision? I can think of only a handful of times out of hundreds when there has been time to watch the muntjac long enough to properly see if it is pregnant before it dissappears again. You'd never get any shot if you were not prepared to get it wrong occasionally.
I totally agree with you here.
I've been lucky enough to shoot a lot of Muntjac both stalking and from high seats. It's a miracle (or they're very poorly) if you see them long enough to decide what sex they are and look for a fawn. Last month I was sitting in a high seat at a cross roads of two rides. The rides were approx 4m wide each with thin low level vegetation each side. I'd been sitting for probably an hour, even checking the low level vegetation with my binos and hadn't seen anything. I looked to my right, straight ahead and to my left. By the time I'd started to look back to my right there was a Muntjac in the middle of the ride ahead of me. It was as if he'd just been dropped off, I couldn't believe it, like magic. He was no more than thirty metres in front of me. They seem to be able to appear and disappear at will.
 
Obviously someone who has never had to control numbers or stalk in woodland with heavy cover.
You may just be wrong there but then I have not posted 3104 comments ? because I was out.

Would you post on an open forum :(I looked away and retreated a good distance before un-slipping and reloading my rifle. I then lit up the eyes of the fawn and dispatched it.)
Yes a job has to be done but there are just some times you do not post every thing online! theres enough bad press etc etc about shooting.
 
You may just be wrong there but then I have not posted 3104 comments ? because I was out.

Would you post on an open forum :(I looked away and retreated a good distance before un-slipping and reloading my rifle. I then lit up the eyes of the fawn and dispatched it.)
Yes a job has to be done but there are just some times you do not post every thing online! theres enough bad press etc etc about shooting.

Oh to be perfect! I think the OP was right to post his experience. Ok, perhaps it would have been better if he hadn't shot the non-pregnant and mature female in the first place, but I am sure he is not the only one to have done that. Credit to him for looking for and locating the fawn and saving it from a lingering death. By posting this experience, he may positively influence the actions of other stalkers.
 
Last edited:
You may just be wrong there but then I have not posted 3104 comments ? because I was out.

Would you post on an open forum :(I looked away and retreated a good distance before un-slipping and reloading my rifle. I then lit up the eyes of the fawn and dispatched it.)
Yes a job has to be done but there are just some times you do not post every thing online! theres enough bad press etc etc about shooting.

,
Aside of the main issue here, post count has absolutely now't to do with a stalkers time in or on the ground,I would say it has more to do with being interested in discussion/s, for myself, I can very often post from behind the rifle, off the roof of the truck whilst waiting for one or more of the very large number of fox I take yearly, I also post from high ground wherever a signal may exist during downtime on stalking days, so you may need to think about your post content before you let the hammer go.:tiphat:
 
Oh to be perfect! I think the OP was right to post his experience. Ok, perhaps it would have been better if he hadn't shot the non-pregnant and mature female in the first place, but I am sure he is not the only one to have done that. Credit to him for looking for and locating the fawn and saving it from a lingering death. By posting this experience, he may positively influence the actions of other stalkers.

+1 for that!
Well said!
 
Back
Top