Deerless?

mudman

Well-Known Member
Are there any parts of the mainland which remain deerless??

From what I gather East Yorkshire was pretty much barren, apart from very occasional Fallow, until Roe moved down from the north during the sixties and seventies.
 
Well AndyL I have got used to it, but when you look at the huge amount of woodland between Hernebay and Canterbury, which extends right out past Canterbury, you would expect to see deer.

NOT BLOODY ONE ANYWHERE :cry: Never mind, travel broadens the mind they say. My nearest bit is about 90 minutes away, although I have invites onto a bit near Canterbury. Nothing beats Scotland for stalking though, that is wild and open with no traffic, people, or houses, ehhh Mr B ;)
 
There were parts of the east anglian fens that were void of deer not all that long ago but now the roe are taking hold fast and even the odd red in my area, l see roe on a daily basis without fail, strangly with the spread of muntjac like it is l do not see them that often on the fen and in the time that l have been a part time keeper on a fenland shoot l have only seen one CWD.
 
Your right on that score Malc! It really is the best stalking. I can't wait to get back up there. :D
 
The area where i live is pretty void of deer also, that is just north of sheffield. Ok, that is maybe going a little too far to say there is not one single deer around, but pretty much so :cry:

I can count on one hand the amount of deer i have seen around my area in over 30 years. :confused:
I often wonder why we haven`t got any, as we have got some good woodlands and plantations. Years ago, there used to be quite a good strong herd of reds that used to come down from the thick woodlands in winter to feed in the fields at the side of the road and i very nearly knocked a good stag down about 20 years ago now, but where they have gone who knows? :confused: There is one thing certain that because of the warm winters and lack of snow, any deer still there have no reason to come down looking for food where the cattle and sheep feed.

Just up the motorway from me at the A1- M1 link you will find roe feeding on the side of the road, and then east into Lincs, south of Sheffield into Worksop and also Derbyshire, but right on my doorstep, no.

If anyone knows differently in my area, it would be interesting to hear.

PS, you are right Malcom, Scotland is beautiful to stalk in ;) , just a pity it`s so far away.

wadas
 
I am not saying there won`t have been some type of deer crime committed at some point, but there have never been any great numbers around here, bob :rolleyes:
I think it`s more to do with the type of woodland and also the woodland corridors. After going to Beowulfs place a couple of times now and also other areas where i have shot, the conclusion that i can come up with is the lack of little blocks of woodland available so deer can move around and spread without too much trouble with the public, just guesswork i suppose. :rolleyes:

wadas
 
Deerless

In Devon overall there are a lot of deer, however, in the part where I live they (Roe) have only really taken off in the last 6 years or so, that is down I think to geographical reasons, rivers, motorways towns etc; Thirty years ago you would say there were virtually none at all and unless there is a way they can migrate into an area it takes a very long time for a population to esatablish itself, especially if there is a lot of predation, disturbance etc; Ther has been a sighting or two of Munties and a possible Fallow. All I would say is that keep hoping and hopefully they will gradually increase, but it will take time. :)
 
Where I grew up on the North Warks/South Staffs borders we never saw so much as an antler. I suspect it's still the same as roads/railways/canals isolate the area and it's very intensivley farmed (yes, my family were among those who ripped out the hedges in 50's & 60's. I apologise for it, if only they had forseen the erosion and soil wind-blow problems they were making for themselves). Mind you, we had cracking partridges. They are all but gone now I believe.

My mother who grew up on a farm near Burton on Trent, a little to the north of where I grew up, had never seen a deer until a couple of years ago, now there is a pretty good fallow population in the area I believe.
 
Wadas,

I think the Sheffield, Doncaster, Leeds triangle has always been pretty notorious for its dogmen, that could be an explanation for any lack of Roe in the area.
 
Virtually every time I go stalking on my patch, the deer I've seen before seem to disappear :rolleyes:

From what I've read, it's a fair bet that any ground controlled by the FC is devoid of deer as a result of their policy of night time shooting and out of season licences.

Nick
 
Wadas I think that most of the deer around my area are escapees from the various estates and they are mostly Fallow. I'm not sure where the Roe have come from. The Muntjac tend to like the former industrial areas, the old quarries, coal mining areas and disused railway lines and air fields. I think this is because of the primary woodland sprouting up and the abundance of bramble on these sites. Your area would be perfect for muntjac, its a shame there aren't too many about! :(

Alot of farmers in Warwickshire are also putting in strips of saplings and hedging species along exsisting hedges to form wildlife corridors. Idea for our deer friends to get about unseen. ;)
 
Up here in North Cheshire/Greater Manchester we aren't exactly tripping over deer, although I now know of a few roe that have started turning up in certain places and I believe there is a fairly decent population of reds around Macc forest.

I always find it strange when I go beating on shoots with plenty of woodland that would appear acceptable habitat for deer that there aren't more in the area :confused:
 
hi drew
i there seems to be a lot more deer on the move these days as i hav seen plenty of fallow in the lichfield area not sure where you grew up but muntjac hav utilised the railways and canals as there on personel highways aswell as the roads and motorways so much that i hav seen them north of stafford in the last year
hi novice
i also was told mac forest has a good herd of reds but i hav shot reds above macclesfield and seen roe by tatton park, but heard, there are a few roe just north of manchester
 
My foxing/rabbitting/hawking ground is on my doorstep (shropshire) but not one deer on it (yet).
They are getting closer though,roe are appearing from the east,there's fallow and roe south/east of me and lots of fallow to the west.
Time will tell...

Regards,
Gyr
 
Hmmm :confused: makes the Labour Government report of a few years back proclaiming we are over run with deer in every corner of the UK; a load of b/////ks somehow I think its slightly over rated :rolleyes:
 
Hi Stone

It's the patch to the East of Tamworth up to the M42.

Do you know, I combined the last crop (might have been last but one, long time ago) of wheat off what is now Tamworth services on the M42.

One day when there's not enough bread to go around because we tarmaced the land, we just might regret being able to visit Marks and Spencer and get a poison burger while driving to Birmingham!
 
sikamalc said:
Yes south east kent. Anywhere east of Canterbury, there is not one deer.


I was looking at the new distribution maps in DEER and yes, about the only area in the UK completely lacking in deer seemed to be eastern Kent.

Some good maps, really did illustrate the spread of Munties in recent years.
 
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