UK Government Launches UK Deer Management Strategy Consultation

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VSS said:
No, that's all you earn!
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Like i have said before, if you cost your business properly your making bugger all!

If i went into cutting up my own, every animal i shoot will owe me £15/hr to process, on top of everything else!

I have better things to do with my time that fanny about skinning and processing deer thats for sure!
 
Pete6.5 said:
There is a estimated 2 million deer in the UK and a 30 percent average increase each year that's 600000 deer needed to be shot each year just to keep the population as it is. Now they estimate that we cull 350000 at the moment that leaves us with a quarter of a million to find a home for. ( My average carcass weight is 24 kg so I make that 6 thousand ton of venison to go somewhere) i think that's right but I'm sure some of you are better at maths than me.
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24kg 🙈🙈🙈

Double that and some is what i am dealing with and thats average!
 
If the powers that be are serious about the now perceived deer problem and all that entails am sure the infrastructure would put in place for disposal of waste should game dealers not want, and a bounty scheme with price per head, for sub contractors working with land owners and a newly formed government run body in line with the old deer commission employing its own staff to verify numbers, and key areas along with blanket culling. Will be interesting to see how much is sabre rattling and lip service resulting in no real long term change, foot and mouth out brakes show what can be done if needs be.
Interesting to see what liz or Rishi make of it all, nothing I suspect, so situation soon back to normal.
 
boltgun said:
If the powers that be are serious about the now perceived deer problem and all that entails am sure the infrastructure would put in place for disposal of waste should game dealers not want, and a bounty scheme with price per head, for sub contractors working with land owners and a newly formed government run body in line with the old deer commission employing its own staff to verify numbers, and key areas along with blanket culling. Will be interesting to see how much is sabre rattling and lip service resulting in no real long term change, foot and mouth out brakes show what can be done if needs be.
Interesting to see what liz or Rishi make of it all, nothing I suspect, so situation soon back to normal.
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There has been talks recently about a bounty scheme or grant payments from government to help with the costs of culling.
 
boltgun said:
Was thinking your status and others like could be invited to become local full time cullers paid per head or day rate using your local knowledge and skills, interesting times ahead but would not hold breath.
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To be brutally honest i wouldnt want it!

I do my little bit and thats plenty enough when the buggers are there and i have 5-8 animals on the deck
 
boltgun said:
Was thinking your status and others like could be invited to become local full time cullers paid per head or day rate using your local knowledge and skills, interesting times ahead but would not hold breath.
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To be fair this should happening now, for too long landowners have wanted to sell the deer rights to the highest bidder or get it done for free! Reform is long over due!
 
Pete6.5 said:
Yes but it's the same market so you're added more deer to the market. I don't think it will be a good idea to leave thousands of deer to rot or bury them.
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It won't happen. The dealers will keep taking. People might have to acceot a reduced price but that's not the point.


The point is more need shooting.

It won't be made compulsary to night shoot so people who are content with their deer populations or want higher populations on their ground won't be doing it.


It will enable people like me to cull more deer though and I am totally in favour of that. Venison is secondary as far as I am concerned. I'd happily give it away (I already do.)
 
Wills said:
I would like those who horde permissions only for "trophy" bucks/stags dealt with (unrealistic, I know). Also, the deer industry is its own enemy in this. Charging what can amount to a fortune for some to shoot 1 deer, then have the privilege of paying for it to take it home. Ruling out multiple trips out for some, with a family and all. It was obvious that populations would outpace the model.

I am really surprised that the government hasn't stepped in to deal with the excess populations in certain areas.
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I stand to be corrected and possibly different down south where plenty of feed and nutrients, but generally speaking if u have too many deer on ur ground the quality of heads will go down as too much competition for feed etc
I know locally on some quite good ground the fallow got away numbers wise but the quality of heads dropped.

Stlakers are making fortunes, i have no problem with them charging vast sums for the odd trophy grade buck they have, can only shoot it once might as well charge wot they can get for it.
Plenty of cull buck or doe/hind days available for not a lot of money considering the expenses stalkers have

Norfolk Deer Search said:
They bloody need hammering!

Those who are against night shooting are clearly not having to manage large numbers of herd species!

The days of deer management is long gone, they need killing and in numbers end of!!!!
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Not entirely sure lamping on its own it a great idea for managing large numbers of herding species, a good tool to be used alongside others but u do have to think about it a wee bit and not go full on too quick.
Yes u can put a lot of deer on the ground fairly quickly, but if blattering into larger groups after 4 or 5 outings they will soon be getting wise to u.

Must admit that was a while back and everything done on the lamp i dare say using thermal/NV to spot should help shoot a few more before they get too wise to it.
If ur not careful and esp if the herd are crossing boundries u could quickly end up with a smaller herd ( but still too many) of jumpy nocternal deer that become lamp/vehicle shy at night.
Then u do have a problem

But definately another string to ur bow if and when needed but not a miracle/silver bullet that will cure the problem.



I just hope westminster listens a bit more than holyrood does, holyrood has paid for official studies/reports before and as finding didn't suit them just ignored the whole report, consultations for holyrood are just a waste of time they just dont care and minds already made up usually
 
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I take it things will never go back to the way they used to be in the olden days, i'm guessing 50-70's when the MAFF was on the go.

I'm too young to mind but have been told back in that era they had the power to come on to ur farms and tell u to control certain things rabbits and ragwort being 2 ( i think crossbred bulls was another), and if u didn't control them they had the power to come in and do it for u ( and i think send u the bill)

Back in those days u still had parish rabbit catchers who would go round all the farms snareing rabbits, i think that was all grant/government funded.

I imagine the laws/legal precedent will still exist to say they can come on ur land but i can just imagine the uproar if they tried to get on to some anti's land to cull some animal be all over social media
I can still mind back with F&M outbreak a few pet sheep owners bringing them into the house to live and trying to refuse the army/cullers on to kill there few pet sheep and going to court over it, while all their nieghbouring farmers had last whole flocks and their livliehood
 
countrryboy said:
I take it things will never go back to the way they used to be in the olden days, i'm guessing 50-70's when the MAFF was on the go.

I'm too young to mind but have been told back in that era they had the power to come on to ur farms and tell u to control certain things rabbits and ragwort being 2 ( i think crossbred bulls was another), and if u didn't control them they had the power to come in and do it for u ( and i think send u the bill)

Back in those days u still had parish rabbit catchers who would go round all the farms snareing rabbits, i think that was all grant/government funded.

I imagine the laws/legal precedent will still exist to say they can come on ur land but i can just imagine the uproar if they tried to get on to some anti's land to cull some animal be all over social media
I can still mind back with F&M outbreak a few pet sheep owners bringing them into the house to live and trying to refuse the army/cullers on to kill there few pet sheep and going to court over it, while all their nieghbouring farmers had last whole flocks and their livliehood
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I think the laws are still there, re rabbits, but the Rabbit Clearance Societies are no more.
 
countrryboy said:
I just hope westminster listens a bit more than holyrood does, holyrood has paid for official studies/reports before and as finding didn't suit them just ignored the whole report, consultations for holyrood are just a waste of time they just dont care and minds already made up usually
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That's the SNP and Greens for you ! 😡
 
As has been said, no closed season for males is not going to fix the problem and I personally believe that night shooting should be avoided at all costs whilst there are still alternatives available to us. We don't want this to turn into Scotland which the proposals look scarily as if they might.

I see the problem sitting firmly with the land owners and the leaseholders. Too many leaseholders hanging on to too much ground and not doing a proper job, especially on the females and too many landowners not particularly interested so long as the leaseholder is paying or at least turning up from time to time. I know some of you guys are very responsible and doing the job correctly, but it takes all your neighbours to be doing the same to get control, especially of the herd species. The only way landowners will start taking it seriously is if there is threat of having their subsidies reduced, be they countryside stewardship, woodland grants or SFP. Threaten their subsidies and they will become more interested in ensuring the lease goes to those who will do the job properly rather than those that are willing to pay an extra few £££ to be able to shoot the males. Perhaps they will not ban some of us from being on the ground when their precious birds are down which severely curtails your female season.

When you see fallow get out of control and herds of 100 plus it's because we are not doing a good job. Those holding the leases have to work with neighbours and get their mates in for collective culls. It's the only sensible way to control them. I've been involved in collective culls that remove 30 deer in a couple of hours between 5 strategically placed people. Once a week over the winter and you can make a real dent. It works, we just don't do it often enough. When we get it back under control we can choose to back off. CHOOSE being the operative word rather than the Scottish situation where there is no choice involved.

No need to change the rules, we just need to be doing a better job and we need landowners to be motivated to let us.

Not going to be a popular opinion I know, but I think it needs saying.
 
Close season for males has always been a stupid situation.

Shooting males in May-June etc may not reduce the population but where I have Fallow bucks and red stags trampling crops, being able to shoot them would reduce the damage they do.
 
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