Is the Deer Act out of Date? (for England)

[Leec6.5]

The facts of the situation is this, the present rules if changes WILL mean more deer get shot BUT more deer at the dealer WILL mean price drop and that is fact!

Carcasses are practically worthless now, slacken the rules, you may as well leave them where they lay or waste skips are provided but local councils under government instructions

 

[Nickb]

The facts of the situation is this, the present rules if changes WILL mean more deer get shot BUT more deer at the dealer WILL mean price drop and that is fact!

Carcasses are practically worthless now, slacken the rules, you may as well leave them where they lay or waste skips are provided but local councils under government instructions

As I said earlier venison not to go to dealers and paid pittance but the Government pay a bounty on each deer shot , who cares about venison if the prime objective is to reduce the population.

 

[Klenchblaize]

Waste skips are provided by local councils under government instructions.

Right now, at least in Kent, this is what's required as a minimum.

K

 

[Apthorpe]

Well my larger % is muntjac so with a new born they are very tiny, having such a healthy large population of muntjac any predation from what I see would be from Badgers.
2 examples of recent trips.
5 muntjac seen 1 shot
4 badgers seen
1 fox seen

3 red hinds seen
4 muntjac over the boundary
1 fox (shot)

If you have your figures to hand that would be interesting.

Last outing 5 roe seen. One doe with 2 young, another doe and a buck (shot).
Previous trip was a blank. Rather stupidly rushed through an area with no backstop and bumped three at 10 yards and saw only them and one other doe.
No foxes or badger on either trip although a small patch of stale badger scat on the earlier one.
I can't really be arsed with foxes, partly because I'm too miserly to cough uo for NV ir thermal, partly because I have a very keen marine sniper who likes to do it and partly because I am not yet so old and impotent that it's the most appealing nocturnal activtiy on offer.

 

[Leec6.5]

Right now, at least in Kent, this is what's required as a minimum.

K

Wholeheartedly, I agree, same for red deer here in Norfolk, I can hear the purists spit their chips out as we speak

 

[3595wilk]

I think that strategy was about to be signed off but the general election was announced and no plans to progress it currently as far as I know.

Thanks Conor.

 

[paul o']

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[Tim.243]

Wholeheartedly, I agree, same for red deer here in Norfolk, I can hear the purists spit a chips out as we speak

One Fallow Buck on is way back from Nth Essex then into Rigby's in the morning. @Klenchblaize (no waste skips or chips were harmed in the making of this post)

 

[Leec6.5]

One Fallow Buck on is way back from Nth Essex then into Rigby's in the morning. @Klenchblaize (no waste skips or chips were harmed in the making of this post)

Enjoy it while you can Tim, once November 1st gets here, carcass price will drop like stone.

 

[Nickb]

There is plenty of reputable evidence demonstrating that fox are major predators of roe in particular, muntjac and possibly CWD.

Yes they take smaller deers young but I would not say they are a major predator of Roe more opportunistic.

 

[Tim.243]

Enjoy it while you can Tim, once November 1st gets here, carcass price will drop like stone.

Not mine just my chiller
No wonder we have too many deer Lee every ****er bar one is on SD

 

[Nickb]

Not mine just my chiller
No wonder we have too many deer Lee every ****er bar one is on SD

Nobody can be out 24/7 unless its your job.

Also what do you do with them , only so many can get a hedge ticket

 

[Tim.243]

It went 55kg no chips or skips

 

[swatty]

No but we’re still getting the same venison prices as if we were taking deer to game dealers in a 1963 cortina

I think the last 4 questions, once answered will provide insight ...nasty big foxes eating bambi...me thinks not

Foxes predate roe kids a lot more than people realise

 

[Mickeydredd]

I wasnt aware of foxes predating on deer?

This lad had clearly had had his fill when I caught up with him….

 

[AGR]

I wasnt aware of foxes predating on deer?

They definitely predate on kids/fawns.

 

[Mr. Gain]

I've seen foxes persistently stalk and harass muntjac and roe does with young fawns. The does chase them off time after time, but mothers tire, fawns stray, and the fox gets its meal. Even if the fox gets chased off a fawn it has grabbed, the injury it inflicts is often enough to make the fawn vulnerable to further attack, and after a certain point the doe will decide it's a lost cause.
Most of the roe does on my ground bear twins, but by July, only a third have two followers. It's harder to tell with muntjac, but I think about 25-30% survive to breeding age.
This is on ground with a foxhunting tradition where landowners are averse to shooting foxes. Obviously, foxes won't be responsible for all these losses, but a fox that learns to hunt fawns seems likely to do well on it.

 

[finnbear270]

They definitely predate on kids/fawns.

Yes they do, but explain the explosion in deer numbers, it's not all down to the fox being shot in big numbers, ................ an easier meal is obtained from human left overs. (Including Gralloch).

 

[Ben_10]

With all the kit that is on the market I do wonder how much of the explosion in numbers is just because we are now able to see more…? For EXAMPLE if you looked into a wood 10-15 years ago with just binoculars you may of seen 3 deer but now with thermal you might see 10 which you just wouldn’t have known were there before?? I’m not doubting there’s more about but we also have equipment available to see things that we couldn’t before. If we all just stalked with glass no thermal no digital just glass would we still be thinking there’s been such big increase in numbers???

 

[Tim.243]

With all the kit that is on the market I do wonder how much of the explosion in numbers is just because we are now able to see more…? For EXAMPLE if you looked into a wood 10-15 years ago with just binoculars you may of seen 3 deer but now with thermal you might see 10 which you just wouldn’t have known were there before?? I’m not doubting there’s more about but we also have equipment available to see things that we couldn’t before. If we all just stalked with glass no thermal no digital just glass would we still be thinking there’s been such big increase in numbers???

I started taking my thermal spotter with us in my friends wood, the numbers went up from 35% to 65% as we could see more fallow way ahead and muntjac hiding in the cover.
If the right deer (females) are shot that stops the years of breeding 1 female will do, a good example is the number of "wanted" Bucks/Stags for the wall out strips the "wanted" does by a country mile.
Some Outfitters don't shoot Muntjac in the summer months as the Bucks are in velvet leaving them with the does to carry on breeding.
My camera took this picture with all in my opinion big enough bar 2 (can't tell from the picture what is what) to go to the game dealer, any larger does in season will get covered in the next few weeks but the 63 deer act says wait until Nov.
Next year that will be back to a winter cereal crop, I am moving a high seat today as they cross in that area. I say move the does fwd 1 month as you can see any of those are feeding on their own. Some might not present a shot but one thing is when they are in the nov season you have lost a month.
Some counties are over run with them, around that block 150.