Chinese Water Deer - The British Deer Society
Chinese water deer are a small species of deer that stand at around 0.50 m to 0.55 m tall at the shoulder. Find out more...
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CWD Distribution?
- Thread starter Adam f
- Start date
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GWPMAN
Active Member
I stalk on the ground between Cheddington and LB and I've noticed a lot more CWD this year than last year. They do seem to move about depending on which fields have the crop coming through. There has been a large field left in grass near the railway that I've shot alot of CWD in this year due to the other fields being just bare soil so no grazing.
GWPMAN
Active Member
Around the Cheddington, Mentmore, Wing area they are almost nocternal now. After dark you can count 50 in a field early season, then when the light comes up at dawns the disappear into the hedges, brambles and woods.
I've only ever shot 2 CWD - a buck and a doe, but the buck was a gold medalBefore I was forced back to Bristol to serve the then Queen and Country, I used to live in Cambridgeshire, not far from St Ives and Huntingdon (and commuted frequently to close to Downham Market. I left in 2009 when there were no CWD there - now my favourite farm at St Ives is overrun with them!
I agree about the habit conditions - where its suitable they will thrive. However, I should say that not that much further Northwards was Monks Wood, the old ecology research foundation and the density of muntjac there was mind-boggling. With the climate going the way it is, my personal bet is we'll see CWD continuing to spread North-Eastwards, but nowhere near as rapidly as muntjac.
I was lucky enough that one of my DDM trainee's friend of his father owned a patch of land outside Woburn Centre Parcs, and he kindly arranged an outing. I jest not, the 70 acres was absolutely full of them and I especially remember that many favoured couching up on the railway embankment at the far end. It was an interesting outing from which I learned CWD are stupid - you can get incredibly close, but more importantly unlike roe, they don't stop at 100m and look at you! Once they lift they keep on going. I also learnt that a .308 was probably too large a calibre 
TringSaint
Well-Known Member
I know. My own paddocks back into the large estate there and we hear them barking all night.
I also see occasional lamping going on, so I’m pretty sure there is some after hours deer management going on.
Wow even bigger numbers than I thought. Where I am you do see plenty with the thermal when you're foxing but not quite to that level.
TringSaint
Well-Known Member
One of my landowners counted 27 in a 40 ac grass field once!!
I regularly see 7-8 and sometimes 10+ in a single 25 ish acre fields.
They step on to new territory and someone shoots them. Simple as that. Dead deer don’t breed. First one seen in Lincolnshire, a good few years ago, was shot. No doubt the second, third etc etc too
Brighty3006
Well-Known Member
still plenty in Lincolnshire
not confined to CWD, I have shooting on a (very) small patch of new woodland in Midlothian and have frequently counter 25+ roe in surrounding fields (where the land owners wont give shooting permission
Nickb
Well-Known Member
Why do you think that ? Could be lamping rabbits, hares and foxes.
paul k
Well-Known Member
We had a similar situation in North Wales, roe started to creep into Denbighshire and Flintshire about 20 years ago but then disappeared. Coincidentally it is an area where legal and illegal lamping for foxes and rabbits occurs and I’m certain that most were taken out at night. I found a discarded roe skin not far from Mold, of course the deer could have been shot anywhere but it seems most likely that it met its demise locally. They got as far as Bangor but with NRW having a shoot on sight policy, despite their duty to promote native species, they didn’t have much chance.
North Wales is perfect for roe and I hope that they get onto some of the keepered estates and that they are given a chance.
I've recently seen a photo of a roe in an area of North Wales where they haven't previously been present, so hopefully a few slipped through and kept on moving.
Perfect roe habitat here, just no roe!
Anyone care to donate some?
Its a long way to walk to the Scottish highlands , but give them time .... Yeah they have been shot North of the border though very rare indeed. These beasts follow train tracks as they like the brambles that grow either side of the rail tracks
Nickb
Well-Known Member
They also like Ifor Williams transport.
And no doubt live beasts have been moved by man legal or illegally
paul k
Well-Known Member
I believe that Ifor Williams might have been involved in the arrival of the roe in the early noughties, I’m not going to name names but one local keeper was very keen on getting roe established and had discussed obtaining some from a keeper friend in southern England.
I’ve seen a photo of a roe in a garden in Bangor.
paul k
Well-Known Member
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