New government deer management strategy
- Thread starter pazmino
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I picked this out,
“We live in one of the most nature-depleted nations on earth, composed of modified landscapes which need progressive management to restore and recover our treasured wildlife. The good news is we know how to do it and we can do it.
“But to ensure we establish the richest mosaic of habitats, we unfortunately have to make some hard choices and managing a burgeoning population of deer is one of them. And let’s be clear, this is not sports shooting or hunting, this is about culling, management.
“If we want to reforest, if we want sustainable populations of woodland birds and butterflies, we currently have no other options. A joined up national policy implemented and supported by science will make a difference for biodiversity.”
Chris Packham said:
“We live in one of the most nature-depleted nations on earth, composed of modified landscapes which need progressive management to restore and recover our treasured wildlife. The good news is we know how to do it and we can do it.
“But to ensure we establish the richest mosaic of habitats, we unfortunately have to make some hard choices and managing a burgeoning population of deer is one of them. And let’s be clear, this is not sports shooting or hunting, this is about culling, management.
“If we want to reforest, if we want sustainable populations of woodland birds and butterflies, we currently have no other options. A joined up national policy implemented and supported by science will make a difference for biodiversity.”
Great. Now can we get him to say similar about magpies, crows, cormorants, large gulls, ravens and buzzards, please?
Lots of good things in this but I fear much will not get the Parliamentary time it needs to bring it into statute.
Having been there at the Worcester FE conference at which DEFRA launched the BQWV Scheme, followed it up and subsequently realised that its only suitable for the large establishments the majority of which are currently AGHE, more must be done for the "Fred in a Shed" struggling, with all the necessary EHO/LGMH certificates to promote venison at a local level. Whilst the BQWV scheme is important in getting venison into the mass supermarkets, local deer stalkers need a reliable route to market!
Having been there at the Worcester FE conference at which DEFRA launched the BQWV Scheme, followed it up and subsequently realised that its only suitable for the large establishments the majority of which are currently AGHE, more must be done for the "Fred in a Shed" struggling, with all the necessary EHO/LGMH certificates to promote venison at a local level. Whilst the BQWV scheme is important in getting venison into the mass supermarkets, local deer stalkers need a reliable route to market!
Disappointing the female season isn't to be extended
This singular point needs to be made far more clearly IMHO, along with an acknowledgement that however commendable it may be for deerstalkers to promote venison through local sale as a Registered Small Food Businesses, it won't be enough to get deer numbers down to where they need to be.
K
palmer_mike
Well-Known Member
I disagree. While I’d not object to Roe being shot with .22 centrefire on welfare grounds I don’t actually think it’s a barrier to them being shot as it is.
There will be some workshops happening at the Stalking Show on this subject and how your "fred in the shed" can access local markets and hopefully explain to those that don't know, how easy it is to set up a food business and cut through the masses of "red tape" that people feel there is. The Open Food Network and Wild Venison Network will also be discussed.
I recently took part in a research project regarding venison marketing in Scotland. Following the initial part of the project I was invited to take part in a workshop to discuss the findings
I was the lone recreational stalker/small producer. Surprise surprise, the large estates and AGHE's very vocally against mu suggestion that more needs to be done to encourage small producers to gain the required certification and market their produce.
They cried foul at an uneven playing field and didn't accept that without this outlet roe number would continue to grow in central/southern Scotland.
I expect the same situation exists for other small deer species
Penyard
Well-Known Member
I think night shooting for muntjac would be a massive help in dealing with their explosion in numbers. My concern is that this turns in to a “free for all” with roe and red populations getting shot heavily a night when the existing system is probably adequate for dealing with those species in most scenarios. Not sure about Sika in England but a similar case can be made for night shooting them where they are an issue as I have seen extensively in Scotland.
British Quality Wild Venison in its current guise in the current market is probably not the answer but getting a significant increase to volumes of UK wild venison consumption is absolutely the key to increasing culling activity. Reading the comments from readers in The Telegraph article on this subject yesterday, it was clear that there are a lot of people who want to eat venison.
British Quality Wild Venison in its current guise in the current market is probably not the answer but getting a significant increase to volumes of UK wild venison consumption is absolutely the key to increasing culling activity. Reading the comments from readers in The Telegraph article on this subject yesterday, it was clear that there are a lot of people who want to eat venison.
That's good to know. Do you know if there will be details on the show's website and programme, and what they will be called?
Whilst that's good, I have set up a limited company, I am VAT registered, LA EHO registered (5*), am a founding member of the BDS' Venison network on the OFN and I'm still struggling! I have not had one inquiry that has resulted from membership/advertising on the OFN and I'm only making progress in selling my venison (which I must process as I have no local AGHE) through GUTG, knocking on farm shop doors and local advertising.
We need DEFRA to be promoting venison as the natural, wild, healthy and local food option it is. Yes, the BQWV scheme is a good thing but its for big producers - I cannot register as I do not have a separate dedicated processing area. Getting venison "out" locally will help stimulate the larger supermarkets into stocking it at affordable prices, not those I currently see in Waitrose but those in Lidl, Aldi and CostCo. Like local abattoirs, AGHE are thin on the ground and quite frankly, those that do exist have done little in my view to stimulate the consumption market except for their profit.
Science went years ago. He’s Governments Chief Feel Advisor.
I agree that it isn't a barrier, but also think that a .240 threshold is preferable.
This presentence is primarily based on the fact that most .224 bullets are designed for explosive fragmentation on vermin and fox-sized animals, whereas. most .243 bullets are designed controlled expansion on deer.
What you or I or anyone else with years of rifle work under their belt might be able to achieve as regards killing large animals cleanly with small calibres and frangible bullets ought not to be the benchmark, I think.
Couldn't agree more.
At the FC Worcester meeting I asked David Jam about this, given that we'd just heard a drone survey presentation saying that fallow herds around the country were typically 80% female. His reply was that 'the experts' advised that opening up the male season is what was needed.
I am staggered that there were only 2101 responses to the consultation. Of which only 37 were emailed responses, of which 30 were from organizations. I must have been one of the other 7...
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