Roe culls. A question.

Luke.243

Well-Known Member
Team - Happy New Year.
Legally, can I shoot - in England - 6 month old roe bucks in a Winter cull? I have always assumed it's just does, but am confused by a photo in this month's Sporting Rifle.
:confused::confused::confused:
 
If you have a dependent kid and you are about to deprive it form it's mother, then you a defence in law, from shooting it even if it's a buck. I would suggest focusing the full on does with very small kids - for whatever reason the doe has been unable to provide them with a good start from lack of milk and or small size at birth. I would leave the does with large followers - they are your better breeding stock.
 
at dusk at 150 yds can you tell the difference between a young buck and a doe?
It totally depends how dark it is and the time of the year. When they look straight towards or away from you from late December onwards, you should be able to see the knobs on the heads of buck kids. The anal tush is very pronounced in winter coat too.
 
If you are culling and it clearly is a dependant, (if you cannot tell that from experience, then you need more experience around deer perhaps not culling), it shouldnt really be a second thought. Dependants shouldbe culled too.

Effectively, it would be dead in a few weeks anyway.
 
In my experience, that which may not concurr with best practice nor the opinion of others, depending on the weather, actual age of the calf and location, ive seen a higher mortality rate in youngsters if not shot in the Doe season and its usually more common in Roe.

For instance in Scotland (Highlands) last year whilst culling Roe Does, we left some yearling Bucks (probably about 15-20). Half were found dead by the keeper / on the next trip, you have to bare-in-mind the weather - it was cold post our first visit mid Dec (but we dont have weather fatalities usually), the terrain is 900ft + Above sea level, but most importantly despite being Dec, the calves rarely moved off from the shot site (in fact two were shot by the keeper as they just sat down in the heather and didnt move for a day or so). Having said this, we rarely start shooting Does until Dec/Jan because the followers are dependant until Dec.

Where i help cull in south, dependants are shot no questioning until late Nov/Dec as we find if left the wet/cold takes it out of them, rarely any die as a result, but they can get very thin and again are seen in the same open areas day after day looking for mum. Jan onwards depends on size, cull figures and tree damage etc.

As always it hinges on what is defined (as per my origional reply) of what is a dependant, only watching the deer, knowing the deer on your ground that you manage regular and understanding the behaviour displayed can assure you whether it is a dependant or not.

Just my thoughts

T
 
Why would it be dead in a few weeks Tommo? It's not reliant on milk anymore.

A more direct answer would be, yes they no longer take milk, but are following mum around being shown warm cover, trails to food, what to eat and where and when. Most of the time if the weather is poor, especially wet and cold, they will be found or seen laid up against mum for body heat (seen more in fallow than Roe).

T
 
I think that unless the weather gets really bad (certainly rare down south) you will end up with a stunted or just plain poor buck but it's unlikely to end up dead. I have shot a yearling buck in July which is suspected of being orphaned young (22lbs larder weight). Basically, they do still need their mum for life skills and experience but losing her is unlikely to kill them. Obviously the later the orphaning occurs the less the effect on the kids.
 
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