Woodland management

Op_JB

Active Member
First post for a while. Can anyone direct me to some good reading on deer (in my case fallow) and their impact on woodland please? I'm particularly interested in learning what to shoot and when in order to develop populations of other native woodland species. Thanks.
 
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To be honest fallow will have very little impact on forestry/woodland when at normal densities. Probably the deer most tolerant/causes least damage in forestry.
Fallow are more of a grazing deer so won't be massively bad for nipping buds on trees etc like roe would be in young trees as there more of a browsing deer. Thats not to say they can't do a bit of damage when numbers increase on coppice stools, have hammered some willow on my shoot
U'll still get some fraying etc around stands but quite often they fray on willow or the same stunted soft woods anyway so not causing a lot of widespread damage. Or if causing damage in an area u could plant some willow cuttings for them to fray in the future to protect the other trees

I dare say it depends wot other native species u want to develop? Flora or fuana or more deer species.
Also unless u have a decent sized area or fallow are very well hefted it might not really matter wot u try to do unless all ur nieghbours that shoot the same fallow also agree to it.
 
In our area fallow completely wreck woodland. They can rapidly build up a population. They are difficult to manage as they cover such large areas. I would suggest shooting the ones you see and does throughout their season if you have a choice of sexes in front of you.
There is a new book Fallow Stalking by Thornley, it may not have much about impact on woodland. It's on my Christmas list.
 
If by developing other species you mean reducing the deer numbers then the science, certainly with sika, is very simple - shooting mature hinds has the most impact on population. I know this sounds simple and logical but the effect is more dramatic than you'd imagine once it is quantified in the sense that you have to shoot an awful lot more calves or stags than you'd imagine to have the same impact as shooting one hind.

I don't know any good works on fallow but if you are willing to do a bit of "background" reading then this book has some excellent info on sika management and clearly some of the basics will be similar so it might be a worthwhile read. I managed to get a second hand copy at an affordable price and it proved a worthwhile investment but I'm sure your local library can get it for you:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sika-Deer-Management-Introduced-Populations/dp/4431094288/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1476048650&sr=8-4&keywords=sika+deer
 
Fallow may well be predominant grazers, but at this time of year between harvest and new crops there is very little to graze. Also, when there are prolonged periods of frost or snow they will devastate a woodland. They love to snap Ash stems off at about chest height which is less than ideal with the current Ash situation. Fallow are no friend to either the farmer or forester! Shooting females is the key to population control. Try and get as many as you can as early as you can before they group up into larger groups later in the winter. Constant pressure will quickly turn them nocturnal though. Hit them hard and then let them settle for a while and repeat. Also, try to be as random as they are as they will quickly learn your methods and avoid you! Get some very good optics and an illuminated reticule as most of your success will be at very low light. Good luck!
MS
 
Fallow may well be predominant grazers, but at this time of year between harvest and new crops there is very little to graze. Also, when there are prolonged periods of frost or snow they will devastate a woodland. They love to snap Ash stems off at about chest height which is less than ideal with the current Ash situation. Fallow are no friend to either the farmer or forester! Shooting females is the key to population control. Try and get as many as you can as early as you can before they group up into larger groups later in the winter. Constant pressure will quickly turn them nocturnal though. Hit them hard and then let them settle for a while and repeat. Also, try to be as random as they are as they will quickly learn your methods and avoid you! Get some very good optics and an illuminated reticule as most of your success will be at very low light. Good luck!
MS

That sums it up for me too.
Here in Sussex planting or coppicing without adequate protection is a waste of time. Fallow and squirrels are doing most of the damage I see in woodlands.
 
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