Severe Deer Damage!

shortshot

Well-Known Member
Forage maize planted under plastic early April, this is the picture today. Grazing by Red deer during summer months adjacent to thicket stage fir plantation. The grazed area is approx. 4.5 acres of the 12 acre field. This is Devon and given that "deer initiative" and NE say they have no out of season or night licences approved in SW England the system appears farcical. What do you say to the demented dairy farmer?
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"Farmers Defence" !
You may shoot deer that are caught in the act of damaging crops etc....PROVIDED...you have taken every possible precaution to prevent the damage from happening i.e. Deer fencing around the field or specifically along the problem boundary, crow scarers, shooing them away etc. If you can show that you have done everything possible to prevent the damage and it is still happening then you may use "extreme prejudice" to protect your crops.
Unfortunately simply putting up a high seat in a corner of the field with a trillion candle lamp wont cut much ice!
 
Got to agree what has been tried this post is September and reds have been in since 1st of august. If shot off a crop they do not normally come back for a while. May I add if you start opening up England to the same sustained on slaughter as Scotland regards out of season and lamping you will need to take up a new passion/job as the case may be.
 
Start on the stags surely! Put some effort in if there causing damage. Unless they are completely nocturnal, you would still catch them in the first light though.
 
I would say don't grow Maize if you have lots of Red Deer in the locality. Stick to grass. Simples
 
I took out a permit when we had 60 + fallow in a pea field every day. I could shoot any buck or follower during daylight hours and they didn't have to be in the pea field.
The rule is if they are causing damage to any crop field including grass if it is harvested for hay/silage etc then as long as you have tried to stop them by chasing or what ever method then they can be legally shot.

Put it this way, if this farmer/landowner mentions this damage to the wrong person you could end up losing your shoot as there are plenty of others who would jump at the chance of a bit of deer management and pay for the pleasure.
 
"Farmers Defence" !
You may shoot deer that are caught in the act of damaging crops etc....PROVIDED...you have taken every possible precaution to prevent the damage from happening i.e. Deer fencing around the field or specifically along the problem boundary, crow scarers, shooing them away etc. If you can show that you have done everything possible to prevent the damage and it is still happening then you may use "extreme prejudice" to protect your crops.

You must also have written permission from the occupier of the land.

It is worth reading the following as a summary:
http://www.thedeerinitiative.co.uk/uploads/guides/91.pdf

Plus the relevant sections of the Deer Act, because if you are considering relying on the Farmers Defence, it is just that, 'a defence'.
 
Are you sure it was deer. I never seen anything like that plenty of maize around and red deer they never touch it only when its nearly ready as do wild boar and then they do damage and eat ears but they never touch leaves and stalks as on these pictures
 
Are you sure it was deer. I never seen anything like that plenty of maize around and red deer they never touch it only when its nearly ready as do wild boar and then they do damage and eat ears but they never touch leaves and stalks as on these pictures

Agree with this. Are there millions of clear foot prints from reds?

more likely to be local pikey's at it during the night with homemade bush sears or something
 
You must also have written permission from the occupier of the land.

Of course I forgot the other option often used in South Dorset......

Rock up in the middle of the night in a white transit or battered L200, preferably without tax, insurance or MOT, armed with an unlicensed firearm, or better, a couple of dogs and a shotgun. Round up/shoot/chase down what you need...bundle into the back of said truck and dispose of via an unscrupulous butcher/pub/hotel.

No fear of detection, being apprehended or charged as Her Majesty's Finest will A/ Have a response time of 45-60 minutes (even though Force HQ is only down the road) and B/ Probably wont be ar*ed as it's a "victimless crime"!

Heaven forbid I get caught doing 33mph down a country road whilst driving home.....with a legally held knife and rifle in the car, in cases, with certificates!!!
 
Agree with this. Are there millions of clear foot prints from reds?

more likely to be local pikey's at it during the night with homemade bush sears or something

Obviously you guys have very little knowledge of deer and there eating habits, I have seen reds wipe out game cover crops of maize, and lay up all summer in standing crops of maize, grazing on nothing but maize, fallow are partial to it when it young, and if you look at the pictures, the damage was done when it was a lot younger.
 
Sika will also decimate a field of maize! Stomach contents lay testament to that even when shot some way away from obvious maize fields
 
Knowing what they eat & favor during the year and the damage they can do to a crop must surly be some of the first things you learn in order to be in the right place to shoot a deer..?
 
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Obviously you guys have very little knowledge of deer and there eating habits, I have seen reds wipe out game cover crops of maize, and lay up all summer in standing crops of maize, grazing on nothing but maize, fallow are partial to it when it young, and if you look at the pictures, the damage was done when it was a lot younger.

It must be different type of maize then in my area maize is the last thing deer touch unless just before harvest when both reds and wild boar eat ears never ever stalks or leaves. Dont look very tasty to me.... It looks like cattle went in or something else happened there but not deer. But I was not there so not sure. Just saying what is my experience.
 
May indicate a suitably located trail cam or two to get some evidence.

Strange its forage maize planted under plastic in April. My patch has 600+ acres of maize and was planted straight into the ground. Only tend to use plastic if its for combining for whole seed or for human consumption. You would have thought the planter might have thought of the possible damage when lanting so close to cover. Our maize is now 8'+ ft

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No idea about the deer damage but generally they use plastic for more marignal areas or soils. In Sw scot prob about 60-80% under plastic to give it that intail kick start, in a good spring it probably wouldn't need it but really helps in a poor spring. SW scot is prob getting near the ,l imit for growng maize commercially vaiably (or atleast on the west coast) all maize up here is forage maize/whole crop and usually planted late april/may.
 
Are you sure it was deer. I never seen anything like that plenty of maize around and red deer they never touch it only when its nearly ready as do wild boar and then they do damage and eat ears but they never touch leaves and stalks as on these pictures

That's definitely red damage. I've saw game crops munched down to about 10in off the ground.
 
That's definitely red damage. I've saw game crops munched down to about 10in off the ground.

In my experience it looks more like on the vid below, certainly they like to live in it, it is a good shelter, and in my area they enjoy maize plant ears this time of year, but pictures in this thread show damage to stalks and leaves, and superisingly little browsing between the rows of maize which is more palatable than the maize itself...
Gamecrop is completely different story than monoculture of maize

 
The pictures are taken with my back to the woodland boundary, the browse/graze line is obvious, they live in wood. The deer have not been seen on maize since mid-July. That is by the by; the point is to illustrate the damage of herding deer to agriculture and the inabiliy of Natural England and the official DI as the Gov. body advisor to appreciate through outdated deer act the implications of an expanding population.
The England licensed control for out of season appears only to allow for disease control (foot and mouth) or environmental damage???? (grazing orchids on an sssi or fraying velvet against Hadrians Wall ??)
So in effect English deer law is largely being decided by the "green lobby" except perhaps on Gov. ground (FC who enjoy immunity from deer act regulation)
If the "deer act" is not really fit for purpose it needs re-evaluating........ herding deer really are vermin in many situations.
The" farmers protection" clause is of value but selling out of season venison is illegal so problematical; I'd wager when NE decided to revisit the Deer Act their amendment would be to delete the "farmers protection clause."
 
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