Numbers of Roe
- Thread starter Warrener
- Start date
How big is your land?
Roestalker39
Well-Known Member
That’s the question, whets your aim ? Maintain or reduce population ? Are you suffering timber damage ?
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
Given your numbers:
For sustaining what can be culled annually, no more than two mature bucks and one or two poor yearlings, with no disadvantage if the latter are not taken, any excess of males will be 'managed' by the incumbents; after a three years of this, you may be able to find three mature bucks a year to take, bearing in mind that it will take a minimum of two years for a mature buck culled from their respective territories to be replaced adequately by his successor.
Cull 50% of all females annually, if you can; if you feel you have overdone the doe cull, all will revert to mean within one ensuing season's slight easing of same, but generally the overdoing of the doe cull does not occur.
For sustaining what can be culled annually, no more than two mature bucks and one or two poor yearlings, with no disadvantage if the latter are not taken, any excess of males will be 'managed' by the incumbents; after a three years of this, you may be able to find three mature bucks a year to take, bearing in mind that it will take a minimum of two years for a mature buck culled from their respective territories to be replaced adequately by his successor.
Cull 50% of all females annually, if you can; if you feel you have overdone the doe cull, all will revert to mean within one ensuing season's slight easing of same, but generally the overdoing of the doe cull does not occur.
Shoot all the bucks.....if you don't, someone else will. 
Just kidding!!
Some useful answers to have would be the following:
Just kidding!!
Some useful answers to have would be the following:
- What acreage are we talking about?
- What is the split - arable vs woodland vs other?
- What is the age range of the roe that you're seeing - if you had to divide it, say, between adult, yearling, kids?
- What are you looking to achieve, management-wise?
- Is the ground used for commercial forestry?
- Are there any areas fenced off deer-wise?
Should have added:
- Is the land surrounding yours stalked at all?
- If yes, how heavily?
- Are there any hard borders surrounding your land (railways, major roads, rivers, etc)?
David Barker
Well-Known Member
If i had that many on my ground i would reduce the number each year by 23. This will create a sustainable crop year on year .What you shoot will depend on what's there. Minimum 8 Bucks and 15 or more does.
A quick glance at the Forestry Commission booklet on Roe Deer Biology and Management suggests that, with a 2:1 Female:Male ratio with roe, the aim should be for a 30% total cull, number-wise. The emphasis should clearly be on culling does.
Once the sex ratio is back at parity, a 25% cull should maintain the population.
From the old spreadsheet that I put together after the BDS Deer Management course it suggests that - with a M:F target ratio of 1:1 next Spring and keeping total numbers stable - you should aim to cull 15 does.
You can then look at the numbers for mature does vs yearlings, but TBH with that population why bother?
Once the sex ratio is back at parity, a 25% cull should maintain the population.
From the old spreadsheet that I put together after the BDS Deer Management course it suggests that - with a M:F target ratio of 1:1 next Spring and keeping total numbers stable - you should aim to cull 15 does.
You can then look at the numbers for mature does vs yearlings, but TBH with that population why bother?
Your neighbours might not appreciate this approach very much!
And if you’re wanting mature bucks with good heads, this might not get you there terribly efficiently.
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
If you shoot only old bucks, you'll aye have old bucks to shoot; if you shoot young and upcoming, ye'll not have old to shoot.
But it depends if you want to shoot mature bucks, or just deer.
But it depends if you want to shoot mature bucks, or just deer.
You may get bucks migrating in.....but not if the adjacent land is being heavily shot (in which case you may find you get emigration) or if there are significant barriers to that migration. For example the land I stalk is bordered by a motorway - that reduces potential migration.
Whilst it is clear there is currently a healthy population (though in the absence of the total acreage even that is a guess), without knowing the lie of the land, and the lie of the adjacent land, any suggestion as to what to cull is potentially ignoring important criteria.
Whilst it is clear there is currently a healthy population (though in the absence of the total acreage even that is a guess), without knowing the lie of the land, and the lie of the adjacent land, any suggestion as to what to cull is potentially ignoring important criteria.
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