Deer Deserve Better Than Simplified Narratives

The stage is set.

All in the stalking community and the deer world will now, I'm sure, have read the latest government plans relating to deer. Moreover, I am sure you will have read the BDS response and that of other organisations. What is very clear from this is that some of the six species we are fortunate to have in the UK are going to get a pretty tough ride going forward. Whilst the rationale behind these measures is for the good, is this demonisation of our deer going to deliver the results we want or is it going to resurrect the exact behaviours and mentality that we have worked so hard to minimise? 

The importance of sure footing.

Two million. There are two million deer in the UK. Are there? Why not one point five or three million? This number is, at best, hypothetical and speculative. This could be an over -inflation or a dramatic underestimate of the current population and this is the very foundation of any initiative regarding deer. I find this troubling. Should this not be carried out on solid fact and be entirely data led? While there has to be an understanding that gathering accurate data is precarious this number has been bandied around for a considerable amount of time. Drone surveys give an insight into what's on the ground and anyone managing territorial species will have a good idea via their spring census what they have but how do we account for the areas we cannot survey and are not managed? The transient nature of herding species leaves room for discrepancies and although we can predict with a level of accuracy a future population based on fecundity and split of sexes how do we do that without a solid, or at least more solid, datum point? 

Not all are equal.

What's evident is that there are areas of the UK with a vast overpopulation of certain species of deer. Drone surveys from some areas show deer moving at night in volumes akin to a Serengeti migration and the trail of destruction left in their wake is quite devastating. The woodland bare and browsed with the ground so trampled that any flora that escapes the appetite of the deer is destroyed underneath its feet. You can guarantee the herd will march through the field of rape the day before it's cut resulting in pods emptied onto the ground and months of hard work and expense ruined. Territorial species, specifically roe, can wreak havoc if not managed in a way that utilises their behaviour to reduce damage. A woodland without a dominant buck in will become a proving ground for all those looking to establish territory and an overpopulation of does with their selective browsing feeding habits will soon put pay to the forester's efforts in regen or planting sites as well as the woodland ground flora. Muntjac, the silent assassins, are spreading at a rate of knots. Roadside plantings and railways are super highways for this robust and resilient little deer and they will make a home anywhere. You only have to look at the HAD (Humane Animal Dispatch) call to urban area rates now to understand their spread. This being said, a one-for-all approach would be catastrophic.

Proceed with caution.

The problems highlighted are very real, this is without doubt, but they are not universal. This is not a blanket problem and if caution is not exercised we run the risk of it being perceived as exactly that. Deer downgraded to nothing more than vermin. Shot with impunity and years of hard work recognising them as the vital ecosystem engineers they are undone. In the areas of high density and vast overpopulation they will have to be hit hard but this has to be applied proportionately. The three hundred acre farm with four roe deer on does not need to remove them down to a national deer "problem". The future will rely on all with an interest in deer management and their welfare doing their bit for both the deer and the land. Reducing numbers where required rather than managing large areas for sporting interest at the expense of the aforementioned. Not allowing invasive species such as the CWD (Chinese water deer) to expand its range because it presents greater sporting opportunities and those who manage areas they physically cannot keep up with accepting help to work towards getting it done. 

In the crosshairs.

Deer, as it stands, are currently firmly in the crosshairs of the government and in some instances rightly so. These areas will need addressing and addressing quickly to prevent the situation being expedited but I urge everyone who has a passion and a love for deer to proceed in a manner that reflects that. Keep to the core principles of deer management and do the job on whatever scale is necessary with welfare at the heart of it. Some deer in some areas require a firmer hand at this point but let's reduce to a manageable level and not eradicate. They are a wonderful asset to the countryside from the iconic red stag or white hart to the rutting fairy rings of the roe deer. The diminutive muntjac with its characteristic bark and the squeal of a sika. The hare-like brazen mid-field behaviour of the CWD with its characteristic canines. All of these, native or invasive, are part of the countryside now and deserve our respect through management and understanding and I worry over-demonisation will undermine all of their virtues. Deer aren't the enemy, they just need an adjustment!