Deer stalking takes place across most of the UK though there are still some pockets of the country where there are no wild deer present, notably eastern Kent. When people think of deer stalking most people envisage red deer stalking out on the open hillsides of the Scottish Highlands. However most deer taken each year are taken at lower levels and are most often Roe deer.

Why Manage Deer?

Deer stalking is a vital practice to ensure deer populations are managed effectively to ensure economic damage is kept to a minimum and deer populations are maintained in a fit and healthy state.

Deer can cause a major impact upon the forestry and agricultural industries. Browsing of forestry can result in significant loss of production and physical damage such as “fraying”  and “bowl scoring” can also create problems.

In agricultural situations grazing by the two species that prefer to feed on grass or arable crops, fallow and red deer can directly compete with the economics of farming.

Deer management is also important to maintain a healthy population of deer, over grazing will result in the deer being weakened and more liable/susceptible to pests and diseases.

Deer management is focused on maintaining a deer population that is healthy and sustainable. As such stalkers will develop a stalking plan for each year to set the levels of animals to be culled and will select beasts that will not make a positive contribution to the make up of the population.

“Trophy” animals may also be taken from time to time, these are ones that display exceptional antlers. Trophy shooting can be very expensive but funds raised in this way go back to contribute to the running costs of deer management.

Deer Species

There are six species of deer in the UK, 2 native being Red, and Roe, 1 that most people think of as being native but was in fact introduced by the Romans being the Fallow and 3 introduced during the 19th Century Sika, Chinese Water Deer and Muntjac Deer.

Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)

The largest of the deer species found in the UK, indeed the largest mammal to be found in the UK weighing up to 350kg for a lowland stag. They can be found across large parts of the British Isles from Devon in the south to Scotland in the north.

Preferring woodland margins as habitat they feed of both grass and by browsing shrubs and trees. Man’s activities have forces them out onto the moors and open hill where they don’t attain their full size potential due to the poorer diet and harsher climate.

The rut occurs in October and November with calves being dropped during May and July. Stags tend not to breed until 5 years old, hinds can breed in their second year if they attain a threshold weight.

Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus)

The smallest of our native deer with adults ranging in weight from 10 to 25kg.  Again common across large parts of the UK but often not seen due to their timid nature and size.

Roe are browsers and prefer woodland settings but will venture out into the open and feed along hedgerows looking for brambles, ivy etc. They selectively take the tender growing tips as these provide the most energy.

The Roe rut takes place in August but the kids are not dropped until May or June making gestation 9 months long. However Roe are unique amongst UK deer species as after the rut and fertilisation the embryo goes into a “suspended” state and does not grow for 4 months.

Fallow (Dama dama)

The first of our deer species that have been introduced to the United Kingdon, possible by the Romans. A large deer weight up to 100kg for a buck in top form. Fallow are easily recognised by their palmate antlers though their coat colouration varies and take 4 different forms, traditional fawn with white spotting, the lighter version called menil, the dark, almost black version called melanistic and finally the white version, though this is not a true albino.

All forms of fallow can be seen and their variation made them a popular choice to be stocked in deer parks.

Fallow are grazers by choice and prefer grass as a diet though do supplement this with browsing. Again human activity has led them to prefer the safety of woodland coming out to graze early morning and late evening.

Rutting takes place autumn with fawns being born 230 days later in June. Fallow bucks hold a “rutting stand” during the rut and entice the does to them by using a call often described as groaning

Sika (Cervus nippon)

Another large member of the introduced species of deer, big stags getting to up to 100kg. The coat of these deer often makes people confuse them with fallow deer though there are some important and obvious identification markers not least the antlers when present not being palmated . Sika also tend to be darker and have an obvious tuft of white hair on the metatarsal gland on their rear legs.

Distribution is patchy but the population is growing and spreading with them being found in pockets between Dorset and Scotland.

Sika prefer the cover of coniferous woodland and the acid soils that are often found in such plantations. They are often thought of as one of the most secretive of the deer species and are hard to see in the wild thus making them a challenging stalking target. They are mainly browsers but will also take grass if available. One habit that brings them into conflict with foresters is that of stripping bark to eat at times.

Their calls are wide and varied and very unlike other deer species.

Rutting takes place in the autumn, September to November with the calves appearing in May to June.

Chinese Water Deer (Hydropotes inermis)

The second smallest the deer species found in the United Kingdom and unique in that no antlers are carried. Their weight ranges from 10 to 20kg and are easy to identify due to their teddy bear like ears, dark eyes and visible tusks protruding from the upper jaw.

They are also our rarest species of deer and confined to small areas of the United Kingdom, mainly Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.

Browsing feeding habits being selective feeders looking for the tender shoots of non woody plants and some grass.

The rut takes place late in the year during November and December with fawns arriving during May and June. CWD are the species most likely to have multiple births and litters of up to 6 are not uncommon.
 

Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi)

The smallest of our deer species with weights ranging from 10 to 18kg. Their physical size and dark russet pelage makes them a very hard deer to see in the wild.

Since their  first introduction to the wild they have rapidly spread across the country and are now present from the south coast to close to the Scottish border, their spread continues and is aided by their unique ability to breed 12 months a year with no defines rutting period.

Selective feeders preferring tender new shoots and growth.

Shooting

Stalking requires the use of centre fire rifles, care must be taken to ensure the calibre you use is legal, rules vary between Scotland and the rest of the UK. For up to date information please visit the BASC website.

Once you have the correct rifle and calibre you have also to ensure you are using bullet weights that are legal for the species you are intending to stalk, again check with BASC for regional rules and regulations.

The actual shot on the deer may take place after a stalk to get within range of the intended quarry or by waiting in place, often in a high seat, for the quarry to pass within safe shot. Both methods of shooting can be highly effective with high seats increasing the safety element especially in areas of flat terrain.

It is strongly recommended that instruction is taken prior to commencing stalking, this can be with an experienced stalker or by completing and attaining the Deer Stalking Certificate qualifications offered by the British Deer Society and BASC.

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