Deer Poaching

I have been attempting to watch, film and or photograph the local Deer rut. While there are plenty of Deer in the area, there are also plenty of poachers in the woods to. Therefore, the greatest danger is an encounter with a two legged rat rather than the Deer. Even so I am cautious of the encounters with the male Deer, as in an encounter with Wood Mouse V Roe Deer the bookies are not taking bets.

However, while I have seen the Deer briefly, and plenty of signs of the Deer, I have not yet seen anything of the rut. As when I have heard the Deer or seen them, I have also seen and heard dogs. Now while not all the dog owners will be poachers, the majority of the dogs encountered are breeds that are favoured by poachers. And this year the poachers really seem to have been out in force.

While I have not seen a significant fall in the numbers of Deer, I have seen signs that Deer have been taken. But the most significant effect has been the effect upon the behaviour of the Deer. They are clearly much more nervous of humans as a result. Yesterday when spotting one male Deer that I was getting ready to film, I heard a dog bark in the far distance and this startled and spooked the Deer. Normally this would have alerted the Deer but not made him run.

Equally, I have encountered men out with lamps taking rabbits. While I have no real problem with someone taking a couple for the pot, as this is being done at night the use of shotguns in the dark is foolish and dangerous. It is making me very nervous about walking in the woods.

I know that I have a few readers from North America, well both of them, and while in America there is a hunting culture, here in Britain hunting is just not a part of our culture. Further gun laws here mean that it is not easy to obtain firearms. Therefore it is this illegal use that presents the greatest danger. Sooner or latter there will be a serious accident or even a death. I am not the only Naturalist, Birder, or even dog walker that has encountered this problem. In fact I had one person challenge me as they saw my tripod and thought I was carrying a shotgun. Fortunately I just had a good laugh with my fellow wildlife lover about that, but I still got searched by the police.

While the recession has put pressure on folks, as I have said here before, poaching is done by criminals for profit. Often these people if they can not take a couple of Deer will steal from farms, rustle sheep, steal horses etc. They will not baulk at using violence to execute their criminal acts.

The effect upon the Deer population will be devastating. A few years before I moved to my village, poaching had whipped out the Deer in Chopwell Wood, while there numbers have recovered, I don't want to see the Deer lost again.

The other effect of the indiscriminate culling of Deer is that genetic diversity is lost. Poachers don't take the old or the sick, but the fittest animals. In Montana, the state Wildlife Game and Parks service had to change the regulations for hunting Deer, Elk and Big Horn Sheep as hunters were taking the males with the largest antlers leaving only animals with smaller antlers in the gene pool. This effect happens faster and more dramatically in areas where poaching occurs.

In Britain where there are not the large predators, the Wolf, Bear, Links all long extinct, there is a need for control of the Deer populations. But poaching can not be part of this solution. Legal and licensed hunters that can take Game, have to inspect the meat and the carcass for diseases and hygiene rules are implemented. But Venison from poaching does not have these checks and with many Deer with Bovine Tuberculosis eating meat from poached dear is a serious risk to human health too.

I don't have any solutions to this problem other than to make a plea that folks don't buy cheap venison. It is not that I don't want to see the Deer taken for meat, it is just that I don't want to see the woods made a dangerous place for others.