Deer plague

[emordnilap]

Venison is very nice fried in garlic butter

The deer might disagree.

Look, instead of encouraging this urge to destroy, why not re-train the cullers to fire some kind of injection of deer contraceptive? Are we not that clever yet?

[woodburner]

If people don't "destroy" and eat the deer, they will destroy and eat something else. Humans are omnivores, they eat meat and plants.

[vtsnowedin]

[Deer in the UK steer clear of livestock fields. Too much livestock crap all over the place. And in UK woodlands they no longer pick and choose, because there's so many of them that they have to eat everything.

I have never dressed off a deer that did not have grass in it's paunch ( first stomach for those not aware). Show me a UK deers paunch that does not have grass in it and then I might believe your point. Consider that some of the deer I have dressed off have been shot in late November or early December when there was up to a foot of snow on the ground and they had still managed to paw up enough grass to get a belly full.

[vtsnowedin]

That is easily done. It is called open season. Let anyone with space in his freezer take a deer at any time he sees fit by any method he sees as humane with the only rule be to not waste the meat.

Given that very few people in the UK have guns or the hunting skills or the time to track and kill these animals, and use of guns or crossbows in public spaces tends to lead to heavy prison sentences and having shot the beasts few people know how to process the meat and local butchers are now a rarity. Traps big enough to take a deer are also frowned upon and I think have been illegal for many decades. Poisen obviously also a problem.

All you say is absolutely true of course and that will prevent the UK from undertaking the only workable and effective option I put forward. I then feel quite confident that what ever remedy your government selects will be a complete failure. Kiss your Rhododendrons good by.

[JohnB]

Kiss your Rhododendrons good by.

They're a pest too, and probably harder to cull than deer!

[Tarrel]

I'm not sure about the idea of having everyone and his dog roaming the countryside taking potshots at whatever they see. To kill a deer humanely needs a fairly high calibre rifle which, in the wrong hands, could be catastrophic. I have a local farmer who shoots the roe on our woodland in return for some contracting services and the odd haunch. He's very professional and takes stringent precautions to make sure there is nothing behind the shot. There has to be some sort of control.

There are three established venison production systems already in place in the UK;

Deer Farms, in which they are treated like livestock, kept in compounds, fed and rounded up and slaughtered at the appropriate time.

Deer Parks, in which deer are allowed to roam and browse freely in a large, fenced area. There are more kept than the area would naturally sustain, due to supplementary feeding. Harvesting takes place through shooting in the park.

Stalking, in which deer roam freely in the wild and find their food naturally. Harvesting takes place through stalking of the deer in their natural habitat.

Even if deer were culled in the numbers suggested by the article (750000 per year), I imagine this would be a relatively small addition to the total meat supply in Britain. To meet a substantial part of the UK's current meat demand with venison would require either farms or parks to be developed much more extensively, with all the problems of intensive livestock farming that ensue.

Having said the above, it is a wonderful meat; low in fat with very little waste. Responds well to a variety of cooking methods, from slow roasting to searing. The skins are also useful and easy to prepare.

[vtsnowedin]

Kiss your Rhododendrons good by.

They're a pest too, and probably harder to cull than deer!

Aah I forgot that Rhodie's weren't native to the UK but fear not ,an over population of deer will strip not just the Rodie's but what ever native flora you really enjoy.

[vtsnowedin]

Even if deer were culled in the numbers suggested by the article (750000 per year), I imagine this would be a relatively small addition to the total meat supply in Britain. .

Well lets take a look at that. You might expect 50 pounds of edible meat out of the average deer carcass so if you harvest 750000 deer times fifty pounds comes to 3,750,000 pounds of flesh which divided equally between 64,000,000 UK citizens comes to just 0.60 pounds or a couple of thin burgers per year. Not a solution to the food problem by any means.

[UndercoverElephant]

Kiss your Rhododendrons good by.

That is about the last thing they would choose to eat. Unfortunately.

What they like most of all, in gardens, is roses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNnXlORf8hE

[Tarrel]

Even if deer were culled in the numbers suggested by the article (750000 per year), I imagine this would be a relatively small addition to the total meat supply in Britain. .

Well lets take a look at that. You might expect 50 pounds of edible meat out of the average deer carcass so if you harvest 750000 deer times fifty pounds comes to 3,750,000 pounds of flesh which divided equally between 64,000,000 UK citizens comes to just 0.60 pounds or a couple of thin burgers per year. Not a solution to the food problem by any means.

Hah, we've probably recently taken that quantity out just by removing the horsemeat from the supply chain.

[vtsnowedin]

Kiss your Rhododendrons good by.

That is about the last thing they would choose to eat. Unfortunately.

What they like most of all, in gardens, is roses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNnXlORf8hE

They like my peas and raspberries but then again I don't have a lot of roses for them to dine on.

[vtsnowedin]

Even if deer were culled in the numbers suggested by the article (750000 per year), I imagine this would be a relatively small addition to the total meat supply in Britain. .

Well lets take a look at that. You might expect 50 pounds of edible meat out of the average deer carcass so if you harvest 750000 deer times fifty pounds comes to 3,750,000 pounds of flesh which divided equally between 64,000,000 UK citizens comes to just 0.60 pounds or a couple of thin burgers per year. Not a solution to the food problem by any means.

Hah, we've probably recently taken that quantity out just by removing the horsemeat from the supply chain.

What makes you think you have removed it? Your highly competent government that let it in in the first place?

[Little John]

Bollocks to it. I'm going to ask around a few local landowners and ask if they want a deer or two getting rid of.

First, though, I need to remind myself how to gut and butcher a deer. It can't be much different to a rabbit.....Just bigger...

[vtsnowedin]

Bollocks to it. I'm going to ask around a few local landowners and ask if they want a deer or two getting rid of.

First, though, I need to remind myself how to gut and butcher a deer. It can't be much different to a rabbit.....Just bigger...

Yes of course it is the same principle but if I could stand back and watch you muddle through by yourself your fist time I would find it quite entertaining.

[Little John]

Bollocks to it. I'm going to ask around a few local landowners and ask if they want a deer or two getting rid of.

First, though, I need to remind myself how to gut and butcher a deer. It can't be much different to a rabbit.....Just bigger...

Yes of course it is the same principle but if I could stand back and watch you muddle through by yourself your fist time I would find it quite entertaining.

I'd probably find it quite entertaining, if a bit messy, myself.... . I'm guessing there would be quite bit of wastage left over for the local wildlife.

You can bet i would manage it though. However rough a job i made, it would be freezable and cookable.