Deer - planning the cull for next year

kerryman12

I was out there a few night the week before last having a look at some of my permissions to see if any Deer were about. I visited three separate areas on three separate nights.
The first night I found a good few signs see pic 001 of deer about, drooping tracks etc. After a hour with nothing I came across a area where clearly some deer had been lying up. Three separate patches where three deer had been . I moved forward slowly into a area of heavy cover came to a Y and went right. After moving about 20yrds further on I heard a large animal on my left jump into the river and across to the other bank. After tracking back I found the fresh tract and a clear path through some heavy terrain. I lost the track but found myself in a area where a ash trees had been planted a few years ago. AS you can see from pic 002 there have caused quite a bit of damage.
The second night I moved to a area I had a close encounter with a Sika stag last season. I heard heavy movement and after tracking for about a hour I had to abandon without a sighting.
The third night I moved to a area of new ground. After moving through some heavily wooded areas and a steep glen. I came to a difficult area to cross and while making a plan I heard a deer bound off only 10 yrds ahead breaking to the left into heavy cover. A minute later another (this time I saw her) a Sika hind broke to the right and then into to some heavy cover.

I enjoyed being out and about a few nights even if it was after 12 before I got home. I felt it was a useful exercise as I want to try and get a handle on how many deer are around and also to try and get familiar when all of the area I have permission for. As you know we are recommended to try to get a handle on the actual population of deer before the season open to plan the cull for the season ahead.

Finally a question or two:

1. Is there any fear by disturbing deer at this time of the year that they would abandon calves etc as can happen with other animals.
2. Is there any guide that says if you see 1 0r 2 that there are 6/8 deer in the area. I cant imagine that you will only see a fraction of the actual population at any one time.


Regards

rrpc

AS you can see from pic 002 there have caused quite a bit of damage

Pictures?

kerryman12

observant as always rrpc :P
thanks

John Griffin

I wouldn't be concerned about hinds abandoning calves. The calves are mobile now anyway.

Counting deer is always a tricky job, there are several methods.
Morning vantage point counts work well in hilly areas where you can view an area from high ground but depending on the ground you may need several counters and each must have a good quality spotting scope and tripod. Counters must be in place from first light and must count for a minimum of 3 hours and must use maps to mark location and direction of travel of animals, make notes of herd structure and radio to neighbouring counter if animals are moving to them.

There is the pellet count method but it's quite complicated.
But it works very well for forests and has been used by Coillte and the deer commission in Scotland.

Luckily most of my ground is open hill, we use a helicopter to quater the entire area and get a very accurate results from this method. Prior to this it involved up to 10 people spreading out across an area and keeping in touch through radio and marking animals on maps. I have two major woodlands that are counted using vantage point counts.

You must also enter an error factor in your results.
If you count using the same method over many years you will notice population trends, you may not count every deer in your area but you will know if the population has increased or decreased and you can adjust your culling number accordingly.

kerryman12

Thanks John

I read up on those metohds in the HCAP manual.

My problem are that I am alone and that most of the permission is clens or small pockets of fields scattered around - there is no real high point from which to see even say 1/4 of the area.

Is there are rough rule of tumb

regards

John Griffin

kerryman12 wrote: »

Thanks John

I read up on those metohds in the HCAP manual.

My problem are that I am alone and that most of the permission is clens or small pockets of fields scattered around - there is no real high point from which to see even say 1/4 of the area.

Is there are rough rule of tumb

regards

Not really, the best you can do in this situation is to visit your areas at dawn in the closed season. Make note of what you see, you can count stags but they don't really matter much when it comes to controlling the population because they will always be moving in and out of your area. They can be easily distinguished from each other though, it will give you an idea of how many stag use your area.

Hinds are territorial and usually live within 1-2 sq Km. Make note the structure of the herds you are seeing. Over time you will get a picture of what animals you have. Doing this at the same dates and times from the same positions over the years will give you a good indication to population trends and you will know weather you need to cull more or less.

If you see nothing you record how many times you went before you saw deer. All this information will make sense in the second, third and subsequent years when you look back over it. The most important tools you will need are a good pair of binos, a spotting scope, good tripod and a note book.

Grizzly 45

Why not get permission to put up a salt/mineral lick,in an area that is not grazed by cattle or sheep,and keep that under obs for a week or so?It will give you a good idea of how much is in a given area.Failing that,see if there are any old apple trees in your patch,crab or normal,prune them back so they will give a good crop.Deer go crazy for apples,and will travel to old trees for miles.