deer shooting season

sniperman

hi all,forgive me if im wrong,and i dont know much about deer shooting having never done it,im just curious,i believe there is a season here in ireland,but i read uk site like this one,and nearly every day someone shoots a deer and posts the results,so can they shoot deer all year round over there or what?

Cass

Deer season in Ireland runs September 1st to Feb 28th.

Within that season are individual season for the different gender. So Males are from Sept 1st to December 31st, and females from November 1st to Feb 28th. There is also a season for Muntjac which runs year round from Sept 1st to August 31st the following year meaning they can be shot year round. They are classed as an invasive species, but still require a deer license and deer caliber.

There are also restrictions on deer. Meaning they cannot be shot at all, ever, as is the case with Red deer in Kerry.

In England they have different breeds of deer including Roe, Chinese Water deer, and Muntjac (actual Muntjac and not the fairy tale ones here). The season vary depending on whether you're in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, etc. The full list of seasons are available here.

sniperman

thanks cass, a good read,seen this, A Game Licence is no longer needed to kill or take deer, anywhere in the UK.does this mean no deer license is required in uk to shoot deer?

Cass

I believe so.

I'm not in the least bit familiar with how the law works but from the website for BASC and GOV.UK it appears you don't. I assume it works like the open seasons work here for Duck, Pheasant, etc. IOW they can only be hunted in the open season and your firearms license acts like your "hunting license".