More dodgy deals afoot???

Grizzly 45

"Unsustainably high levels of deer population"In Co Wicklow?
So someone actually went out and did a survey then to ascertain this??

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/new-project-to-address-unsustainably-high-deer-populations-in-wicklow/

ayagerard

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

"Unsustainably high levels of deer population"In Co Wicklow?
So someone actually went out and did a survey then to ascertain this??

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/new-project-to-address-unsustainably-high-deer-populations-in-wicklow/

not very likely but the words unsustainable high gives the go ahead to reduce numbers with out knowing actual numbers , while i can accept that numbers are high in parts of wicklow i would not think they are unsustainable when they don't have actual numbers verified by the npws . based on the amount of poaching highlighted here on boards for wicklow,
here we have two ministers handing over the management of the deer to private enterprise for their benefit , and like i have said the first steps in privatising deer shooting, as we WILL BE TOLD, what a wonderful success it has been and is the only way forward throughout the state , that right there is my biggest fear ,in the short term i can only hope that the wicklow upland council actually reads the deer management in ireland a framework for action report and not follow in what has happened in the park in killarney in the last couple of culls carried out by the npws can only be called a massacre

Grizzly 45

Follow on article. Wonder how they get away with these assertions about the level of deer ,when there hasn't ever been a survey.
https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/wicklow-deer-project-an-acknowledgement-of-issue/

ganmo

The wicklow uplands council isn’t a private company, it’s a quango.

And you don’t have to know the size of the population to say they’re at unsustainable levels, you just need to see look at the results of the population you do see.

Fallow01

From looking at the Wicklow Uplands website I can only see one hunter member...someone is going to be busy!

As mentioned there are areas of Wicklow that have visible deer problems, it seems to be areas near the National Park, sporting estates and military land whereas the rest of the county is hit and miss on deer.

A local Minister and farmer must have been under a lot of pressure from his neighbors

If hunters are pushed off their ground or areas cleared of deer (which creates a temporary vacuum) I can see trouble, and rightly so

Grizzly 45

As mentioned there are areas of Wicklow that have visible deer problems, it seems to be areas near the National Park, sporting estates and military land whereas the rest of the county is hit and miss on deer.

So there is your problem...State and estates trying to "stockpile " deer.So by rights what needs to be done there is a driven shoot thru those areas to cull and drive out the numbers.A wholly alien concept to deer management here no doubt...

tabby aspreme

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

So there is your problem...State and estates trying to "stockpile " deer.So by rights what needs to be done there is a driven shoot thru those areas to cull and drive out the numbers.A wholly alien concept to deer management here no doubt...

It's farmers adjoining, or close to Coillte woodlands that have the greatest problem with deer in Wicklow. The deer hide in the Coillte land during the day and cannot be shot without lease permission, and enter farmland at night and cannot be shot as it dark

meathstevie

tabby aspreme wrote: »

It's farmers adjoining, or close to Coillte woodlands that have the greatest problem with deer in Wicklow. The deer hide in the Coillte land during the day and cannot be shot without lease permission, and enter farmland at night and cannot be shot as it dark

That's not quite correct. An exemption on the prohibition to hunt at night with a lamp and the open season order can be applied for by the land owner. It's commonly known as a Section 42 and the land owner can nominate a hunter to do the culling.

grassroot1

Do you not think that section 42's are a large part of the reason we don't have a national management plan?

meathstevie

grassroot1 wrote: »

Do you not think that section 42's are a large part of the reason we don't have a national management plan?

No, they're a means of dealing with a localised problem. A management plan will always have to be relevant to a locality.

Think about it, a national management plan already exists. It consists of open season orders, licencing criteria, prohibition on the release of invasive deer species, etc etc....It's just not a management plan Irish style since nobody is dipping your wallet unless you want to pay Coilte to do their pest control.