How you can make deer pay

Jamie Tusting investigates innovative ways of transforming deer management from a loss-leader into a profit-generating enterprise

- Jamie Tusting, ANDREW SYDENHAM; PAUL MCGINLEY

It is estimated that there are more than two million wild deer in the UK, from the red deer of the high ground in Scotland to the fallow deer of lowland England.

In broad terms, the deer population increases by 30% each year through their usual breeding cycles, swelling their numbers by more than 600,000 annually. With no natural predators, the deer population, if left unchecked, would grow exponentially, supported by the vast swathes of rich habitat we have in this country.

Every year, however, a cap on numbers is maintained through the stalking and culling that happens up and down the country.

Deer culling is an essential practice for the protection of vulnerable habitats, prevention of crop and tree damage, the reduction in road traffic accidents and the disruption to ecosystems. If this level of growth were allowed to continue, the amplification of these issues would have a devastating effect nationwide.

It always seems strange to me that venison is not more widely consumed in this country, given how readily available it is and that the meat can be of such a high quality. The main outlet for venison is the hospitality sector, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the slump in restaurant spend made the selling of venison increasingly difficult and the prices being paid are now chronically low.

Low prices

Despite the low price of venison, the culling has to continue in order to prevent a population boom and all of the issues associated with this. But when game dealers are offering 80p per kilo or often less, for many it is no longer cost- nor time-effective to go out and shoot deer.