Roe, rucks and new ground

Jon Snowdon and his team have much to keep them busy and a new tool to help them

- Jon Snowdon

By the time you read this, the roebuck rutting season will be starting to heat up. It is always an exciting time and certainly the one time of the deer manager's yearly cycle that can be full of surprises. So, get out there and enjoy the myriad of theatrical woodland performances.

My Greenlee deer management group is about to tackle a fresh challenge: we have been asked to control the deer population on a sprawling 3,000 acres of unexplored territory. It is a diverse landscape of open fields, copses and moorland. This ground is a blank canvas and will be a challenging new chapter in our ongoing deer management work.

Our initial exploration of the ground revealed a surprising number of deer, which on the one hand is a testament to not only the health of the deer but also the ecosystem, but on the other presents a significant task for the future. The management strategies need to be robust because ultimately it is the group that is now responsible, and our deer management policy will take a major role in ensuring a balanced ecosystem is maintained and enhanced.

There were a surprising number of roe sighted on our initial outing; albeit we concentrated on what was classic roe territory. All the sightings were recorded and pinned so that the data collected can be produced when management strategies are reviewed or estate audits completed.

Exploration

During this initial exploration, a young buck was taken with a clean shot. A successful stalking outing but also a stark reminder of the task ahead of us. Each deer taken is an addition to our knowledge that helps us to understand the population dynamics of the ground. Rather like a jigsaw puzzle, first gathering the corners and straight edges to help shape the boundaries. By taking that young buck on this first outing we have already started to form a picture.

So, what data can we collect from just one culled buck?