The value of venison

As we plunge back into lockdown, it is vital that all culled deer go into the food chain, says Megan Rowland

- Megan Rowland

IN A YEAR LIKE 2020 nothing has been straightforward. Deer management has certainly not avoided the grief afforded to every other sector. A lack of clients, a dwindling venison market and furlough schemes the length and breadth of the country have all ensured taking this year’s cull has been one of the most challenging many of us have seen.

The stag season went smoothly and the boys were all in good shape; a mild winter and pleasant summer have been good to them. However, the lack of clients was surreal. We had a few up from the south, when lockdown restrictions were at their most relaxed, but even then, the carefully avoided handshakes, masking up before getting in the truck, or even wearing a mask when lying next to someone at the shooting point, made for strange new ways of working.

The lack of clients brought its own problems. Deer management costs money — trucks, Argocats, quads, fuel, rifles and rounds, wages, housing, electricity and so on. Taking out clients is one way to make deer management pay for itself.

Instead of a stag being worth simply the price of the venison, taking out clients who wish to experience Scottish hill stalking can result in the stag being worth up to several thousand pounds — depending on the provider and quality of experience. This money goes towards the funding of deer management and delivering public goods — peatland restoration, woodland regeneration, woodland planting, or preventing riverbank erosion, for example.