A new kind of keeper: how Southill is restoring nature from within
At Southill Estate in Bedfordshire, head gamekeeper Paul Dunn is showing how practical deer management can restore habitats and support wildlife at scale.
There’s a venison shortage, and you can help
Who’d have thought it – there’s a nationwide shortage of venison. BASC’s head of deer and woodland management, Martin Edwards, explains what’s happening and what you can do to help.
Some of the larger UK game dealers are currently reporting that they can’t get enough deer through their doors. So, what has changed? Well, I think what we are seeing is an increased demand, rather than a reduction in supply.
This uplift in demand is the result of some serious contracts with large-scale catering businesses. In particular, hospitality supplier Levy has deals to replace beefburgers with venison burgers across a range of large public venues.
These venues include Premier League football clubs, the Allianz stadium at Twickenham, the Kia Oval, the National Theatre and the NEC Birmingham. All now championing a healthy, sustainable, nutritious and tasty wild meat alternative to beef, with a low carbon footprint. This is brilliant news for the deer management sector but we need to be able to deliver on these. If we can’t, it may be only a short-term victory.
Turn your attention to deer
A simple solution, you might think, would be for the game dealers to put their prices up. But even where some have done so, this has not led to an immediate response from the stalking community. Many of us have found alternative outlets for our venison, but others have taken their foot off the pedal when it comes to culling.
So, with the gamebird season ending, let’s make the most of this opportunity and turn our attentions to deer.
I would encourage you to up the number you shoot before the end of the female season. Very few of us are likely to overshoot our populations, so hit them hard while we have an outlet for their carcasses.
February is a great time to organise some team culls, when many hands (and rifles) can make light work of what can seem a daunting task.
What’s more, if we co-ordinate with neighbouring properties, it ensures that there are no sanctuary areas. There is excellent guidance on these and other strategies in the revamped Best Practice Guides.
And you if you need further advice and guidance you can find this on our deer management pages here.
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