Deer Stalking - Purpose

Purpose

Other than man, carnivorous predators of adult deer have long been hunted to extinction in Britain. In most cases the objective is to maintain a stable and healthy population of deer and to achieve this will require a cull of about 30% of the population each year. This is not random, and a population/age census will have been carried out each year to determine the age and sex profile of those to be culled. Injured (often caused by dog attacks, being caught in fences and car collisions) or sick animals are given priority, then barren or very old animals and after that selected animals resulting in a balanced pyramid profile with a few old animals of each sex at the top with increasing numbers of each sex down to the yearlings at the bottom. The males at the top of the pyramid are often trophy animals attracting wealthy sportsmen who pay large sums for shooting them. If population reduction is required, more females will be culled. If a population increase is required, only injured or sick animals will be culled.

A rifle is used that complies with the minimum requirements of the Deer Act in calibre and ballistic performance. There are differences in the law between Scotland and England & Wales and popular calibres are .243, .270, .303, .308, 6.5x55mm, .25-06, and .30-06. In recent times the use of sound moderators ("silencers") has greatly increased as a health and safety measure.