Balancing act of the Breckland red deer

Historic red deer are part of East Anglian folklore, but with growing pressure to reduce numbers Chris Rogers is mindful of their heritage

Deer have never been under so much pressure anywhere in the UK, but particularly now in England the spotlight is on them, and all but the most stubborn of landowners are under pressure to shoot more than they ever have.

Two species in East Anglia that this applies to the most are fallow and red, not only for the habitat damage they cause but, more relevant to farmers, the crop damage that can run into thousands of pounds.

For the Breckland red deer this is a serious issue and one that the herd will have to cope with, probably to their detriment for the foreseeable future. It’s a famous population of deer known for its record body size and antler production that’s regularly in the top 10 of the UK CIC Trophy Evaluation Board’s records.

Red deer have been recorded in the region for thousands of years, although it is likely that the population fluctuated greatly as they were hunted and used by our ancestors. The Neolithic flint mine of Grimes Graves is littered with antlers used as picks to undermine chalk, releasing huge lumps of jet-black flint deep below the ground. In addition to local antlers it is believed European red antlers were also used to meet the demand for flint, which was traded around the British Isles and abroad.

Evolution of parks

Records of wild animals are patchy throughout history, but the next concrete reference to red deer was at Euston when the then owner Lord Arlington, emparked 2,000 acres in 1671 to create a grand deer park.

One thousand red and fallow deer were kept in the park that linked Euston Hall with a 500-acre woodland that was known to have been a medieval deer park. The boundary earth bank on which a paling fence would have been erected is still visible today. Hunting with horses and hounds was documented throughout its lifespan before it was disparked around 1830, as many historic parks were to make way for livestock farming. It is likely the remaining deer were rounded up and sold live, though a number of red and fallow must have escaped over the years and formed a wild population.

With the demise of the deer parks fox hunting took off and deer hounds were bred smaller and leaner to create the modern foxhound we have today.

Some areas of the country still clung on to their deer hunting heritage into the 1900s, with East Anglia being one of them. The Norwich Stag Hounds were one of the principle packs in the region, although some 25 packs hunted red deer over a period of 180 years.

Most packs hunted single animals released in the morning and caught up at the end of the hunt. Very rarely were the deer killed,