Sporting Gun

Fine time for the cull

Jon Snowdon sets his sights on a suitable beast for the cull — thinning out the population will regenerate the woodland as well as improving the quality of the herd

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The roe doe season in England and Wales opens on 1 November and I am looking back at our buck season. This year the roe rut was in full swing on one of my ground permission­s whereas on another nearer home there was very little action. Having said that, it must have been running and we will see the proof of that next June when the first kids born will be moving around with the doe.

The estates are totally different in terrain. The ground near home is ancient woodland with a lot of heavy cover for much of it, which is probably why the rut was not as obvious. The second estate is far more open and the shenanigan­s of does tempting their chosen buck to stay with them and not wander off with another willing lady were all there in the open to witness.

The behaviour at this time is fascinatin­g. We had one buck who was desperate to prevent the doe he was with to cross over the road where his rival, a much larger buck, had his territory. He was determined and I would like to think our appearance helped him in his task as they both moved off away from the road back into his own territory.

We have now been on this estate for more than a year and the cull plan was to thin out the population to a manageable level, enabling regenerati­on in the woodland and to improve the quality of the roe deer. The size of the head is not our main priority but our effort to improve the overall quality of the deer is all part of the management.

Heads should improve as we keep to the plan, though it can be a tricky balance and involves time spent on the ground observing what we have and what goes on our plan for that season. There are two lists — what goes and what remains!

Heads

The cull plan is for some younger bucks or abnormal and small heads that do not show any promise of developing the representa­tive six-point balanced head. A poor head that has long spikes without any tines (points) can be a real threat to a good buck because the tines do not interlock with his opponent during territoria­l fighting; they are the equivalent to a spear that is thrust through the good antler shield with catastroph­ic results. I have seen a battle between a very good buck and a younger one with spikes; the younger buck seriously injured his elder which moved unsteadily into cover, never seen to be seen again!

Talking about heads, a malformed one can form for a number of reasons. Damage to the growing antler or pedicle — the bone from the skull that the antler grows from

“the does are trying to tempt their chosen buck to stay”

every year — injuries elsewhere on the body often bone injuries such as broken legs and of course inherited traits.it may be of interest that broken legs usually affect the antler on the opposite side to the injury, much like a stroke on the left of the brain paralyses the right-hand side.

We have three deer that were culled this year with similar malformed heads.i have two of them. Interestin­gly, all three were in the same area of territory but of different ages. As you know I am not a scientist but I believe it is likely they were all related to the older buck, DNA analysis would have been interestin­g but not available to me.

Buck 1

This older buck’s antlers are what we call going back; that is getting heavier but losing shape and balance. This is not surprising his teeth were worn down to the gum and he was unlikely to be gaining the full nutrition from his browsing. With his teeth in that condition it was unlikely he would thrive through the next winter. His right antler has an enlarged coronet — the crown at the base of the antler — and malformed points, especially the front tine. The pedicle on this side is much lower and enlarged around the base of the coronet. This could be damage to the pedicle. If that were the case, this antler has always and would, given the opportunit­y, grow further in this manner.

Buck 2

This buck is two or three years younger but he has much larger antlers. His are not going back but the malformati­on is not dissimilar. He had a good set of dentures, which meant he would get full nutrition from his browsing. The right-hand tine is much longer and the left antler has a short front tine with an added small tine growth at the base. His coronets are not as developed as the first buck, he after all younger.

Unfortunat­ely, the third malformed buck mentioned earlier is not in my possession but the malformed antlers were similar.

Of course this is all conjecture but the fact that all three were in a similar area leads me to think it may be partly genetic. We shall have to see what appears on this ground over the next few years. Buck one was targeted and shot by a colleague after being observed mating three times so he has passed on his genes! I have said before stalkers are an odd lot!

All three were observed throughout the year as candidates for list one.

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 ??  ?? The older buck’s antlers are clearly “going back”, losing their shape and balance as they get heavier. The younger buck ( right) has some malformati­on but not so pronounced
The older buck’s antlers are clearly “going back”, losing their shape and balance as they get heavier. The younger buck ( right) has some malformati­on but not so pronounced
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