Tasks in hand

• At this time of year the first task is to get out on the ground and try to take advantage of the deer’s behaviour during the rut. The pandemic has severely restricted our efforts to control the deer population on our estates, least not with travel restrictions hampering group members. Fingers crossed, things appear to be returning to something like normal. Even then, many recreational deer managers may not be prepared to travel that far. All this has resulted in a burgeoning deer population. That means time on the ground to catch up on the numbers.

• The rut is hopefully going to be a strong one and we will take any advantage to redress the balance. There will be more young bucks than usual on the ground and they will be getting pushed around by the older boys, which may give us an opportunity. Last year’s rut was a good one and ran right to the end of August. We hadn’t had a prolonged rut like that for some time. Dare we hope for the same this year?