1) Deer are such beautiful, gentle creatures; why should anyone be allowed to kill them?
Red deer are large animals and very destructive to crops and the habitats of other wildlife species. Everyone, even those who wish staghunting banned, agrees that deer numbers must be controlled to prevent overpopulation and therefore, unacceptable damage to farming and forestry. Staghunting does control numbers, it also disperses the concentrations of deer. But, most importantly, the presence and popularity of the Hunt ensures a reasonable cull ie. it is not how many are killed but how many are preserved that is important for deer management.
2) Could deer not control their own numbers naturally?
No. The red deer's only natural predator in Britain was the wolf, which has been extinct here for centuries. Starvation would be the only control; the necessary cull must therefore be carried out by man.
3) If deer have to be killed, surely that is no reason to make it into a sport?
The ethical basis of all field sports is the same, be it hunting, shooting, fishing, falconry or ferreting; in each case, the quarry would be edible or a pest, or perhaps both. As a result, the animals involved will be killed whether their pursuit is a field sport or not. It is of no relevance to the hunted deer how their pursuers are motivated. (See also answer ten.)
4) Yes, but why chase them. Why not shoot them so that they are killed instantly?
Shooting by rifle is, in most parts of Britain, the only practical method of culling deer; it is effective for this purpose. The problem with it is the irreducible risk of losing wounded deer. It is difficult enough killing deer in the wide open spaces of the Scottish Highlands, where they are excluded from taking cover in woodland by deer-fencing. Even there, a small percentage - even with expert and experienced/professional stalkers - escapes wounded. On Staghunting ground in the 'West Country' (South West England), shooting deer is much more problematic. The small size of many landholdings (which makes the follow-up of a wounded deer illegal without permission), the extensive, un-deerfenced woodland and the nocturnal nature of the species all make the loss of wounded animals more likely. Furthermore, deer are only killed instantly if shot in the head - a small target and normally only taken at short range, and strongly disapproved of by the British Deer Society. Deer may run 50 yards with a heart shot and 100 yards with a lung shot (the largest lethal and usual target); such deer are often close to woodland cover in the West Country and - following a misaimed first shot - the deer can quickly be in cover, depriving the rifle of a chance of a second shot, and possibly escape wounded. (See also answer 14). In addition, hunting ensures the survival of the fittest, which is not the case with shooting. Another point about shooting on Exmoor and the Quantocks is the danger to the general public, which has unlimited access. It must be borne in mind that the three 'West Country' Staghunts operate a 24 call-out service to deal with injured deer reported to them, as well as accounting for a considerable number of sick or injured deer during the course of normal hunting. Every landowner on Exmoor (including organisations opposed to hunting) have used the free services of the hunt's casualty call-out service.
5) Are staghunters using blackmail by stating 'No Hunting - No Deer'?
No. They are stating what is obvious to country folk. It is the sporting interests which conserve the quarry species, be they salmon, grouse or deer. At present, staghunting farmers provide an around-the-clock anti-poaching service and free access and passage for the deer to their valuable grazing and crops.
6) Hasn't deer hunting been scientifically proven to be cruel?
No. One scientist's study showed that the hunted deer show physiological evidence of having undertaken strenuous exercise. Many experts have questioned the conclusions drawn from this work. There appears to be no conclusions on this view by scientists as evidenced by the Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs in England and Wales (Burnes Inquiry - P.114, Para 6.38). All scientists agree that further work would have to be done before deciding that deer were compromised.
7) Surely it is cruel to hunt a deer to a standstill?
Deer stand at bay as an active defence strategy - not because they are run to exhaustion. Research has shown that large deer species do not rely solely on concealment and flight when attacked by wolves; they also engage in active defence, finding a suitable spot, often in water, where they can ward off attack with their antlers, or in the case of hinds with their sharp feet. The same instinctive strategy is used when hunted by hounds. During the practice of staghunting, a deer is always shot as soon as it stands at bay. This could be quite soon after it is roused.
8) Even if shooting wounds some deer, how can you claim that hunting is more humane when hounds rip deer to pieces?
One of the commonest misconceptions is that deer are torn to pieces by the pack; this is not the case. At the end of a hunt, the deer is either lost or stands at bay. In which case, hounds instinctively stand off and bay until the arrival of one of the hunt staff, with an approved firearm, who approaches the deer and shoots it at point blank range. (See also answer 7).
9) How can you justify hunting heavily pregnant hinds?
All hinds are pregnant on Exmoor when the law decrees they be culled. However, the deer foetus gains 75% of its weight in the last six weeks of pregnancy, which is long after the end of the statutory season.
10) Even if deer must be controlled and staghunting is more humane than shooting, how can anyone enjoy it?
Followers of staghounds go hunting for a variety of reasons, such as; for the ride (often with the family), to see the running of the deer, watching hounds working, the excitement in horse and rider by galloping with others, a day on the hill, physical exercise away from 'the office', regular out-door activity for large numbers of pensioners, and - for some - what the French call 'La Chasse' (the chase), an inbred human instinct from the earliest days of the human race; we would still be living up trees off leaves and berries if our forebears has not been 'chasseurs'. No matter what the reason, there would be no satisfaction and little enjoyment in hunting, unless followers shared the philosophy, outlined in this pamphlet, demonstrating that this activity is the best and most humane method of ensuring the conservation and well-being of this wonderful natural resource, of which genuine 'West Country' folk are so justly proud - the Wild Red Deer.
11) But deer must be terrified by staghunting! It must be so cruel to subject them to such emotional stress?
Unless hounds are actually hunting their 'line', deer pay no more heed to the hunt than a grazing wildebeest (so often seen on TV) does to a pride of lion lunching off a mate nearby. It should be borne in mind that hunting is 'nature's way' and not foreign to the evolution and constitution of this prey species.
12) Should not the cull only include the poorest specimens, instead of selecting the best for a good hunt?
In the autumn the oldest stags are selected by the 'harbourer' for hunting; some of these carry very good antlers but this does not preclude them from being suitable for culling. For instance, a powerful stag in his prime in company
13) If hunting does not wound, how about a deer recently disturbed by hounds dying of post capture myopathy?
There is no evidence that deer are adversely affected by pursuit. If there were, Exmoor would be littered with apparently uninjured and disease-free deer carcasses, which is not the case. As said in the Burns Inquiry, in the event of a ban on hunting, there is a risk that a greater number of deer than at present would be shot by less skillful shooters, in which case, wounding rates would increase. There is absolutely no evidence of any deer dying or being found sick after a hunt anywhere on Exmoor or in the forests of France where there are many packs of hounds hunting Red Deer. Carted deer hunted in Ireland have been blood tested during the three or four days after hunting and have been found to suffer no ill effects whatsoever.
14) There are deer in other parts of the country where there is no hunting, why the need to hunt them in the West Country?
The 'West Country' is one of the few areas in England and Wales where there is a large wild herd of Red Deer. The fact that the largest herd of red deer is found in an area of England and Wales where they are hunted, is a strong indication showing that hunting ensures the continued survival of the Red Deer.
15) Why cannot deer be fenced out of farmland in England as they are in the Highlands of Scotland?
The arable land in the Highlands is so limited that it is practicable, as well as being essential, to deer fence it off from the hill. The hill ground on Exmoor and the Quantocks, where most of the deer live, is surrounded by virtually unlimited pasture with a labyrinth of roads, lanes and tracks connecting the two. The cost of a deer fence and cattle grids to separate them would be utterly prohibitive and probably environmentally unacceptable.
16) Since some claim that 1000 Red Deer are shot annually, surely the number of deer killed by the three West Country packs is an insignificant contribution to deer control?
In the Staghunting areas of the 'West Country', the Exmoor Red Deer population has been surveyed by the Exmoor & District Deer Management Society since 1994 and the adjoining area for Tiverton has been counted since 2000. The population is believed to be steady in the region of 2000 adults (ie. not including calves). The deer herds produce about 500 calves each year and culling, including hunting, does not exceed the annual replacement.
In 1997, for instance, 150 deer were taken by the hunt on call-out and during normal hunting. The Exmoor & District Deer Management Society were aware of a further 250 deer that were shot by farmers and landowners, giving a known cull of 400 deer for that year. The selective nature of most of the Staghunting element of the cull is necessary for the well being and conservation of the healthy and unique herds to be found in the Staghunting areas of the 'West Country' and is therefore not only significant but essential.
17) What evidence is there that, if hunting were stopped, deer in the hunting area would die out?
Firstly, it must be recognised that - apart from deer in some parts of the Lake District, where conditions are similar to the Highlands of Scotland - the only significant herds of Wild Red Deer in England and Wales today are in the Staghunting areas of Exmoor and the Quantocks. Many years ago, Staghunting ceased on Dartmoor (1780) and on Exmoor and the Quantocks (1825). In every case, the deer declined to near vanishing point. On both Exmoor (1855) and the Quantocks hunting restarted and the herds gradually recovered to their present excellent state. On Dartmoor, however, where regular Staghunting never restarted, the herd dwindled in the National Park to extinction and has never recovered - every attempt by deer to re-colonise being met with extermination by poachers and the farmers, whose forefathers had requested the extirpation of the herd in the first place. The Dartmoor experience above proves that significant herds of Red Deer can only be conserved in England with the active support of most of the farmers and landowners concerned, which is only forthcoming in practice, through the good offices of a pack of Staghounds, which can compensate them for the inevitable deer-damage in several ways by:
1) Giving them a say in the management of the deer herd through their Hunt Committees;
2) Continuing to control the deer in what most of them regard as the most humane way - hunting;
3) Dividing up the venison between hunting and non-hunting farmers suffering damage; and
4) Payment of compensation for deer-damage and assistance with deer fencing in special cases.
18) Some people find Staghunting is more contentious than foxhunting. Wouldn't it be better is Staghunting were banned to enable foxhunting to continue?
It would be wrong and severely detrimental to the Red Deer herd to sacrifice Staghunting on the altar of political expediency. It is interesting to note that, contrary to the situation in England and Wales, in France, the situation is the reverse - where foxhunting is the minority sport and Staghunting is practised by the majority.
Most conservationists now agree that, whatever our views on the ethics of hunting, the stewardship - utility - deer management element of the deer hunting debate, are more persuasive than those of any other field sport.
For more information, visit www.exmoor.org.uk and email [email protected]. Copyright 2002 Endangered Exmoor
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