Salt lick or similar

[PPP]

Much of my permission borders a woodland trust site over which no one has stalking permission.  There isn’t too much damage there to be honest but the wood holds a number of Roe, Fallow and Muntjac deer.

The Roe and Fallow deer happily wander across my permission but the muntjac hold tight in the woodland trust. 

Would a salt or molasses lick help to move the Muntjac onto my permission?

 

[John_R]

Highly unlikely. 

[Walker570]

Apples ....they love 'em.  This one is hanging in my larder

[PPP]

Brilliant thankswill give that a go...

[JDog]

Without the right habitat, ie deciduous woodland with thick understorey cover particularly brambles then it is unlikely that Muntjac will find your land of interest.

[oowee]

I had one of my farms for 4 years before I knew the Muntys were on it. Very illusive. I stalked nearly two hours in a small wood to get one on Tues this week. Walking very very slow and using a thermal I could not find one until having almost given up and looking for Roe i spotted a buck and a doe  in the Rhododendron bushes. The ones I have will very rarely venture into the open and even then its on the margins. 

Apples I think will work better than salt lick.

[PPP]

2 hours ago, JDog said:

Without the right habitat, ie deciduous woodland with thick understorey cover particularly brambles then it is unlikely that Muntjac will find your land of interest.

It’s literally a case of drawing them out of exactly this habitat, they come out into the grass/ bracken margins and eat the winter wheat shoots

Edited January 12, 2019 by PPP

[sako751sg]

1 minute ago, PPP said:

It’s literally a case of drawing them out of exactly this habitat 

Far from on expert on the species,but did have a couple of trips on them down South last year.

The lads had sprinkled wheat and the Muntjac were regular on it last and first light and sometimes during the day.This was bringing them out of tight cover as you mention so it fairly worked there.

[PPP]

7 hours ago, sako751sg said:

Far from on expert on the species,but did have a couple of trips on them down South last year.

The lads had sprinkled wheat and the Muntjac were regular on it last and first light and sometimes during the day.This was bringing them out of tight cover as you mention so it fairly worked there.

Good stuff, makes sense, one ran 20M in front of me yesterday evening about an hour before dark... Looks like I need to get some wheat and a few apples once high seat built 

[Walker570]

Just purchased a full box of desert apples from my farm shop for £6, having used all the remaining fallings in my orchard.  I must have put out a 100lbs of mixed fallings in the last thre weeks and they have all gone and I have a multitude of pictures on my trail cam, unfortunately mostly at 3 to 4 am but they are there and as my picture above shows they will come to apples in the day time.  I also have them sneeking in and stealing peanuts from under my flip top tree rat feeder ...a bit much for my AA S200.  They also come to pheasant feeders for corn so a few heaps of whole maize might also work with the apples.

Check out your local farm shop if they sell fruit and they might be willing to throw all the damage or slightly over ripe ones in a tub for you in exchange for a haunch. Worth a try.

[PPP]

That’s is a good idea , many thanks 

[Bigbob]

If you want windfall apple you must see some still on a tree laying on the ground as your driving i find if these people cant be bothered to pick them if you chap the door and ask they often say help yourself 

[PPP]

Hi, indeed, we have a communal orchard (which thinking about it may be worth a trail cam) with loads of spares and my golf course perm borders an apple farm so should be able to get hold of second..

[Walker570]

The apples I put out Saturday, have already been chewed over.   An old picture but evidence apples are a favorite food when available.

[ClemFandango]

Carrots work too, Sugar beat will work but less so. Wheat is good and maize. 

The Woodland Trust recently tendered the stalking in some of their woods, an email to them might not hurt asking if you could take on the stalking in their wood.  

Mention that you stalk the land nearby and a landscape scale approach to deer management would be beneficial to the area as a whole in terms of biodiversity and woodland regeneration and establishment etc. 

Edited January 14, 2019 by ClemFandango

[PPP]

On 14/01/2019 at 22:44, ClemFandango said:

Carrots work too, Sugar beat will work but less so. Wheat is good and maize. 

The Woodland Trust recently tendered the stalking in some of their woods, an email to them might not hurt asking if you could take on the stalking in their wood.  

Mention that you stalk the land nearby and a landscape scale approach to deer management would be beneficial to the area as a whole in terms of biodiversity and woodland regeneration and establishment etc. 

Many thanks, funnily enough my neighbour is a ranger and I discussed it with him last summer who made further enquiries.  The challenge is public access on the WT land and the fact that the damage to date doesn’t, in their view necessitate control yet (it’s only 18 years old) but I’m at top of list.  Thanks for your note, I might chase them up with this in mind..

[ClemFandango]

Just now, PPP said:

Many thanks, funnily enough my neighbour is a ranger and I discussed it with him last summer who made further enquiries.  The challenge is public access on the WT land and the fact that the damage to date doesn’t, in their view necessitate control yet (it’s only 18 years old) but I’m at top of list.  Thanks for your note, I might chase them up with this in mind..

Maybe even contact the Deer Initiative. They ran the tender process for the WT stalking. 

Being able to shoot from private land on to theirs (assuming it could be done safely) Might give you a leg up in terms of discreetly extracting carcasses where public access is high. 

A proactive annual maintenance cull while deer density is low would be far more discreet than a reactive cull to reduce a population once damage/impact becomes unnacceptable.

[PPP]

Thank you, that makes sense.  Shooting onto their land from off might be a challenge but having access to the surrounding lands would help with extraction AND the ability to sit a high seat on their ground would help hugely, Ill give them a try.  Take your point about managing a current position is better than having to go hard at a problem, however not everyone appreciates that and let’s things go too far (horrible feeling I’ve just described Brexit...)

[ClemFandango]

7 minutes ago, PPP said:

Thank you, that makes sense.  Shooting onto their land from off might be a challenge but having access to the surrounding lands would help with extraction AND the ability to sit a high seat on their ground would help hugely, Ill give them a try.  Take your point about managing a current position is better than having to go hard at a problem, however not everyone appreciates that and let’s things go too far (horrible feeling I’ve just described Brexit...)

It's all stuff that might build your argument. Landscape scale deer management is always preferable to every small landowner doing different things. 

 

Good Luck. 

[PPP]

On 14/01/2019 at 22:44, ClemFandango said:

Carrots work too, Sugar beat will work but less so. Wheat is good and maize. 

 

Hang on a minute... Apples, Carrots, Molasses/Sugar, Wheat (flour)... I think I’ve got that recipe somewhere! Carrot cake Flavoured venison! Delicious!!

2 minutes ago, ClemFandango said:

It's all stuff that might build your argument. Landscape scale deer management is always preferable to every small landowner doing different things. 

 

Good Luck. 

Brill, thanks! I know the guys that stalk on the other side of my permission and I think I can probably get permission on the side of WT I don’t current have (currently have 2 sides of Triangle) I will get in touch.

[Walker570]

Yes, always try to work in with your neighbours, however I had the shooting rights on a piece of woodland which the WT purchased and one morning I found ATV tracks and a gralloch. Enquiries revealed they had authorised another stalker onto the ground without notifying me. I still held a further twelve months lease paid for..  I was not impressed. So beware when dealing with them, forwarned is forarmed.

[PPP]

1 hour ago, Walker570 said:

Yes, always try to work in with your neighbours, however I had the shooting rights on a piece of woodland which the WT purchased and one morning I found ATV tracks and a gralloch. Enquiries revealed they had authorised another stalker onto the ground without notifying me. I still held a further twelve months lease paid for..  I was not impressed. So beware when dealing with them, forwarned is forarmed.

Good advice, thanks