Wild Deer Management

About Wild Venison

Venison is the product of wild deer management, which is an essential part of managing our existing woodlands, protecting woodland creation, and supporting other environmental features within our farmed and protected landscapes.

Venison is a highly nutritious natural meat; high in essential amino acids, a rich source of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, iron, and zinc, low in cholesterol and saturated fats compared to other red meats and is a high quality source of protein.

Wild Game Guide

About managing deer

The UK deer population is thought to exceed 2 million, increasing from an estimated 450,000 in the 1970’s to 1 million in the 1990’s to 2 million in 2015.
Six species live wild in the country, with many areas having increasing deer populations as well as species increasing their range. Of this just two are thought of as native (red and roe deer).
The UK deer population exists as a result of numerous species introduced over the last 200 years.
We need to do more to manage deer populations to reduce damage to agricultural crops, to improve the condition and biodiversity of our existing woodlands and to support successful woodland establishment.
As set out within the England Trees Action Plan, a growing deer population is putting more browsing pressure on woodland ground flora, damaging trees, inhibiting natural regeneration of existing woodlands and the use of natural colonisation to establish new ones.

Wild deer are an important component of our landscape but if left unmanaged, they can cause serious damage to agricultural crops, tree planting schemes, and biodiversity.
This population increase is having significant impact on many protected sites with reports highlighting the biodiversity loss occurring from habitat structural changes caused by increased browsing levels.
Wild venison is a healthy, nutritious meat, produced from this management.
Deer are culled throughout the year and management is carried out in line with industry led best practice and regulations.