To have one’s work and words acknowledged by the British Deer Society is, of course, an honour. Yet what matters far more than personal recognition is the principle it reflects: that deer managers, landowners, foresters, agents, and researchers are part of a small but vital community bound together by a shared interest in deer welfare and responsible management.
Across Sussex and the wider South East, deer numbers remain a pressing concern, with fallow in particular creating acute challenges for landowners and conservationists alike. While disagreements exist on the best methods, the ultimate goal unites us all: to maintain healthy deer populations while safeguarding woodlands, crops, and biodiversity.
Our sector is not unique in facing internal debates, but it is unique in the scale of responsibility it carries for balancing cultural traditions, public attitudes, and ecological necessity. Every decade brings with it fresh challenges, from climate change altering habitats to new technologies reshaping how we monitor and manage deer. Some approaches are rooted in centuries of fieldcraft, others in modern science. The task before us is not to choose one over the other, but to integrate both, ensuring that management evolves without losing its ethical core.
A Community Bound by a Common Interest
The deer management community may appear fractured from the outside. Syndicate stalkers, recreational hunters, professional deer managers, foresters, conservation groups, and policymakers often approach issues from different perspectives. Yet beneath the differences lies a simple truth: we all value deer and their place in the British countryside.
The debates we engage in, whether over night licences, selective culling, fencing, or recreational access, are not evidence of division so much as the sign of a living, engaged community. In many ways, our disagreements reflect passion, commitment, and a determination to find the best way forward.
In Sussex, where fallow dominate large tracts of farmland and woodland, the pressures are obvious. Landowners see crops stripped overnight. Foresters struggle to regenerate new planting. Conservationists watch ground flora disappear. Yet for all the frustration, the common interest remains. No one, not even the staunchest critic of culling, truly wishes to see landscapes degraded or deer suffering through starvation. That recognition is the foundation upon which collaboration can be built.
Tradition and Innovation: Learning from Each Decade
One of the strengths of deer management is its adaptability. Each generation has introduced new methods, driven either by necessity or by technology. The high seats and calibres we take for granted today were once novel innovations. Thermal imaging, drones, and digital mapping are only the latest chapter in a long story of adaptation.
Yet innovation alone is not enough. On-the-ground experience continues to be the bedrock of sound management. Knowing your ground, reading deer behaviour, understanding seasonal movements, these skills cannot be replaced by software or sensors. Instead, they must be complemented by them.
In practice, this means blending fieldcraft with science. Cull records supported by drone surveys. Habitat assessments enhanced by GIS mapping. Traditional stalking techniques informed by research into genetics and population dynamics. If we close ourselves off to either tradition or innovation, we limit our effectiveness. But by combining them, we stand the best chance of meeting the challenges ahead.
Challenging Our Own Beliefs
Perhaps the most difficult task for any professional is not mastering new tools, but questioning long-held assumptions. In deer management, beliefs are often passed down through mentors, estates, or syndicates, becoming ingrained as “the way things are done.” Yet the pressures we face now demand we challenge those beliefs.
For example, the trophy model of management, where antlered males are prioritised, must give way to strategies that focus on controlling females. Similarly, the idea that one estate can “own” a fallow herd is increasingly untenable in landscapes where deer roam across tens of square kilometres.
Challenging our beliefs also means facing uncomfortable truths about effort and output. Are we really reducing populations to sustainable levels, or are we simply holding ground while numbers rise around us? Are our reporting methods robust enough to give landowners confidence? Are we investing enough in training new professionals to replace the experience that will be lost as older stalkers retire?
None of these questions are easy, but all are necessary. Progress requires humility: the willingness to admit when an approach no longer works, and the courage to adopt one that does.
The Inevitable Shift: Harder Work Ahead
As culls succeed and populations decline, management becomes more challenging. Anyone who has worked through the early stages of a reduction programme knows the pattern: initial high numbers give way to smaller, warier groups. Deer become nocturnal, more sensitive to disturbance, and harder to locate.
This is where discipline and consistency matter most. It is tempting, once numbers appear to be dropping, to relax effort. Yet doing so risks undoing years of progress. Instead, the focus must shift to maintaining pressure at a sustainable level, ensuring populations remain balanced without slipping back into excess.
The landscape itself will also change. Regenerating woodlands will alter cover and food availability. Farming practices will adapt to climate and economic pressures. Urban expansion will bring deer into closer contact with people. Each of these changes will demand fresh responses from managers who cannot afford to remain static.
The Role of Collaboration in the South East
In the South East, where fallow densities are some of the highest in the country, collaboration is not optional, it is essential. Deer do not respect estate boundaries. A cull in one wood may be undone overnight by immigration from neighbouring land.
The solution lies in collective management. Shared objectives, joint monitoring, and coordinated culls create results that individual efforts cannot. It also builds trust between landowners, allowing them to see that their investment in management is not wasted by inaction next door.
Financial incentives such as the CWS1 Countryside Stewardship grant (£105 per hectare per year) and the PA7 Species Management Plan provide important support for this collaborative model. By rewarding estates for employing professional deer managers and investing in long-term strategies, they encourage the kind of joined-up approach that is needed to make lasting change.
Professionalism, Welfare, and Public Trust
At the heart of all these efforts lies a principle that must never be compromised: welfare. Deer are not pests to be eradicated, nor trophies to be displayed. They are wild animals deserving of respect. Every cull, every decision, every intervention must be guided by the commitment to ensure welfare is safeguarded.
This commitment also underpins public trust. The public’s view of deer management is often shaped by what they see or hear second-hand. One careless shot, one poorly handled carcass, one story of suffering can undo decades of good work. Professionalism, therefore, is not just about meeting legal requirements. It is about demonstrating integrity at every stage, from planning to reporting.
By upholding welfare and professionalism, we not only protect deer but also secure the legitimacy of our industry in the eyes of landowners, policymakers, and the wider public.
Staying Ahead of the Curve
Looking ahead, the question is not whether deer management will need to change, but how quickly we are willing to adapt. The threats are real: climate change altering food cycles, new diseases affecting populations, public opinion shifting under pressure from activism, and government policy evolving to reflect environmental priorities.
To stay ahead of the curve, deer managers must remain proactive. That means investing in training, sharing data, embracing research, and, above all, working together. It means being willing to adopt progressive practices, whether in technology, reporting, or stakeholder engagement. It means holding ourselves to higher standards, not because we are forced to, but because it is the right thing to do.
Deer management in Sussex and the South East faces a pivotal moment. Populations remain high, impacts on woodlands and crops are significant, and the public eye is increasingly watchful. Yet within these challenges lies opportunity: to redefine our industry, to embrace collaboration, and to set standards that will serve both deer and landscapes for generations to come.
The smallness of our community is a strength, not a weakness. We may disagree on methods, but we are united by a common purpose: the welfare and management of deer. Each decade brings new tools, new pressures, and new insights. Our task is to blend them, to learn from one another, and to move forward not as isolated individuals or estates, but as a collective committed to progress.
If we do this, if we challenge our beliefs, adapt to change, and collaborate with honesty and professionalism, then the future of deer management in the South East will not be defined by crisis, but by success.
