03x01 - Episode 1

[bunniefuu]

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- Great Britain has a rich

history of deer hunting

and the consumption

of venison meat,

but as cities and demands on

natural resources have grown,

conservation

management has become

an increasingly debated topic.

I'm going to be

traveling the countryside

to see what the reality is

and learn about what the future

holds for deer management.

Hunting has become a

controversial practice

in modern times.

My name is Dan Cabela

and I'm traveling the globe

to explore the true impact

that hunting is having on our

remaining wild landscapes.

This practice goes as far back

as human history can remember,

but does it have a place

in modern conservation?

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There are several

species of deer

that are prolific

across Great Britain.

Some of these species have

been introduced in the 1800s,

while others are

native to the island.

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As human populations

have expanded,

the space remaining

for natural land use

and conservation has decreased.

While there is a strong

push for rewilding

in many landscapes,

there are also other land

uses competing for space,

such as forestry

and agriculture.

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Deer are a resilient family

and their populations

have thrived

to the point of

overpopulation in some areas.

Deer could cause damage

to agricultural crops,

particularly in rural areas

where agriculture and

deer habitats overlap.

I'm going to be spending

some time in Great Britain

to learn more about land

management practices

and their impact

on deer as a whole.

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- So this is Creag

Meagaidh Nature Reserve.

It's owned and

run by NatureScot,

and in the last 40 years or so,

they've been embarking

on a quite substantial

deer management project

to reduce browsing

pressure on the ground

to allow natural

regeneration of the trees.

- [Dan] And you're trying to

put it back the way it was.

- Well, not necessarily put

it back to the way it was

because I think that's

a general assumption

when it comes to

conservation management.

But in actual fact,

the majority of

conservation management

tends to be trying

to make landscapes

more climate-resilient.

So we've got a

different climate,

in the future potentially,

we're gonna definitely see

wetter, milder winters here

and kind of maybe

drier spells too.

So it's about kind of future

proof in this woodland

and this landscape to

make it more resilient

to those threats going forward.

(deer bellows)

- Deer browsing can also

impede forest regeneration

by inhibiting the growth of

tree seedlings and saplings.

This poses a

significant challenge

for sustainable

forestry management

and can hinder efforts

to restore native

woodland habitats.

- This plant here,

they actually,

it's quite unpalatable for deer.

You find this in your riversides

and that sort of stuff,

so that tends to be

one of the first things

that gets away quite easily.

Things like willow

that we've got here,

and then birch as well.

Birch is meant to be

an unpalatable species,

but in actual fact,

if it's all that the

deer have got to eat,

that's what they'll go for.

It's kind of preferentially

browse in that respect.

And often first stages

of natural regeneration

is from birch

'cause it's a pioneer species.

It sends its seed

right up the hillside

and then it grows quite happily.

But then because it's

all the only thing

for the deer to eat

apart from the header

and the shrubby

layer underneath.

That gets hammered as well

and it really struggles

to regenerate too.

It's not just deer as well,

we have quite a lot

of sheep in Scotland.

And this landscape here

was quite heavily grazed

through rough grazing of sheep,

which was a land

use at the time,

and that does have an

impact on habitats too.

As we transition to a

more conservation-based

land management style,

there's probably gonna be

less sheep on the hill,

so we're gonna have

to have a higher focus

on deer management

in those areas

where there have been sheep.

- Managing deer populations

in Great Britain

has become a complex issue

with ecological, economic,

and social considerations.

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Deer culling is

a management tool

used to control deer populations

and mitigate their impacts

on ecosystems, habitats,

and human activities.

It involves removing

deer from a population

through a variety of methods.

- What we're finding

is about four or five

deer per square kilometer

is allowing us to get

natural regeneration here.

And roughly about

100,000 deer in Scotland

are recorded, is called.

We estimate maybe,

probably about 50,000

to 70,000 other deer

that are unregistered

in the cull figures,

so we're thinking probably

about 150,000 deer

are shot in Scotland every year.

- [Dan] Deer culling

is typically conducted

by trained professionals,

wildlife managers,

or licensed hunters,

following specific

guidelines and regulations.

The goal is to maintain

ecological balance

and healthy deer populations.

- It's an animal that

has no natural predators.

Man removed those some

hundreds of years ago,

and they are extremely

successful animal

and they have to be culled

to manage the population.

And it's also, of course, for

the benefit of the animal,

because if they're allowed

to breed and continue it,

then they wouldn't

have enough food,

there would be all

sorts of problems.

So by culling them,

we keep the population healthy.

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- [Dan] The goal of culling

is to maintain

ecological balance

and healthy deer populations.

Specific deer species,

such as red deer, roe

deer, and fallow deer,

are targeted as they

are the most numerous.

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In closed ecosystems with

few natural predators,

the management of species

like deer is necessary

to ensure their long-term

population health and balance

within wild

landscapes as a whole.

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The landscape is primarily hilly

with open patches on

the edge of the forest.

This is where you normally

find deer feeding.

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In addition to helping

to maintain the health

of deer populations in Scotland,

the management of deer species

is an important income stream

for rural communities.

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(g*n sh**ting)

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- Our communities, especially

our rural communities,

are incredibly fragile.

A lot of people are

moving to the cities

and then that kind

of breaks away

from what goes on

in the countryside

and can take away jobs

from the countryside.

- I'm also assuming that if

you lost the sh**ting sports,

that these areas in the

conservation that are being done

would probably go fallow

or be converted to

forestation or something else.

- Yeah, they would

diminish without a doubt.

So it's important

that we educate,

it's important that

we have a voice

and promote the rural areas,

and that then attracts people

to continue on a way

of life that is vital.

- [Dan] What do you think

the future looks like

for these rural

sh**ting estates?

- I think they'll be safe

for many years to come

because they are

an important tool

from tourism to

biodiversity, to employment,

and to keeping rural

communities thriving.

They play such a huge

role in our countryside.

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- You know, across the country,

we're looking really to try

and take that balanced approach

when it comes to both

private and public interests,

when it comes to nature.

Deer sporting is not

gonna go anywhere.

We really need that

to be a vital tool

in delivering our ambitions

as a country as well.

What there really needs to be

is that balance of objectives

so people are supported

in that transition

to more conservation-based

management of deer.

When you're trying

to manage impacts,

you really wanna keep deer

out of areas like this.

20 years of endeavor goes

down the pan in one season

if you don't do that.

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- [Dan] Stalking is an

age-old tradition in Scotland,

a practice that requires

skilled patience

and a deep knowledge of

deer behavior and habitat.

Most of the stalking

is done on foot

with the goal of getting

as close as you can

and harvesting an old

male past their prime.

(whistle whistling)

(g*n sh**ting)

(dog barking)

- [Hunter] Well done, Dan.

- [Dan] Thank you.

- [Hunter] Good shot.

Yeah, that's a warrior,

busted both of his

antlers while fighting.

- [Dan] Yeah.

- Absolutely incredible.

This will be a good one

for the freezer for sure.

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- The venison trade in Britain

is an important source of

income for rural communities

and a healthy source of protein.

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The meat that comes from

controlling deer numbers

is a healthy source of protein,

which is sourced sustainably.

- You've got really four

or five main products.

You've got haunches,

which are the back legs,

and from the haunch

we make steaks

and pieces of meat for roasting,

and some of it also goes

into diced for casserole,

and so on.

Then you've got a loin,

which is a very popular part.

So the fillet from

the shoulders,

we get casserole and so on.

And then there's the neck and

the flanks and the shanks,

and so on, for mincing,

either straight mince

or sausages and burgers.

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- [Dan] We are more conscious

about where our food is coming

from today than ever before,

particularly when

it comes to meat.

Venison is gaining popularity,

which in turn gives the practice

of harvesting this meat value.

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- [Speaker] I like it.

(Dan laughs)

I really like it.

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- It's estimated that

over 1 million people

are sh**ting in the UK actively,

whether in a daily

or weekly basis,

and that is fantastic.

But obviously we want

to encourage more people

to get into sh**ting

and into conservation

because we see the

benefits that it brings

from our countryside

and employment.

And it's also just

from a point of view

of mental health and well-being

that a day out sh**ting

with friends or family,

whatever it may be,

is such a positive attribute

of living in the countryside

or even coming into the

countryside from the city.

It's very much part of the

tradition of our country,

but it's also bringing and

delivering those huge benefits

to conservation,

to biodiversity and

land management equally.

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- While there is a strong

anti-hunting sentiment

within the UK,

there is a role that

hunting can play

within the conservation

management of ecosystems,

as well as deer species.

Amidst the competing land uses

with hunting as the primary use,

the land is kept

in a natural state,

and with proper management,

fauna and flora can thrive.

- There's a lot of

knee-jerk reactions nowadays

where all of a sudden the

next best thing to do is this,

stop sh**ting, stop

hunting, do this,

and 10 years later people are

scratching their head, going,

was that the right thing to do?

In actual fact,

we've lost all that,

now we can't get it back.

So we're trying to create an

estate that's nicely balanced,

but the focus is on re

naturalization of the estate,

of the natural habitats.

The Victorians straightened

out all the rivers

and put all the walls in,

and stone-picked all the

fields and cut all down,

all the trees and

bushes within the field

to allow the pastures

for the sheep to graze,

which is fine in good ground,

but on this marginal ground,

we feel the importance is more

about the environment now.

We do need to manage the deer

so that we can see the natural

regeneration coming back.

I just think it's about

finding that balance

for the sporting

side of the business

and the rewilding side of the

business to work in harmony.

- [Dan] If deer

become overpopulated,

they begin to have

a negative impact

on their own population health

and the habitat they depend on.

By selectively

managing their numbers,

we are provided with

a valuable food source

and are maintaining a balance

that will allow many

species to thrive.

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- The kind of heads that

I'm trying to encourage,

so the kind of stuff that

we're sh**ting at the moment

is all sorts of stags,

slightly younger.

And we're trying to sh**t

slightly older stags,

thicker antlers, higher up.

And these guys are just

displaying a little bit more age

than what we're typically

sh**ting at the moment.

I'm trying to find a balance now

between choosing the right

kind of stags to sh**t,

leaving the right kind of stags,

but I'm actually considering

sitting down with my brother

and taking a lump of the

estate and just saying,

I'm gonna leave that,

that is gonna be entirely

left alone from stalking.

It's a quiet zone,

no one goes there.

No one shoots deer there,

no one st*lks there,

and it's somewhere that

deer can feel safe.

I think that's important.

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- A holistic

approach is required

for the management of land

biodiversity in the UK,

and deer stalking is certainly

a part of that strategy

into the future.

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(g*n sh**ting)

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Thoughtful decision-making

around the management

of deer is required

to ensure that deer

populations remain healthy

and habitats are managed to

accommodate all land uses.

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Collaboration between all

stakeholders is essential

for developing and implementing

effective deer management plans

that promote

ecological resilience,

support biodiversity

conservation,

and minimize conflicts

between human activities

and deer populations

in Great Britain.

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