Dick Martin: Hunting ‘barking deer’ in the United Kingdom – The Newark Advocate

Dick Martin, Columnist Published 7:28 p.m. ET Oct. 19, 2020

Dick Martin's Outdoor Column

Ohios whitetail hunting archery season is well on now, and lucky hunters have already bagged some nice animals. But did you ever wonder about deer hunting in other countries, or for that matter hunting other animals there? A few weeks ago I did an article on fishing in the UK, and that made me wonder about hunting overseas.Ive never hunted in England, or for that matter Scotland or Wales, but Ive been reading their hunting magazines, and watching videos, and its downright surprising how different and yet sometimes similar the Brits follow their sport across the Big Water.

The first thing you need to know is that while the United Kingdom has made plenty of history down through the ages, theyre actually very small countries.England, Scotland, and Wales together arent much more than half the size of Montana.But they still like their hunting and seek deer particularly, with vast enthusiasm.One favorite is the fallow deer, an animal with spotted bodies and large, spreading antlers that might reach over 200 pounds.Roe deer are thick in parts of the countries, with spiky little nearly straight up antlers, and sizes that run from 40 to 70 pounds.Then theres the Muntjac deer, small and stocky with stubby antlers that averages only 10 -90 pounds.They can bark like dogs and are often called barking deer.

English gunners hunt these much like we do, sitting in ground blinds called hides, and usually waiting for the animals to come out mornings and evenings to feed in pastures, brushy areas, and farmers fields. Roe deer hunting, begins in late May when bucks lose their velvet, and on into the rut which is mid-July to Mid -September.Some seeking one species or another simply wait for one to appear, but others like to call them in just as we do, usually with a doe in heat type call.The various kinds can wreck havoc on farm crops, particularly such as peas and kale, and farmers will either grant a number of permissions or go to deer management contractors which will often arrange drives to shooters, and kill them in large numbers.

The meat might end up in the freezers of individual hunters, but most of it is sold to restaurants, and thats been a real problem this year.Restaurants there are in trouble just as ours are, due to the virus situation, and unsold meat has stacked up in commercial freezers as the restaurants close or have very limited numbers of customers.

If the Brits have a second sport that is much loved and often enjoyed, its got to be bird hunting, and there are plenty over there for the seeking. Ptarmigan and red grouse have an open season each year in the high country of Scotland, and since ptarmigan particularly, live in the roughest of hunting lands theyve become a prized trophy.Red grouse live in Scottish moors and are more easily hunted, so many sportsmen seek them with a lone keeper and a steady dog, and bag 10 to 15 brace of birds a day.

Pigeon hunting is popular too, and one good way to take some is to make a hide against a field of wheat that pigeons are feeding in, and enjoy pass shooting. Theyre good eating, sporty to hit, and considered pest control when large flocks invade unharvested fields.Pigeons love pea fields particularly, and groups of hunters have bagged up to 1,000 birds a day from a single field, which makes for lively shooting. The Brits also have pheasant and partridge, raised in pens and released for driven shoots. In such hunts the shooters usually form a line and wait while drivers and dogs beat the cover and drive birds toward the waiting guns.Then there are woodcock waiting in swamps and marshes, and waterfowl, with most of the swamps and lakes leased by hunting clubs, snipe on occasion, rabbits, and even grey squirrels.Lots to hunt for such small counties, different, but still exciting.

Dick Martin is a retired biology teacher who has been writing outdoor columns for over 30 years.You can reach him at richmart@neo.rr.com.

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Dick Martin: Hunting 'barking deer' in the United Kingdom - The Newark Advocate