BASC South East held a Young Shots “Deer Management Day” on October 29th 2013. The venue for this event was the New Forest by kind invitation of the Forestry Commission, and their Keepers/Rangers.
Children of varying ages attended the day and assembled within the historic Verderers Court, which adjoins the Queens House in the village of Lyndhurst. The day started with a talk about the origins of the forest and the deer, as well as giving a history of the Verderers Court itself.
After a short drive everyone arrived at a remote part of the forest where two red deer were observed. New Forest Keeper, Martin Ledeboer spoke with the children about the five species of deer that are found in the New Forest. Martin bought along a selection of antlers and furs for the children to identify, as well as talking about why the deer numbers had to be controlled.
In the afternoon the children were transported to the Forestry Commission rifle range and were shown the various stationary targets that are used to test the accuracy of the keepers before the culling season starts.
Following the range visit, everyone then headed to the modern ‘State of the Art’ deer larder where the deer were taken once culled. Here the children learned about how the deer were prepared in readiness for the game dealer, as well hearing about the various data that was recorded prior to the animals being collected.
The day finished with everyone returning back to the Verderers Court. Our sincere thanks must go to the Forestry Commission for providing such a historic venue for the event.