COURT TOLD DEER CAUSING 'UNACCEPTABLE' DAMAGE

By P. Harrison
Western Morning News

A landowner has told a court the amount of deer on the Quantock Hills needs to be halved to prevent expensive damage.

Hugh Warmington said damage to the spring grass and crops, caused by the red deer which roam the Quantocks, was "unacceptable".

He was speaking at the trial of Richard Down and Adrian Pullivant who are accused of breaching the ban on hunting with dogs in February last year.

The two men are at the centre of a private prosecution pursued by the League Against Cruel Sports which claims the men chased deer with dogs for such a long time that it was no longer deemed flushing, but illegal hunting.

Speaking yesterday at Taunton Magistrates' Court, Mr Warmington said: "There are as many as 800 red deer on the Quantocks which is far too many. Something needs to be done to bring the population down. We would not want it to be any lower than 400, but currently the damage being done to valuable spring grass, crops and trees is totally unacceptable.

"I have looked into buying fencing for my 1,500 acres of land, but this would damage the look of the surrounding area and is uneconomical."

Spring grass, he said, was used to graze livestock.

Under the hunting ban no more than two dogs are allowed to flush deer out of cover. The huntsmen are required to call off the hounds and shoot the deer as soon as possible.

The league claims the chase given by two dogs in February last year was in breach of this.

The Quantock hunt hires a team of people with short-barrelled shotguns to shoot deer and they shot six that day.

Down told the court that in order for the "guns" to carry out their role safely and effectively they needed the deer brought out.

He told the court: "It would not be safe to shoot the deer when they are running. Therefore it was necessary for the dogs to flush the deer until they reached an area where the guns were able to shoot them accurately."

For the Defence Nigel Ford QC asked: "Did you consider you were acting outside of the law?"

Down replied: "No."

Asked what he believed they were acting out, he replied: "Flushing."

Mr Ford asked him if he believed the deer could be shot any earlier than they were. Down again replied "no".

The trial continues.

Read More Here