Deer stalkers on call for farmers as numbers soar

FOR the first time in Ireland, licensed deer stalkers will be called out byfarmers to shoot protected species of wild deer if they are damaging crops, forests or causing traffic accidents.

Despite more than 20,000 deer being legally hunted each year, experts believethere could be five times as many around the country.

The new deer management programme — launched by the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), the Irish Deer Society and the Wild Deer Association of Ireland — will also advise landowners on other ways to manage deer.