Prince William goes 'deer culling' in Balmoral

[vera99]

What's wrong with these people? I can maybe understand the need for occasional culling (though it is most often for the human agency not a concern for the animal) but to go out and enjoy stalking these magnificent creatures get them in the sights of your guns and kill them - that's just sick.

PS. King Charles was a big fan of fox hunting

AIBU? - Yes this is actual nature conservation activity and William is showing concern and leadership in participating in the shooting.

YANBU? - No this is a sick perverted hobby of the super-rich who glory in the pleasure killing of defenceless animals.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11300807/Prince-Wales-visits-Balmoral-goes-deer-stalking-Scotland-trip-Queens-funeral.html

"Deer stalking is the act of culling ageing stags that would otherwise die in the winter, with William shooting his first when he was 14 years old, something that is said to have left him delighted at the time.
The activity, which has been a shared passion among generations of the Royal Family, was encouraged by William's father King Charles III, while Princess Diana used to jokingly call him 'my killer Wales'.
William is not thought to have been joined in Scotland by his wife Catherine, who is herself a keen markswoman, and their children. A spokesman for Kensington Palace declined to comment."

An ethical viewpoint

This^^
You’re showing your utter ignorance about land and animal management. I presume you’d rather have sick, diseased, half-starved deer?
Oh, and don’t forget about a bit of Royalty-bashing alongside 🙄

@BeetleManiac I’m not confusing anything. I don’t know if you’ve ever managed an estate or any land, I have as an estate manager. All estates I’ve managed from ‘small’ 4,000 acre ones to large ones of 100,000 acres owned by conservation charities need money to run the estates. Gamekeepers are expensive, conservation is expensive. Selling the stalking rights is an important way to fund this.

You are also very mistaken if you think people don’t pay for the rights to cull all deer. The stalking agreements I usually write specify a minimum number and age to be killed. This is predominantly females of reproductive age and specify for invasive species such as sika and Chinese water deer. They have to keep a record which is killed and submit it to us. It’s always been a condition of the Countryside Stewardship Grant Scheme.

I think it boils down to many people feeling that William had fun doing this. We have no idea whether that was the case or not.

No, it’s isn’t. Pheasant and other birds bred for shooting are an issue. The breeding of them causes havoc in the countryside and they should not be allowed to be bred and we should be able to remove the remaining pheasants. They’re existence kills other species. Deer are not bred for shooting, their numbers are out of control and they need to be controlled to protect their own species and many many others.

it is not the same thing.

It's not just they will die of starvation

It's also the damage on the land

For example with excess deer population small trees can't get established and that leads to soil degradation and flooding

However I don't think nuance is wanted here 😀

Spot on, completely.

They repulse me, they are devoid of normal human emotion when it comes to other living things.

Charles really is a walking contradiction. Goes on like he is some forward thinking eco brain, yet he actively likes animal suffering and the glorification of it.

Most people in Scotland know and understand about culling and gamekeeping.
This thread is yet another that makes me hope we get independence soon.
People with no understanding of life outside certain English cities trying to impose their views on everyone else and being so arrogant that they don't realise all they are showing is their ignorance.

How do you know the royals are not skilled enough to be making clean kills ?

This is my 2-year-old vixen Ajax who comes to our back door and garden, she has considerably enriched my life and given me respect for nature like nothing else. Hence my passion for wildlife and I regularly support charities - my local one that helps with fox meds and the like is South Essex Wildlife Hospital they help all injured creatures. You can imagine what bringing up bloodsports would go down with these guys.

southessexwildlife.org/

Can’t deer be controlled with contraceptives? I’m sure this has been done with other animal populations.

Oh blimey, there is no educating some people! Nice to meet you @FamilyTreeBuilder - I'm giving up! 😂

I'm a huge fox lover btw and have had the pleasure of having visitors and their cubs coming into our garden for the last 2 years. Bleugh

You do know that your picture is of a fox @vera99 , not a deer, right? Just checking as you seem confused on many of the basics.

As far as I'm concerned there's no difference between fox hunting and dog fighting and all other blood sports. Just people getting pleasure from setting animals against each other to watch them be ripped apart.

Culling is not necessary. It's just an excuse and a way people can convince themselves they are doing it for the sake of the animals. Nature does not need our help to manage animal populations.

Not a deer.

Very expensive to do, very time consuming and contraceptives are never 100% effective

What would be the point of that GCAcademic?
In other countries deer culling is included in the role of forest manager, and seen as a necessary part of the job.

Ps. It's a wild animal. It's not yours.

No, same with grey squirrels, because you can’t target species.

@vera99 You clearly aren’t listening. No one here is advocating for any other blood sports. But deer are different. Why can’t you accept that? No one here is advocating for fox hunting, or course it’s barbaric. But controlled maintenance of deer populations is VITAL. Or shall we post pictures of the hundreds of cute plants, mammals, invertebrates and birds that will suffer if we didn’t cull deer? Is that the only way you will listen? Do your research. This is clearly a way for you to just bash the RF and display your ignorance about the countryside and ‘rich posh people’. You’re wrong and posting pictures of foxes won’t make you any more right.

Not unusual at all to see very small
children on hunts. Good training

To those posters who oppose the current overpopulation of deer being maintained so that estates can make money from stalking. (Which is frequently the case, no matter how well intentioned some gamekeepers may be.)

Please support campaigns like that of the Lynx UK Trust. In the long term, ecosystems can only be sustainable if they have the right mix of fauna, including the apex predators that humans have driven extinct in the UK.

Lynx populations are recovering on the continent, and returning to countries they were previously eradicated from. This could be achieved in the UK too - but human action is needed because we are an island. We need radical change to how land is managed in this country, and this is the first step.

twitter.com/lynxuktrust?lang=en-GB

Ah animals are soo cute

Fox hunting is illegal- it was a barberous way of killing foxes and the meat was not part of our diet

I suggest we get them all in a classroom and talk about abstinence.

agreed it was turn of phrase - she graces us with her presence.

You lost credibility from this point here.