Practical Deer Management

An all-round field sportsman, Charles Smith-Jones has always been fascinated by deer which he has studied and managed for almost forty years with wide experience across all of the six British species. His writing will be familiar to readers of Shooting Times, Sporting Gun and Deer magazines, towhich he is a regular contributor. He has written three other books. Muntjac: Managing an Alien Species (2004) received widespread praise as a groundbreaking work on coping with the challenges posed by this invasive little Asian deer in Britain. The Deer Stalker's Bedside Book, a collection of facts, anecdotes, advice and fiction for fellow deer enthusiasts, was published in 2015, followed by Between the Coverts for the game shooter in 2016.

A full Army career was followed by ten years lecturing in Game and Wildlife Management at Sparsholt College in Hampshire where he taught the new generation of gamekeepers and other countryside custodians. In addition to writing, Charles now offers an independent consultancy on deer matters as well as acting as Technical Adviser to the British Deer Society (BDS). At various times he has also been a Trustee Director of the BDS as well as holding a variety of positions ranging from deer manager to Secretary and national Deer Adviser within the Defence Deer Management organisation.

Chapter headings include:oo Why Manage Deer?oo British Deeroo Active Management: Planning & Preparationoo High Seats and other Infrastructureoo The Censusoo The Cull, Third Parties and Other Considerationsoo Health and diseaseoo The law.