Suburban Muntjac London.

[crosslandkelly]

Spotted a Muntjac deer in the garden this morning, when I disturbed it, it disappeared through a gap in the fence and the into the new housing development nearby. I've suspected they were around for a while now, but had never seen any trace, I had heard them barking though.

 

[Robson Valley]

That's wonderful news! Your place is sinking back into the green environment.
Wait until they start crapping on your doorstep. You should feel blessed.

 

[crosslandkelly]

That's wonderful news! Your place is sinking back into the green environment.
Wait until they start crapping on your doorstep. You should feel blessed.

Not with Muntjac, they are a highly invasive introduced species.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1259943/Muntjac-deer-threat-wildlife.html

 

[dannyk64]

get yourself a rifle and shoot it. you'll be doing the local trees a favour and have a load of decent meat. they have become expert allotment raiders in nottingham, amazing how they will travel through pretty urban areas

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Robson Valley]

Can you engage the "brigade" and pop a few of them behind a hedge?
Bait them and blast them.

I found no deer scat when the snow melted in front of my place this spring.
Unusual, but they always relieve themselves in a friend's garden, a block down the street.

 

[crosslandkelly]

I've had Muntjac venison, and very nice it was too. I guess the fox controller would deal with them if they became a real nuisance. There has been a Fox with a broken back leg around here since christmas, waiting to be dealt with.

 

[Macaroon]

I think Muntjack venison is head and shoulders above all the other species we have here; we get the odd few hereabouts now and then but we're blessed to be one of the few parts that haven't been innundated with them.
They surely cause an awful lot of damage in the woodland.

 

[bobnewboy]

Muntjac are delicious . I attended a muntjac venison prep course put on by the City of London council - learn to skin, butcher and cook a muntjac carcass. The deer are shot as part of the control work needed as they breed so quickly. I dunno if they are still doing the course, but it is held in Epping Forest, see: https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/pages/event-detail.aspx?eventid=3356

 

[Robson Valley]

Game. That means you have to learn to cook extremely lean meat. No big deal.
Get it right and you guys already know you have a feast in the making.
What will it be? Steamed veggies or salads?

For all I'm reading about the hoops you have to jump through to shoot a few,
I'd have the patience to do it. Organic food.

Same as venison, elk and moose. I learned the tricks, buying and cooking bison since 2001.
I just bought a couple of meat rabbits, I expect much the same.

 

[Janne]

Best way is to take lardons of nicely smoked and fatty bacon and insert into the meat.
Brown.
Butter ( or other fat), Al foil. Low and slow.
Remove foil, increase heat.

I find German pickled Red Cabbage nice with dry meat. Fresh.
Steamed potatoes. A pinch of Caraway seeds in the water.

 

[Robson Valley]

Adding bacon is fraud. The beast tastes like bacon. So wrong.

Instead, we will add to the existing meat juices of the beast with a choice of basting wet mops
which can be fat-free. Complex consumme' if you will. Apple-based ought to go well with Muntjac?

Saturday will be an experimental rabbit dinner.
Roasted in Greek with wine, mint, cinnamon and other good things.

 

[Janne]

I like the fat, and it does give a flavour.
Note, no sugary Bacon!

I think you can use the Italisn Pancetta too. Less smoky.

Apples? Why not? A bit of juiciness, acid, perfect!

Traditionally in Europe we used Lingonberries (Preiselbeeren) with game.

Cranberries should be fine.

 

[Robson Valley]

Somebody in the UK: what are the bag and season(?) limits on Muntjac?

Over west on Haida Gwaii islands, the (1898) introduced Columbia Black Tail Deer are literally destroying the ecology.
Annual is 15 deer, possession is 5 (you gotta eat a lot!). It's so bad, the gov't has brought in 4(?) professional deer slayers from New Zealand.
And you think your Muntjac are a problem.

 

[Janne]

Somebody wrote - open season?

You guys need to import hunters from NZ?

 

[gonzo_the_great]

I believe there is no open/closed seasons on the UK, for this species. But common sense required, not to leave depenant young to starve.
As far as I know, there are no bag limits. But check this for yourself.

I'll probable find out when I do my DSC1 next month.

Jules

 

[Robson Valley]

That's how bad the deer situation is in Haida Gwaii. There's no argument about it at all.
The tree-hugging greenies realize that there won't be many trees (cedars) to hug if this doesn't get done.

I believe the feds brought in 4 professional deer slayers. Head shots by the dozen.
The concept is to get ahead of the population and leave a breeding group for a sustained yield like any other crop.
All the deer are butchered properly. All the meat stays on Haida Gwaii, free for all the people.
Maybe 600-700 so far. Not a whole lot bigger than a Labrador Retriever dog ( calcium deficiency in the environment).
Means a lot of work and not a lot to gain.