The current hunting dates for deer species are prescribed by the Wildlife (Wild Mammals) (Open Seasons) Orders 2005 to 2012. These Orders currently allow the hunting of male Sika, Fallow and Red deer between the first day of September and the last day of December each year. The hunting of the red male deer is prohibited in County Kerry and I recently removed the hunting of female Red Deer from County Kerry from these Orders.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is overseeing the development of a Deer Management Policy Vision and has established an Inter-Agency Deer Policy Group to formulate proposals in this area. To complement this work, my Department has initiated a review of the Open Season Order for deer and has received over thirty submissions in this regard from a wide range of stakeholders including hunting, conservation, farming and sporting rights organisations as well as from the general public. My Department will take account of the outcome of this work in considering whether any changes should be made to the Open Seasons Order.