Branch information and events Photo by: MZPHOTO

THE BDS YORKSHIRE BRANCH

Information on the British Deer Society (BDS) Yorkshire branch including events, news, and contacts.

BRANCH AREA AND COMMITTEE

BRANCH CONTACTS

Chair	Morris Charlton	m.charlton@bdsbranches.org.uk
Secretary	Ron Christie	r.christie@bdsbranches.org.uk
Treasurer	Steve Lister

BRANCH AREAS

Postcode	Area
BD	Bradford
DN	Doncaster
HD	Huddersfield
HG	Harrowgate
HU	Hull
HX	Halifax
LS	Leeds
S	Sheffield
WF	Wakefield
YO	York

EVENTS

Please note that branch events may not be going ahead due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Date

EVENT

14th Apr 7:30 PM

WEBINAR: Deer and Archaeology (Online)

Next Event

No upcoming events, please check back soon.

NEWS

With the relaxation of Lockdown One, the branch was able to ‘spring’ into action. We had numerous activities ready to run but were stymied by the complexity of C-19 tiering throughout the branch area.

South and West Yorkshire remaining in Tier 3 whilst most of North Yorkshire were Tier 2 – never the twain shall meet! Planning and activities are still ready to run.

HAREWood Rut Walks

The Harewood estate requested a Rut walk, which fell in the educational and training bracket under C-19 restrictions and we were able, with appropriate safeguards, to run such an event.

Shooting sticks with outstretched arm are a good two-metre social distancing tool. It helped to have the event all outdoors and in areas of the Deer Park where the public are not permitted, as quite often we have people who tag along.

It was very quickly overbooked so the estate asked for there to be two rut walks. This we were able to manage by calling upon Committee and branch members to help guide groups around.

We were able to use bubbles of no more than 5 or family groups. This really worked as it allowed for a lot of discussions as opposed to being in a bigger group which can sometimes inhibit discussion.

These rut walks were a success due to the volunteers who led the rut walks. My thanks go to Barry Smith, Robin Ludlow, Tony Charlton and Ian Alexander. This team has a wealth of knowledge and expertise – a highly successful morning with the public.

We are trying new ways of working but in the future, the small bubble approach will become the norm for the rut walks.

Numbers of deer in the Park were very high so in spite of being in tier three, we were as concerned to keep a good safe distance from the deer as well as the participants.

This was the only activity we were able to manage before Lockdown 2. All training work and activities on the Harewood project are currently suspended barring humane dispatch.

We look forward to 2021 perhaps being a year in which we return to some of the shows and some of the branch events.

STAY IN TOUCH

If your contact information has changed please make sure to let us know. To update your details simply email membership@bds.org.uk or call 01425 655434.