Apex Woodland & Wildlife Services
Apex WWS
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Professional land management in The South Downs National Park and High Wield, working to balance the habitat diversity of our estates, our woodland and our agricultural environments
Our Mission
To get the best outcome for estates, woodland owners and farmers by providing a professional service to understand, advise and ethically mitigate the impacts of deer on their precious landscapes.
Our Vision
To be at the forefront of ethical, effective, safe and professional deer management in the UK.
Our Services
Deer Impact Assessments & Surveys
To understand the level of impact deer are having on your land a deer impact assessment is required.
We take into account the interactions of resident flora, and fauna with the deer population.
The resulting information helps to inform the management requirements needed to be successful with many rural grants such as WS1.
For larger estates, drone deer assessments can be conducted for evidence of deer density and numbers
Once a deer impact assessment is conducted and after agreement with stakeholders, we can deliver a deer management plan.
Firearms &
Shotgun Training
Whether you are a beginner just setting out with deer stalking or a seasoned deer manager who would like to brush up on your shooting skills, we can accommodate your needs.
Our qualified trainers are experienced expert shots, holding recognised training and range qualifications. Some are Deer Management Qualifications (DMQ) assessors and approved witnesses so you can be sure you are getting the very best coaching.
We provide pre-DMQ 1 training so you don't turn up for your test unprepared.
Got a new rifle or scope? We can set you up and get the shots consistently going into the right place.
We are LANTRA registered freelance instructors and provide nationally recognised certification in:
Shotgun: Safe use and handling.
Firearms: Safe use and handling
For the more established shooter, we provide a 1-day package of more advanced shooting theory and techniques to get you accurately shooting from multiple positions and distances out to 300m.
Roe and Fallow deer stalking, for cull animals and DMQ2 witnessing is available at our fabulous West Sussex estate.
Deer
Management
Wild deer management is not just about reducing numbers ad hoc.
We conduct analysis from the deer impact assessments and form a plan to ethically and sensitively reduce numbers.
This achieves a healthy ratio of species, sexes and ages which is compliant with best practice, the health and wellbeing of the deer as well as client objectives and the wider biodiversity of the area.
Park and farmed deer as well as licensed night shooting can also be catered for with highly skilled culling operatives
WS1 portfolio management can be arranged for either a start up or throughout the term of the grant.
Did You Know?
There are 6 species of deer in the UK. Of the 6 species only Red and Roe deer are considered indigenous. Fallow deer were introduced by the Romans as a food source. They were reintroduced by the Normans. The other Asian species Sika, Muntjac and Chinese water deer were introduced much later in the late 19th to early 20th century.
Deer young are born in May to June each year. The exception to this is Muntjac which reproduce all year round.
The UK wild deer population is the highest it has been for over 1000 years with an estimated 2 million deer which grows by around 30% each year due to reproduction.
Deer are an important part of the UK natural heritage and in appropriate numbers can add to the biodiversity of open habitats through browsing activity. However, if high numbers of deer are experienced in concentrated areas, they are likely to outstrip the carrying capacity of the particular habitat resulting in a loss of biodiversity and food, leading to malnutrition and unhealthy deer populations.
Deer vehicle collisions are a danger to both humans and deer. It is estimated there are over 70,000 collisions involving deer in the UK annually, with almost 1000 injuries and sadly 20 human fatalities.
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