Landowners' Rights

As I understand it landowners are within their rights to shoot wild animals that have strayed onto their land unless the animals have protected status which very few do. Certainly not deer. So private land carries rights but duties are not specified. I've speculated about the practices of local farmers and others

As for wildlife and public land all has to be different. The wild deer cannot carry their grievances to Strasburg. Being a member of the public my land on Blacka is shared with many other members of the public and the law, skewed as it has always been in favour of the private landowner, does not give me the right to shoot the beasts belonging to those private landowners who contemplate shooting deer even though they get onto our land. So I had no rights over the group of sheep who had got away from their enclosure and wandered up from Totley the other day. They were friendly and charming anyway and I wouldn't wish them any harm.

Their eating habits though might just cause problems if they come near to certain plants that are a feature of a nature reserve. And the cattle that broke down the eastern wall and invaded the woods in 2011 were also a potential threat.  It would be considered quite wrong to shoot a cow. But a deer is another matter even though it is such a feature of the place and captures the attention and imagination of visitors to this place. Nevertheless it is the farmer who can use the argument that wild animals are threatening his business and his land when what he may really want to do is get a chance to use his gun.