Fit for a king

Selecting a stag to hunt carries a large amount of responsibility, says Rebecca Jordan, who explains the role of the harbourer in staghunting

- Rebecca Jordan

THE glimpse of a stag in the autumn at rutting or an unexpected encounter of a herd of hinds on Exmoor is a spectacle relished by locals and visitors alike. Their majesty is undeniable. However, what is taken for granted is the herd’s robust health, and this does not happen by chance. For centuries, the sole reason red deer have survived and flourished here is the acknowledged consequence of the unique symbiosis between the farming and hunting communities.

From Saxon times, when much of Exmoor was a royal forest, strict laws protected deer to maintain a supply of venison and a hunting ground for the king. The antiquity of staghunting on Exmoor is well-documented, with the first records of hounds being kept at Simonsbath in 1598 or thereabouts. Between then and about 1775 the warden of the forest was responsible for maintaining forest law and the supply of venison to the royal courts, and also acted as master of the staghounds.

Latterly and as the forest boundaries contracted, the role became the responsibility of the master of the North Devon Staghounds, the precursor to the Devon and Somerset Staghounds which continue to exercise the management of the deer today.

The deer belong to whosoever’s ground they travel across or feed on. The fact that landowners stomach significant damage to crops and field boundaries is testament to the reverence with which the deer are held on Exmoor.

Its population has remained constant at 3,400 head for the past eight years. According to the Exmoor and District Deer Management Society, which organises the annual February count, this figure is healthy for 692sq km (267sq miles) of moor; stock are fit, in good condition and breeding regularly.