More people are tucking into venison – which doesn’t seem a bad move with two million wild deer in the UK – but increasing popularity could have ramifications, warns Martin Hesp.

Samuel Pepys was a man who knew his onions, so to speak: he once described a venison pasty as being the best meal he ever ate – so the old diarist would have welcomed the news that the flesh of deer is gaining rapid popularity among British cooks.

Sales of venison have been growing consistently over the past five years so that demand now outstrips supply, necessitating imports from Europe and New Zealand.

Such statements will inspire audible groans among deer-lovers in the Westcountry. As a journalist who has in recent times reported on several high-profile incidents in which large wild stags have been shot, I know all too well the size of the postbag I can expect if I write that venison is the new "must-have" meat.

For some reason (many historic ones, I suspect), deer – and everything to do with deer – quickly becomes highly charged and emotive.

Here's the sort of letter I can expect if I write about our largest wild animals – this one written by an Exmoor deer-lover last time I sang newspaper praises about the merits of venison: "You idiot – don't you realise you've effectively signed a death warrant for hundreds of local deer!"

What am I meant to do, pretend venison is vile? Or just never mention it in case hordes of poachers take to the hills? Most carnivorous folk love venison because it is, as Pepys stated, truly toothsome – and it ticks all the right health boxes being lower in saturated fats than skinned chicken breast while at the same time containing healthy omega oils.

Yes, there are people out there who shoot these wild animals – most legally, it has to be said… But some are irresponsible, taking cruel pot-shots that maim rather than kill outright, while others poach illegally and sometimes dangerously.

As a resident of Exmoor I hear all sorts of horror stories about deer being shot at night en-masse by overly enthusiastic countrymen of the rifle-carrying kind. And of course such incidents might occur more often if the marketplace for venison was to grow out of hand.

However, there is another side to the great venison argument – and that is that wildlife experts believe there have never been so many wild deer in this country. Most national newspapers have carried stories about the great deer invasion recently after it was announced that there are now more than two million wild deer trudging around our countryside – one broadsheet went as far as to claim "more than at any time since the Norman Conquest".

They are even beginning to invade the nation's cities and we are seeing shock headlines like the one earlier this autumn about the woman who was attacked by a rutting stag in London's Bushy Park.

But there are deer, and there are deer.

Of the six species that live wild in the UK today, red and roe are the only true natives. Fallow deer, often known as park deer, are long established – while sika, muntjac, and Chinese water deer were introduced over the past 150 years.

What most deer-lovers in the Westcountry like to see are the indigenous wild red herds that have been marching over our hills since way before the first humans turned up to take pot-shots at them.

And when I say "like to see", I am referring to people who perhaps don't have the kind of crops to which deer are partial...

Farmers who get overrun by red deer may well regard them as a confounded nuisance – though many will tell you they put up with them because they represent their favourite sport – i.e. hunting – or, at least, the modern watered down version.

So what does all this fuss about deer mean for lay-folk – by which I mean people like me and perhaps you, who like to see the Westcountry's indigenous wild deer and who also like to occasionally eat them?

A proper, comprehensive, deer management strategy is the answer. And don't worry, I'm not going to get all politically correct here and advocate we bring in a few highly paid academics who will boss everyone about and create storms in rural teacups.

Proper deer management must include all interested parties – and that means everyone from retired Joe Bloggs who likes to go each day with his binoculars to Dunkery Beacon to keep an eye on the wild red stags, to expert organisations like the British Deer Society – not to mention the hunting fraternity, environmentalists, shooting enthusiasts, and landowners.

Only in that way can we oversee the local venison market properly – and we could even control the slightly bonkers "trophy shooting" that is rumoured to have taken root in recent years.

But most important of all we could go a long way to ensuring that we pass on a healthy herd of magnificent wild deer for future generations to enjoy.

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