Deer management through culling raises welfare ethics questions about selective killing, wounding rates, and population welfare effects of different management approaches.
Deer management welfare ethics involves both the welfare harm of culling and the welfare benefit of population control. Poorly conducted culling causes serious welfare harm through wounding. Well-conducted culling by competent stalkers achieves clean kills while improving population welfare through reduced competition. The welfare calculation supports skilled lethal management over unmanaged populations experiencing winter starvation.