Deer: licence to kill deer at night by shooting (CL55)
Register for a licence to kill deer at night by shooting during the open season.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This licence is for an authorised person to kill deer at night in England by shooting during the open season for one or more of the following purposes:
- preserving public health or public safety
- preventing serious damage to property
- conserving the natural heritage
With this licence you can kill at night by shooting:
- red deer (in certain named counties)
- fallow deer
- roe deer
- sika deer
- red/sika hybrids
- Chinese water deer
- muntjac deer
You need to register and be authorised by Natural England to use this licence.
Eligibility for this class licence
To apply to become a registered user of the deer class licence CL55, you must meet the criteria for one of 4 registered person categories. Find out more about the criteria for each category.
Some categories also come with a qualification requirement. Find out more about suitable qualification criteria.
How to register
To apply to become a registered user you’ll need:
- your full name and address
- previous licence number (if applying under registered user category 1 and your previous licence was issued by Natural England, for example, 2025-01234-SPM-WLM)
- copy of your previous licence or authorisation (if applying under registered user category 1 and your previous licence was issued by NatureScot or Welsh Government)
- details of any deer stalking qualifications and certificates you have (if applying under registered user categories 2, 3 or 4)
- evidence to support your experience of controlling wildlife at night under licence (if applying under registered user category 3)
- details of any wildlife crime convictions
- details of any penalties or warnings you’ve received as a result of breaching a wildlife licence
Register to use CL55 class licence to shoot deer at night
Submit a site notification
You must notify Natural England at least 5 working days before you plan to take action under licence on a new site. This is known as a deer night shooting site notification.
To complete a deer night shooting site notification form, you’ll need:
- your registered user identity number (for example, DNSL1234)
- site name and address
- boundary map of your site
- species of deer causing the problem
- an estimate of how many deer you intend to shoot for each species
If you submit the site notification form, you are the site co-ordinator.
Failure to follow the rules on site notification would be a breach of this licence, and an offence under the Deer Act 1991. You could receive a prison sentence of up to 3 months, be given a £2,500 fine, and lose your permission to use this licence.
Natural England will write to tell you if they withdraw your permission to use the licence. Natural England can also apply the withdrawal to other similar licences you hold.
Report your actions
If you go out at night to act under this licence, you must keep records of any action you have attempted or undertaken. Within 2 weeks, you must report your actions (even if nothing is shot).
To report an action you’ll need:
- your registered user identity number (for example, DNSL0123)
- the notified site reference number (for example, DNSL0123-01)
The site reference number is on the approval email for the site notification. You should have received this from Natural England, or the registered user who submitted the site notification.
For each deer shot you’ll also need the:
- species
- sex
- age class
- OS grid reference of where it was shot
How to re-register
To remain a registered user, you must re-register by completing a renewal form before 31 July 2026. The form will be available on this page in due course. You can also use the form to notify Natural England you no longer want to be registered.
Following re-registration, you will also have to get site notification approval for sites where you plan to continue taking action.
Registered users who do not complete the form will be deregistered.
Get help
If you have any questions about deer licensing, contact Natural England.