Minister gains insight into challenges of lowland deer management during stalking visit

Press Release

The practical realities of managing Scotland’s lowland deer population have been demonstrated to the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Jim Fairlie MSP, during a deer stalking visit to Drumchork Holding in Perthshire.

The visit, organised by Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) on Monday evening (June 23), comes as the Scottish Parliament continues its scrutiny of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill - legislation that includes significant new proposals for deer management and is nearing the end of Stage 1.

During the visit, Mr Fairlie accompanied a trained recreational deer stalker on a stalking outing to harvest a roe buck. Roe deer are native to Scotland and are often found in lowland, peri-urban and even urban environments. The Minister experienced some of the unique characteristics of lowland deer management, including a reliance on high seats, the challenges associated with carcass extraction and a lack of larder and chiller facilities.

Jim Fairlie MSP, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, said: “It’s great to have been out with Scottish Land & Estates to experience lowland deer stalking. Deer Management can be challenging and I have appreciated getting a further understanding of the unique challenges associated with managing deer in the lowlands first-hand."

SLE is calling on Ministers to adopt an incentives-based approach to managing deer, with a renewed focus on supporting lowland deer managers through investment in infrastructure and easing the burden on new entrants to deer stalking.

Ross Ewing, Director of Moorland for Scottish Land & Estates, said: “We are very grateful to the Minister for experiencing the practicalities of deer management and, in particular, the unique challenges of managing deer in a lowland context. 

“It is our firm belief that the best way to ensure effective deer management in all areas of Scotland is to adopt a Scotland-wide incentives scheme. This would help to alleviate the significant concerns associated with the regulatory provisions contained within the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill, and would do much more to enable lowland deer managers.

“We are concerned that an overly regulatory approach to managing deer could damage the significant progress that has been made through voluntary collaboration.”

SLE believes that an ambitious incentive scheme, which would provide a subsidy for every female and juvenile deer culled, offers the best method to incentivise the management of deer.

State intervention in deer management in the lowlands is considered by many rural stakeholders to be impractical as a consequence of a more fragmented pattern of land ownership which can hinder collaboration.

There are also considerable financial barriers that prevent people from undertaking deer stalking for the first time. The cumulative cost of the basics required for deer management (firearms certificate, rifle, scope, moderator, ammunition, binoculars, knifes and training) can be as high as £4,000-£5,000. If Ministers want to support new entrants to enable the management of more deer, consideration should be given to accessibility grants to help alleviate the financial costs, the organisation stated. 

In addition, SLE argued that there should be greater investment in community infrastructure, including deer larders and chillers. The lack of these facilities poses a barrier, especially for those deer stalkers managing deer on a recreational basis.

The importance of providing meaningful support to the lowlands was underscored by Scottish Government officials in their evidence to the Rural Affairs & Islands Committee in early March, where it was stated on the record that the Bill would not address the specific issues seen in the lowlands. 

Scottish Land & Estates has also raised serious concerns about new powers proposed in the Bill that would allow NatureScot to intervene in deer management on the grounds of “nature restoration”. Scottish Ministers intend to discharge much of the responsibility for defining the application of these new powers to NatureScot, who would set out circumstances in a code of practice.

SLE warns that the term is poorly defined in the legislation, creating uncertainty for rural land managers who may be subject to statutory control measures without clear criteria or notice. The organisation also criticised the lack of clarity on how impacts from other herbivores – such as sheep or feral goats – will be addressed, or how success in nature restoration, which often has varied outcomes, will be measured.

Mr Ewing added: “Land managers need legal clarity. Without a clear definition of ‘nature restoration’ in the Bill, it’s impossible to know when or why compulsory measures might apply. That’s unacceptable for anyone trying to plan and invest long term.

“NatureScot should be required to follow the code of practice – not just ‘have regard to’ it. Given the scale of these proposed powers, we want to see the code produced as quickly as possibly so that MSPs can scrutinise it properly before the Bill reaches Stage 3.”