Scotland: Stalkers to be paid for culling extra deer

Scotland leads the way in many industries and the Scottish Government are pushing hard for nature restoration to be another significant string to their climate and nature bow. A number of years ago it was reported that there was in excess of one million deer in Scotland. In reality, that figure is now thought to be much more, and possibly even double.

Existing deer management groups (DMGs) have orchestrated deer counts of mainly red deer, and specific numbers are removed based on these results. The idea is that we are left with a pre-determined ratio of deer per hectare so that over-grazing and trampling, particularly of new tree plantations and natural regeneration, is limited to a manageable level. This is a necessary step as our deer no longer have natural predators and numbers will continue to rise unless kept in check.

Red deer can be counted fairly accurately with the help of helicopters and, more recently, drone technology. The issue is that lowland deer, such as roe deer and to an extent, sika and fallow tend to be more secretive and spend a lot of time in woodlands, so accurate counting can be much more difficult.

What we do know is that if we want to enhance our forestry cover and support natural regeneration we need to reduce the number of deer that stifle this growth and the only way to do this is by carefully managed shooting.

The Scottish Countryside Alliance was approached to feed into an advisory group set up by NatureScot, the Scottish Government agency that regulates nature and the activities within it. For months we have worked with NatureScot to develop three pilot incentive schemes, which will launch this autumn and will financially support deer managers to control numbers of deer in specific parts of Scotland.

Current estimates show that around 200,000 deer are shot in Scotland every year, and to meet climate and nature targets we need to increase this by 25% over the coming years. Three incentive schemes have been launched in an attempt to assess whether financial incentives would make the difference that is required to meet these targets. One scheme is being run by the Cairngorms National Park Authority and will not be open to recreational stalkers. The other two are in areas around Loch Ness and to the north east of Glasgow. With this innovative approach, qualified and eligible deer stalkers will receive a payment for additional deer culled over and above the level currently culled in the area.

NatureScot state: “For both pilot areas deer stalkers will be eligible provided they have the legal right to take or kill deer on the specified land. They will need to have a minimum of Deer Stalking Certificate level one (or equivalent). To ensure that culling is additional to the levels currently recorded in the two pilot scheme areas, the payment would only be made for additional adult female deer and juveniles of any sex culled above a minimum cull rate. Strict eligibility criteria and compliance checks will be in place. Participants must use the NatureScot Deer App to record and submit data including geolocation and photographic evidence of their cull, as well as information on how carcasses were disposed of. This will help NatureScot in its ongoing work to increase capacity in local supply chains for venison”.

Payment will be for female deer. Juvenile deer will also be subject to payment to avoid any welfare concerns around orphaning dependant young. The schemes will open in mid-August 2024 and will run from 1 October 2024 to the end of March 2025 with expectation to repeat in years 25/26 and 26/27. The rolling-out of this model nationwide will depend on the success of these schemes and this will be assessed in 3 years’ time.

To find out more and to see the mapped areas of which are eligible, follow this link.