I’ve spent a lot of my time these last few weeks arguing why the Deer Commission for Scotland (DCS) shouldn’t make my job a whole lot easier. In its wisdom it is proposing there should be no close season for stags. That, of course, would mean I could have a nice long rest all summer then just saunter out after the rut when the stags are absolutely exhausted and take my whole year’s cull without any effort at all. They’d barely be capable of running away and would just have to stand and watch as I took aim. Couldn’t be simpler.
And the DCS is also suggesting that if even that is beyond my capabilities, I can just wait till night time and pop them off. Or if I felt like it I could use vehicles to drive them so the guns could kill them while they were panicked and running. It might be a bit bloody, and not very pretty to watch, but hey – it would certainly get the job done quickly and increase the annual cull.
Which is all DCS appears to care about. Ignore animal welfare, the need for stags to be accorded some peace to rest and recover from the rut. Forget dignity. Disregard the fact that the public views red deer as Scotland’s most iconic animal. Don’t question why a Government body which has banned stag hunting with dogs, badger baiting and fox hunting is now encouraging the hunting of deer using vehicles and helicopters. And whatever you do, don’t mention the unpalatable truth that the venison will be seriously substandard if an animal is culled just after the rut or following a terrifying chase. The latest scientific research paid for by DCS itself confirms that small detail.
I didn’t choose to be a stalker to put my welfare before that of the deer and nor did any other professional deer manager. Our priority every time is to make a cull quietly, cleanly, and with respect. Pitting our wits against these intelligent wild creatures is what makes the job worthwhile. We may use firearms, but if we had wanted to be killing machines we’d be working in a chicken factory.
And we’re not Luddites. I firmly believe there is need for review of the current deer legislation, and far from abolishing the close season, it needs to be reinforced in legislation, with no one allowed to take stags within the current closed dates. Unless, of course it could be proven beyond doubt that a serious problem was developing with regard to impact on protected areas or danger to life as in road accidents. Only approved professional deer managers should be licenced to do this, and only after it is established the deer could not be culled within the open season.
No other country in Europe has done away with a close season for a large mammal, bar Portugal which promptly reinstated it when they found that the free for all had led to devastation of a common resource. There’s a serious danger that Scotland’s stag herds could be similarly exploited by some landowners - in particular the “green” or fanatical single species ones – which see deer in general as vermin. And a few so called sporting estates might well be inclined to sell the “easy stags” as a trophy to some people regardless of how easily they were approached.
So, given that we believe the DCS proposals will compromise the welfare of animals in our charge and risk the quality image of venison we’ve striven so hard to achieve, it’s a bit ironic that it also wants to bring in compulsory testing of stalkers and deer managers in order to “protect deer welfare and food hygiene”. If it wasn’t so serious it would be laughable.
Let’s just look at what’s already in place. Among professionals there’s a high voluntary uptake of DMQ1 and DMQ2. There’s the detailed Best Practice guidelines thrashed out with the industry and launched just last year. There are the college courses and long apprenticeships with head stalkers before a young stalker is allowed out alone. There is invaluable mentorship and experience gained over many years.
The amateur or recreational stalker is in a different category, and while many are extremely competent, I’d like to see a more rigorous approach to ensure they are all experienced enough to stalk alone. The current DMQ2 requirement to have stalked three deer is not nearly enough to allow someone to gain sufficient experience to stalk unaccompanied or be a fit person, in the eyes of some government agencies, to take on the lease of many hundreds or even thousands of acres.
It’s perhaps little wonder then that deer numbers are expanding virtually unchecked in some parts of the country where “qualified” but inexperienced stalkers are in charge of huge herds. These local problems are largely what have led to the ham fisted DCS proposals currently on the table. And they would be disastrous, not just for our deer stocks, and the wellbeing of the rural economy but also - ultimately – for the future of stalking. That’s why I’ll be using every spare minute to campaign against them, until July when the time is right to head out to the hill with the rifle to do my work with dignity, compassion and pride. There are elements of this job which are simply non-negotiable.
George MacDonald