Scotland's red stags and the deer stalking industry are threatened by plans to scrap the closed season and allow year-round shooting, gamekeepers have warned.
Landowners told The Times that proposals drawn up by the Deer Commission, the body set up to manage and protect the breed, and being considered by the Scottish government, strip away the protection which the animal enjoys and relegate the beasts to the status of vermin.
They are also concerned that if the closed season, which prohibits shooting red stag from October to June, was abolished the economic boost Scotland enjoys from deer stalking would disappear along with it.
“It will be impossible to maintain the premise that people are enjoying a first-rate sporting opportunity if the animal they are shooting is of the same standard as a rat,” said Michael Wigan, a Sutherland landowner.
The deer stalking industry is worth about £105million to the nation and sustains about 3,500 jobs, many in remote rural areas. According to landowners, at present the value of a stag shot during the open season is about £1,000, through both the marksman coming to the country and the value of the carcass. If it was shot in closed season, when it is in poor condition, the animal would be worth about £50. It is claimed that extending the open season would be inhumane.
The measures to change the management of the animal are contained in a report commissioned by the Scottish government and compiled by the Scottish Deer Commission. The statutory body was set up under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 as the successor to the Red Deer Commission, but it may soon be merged with Scottish Natural Heritage. The report, which contains a raft of suggestions on how to improve deer management was delivered to the then-Environment Minister, Michael Russell, and has been passed on to Roseanna Cunningham, who took on the job in the recent cabinet reshuffle. A spokesman for the commission said scrapping of the closed season would only come if other proposals to delegate control of deer management to a local level were put in place first. He said the existing rules were outdated and it made sense to have a more flexible, locally-tailored programme in place which ensured that deer were killed humanely at any time of the year.
He added that there was no evidence that the proposals would affect sporting industry revenues.
The Association of Deer Management Groups is in favour of some of the proposals but has raised concerns about the abolition of the closed season. Finlay Clark, secretary of the privately-funded organisation, said the welfare of stags and that of other animals would be damaged. George Macdonald, a deer expert with the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, said it was “morally and ethically wrong” to shoot deer out of season.
The association is to meet Ms Cunningham to discuss its concerns.