The Scottish Game Fair returns on Friday...
Come and see the Countryside Alliance this coming weekend at the Scottish Game Fair, which is once...
about this blogRead moreIn a recent letter from Jim Fairlie, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, to Finlay Carson MSP, Convener of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, it was made clear that the proposed change to the female deer open seasons in Scotland will not go ahead. An announcement welcomed by the Scottish Countryside Alliance (SCA).
As part of the Managing Deer for Climate and Nature public consultation, which ran in early 2024, a proposal was published that would enable deer managers and stalkers to make use of extended open seasons, meaning that there was an increasing likelihood of heavily pregnant deer being shot. Clearly, this did not sit well with those who manage deer populations across Scotland, and the SCA made its thoughts clear in its response to the public consultation.
In a rural affairs deer management round table meeting on Wednesday 29th January 2025, the RSPB’s Duncan Orr-Ewing stated that Mr Fairlie’s announcement was “made too early” and that any decision must be based on “hard evidence”. Well, isn’t this what our sector asks for when any wildlife management legislation passes through parliament? Mr Orr-Ewing seems happy for deer managers to kill heavily pregnant deer as it clearly suits his agenda. The fact is he doesn’t have to pull the trigger or remove the well-developed foetuses from the mother. Out of sight, out of mind! The 80% of private deer management contractors value animal welfare over a numbers game and this is how it should be.
In 2024, legislation was passed, against sector advice, to enable the shooting of male deer year-round in Scotland. It is clear to most that efforts need to be focussed on female deer populations, and removing more male deer will not only have a negligible impact on populations, but it comes with welfare issues for the deer themselves.
As a representative organisation, we have repeatedly reinforced the importance of strengthening the market for venison sales and consumption and current schemes that are run by NatureScot have had a slow start and are unsuitable to be rolled out nationwide. Could the answer be to abolish the Venison Dealers Licence that currently prevents a trained hunter to sell venison to the general public? Why not? It seems that there is little funding available to create any meaningful system to ensure that the extra 50,000 deer that the government say we have to shoot per year ends up being sold and consumed. NatureScot estimates that income from deer management per annum is £15.8m, yet it costs £36.8m to shoot the deer and the private sector bear the brunt of this additional expenditure.
As it stands, game dealers set whatever price they like and often pay deer managers a pittance, compared with the price the venison is sold on for. Is there a good reason why a trained hunter may not inspect the carcass, as they are qualified to do, then sell it on directly?
Overall, it is a very welcome thought that the Scottish Government have listened to us on this occasion, and that female deer seasons will not be affected, at least for now. Our engagement with Ministers and MSP’s on all aspects of deer and wildlife management continues, and we look forward to feeding in the hard evidence that is sought as each piece of legislation comes to pass.
Watch the rural affairs deer management round table meeting here at Rural Affairs and Islands Committee | Scottish Parliament TV
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