Best Practice
Steering Group:

Welcome to Best Practice Guidance on the Management of Wild Deer in Scotland. A new revised set of 74 Best Practice guides was published in July 08. The guides have been developed by Scotland’s deer sector to provide you with the best information available on wild deer management in a format that is easy to access.

February Newsletter(PDF 2.71MB)

Stop Press: Firearms Workshop on 6th March at Forgandenny POSTPONED due to snow. We are working towards a new date and will confirm new date as soon as possible.

Wild Deer Best Practice Workshops

The Best Practice Project is pleased to announce the dates for two workshops looking at the topics of Use of Firearms and Producing Quality Venison. In addition, two developmental workshops are also being held in association with Wild Scotland to look at deer and wildlife tourism activities - see table below for workshop programmes.

Please note, the workshops include topics relating to published Best Practice Guidance and topics currently in development. Please also note some details of the workshops may be subject to change. As numbers are extremely limited for places, we are asking for a nominal charge for each workshop of £30 in advance to ensure places are filled. Places will be allocated on a first come basis so please return your form with a cheque or postal order made out to the Deer Commission for Scotland as soon as possible but certainly by Monday 22nd February at the latest. We will contact you shortly after this date to confirm your place. The booking Form for these workshops is further down the page.

Workshop Booking Form(PDF 38KB) - Return to: Deer Commission for Scotland, Great Glen House, Inverness, IV3 8NW or Fax to: 01463 725048

Best Practice Guidance is now available to download free of charge on this site. Laminated hard copies of the guides are also available for a one-off subscription fee of £15. Subscribers to the series will automatically receive new and revised guides as they are developed as well as information on up and coming Best Practice events.

To subscribe call Linzi Seivwright on 01463 725373 or download the subscription form below and return to DCS, along with a cheque or postal order.

subscription form(PDF 58KB)

At the heart of the guides is the need for clarity on the law, along with three central aims; safeguarding public safety, ensuring food safety and taking full account of deer welfare. Public confidence in these three issues is essential if wild deer management in Scotland is to maintain the respected of a wider audience at home and abroad. The guides are dynamic and practitioners are encouraged to debate and share ideas to help develop future editions. Revision will also be made in light of new research, changes to policy and new legislation .

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