NatureScot Research Report 1333 - Deer management skills and capacity - initial scoping report

Year of publication: 2023

Authors: James Scott (JMS Environmental Ltd.)

Cite as: Scott, J. 2023. Deer management skills and capacity – initial scoping report. NatureScot Research Report 1333.

Keywords

deer management; Scottish Biodiversity Strategy; skills; capacity

Background

Meeting Scottish Biodiversity Strategy targets in 2030 and 2045 means that an additional 50,000 or so deer per annum need to be culled in Scotland. It is considered likely that achieving this level of cull will require an increase in resource and, simultaneously, change the face of deer management in the longer term.

Lower population densities may make traditional (the last c.200 years) sporting stalking less viable for some, although it is envisaged there will still be a considerable market for a day on the hill to have an encounter with wild deer, whether with camera or rifle and other alternative revenue streams – such as payments for ecosystem services or carbon credits may be of increasing importance. The longer term management of lower density deer populations is likely to require additional deer management resource over a sustained period of time.

The shift in focus from sporting management to more conservation based management is likely to require broadly similar skills for the most part, although it is envisaged that a wider skill set than ever before will be required.

It is recognised that some are fearful of the impact this will have on rural communities, particularly employment opportunities within them. It is the author’s belief that additional employment will become available, although the jobs could look quite different to the current roles.

This report was requested to:

• Assess current capacity within the industry and colleges
• Outline opportunities and options for building future capacity
• Articulate how the sector may evolve and challenges and opportunities for developing skills that are fit for the future
• Provide examples of case studies (private, public and eNGO)
• Make recommendations for further work and research

It was recognised that this phase of the project would, by virtue of available time and budget, be limited to an initial scoping exercise, gather some new data and pulling currently available data together whilst making recommendations for a further phase of work.

This report discusses the capacity to manage deer in Scotland. Although focussed primarily on the human resource, it outlines some physical resource requirements required for the future.

Main findings

• The data used in this report come from a variety of sources and was acquired over different timeframes. Some caution should be exercised when viewing this data.
• Around 1,000 FTEs account for around 95% of the annual deer cull in Scotland. The effort required to cull a deer averages 0.5 days. To cull an additional 50,000 deer per year, the report suggests that between 118 and 236 additional FTEs will be required.
• The current qualifications required to manage deer in Scotland are easily commercially available, but there is a gap in terms of skills that may be desirable, such as butchery, carcass handling, habitat impact assessment (especially for non-upland habitat types), data recording/analysis and population assessment. There is also a gap in terms of larder availability and a sustainable market for venison, particularly in the Scottish lowlands.
• It is clear that the available data is incomplete and held in a fragmented manner. The report makes suggestions for future pieces of work to improve the available data and to enable better recommendations to be made to ensure that the skills and capacity are in place to manage deer in Scotland in the medium to longer term (10 years+).

Scope

It was recognised that this phase of the project would, by virtue of available time and budget, be limited to an initial scoping exercise, gathering some new data and pulling currently available data together whilst making recommendations for a further phase of work.

Methodology

Data was requested from a number of sources in late 2022 by NaureScot. The requests and responses are included as Annex 1 to this report.

JMS Environmental Ltd. requested further data from a range of organisations in early 2023 and this is presented in Annex 2.

Previously published available data

The 2016 Report on the Economic Contribution of Deer to the Scottish Economy, produced by Public and Commercial Economic Consultants (PACEC) on behalf of the Association of Deer Management Groups (ADMG), suggested a total requirement of the equivalent of 845 full time jobs to deliver the cull at that time. This was being delivered by 2,532 individuals. This report was an update on a 2006 report and the figures were broadly consistent over those 10 years.

The 2020 Deer Working Group Report to the Scottish Government: The Management of Wild Deer in Scotland extrapolated available cull data to give a suggested cull of in excess of 180,000 deer of all species across Scotland in 2016/17.

BASC data suggests nearly 6,400 people in Scotland hold the Deer Stalking Certificate Level 1 qualification from Deer Management Qualifications Ltd. and a further 2,100 or so hold the DSC2 qualification. BASC also suggest that there are 26,300 firearms certificates (FACs) on issue in Scotland in 2021.

Analysis

Great care needs to be taken when analysing the data collected. It comes from a variety of sources and over a wide range of time frames. Published data, previous requests and data collected as part of the current project focus entirely on capacity within Scotland when it is widely known that not insignificant numbers of individuals travel from elsewhere in the UK to manage deer in Scotland (ignoring for this report those who travel purely for sporting purposes under the supervision of another deer manager).

Current capacity for deer management in Scotland

During discussions around this project, the hypothesis that c. 1,000 FTEs account for around 95% of the annual deer cull was voiced by several individuals. This figure bears some analysis as it fits well with the data from PACEC in 2006 and 2016. Extrapolation from the PACEC data (845 FTEs, spread across 2,532 individuals, or 0.33 FTE per stalker) would suggest a figure of around 3,030 individuals who deliver the majority of the deer cull in Scotland.

The 1,972 individuals currently on the NatureScot Fit & Competent Register could be considered to be a more accurate representation of the number of active deer managers in Scotland and, when factorised for available time, could fit with 1,000 FTE as being the number of people accounting for the majority of the deer cull.

At the upper end, FAC figures suggest there could be 25,086 people who could have access to a firearm to cull deer. This figure is known to be higher than the actual number of individuals as a number will only be for target shooting or for a calibre which is not legal to cull deer.

Effort required

Assuming a full time worker has 212 days per annum available, analysis of the data available suggests that the effort per deer averages 0.5 days per deer culled. This figure covers the whole process of stalking, culling, extracting and lardering a deer and is an average across all species, seasons and habitat types.

If we take the Deer Working Group figure of 180,000 deer per annum being culled at an effort of 0.5 days per deer, this equates to 90,000 stalker days being required, or 424.5 FTEs.

Alternatively, if we take the 180,000 deer and divide by the PACEC figure of 845 FTEs, we reach a figure of 1 stalker day per deer culled.

Provision of deer stalking qualifications in Scotland

Discrepancies exist in the data gathered, although the BASC figure of nearly 6,300 individuals holding the DSC1 qualification is considered to be likely correct.

It appears that around 300 people per year in Scotland attain the DSC1 qualification, with variation from year to year.

At present, the Scottish Gamekeeper’s Association are the only publicly accessible DMQ Assessment Centre located in Scotland. This does not mean that they are the only providers of DSC1 in Scotland. The British Deer Society and BASC also register significant numbers of DSC1 candidates in Scotland annually.

All approached felt that there was sufficient scope to increase the delivery of DSC1 training and assessment in Scotland if the market supported it. Much of the delivery is undertaken by private individuals and companies who register their candidates through one of the DMQ assessment centres.

DSC2 is candidate led and a practical qualification. A figure of 2,100 or so individuals are believed to hold this qualification in Scotland. There are sufficient numbers of witnesses to conduct the practical element across a sufficiently broad geographical area so as not to be a barrier to attainment of the qualification.

Across the UK, a number of qualifications are being developed and presented as alternatives to the current DSC1 and DSC2. At present it does not appear that these have gained the credibility and acceptance associated with the DMQ offering.

Additional qualifications

Additional qualifications such as ATV certification, first aid training and manual handling training are currently widely available from a broad range of commercial training providers. Many of these training providers are reporting difficulties in securing the services of trainers and assessors, partly due to the age profile and the significant study, qualification and financial barriers to entry to the profession.

Training in carcass handling, habitat impact assessment (across a range of habitats), data recording etc. are harder to secure and are considered to have declined since the programme of large scale Best Practice Demonstration Events ceased.

College provision

Scotland’s colleges which provide game and wildlife management qualifications are providing c. 50 graduates per year. It is not known how many of these students remain in Scotland or how many spend at least some of their time managing deer.

Provision is in line with demand and is felt to be declining. Moves are being made to develop course content and titles to be more appealing to a broader range of applicants and to make the subjects covered more relevant to the changing requirements of employers.

Looking forward

It is postulated that an additional 50,000 deer per year or so will require to be culled for the next decade or so in order to meet the climate change challenge. Based on the figures presented above, this is likely to require and additional stalking effort of between 25,000 and 50,000 stalker days per annum. This equates to 118 to 236 additional FTEs required, or between 358 and 715 individuals based on 0.33 FTE. It is considered likely that effort per deer needs to increase as deer densities decrease, so these figures should be considered a lower estimate.

There has been widespread discussion about the age profile of deer managers and it has been frustrating to gain so little demographic information from any of the data sources. The limited data available from F&LS about their staff supports the contention that we have an ageing population of full time deer managers.

A 2021 initiative by BASC, supported by others, called “Our Deer – Community Integrated Deer Management for Scotland” suggests that there is more than sufficient deer manager capacity to cull an increased number of deer in Scotland and provide community benefits simultaneously. This initiative set out a number of challenges facing deer managers, namely:

• Access to land
• Access to deer handling, processing and storage (larder) facilities
• Bolstering local supply chains to secure higher value, lower food miles markets for venison
• Access to local, affordable, training

In the uplands, access to extraction equipment and larders is generally good, especially across the larger deer management units. Adding value to venison and having secure and financially attractive outlets for carcasses is still a challenge. Access to land for vocational, part-time and recreational deer managers can be harder due to the number of large land holdings which have employees engaged to manage deer.

In the lowlands, the reverse is often the case. Many find it easier to access smaller parcels of land on which to manage deer, but have difficulty in accessing extraction equipment, deer larders and even finding venison dealers to purchase their carcasses. Some of this difficulty in finding a market is inextricably linked to the difficulty in accessing appropriate and hygienic larder facilities. Additionally, large public land ownership units limit the land area available to these individuals.

The models of deer management employed on public land present a challenge too. Despite obligations to do so and efforts made to encourage them, very few local authorities manage deer on their land. Even fewer offer opportunities to local deer managers to do so. NatureScot have recently started trialling community deer management on one of their properties and the results of this may well have wider implications. There is significant frustration at the inaccessibility of publicly owned forestry to vocational deer mangers where a contract deer management model has been employed. This has to be balanced against a need to reduce deer damage to protect public investment, but it is widely considered that there is sufficient scope for a hybrid model to be adopted where less vulnerable areas could be made available to local vocational, part time and recreational deer managers.

Although much is made of the potential for vocational, part-time and recreational deer managers to contribute significantly more to the national deer cull, it should be recognised that it is not unusual for these deer managers to lose motivation to maintain the required effort when deer densities are low, the returns on carcasses are poor or non-existent and the weather is bad, often leading to a bias against appropriately managing female deer.

As the motivation for managing deer increasingly moves away from a sporting stalking model to a more conservation and biodiversity driven model, so the skill set will need to adapt too. It is likely that deer managers will increasingly be required to observe and record herbivore impacts across a range of habitats. Significant progress has been made in the uplands in this regard in recent years, but consideration needs to be given to the training, recording and data capture methods deployed in the lowlands, particularly by vocational, part time and recreational deer managers. Increased awareness of risk assessment and risk management should also be a focus for those managing deer in more heavily populated or publicly accessed areas to retain public confidence. Anecdotally, some deer managers abandon efforts at managing deer on certain parcels of land due to the degree of public disturbance and challenge they face.

In terms of skills, a shift from client-based sporting stalking to deer management for nature conservation means that subtly different skill sets will be required. One DMG Secretary commented on the difficulty of getting good quality, well formatted information electronically from deer managers and the provision of IT training about data collection, recording and transmission is considered worthy of further exploration.

Better public education around the need to manage deer to deliver public benefits is required, as is education around the consumption of venison. It is considered likely that a partnership approach will be required to deliver this.

Notably, some of the colleges are aware that many people view gamekeepers negatively. They are planning to shift away from using game and gamekeeping in course titles in a bid to extend the appeal to a wider audience of potential land management practitioners.

Next steps

One of the key objectives of this scoping paper was to propose next steps. We would propose the following pieces of work be undertaken in a future project:

1. A widely shared and publicised public survey of those who manage deer in Scotland to better understand capacity, skills, demographics and the barriers to them doing more.
2. Obtaining better data from DMGs about the stalking resource employed by them.
3. Obtaining better data from Forestry and Land Scotland and NatureScot about the effort expended by their staff and contractors and the skills and qualifications they possess.
4. Work with private and public sector landowners who are managing primarily for environmental objectives to understand what skills they will require in future of those managing deer.

We would propose the development early in financial year 23/24 of an electronic survey which could be easily completed and widely distributed throughout the UK to understand the deer management capacity and skills that currently exists. This survey should have a number of conditional clauses to ensure that only relevant information is being captured from individuals and they are not being asked irrelevant questions. This work should be progressed as early as possible so it can be promoted widely and information returned to allow reporting pre-March 2024.

Work could be done with DMGs in the uplands to better understand the resource and skills of the deer managers covered by these management structures. This is considered a time-consuming but worthwhile exercise, provided that duplication of information with the public electronic survey is avoided.

Work with a range of environmental NGOs and environmentally orientated private owners to understand the effort they direct towards deer management, particularly in the light of reducing deer densities, to better inform the future resource required.

Work with Forestry and Land Scotland to understand how deer management effort, cull levels and deer densities have changed over the last 5 or so years to better understand these changes and inform future requirements.

Work with public sector landowners to better understand what information they require from deer managers and what skills they think deer managers will require in the future to deliver their objectives.

Pledged support

During the information gathering stage of this project, JMS Environmental Ltd. secured agreement to support a future project from a range of organisations including the BDS, SGA, BASC, Environmental NGOs and ADMG. Their support and engagement will be essential. DMRT should be used as a medium for updating them on progress.

Additional requirements

We believe that there is considerable work required over and above what a future project can achieve.

Nature Scot should move immediately to use the time-limited opportunity presently available to influence the Skills Development Scotland review of the content of current gamekeeping and wildlife management qualifications.

The public agencies need to consider what incentives or support may be required to drive an increased deer cull. We understand this is already ongoing, but the pace needs to match the desired delivery timeline in order to give security to land owners.

Further work is required in relation to collaborative deer management. At present, the collaboration is largely limited to discussion. Work needs to be taken forward to discuss true collaboration such as equipment and resource sharing. This could enable, for example, 3 estates who need additional deer management resource to share the cost and benefits of having an additional deer manager between them.

Renewed focus needs to be given to understanding and facilitating deer management in the lowlands if they are to play their part in contributing to the overall increased culling. Better cull reporting should be considered an objective of this work.

Public education programmes need to be rolled out by a range of public and private partners to support a healthy venison market and provide information about deer management. A separate steering group and programme of work should be developed.

Annexes

Annex 1

Data Previously Requested by NatureScot

In November 2022, NatureScot requested data from a number of organisations. The requests and responses are summarised below.

Deer Management Qualifications Ltd. Data

Data was requested from DMQ (the awarding body for the most widely recognised deer stalking qualifications in the UK) as follows:

The number and names of all organisations functioning as assessment centres for DMQ:

Currently there are six Approved Assessment Centres.

The number of places typically offered on stalking related courses (DSC1 & 2):

DSC 1 depends on the centre but generally up to 12 students per course. 

DSC 2 is not a course. The DSC 2 is assessed on the basis of evidence that the candidate collects. The key document for recording this evidence is the DSC2 electronic portfolio which you are given access to at registration. Once registered, candidates have three years to complete their evidence gathering. 

The number of courses undertaken/individuals registered and the number of those who pass. The annual enrolment and pass rate for approximately the last 5-10 years:

The Number of DSC 1 completed students registered in Scotland is 3353. The Number of DSC 1 students certificated in Scotland is 3137 from 01/01/2012 to 30/11/2022 (10 years).

The Number of DSC 2 completed students registered in Scotland is 1299. The Number of DSC 2 students certificated in Scotland is 919 from 01/01/2012 to 30/11/2022 (10 years).

Maps are available on the DMQ website which show the distribution.

The demographics of participating students, particularly age, for anonymised use in this report. Although I understand this may be more restricted and difficult to share:

 No age or demographic data is held.

Your website presents “Latest Stats” for DSC1, DSC2, DSC2 ePortfolio and wild boar registrations. What time period does this apply to? Are these annual or “since records began” data?

Data on Stats is from start and updated on a monthly basis. (Note there are two sets of stats for DSC 2, the old Paper based system and the new EPortfolio version)

Data as of 30th November 2022

Table 1. The number of students who have registered and completed the DSC1, DSC2 or DSC2 ePortfolio qualifications through Deer Management Qualifications Ltd.

Latest Statistics	Registered	Completed
DSC1	33,794	31,569
DSC2	8,748	5,532
DSC2 ePortfolio Registrations	2,398	1,230

 

University of the Highlands & Islands, North Highland College Data

The following data was requested from NHC, UHI, who provide gamekeeping and wildlife management courses in the north of Scotland:

Number of course placements, uptake, pass rate, demographic information?

Typically 10 places are offered on a DSC1 course over three days. Courses are normally aimed at students, although sometimes commercial training is undertaken. Pass rates for commercial courses tend to be 100%, less for courses for students. Attendees typically range from 17 – 55.

Firearms Licensing, Police Scotland Data

A request was made to local contacts to facilitate the provision of the following data:

Number of Firearm Certificate (FAC) holders in relation to stalking held in Scotland and FAC holder demographic information?

No response was received to this request.

NatureScot People & Organisational Development Data

Data was requested from NatureScot as follows:

Number of staff actively involved with deer stalking in employment?

Number of entry level posts for youth relating to deer stalking in NatureScot?

The response received was clearly out of date and was missing data from the majority of staff involved in deer management. It did not appear that there was formal, systematic, recording of deer management related qualifications held by staff. It is known to the author that data on the number of individuals holding NatureScot Firearms Permits will be held.

Forestry and Land Scotland Data

The following data was requested from Forestry and Land Scotland (responses below in tabular format):

The number of employees currently employed in deer stalker or related roles within FLS, and the annual employment number for the last 5-10 years.

Accessible HR data only available for three years as follows:

Table 2. The number of Forestry and Land Scotland employees in 2020 in deer stalker or related roles.

Job title	Jan 2020	Dec 2020	Average number employed
Wildlife Ranger	44	43	43.5
Wildlife Manager	15	15	15
Area Wildlife Manager	0	0	0
TOTALS	59	58	58.5

 

Table 3. The number of Forestry and Land Scotland employees in 2021 in deer stalker or related roles.

Job title	Jan 2021	Dec 2021	Average number employed
Wildlife Ranger	43	44	43.5
Wildlife Manager	15	11	13
Area Wildlife Manager	0	3	1.5
TOTALS	58	58	58

 

Table 4. The number of Forestry and Land Scotland employees in 2022 in deer stalker or related roles.

Job title	Jan 2022	Dec 2022	Average number employed
Wildlife Ranger	44	44	44
Wildlife Manager	11	14	12.5
Area Wildlife Manager	3	4	3.5
TOTALS	58	62	60

 

Anonymised demographic information about Forestry and Land Scotland employees, particularly age or sex, of active deer stalkers. This may include individuals with DSC1/2 status and associated FACs on record. 

Table 5. Anonymised demographic information about Forestry and Land Scotland employees in deer stalker or related roles.

Age Range	WL Rangers	WL Managers and Area Managers	TOTAL
16-24	-	-	-
25-29	2	-	2
30-34	4	-	4
35-39	2	5	7
40-44	5	1	6
45-49	2	2	4
50-54	7	3	10
55-59	12	3	15
60-64	7	4	11
65+	3	-	3
TOTALS	44	18	62

 

Table 6. Gender of Forestry and Land Scotland employees in deer stalker or related roles.

Gender	Wildlife Rangers	WL Managers and Area Managers	TOTAL
Male	44	16	60
Female	0	2	2
TOTALS	44	18	62

 

Any entry level posts or youth employment schemes you offer specific to deer and any employee information as above relating to these. 

We do not currently have any recognised schemes, therefore no applicable data.

Annex 2

Data Requested by JMS Environmental Ltd.

In fulfilling the objectives of this scoping exercise, JMS Environmental Ltd. requested a range of data from a variety of sources as follows.

Scottish Colleges Offering Gamekeeping & Wildlife Management Qualifications

North Highland College, UHI, Elmwood Campus, SRUC and Borders College were contacted to provide data on: 

Number of students enrolled, split by level of qualification being undertaken.

National Certificate (NC) Students: 35

Higher National Certificate (HNC) Students: 20

An additional HNC programme being developed and Level 5, 7 and Professional Development Award (PDA) qualifications being developed for future delivery with a greater emphasis on conservation management.

Modern Apprenticeships: Six at present, although accessing funding for these programmes has been increasingly challenging.

If DSC1 was undertaken.

DSC1 is provided by two of the three colleges presently to a total of around 22 students. SQA units are delivered which cover deer stalking, deer biology, game meat hygiene and use of firearms to all students on the NC programmes.

Scottish Gamekeeper’s Association

Since September 2021, The Scottish Gamekeeper’s Association (SGA) has been the sole Scottish Assessment Centre for DMQ.

Number of candidates registered for DSC1 since 01/09/2021?

335

Number of candidates registered for DSC2 since 01/09/2021?

56

British Deer Society

DSC1 delivery in Scotland

2021 – 91 candidates (likely somewhat higher than usual post-COVID-19)

2022 – 72 candidates

Police Scotland

NatureScot staff approached Police Scotland, at the request of JMS Environmental Ltd., under the information sharing agreement that exists between them asking for data on the number of firearms certificates on issue in Scotland, the number of those that would allow for the shooting of deer and demographic data on FAC holders.

25,086 Firearms certificates were on issue in Scotland as of 22^nd February 2023. The licensing system was never designed to, and cannot, provide the statistical information requested.

NatureScot

NatureScot were asked to provide data on the number of people currently actively registered on their Fit & Competent Database. Registration is a pre-requisite of being able to shoot deer out of season or at night under a NatureScot issued authorisation (with very limited exceptions for out of season shooting undertaken by an owner or occupier in person).

1972 individuals were approved as “Fit & Competent” deer controllers as 10^th March 2023.

NatureScot were also asked to provide information on the numbers of deer culled on properties under their management, the number of full time equivalents (FTEs) involved split by staff/contractors or leases, the area managed and the number of deer culled and qualifications.

4.5 FTE staff equivalents

3.65 FTE contractor/leasee equivalents

864 deer culled

29,586 Ha. under management

All have at least DSC1, the majority will have DSC2.

Deer Management Groups

Two Deer Management Groups were approached for information on area managed, number of full time equivalent staff, numbers of deer culled and qualifications held.

DMG 1:

138,000 hectares under management

18.5 FTE staff

2203 deer culled

15 with DSC1

7 with DSC2

16 with ATV certification

DMG 2:

26,000 hectares under management

8.5 FTE staff

337 deer culled

All with DSC1 and ATV, 4 hold DSC2

Trees for Life

Trees for Life were asked for an indication of deer management effort in terms of area under management, number of full time equivalents and deer culled at Dundreggan.

1 full time stalker

2 part time volunteers (estimated at 0.2 FTE each)

4000 hectares under management

85 deer culled

Forestry and Land Scotland

Data was requested from Forestry and Land Scotland as to the number of individuals acting as contractors and sub-contractors on land under their management.

136 individuals are currently listed as contract deer controllers.