Future of DMGs

Deer Management Groups are not unique to Scotland although they have proved highly suitable to the Scottish pattern of land ownership, particularly where the holdings are generally large, as in the Highlands. Increasingly groups liaise and co-operate with other interest groups and with local communities.

They have evolved rapidly in recent years and will become increasingly refined in future through development of Deer Management Plans, Best Practice and increasing uptake in training through the Deer Stalking Certificate and other qualifications in bringing increasing professionalism and discipline to the management of wild deer.

The group approach to species which are a shared natural or economic resource or which justify a framework for population control is also employed in Scotland, for example, for fish populations through District Salmon Fishery Boards and for rabbits through Rabbit Clearance Societies. They may in future provide a valuable model for the collaborative management of other wildlife species.