The Heading for the Scottish Hills website providing information on deer stalking is asking walkers and climbers to complete a short survey about the service provided.
The website, which is in its second year, is operated by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and allows walkers to see information posted by estates on when and where deer stalking will be taking place. Where estates have not posted this level of detail, there is a telephone number to contact the estate for further information. SNH is now wanting to hear from walkers about whether or not they have used the site, what their experience was and what improvements could be added.
In addition the original Hillphone service still provides answerphone messages with information about stag stalking activities and suggested routes which will minimise disturbance. This system operates in 11 popular hill walking areas until 20th October, and is organised by Scottish Natural Heritage, the Mountaineering Council of Scotland and participating estates. For more details about the areas covered and for the relevant phone numbers see the Hillphones website.
The Heading for the Scottish Hills website has been expanded to cover some estates in the Cairngorms and on the West Coast as well as the estates within the Hillphones and Blackmount areas. The service is map based, and you can also search for stalking information by typing in the relevant hill name and then choosing the result from a drop down list. Clicking on each estate should bring up information on current stalking activities, contact details, and dates when stalking never takes place, eg. at the weekend or just Sundays on many estates.
Walkhighlands would like to embed the deer stalking information in the relevant route descriptions so walkers can see at a glance when stalking will be taking place without having to go to another site or contact Hillphones. If you think this would be useful there is a question about it on the survey.
The Scottish stag stalking season officially runs from 1 July to 20 October with the hind shooting season then running on from 21 October to 15 February. However for most estates the peak stalking season is between August and October. Although stalking is permitted on Sundays, most estates comply with the convention that stalking will not be undertaken on a Sunday.