Today (20 October) marks the end of the Scottish stag stalking season and SNH would like to know more from hillwalkers about the information that would be helpful when planning walks. If you have been hillwalking this year, please fill in the survey here.
Three years ago SNH set up the Heading for the Scottish Hills website. The web service has proved popular with walkers with 7500 visits last year. This year, in a collaboration between SNH and Walkhighlands, the detailed information from the Heading for the Scottish Hills were also be directly available on the relevant hill routes on the Walkhighlands website which means the information can also be viewed on tablets and mobiles.
The information provides stalking details from the participating estates and contact details for further information. Some estates provide detailed information on the site up to a week in advance, describing where and when stalking will take place, as well as suggested walking routes. Some estates have provided less detailed information but with a contact phone number or email. Hillwalkers are encouraged to use these contact details to ask the estates for details of any stalking activity on the days they plan to go walking. There is also information about responsible behaviour for land managers and walkers.
The Scottish Outdoor Access Code encourages walkers and other recreational users to take reasonable steps to find out about stag stalking, this is made much easier with the Heading for the Hills website and the collaboration with Walkhighlands. The web service has replaced Hillphones this year because of demand for an online service.
The online stalking information covers estates featured in over 100 hillwalks on Walkhighlands. The detailed stalking information will be updated daily from the Heading for the Scottish Hills website (individual estates update the information on a variable basis, with some posting a very general statement and a phone number, and others offering more detailed information with specific dates – the estates also usually state days when stalking does not take place). SNH is keen to hear from all hillwalkers, whether you have used the information on Walkhighlands or Heading for the Scottish Hills or not, so please fill in the survey here.