Deer management on the Galson Estate

There have been many reports of deer in villages over recent months. We have for the second year applied and been granted an out of season licence to try to help us deal with the deer population and manage it effectively. This licence has been granted on the grounds of public safety and also damage to agricultural land. In order to be granted the out of season licence we have to adhere to a number of regulations, but we also have to prove we are doing all that we can during the season.

We are pleased to see much work was undertaken in the season last year with three times the number of deer despatched. This has been a tremendous effort by the volunteer shooters. We are awaiting a helicopter deer count, which has been postponed twice due to Covid-19. We hope this will take place in late summer 2021. It is thought there has never been a helicopter count for the whole of north Lewis. We take a collaborative approach to landscape scale deer management and work with other estates as part of the Lewis and Harris Deer Management Group. We recognise the need for ongoing control of the deer population and will continue to ensure the necessary work carried out is to the highest standards.

We would remind everyone that is it not safe to encourage deer in any way, as they can potentially carry disease and cause road accidents, which is something else we are asked to record. Please report any Deer Vehicle Collisions (DVCs) to the office as this too supports us in being able to access out of season licences to support ongoing management.

We are grateful to our dedicated volunteers who support our deer management plan by controlling numbers and also those who support and carry out impact monitoring.

Picture credit: Roddy John MacDonald