Hill-walking and stalking

If you're planning to walk in the Scottish hills between July and October, you should take reasonable steps to find out where deer stalking is taking place  and land managers should provide information to allow you to do so.  There are two services in 2010 to help you plan hill routes that are unlikely to disturb deer stalking.

 Hillphones   is an answerphone service that provides information about stag stalking activities and suggests routes which will minimise disturbance. It operates in 12 popular hill walking areas over the stag stalking season from the 1st of July to the 20th October, and is organised by Scottish Natural Heritage, the Mountaineering Council of Scotland  and participating estates.

From 1 August 2010 we are running a pilot web service called 'Heading for the Scottish Hills' . This new service builds on Hillphones and the out of print Heading for the Scottish Hills book. We are developing the service with the National Access Forum stalking communications sub-group in response to requests from both land managers and walkers for an easy to use website that can be quickly updated. The 2010 pilot service covers estates within the Hillphones and Blackmount areas and we look forward to receiving feedback from walkers and other recreational users.

Deer stalking is necessary to manage deer sustainably. Regular culling ensures that there is enough grazing for the herd and other animals, and that fragile upland habitats are not damaged. The busiest time of year for deer managers is usually the stag stalking season (1st July to 20th October), which is also a popular time for walkers and climbers to head to the hills, leading to the demand for both these services.