Niall Rowantree tours the Highlands to find out how deer and deerstalkers have fared during the year of the pandemic. The answer is not well, and thank goodness for gamekeepers and deerstalkers. Scottish government agencies and wildlife charities abandoned the Highlands in 2020, a year that saw people who don’t often visit the countryside pour out of Scotland’s cities and cause all kinds of environmental problems. Meanwhile, the relentless destruction of Scotland’s deer herd continues and Niall is out stalking hinds to get them off land the government is paying to turn over to trees. He talks to people from Ardgay Game to deer scientist Dr Cathy Mayne to find out the outlook for Scotland’s deer herd and its countryside.
This film is sponsored by Blaser. Visit Blaser.de
To go stalking with Niall, visit WestHighland-Hunting.co.uk
For Ardgay Game, go to ArdgayGame.co.uk
More of our films with Niall
Why reindeer click with the Sami
Did you know that reindeer’s back legs click when they walk? Scottish deer manager Niall Rowantree is in Swedish Lapland learning all about Santa’s little
Don’t go ‘nuclear’ with thermal deer control
www.youtube.com/watch?v=khlu2bcZC5U Scotland faces big changes in the way it manages deer. The government wants the animals gone, and is introducing nightshooting, thermal shooting and removing
Niall Rowantree and the thermal deerstalking debate
www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0QSSuIxfIc Will thermal optics revolutionise deerstalking? Deer manager Niall Rowantree has his doubts, as he explains on the range, showing off his ideal set-up for
Scottish vs Swedish salmon fishing
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMfkCemLIeo The River Kalix is one of Swedish Lapland’s premier salmon rivers – and that’s where Niall Rowantree goes to try for a fish. Unlike
Niall’s Swedish elk adventure
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBxms_rO9NA Take a Scottish wildlife expert to Scandinavia and his imagination runs away with him. Niall Rowantree is elk hunting in Swedish Lapland. While there,
Hunting ‘rare’ capercaillie with a Blaser drilling
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDp6t3Kgo_s Niall Rowantree is in Swedish Lapland to shoot capercaillie over Finnish spitz. Plus he tries out a Blaser D99 drilling in 7×57, and he
Will tree mania kill Scottish deer stalking?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wRLeXeMhZo Niall Rowantree and Dr Cathy Mayne go hindstalking with heavy hearts. They have to help bring down deer numbers so that Scottish landowners can
Killing deer at night – how Scotland is failing its wildlife – part 1
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7nujNMWZog You want a healthy herd of deer, in numbers that don’t cause environmental damage, and visible enough to admire in Scotland’s beautiful Highlands? Apparently,
Big game hunting – how Zac got it wrong
Lord Zac Goldsmith wants to ban trophy imports to the UK because he thinks it will help wildlife. He could not be more wrong, as