SGA won’t support BASC’S recreational stalker plan

The choice not to back the proposal is the latest in a series of decisions that have marked the SGA out from other shooting and rural groups

The Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) has issued an apparent rebuke to BASC over its plans for more involvement of recreational deerstalkers in managing Scotland’s deer (News, 6 October).

In a scathing blog, SGA chairman Alex Hogg questioned the motive behind the BASC plan. Mr Hogg said: “If this is about opportunism and winning new shooting grounds for members, then there are likely to be questions asked about how this will make things better for deer management in Scotland today.”

In 2019 the SGA made its own calls for communities to be given more of a role in deer management with a ‘10-year vision’ for deer in Scotland. That vision called for a pilot scheme which used recreational stalkers to help tackle specific deerrelated problems in Scotland’s central belt. Contrasting the SGA proposal with the BASC plan, Mr Hogg said: “The pilot scheme was an attempt to join all of these dots (with public cost savings); it was not solely a different means to open up new stalking grounds and kill more deer.”

The BASC proposal was endorsed by countryside organisations including the Association of Deer Management Groups, Scottish Land & Estates and the Scottish Countryside

Alliance. However, the SGA logo was notable by its absence from literature promoting the BASC scheme. At the Scottish Game Fair in September, BASC officials were tight-lipped over the decision by the SGA, which represents most of Scotland’s professional deer managers, not to back the scheme.

Not supporting the scheme, which is backed by all the other shooting organisations, is the latest in a series of decisions that has marked the SGA out from the other shooting and countryside groups. The SGA recently restated its support for lead (News, 29 September) and, unlike England’s National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, the SGA has not joined Aim to Sustain. The stance has proved popular with its members and has won support from shooters who are unhappy with other organisations.

Matt Cross

“If this is about opportunism, there are questions to be asked”

6 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

BASC wants local recreational stalkers to be given a leading role in managing deer on Scotland’s public land