Dear Stalking query

[henryb]

I saw a dear when climbing Ben Gullipen from Callander recently. I was just wondering if there are any other regions in the Trossachs national park where I'm likely to encounter dear? I'm hoping to avoid them. Thanks, Henry

[Owen]

Why would you want to avoid them? They're everywhere, even in Glasgow town centre.

[mike knipe]

They'll generally avoid you, so you don't really need to bother trying to avoid them. As Owen says, they're everywhere, often in huge numbers but sometimes quite difficult to spot. They even have them in Englandandwales....   In fact there was a dozen of them on the High Street ridge a few weeks ago, but they did a quick exit left when they spotted me and the pooch.

[bricam2096]

There's always plenty around the High Street ridge, I've seen them usually around The Knott and Rest Dodd. Not sure why anyone would want to avoid them as they won't come anywhere near you, quite the opposite.

The only deer I've seen that will happily be around humans are the ones that hang about outside the Kinghouse Hotel on the West Highland Way 

[mike knipe]

... just a thought...is it deer you're wanting to avoid or deer stalking? Cos there's deer everywhere but deer stalking can be seasonal and doesn't interfere with hillwalking in some places in the Highlands, notably anywhere managed by National Trust Scotland.... or on Sundays.
The SMC has a "hillphones" service which gives contact details for estates in some popular areas where you can enquire about stalking dates/times and get advice on avoidance routes from the estateshttp://www.mcofs.org.uk/hillphones.asp

[midweekmountain]

The SMC has a "hillphones" service

The SMC is the Scottish Mountaineering Club not to be confused with the MCofS who operate the Hillphones stuff.

[Mel]

... just a thought...is it deer you're wanting to avoid or deer stalking? Cos there's deer everywhere but deer stalking can be seasonal and doesn't interfere with hillwalking in some places in the Highlands, notably anywhere managed by National Trust Scotland.... or on Sundays.
The SMC has a "hillphones" service which gives contact details for estates in some popular areas where you can enquire about stalking dates/times and get advice on avoidance routes from the estateshttp://www.mcofs.org.uk/hillphones.asp

Thank you for this information Mike.  Getting shot wasn't something I'd considered on my Scottish adventure in September (bitten by midges and chased by haggis, yes... but shot?    ).  I will do a bit of research on the areas I'll be walking in 

[henryb]

I've just returned from the Trossachs and thankfully, didn't meet any deer or had any deer stalking issues. I'm going to Glencoe next month, walking Thursday and Friday. If deer stalking is taking place, are hikers not allowed access to the hill? Does deer stalking take place in the valleys or around the summits? I was thinking of climbing the Pap of Glencoe.

[mike knipe]

You shouldn't go on a hill where deer stalking is taking place since if you interfere with any land management or commercial activities like this, you would, in fact, lose your access right because you'd be deemed to be acting irresponsibly. So you'd be in bother!
Having said that, most of the stalking takes place  a bit later in the year and it seems unlikely that your plans to climb the Pap (cracking hill by the way!) will be thwarted.
If you can't get up there, the rest of Glencoe is within NTS land and there's no access issues due to stalking. The OS map shows where the NTS land is quite clearly and there's a huge area right next door to the Pap available.
Use the hillphones service or see notices posted at access points, or ask at the pub/shop for who to contact about possible stalking. If there is stalking , it's usually in the corries and open slopes and often, you'll be asked to stick to ridges in some areas to avoid disturbing grazing herds all ready to be shot at.

[sparnel]

You'll be ok to walk/climb the Pap of Coe during your visit. There's little or no stalking in that area. Best stick to the obvious path anyway.