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About WDBP
The Wild Deer Best Practice (WDBP) Guides in Scotland were first published in 2003 by the Deer Commission for Scotland. The guides were produced in partnership with an extensive Steering Group consisting of key organisations with knowledge and expertise in deer management.
Over the years the collection has been reviewed and updated and continues to grow with the development of new guidance in line with emerging technology, improved industry standards and the introduction of new deer management tools.
The Steering Group partners are responsible for creating the guidance and work collaboratively to ensure that all areas within the sector are represented and have input into the guides content.
The Project Management of the Wild Deer Best Practice collection is provided by NatureScot.
Copyright © NatureScot 2025
The WDBP Steering Group
The Steering Group partners represent all areas of practical wild deer management in Scotland, along with food safety and venison processing standards.
The list below shows the current partner representatives:
Doug McAdam
WDBP Steering Group Chairman
Email: dougmcadam50@gmail.com
Doug has spent the last 35 years in private commercial businesses across the aviation, utilities/facilities management, energy and land management sectors, both internationally and in the UK. From 2006 to 2017 he was CEO of Scottish Land & Estates representing land owning and rural businesses across Scotland. Doug is an active deer manager with experience in Scotland and Scandinavia. Doug now runs his own consultancy business and currently sits on a number of public and private boards including chairing Wild Deer Best Practice Scotland and the South Grampian Deer Management Group.
Louise Farmer
WDBP Project Officer
Email: louise.farmer@nature.scot
Louise is the Wildlife Management Best Practice Officer at NatureScot and oversees the development of a variety of Best Practice collections. Louise has worked for BASC England as a Regional Officer and has a decade of Lecturing and Assessing experience in Game and Deer Management as well as Animal Welfare. Louise is a keen deer stalker in both Scotland and England and passionate about promoting standards and education within the deer management sector.
Linzi Seivwright
Association of Deer Management Groups (ADMG)
Email: support@admg.scot
Short Biography
Cameron Balfour
British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC)
Email: scotland@basc.org.uk
Cameron is the Country Officer for BASC Scotland, and is responsible for engaging with and supporting BASC members in Scotland. Cameron is keen to promote deer stalking as a sustainable recreational activity, and ensure new entrants are equipped with the knowledge required to safely control deer. In his spare time Cameron enjoys deer stalking in low ground areas of the central belt, and butchering the carcasses into a quality product.
Jim Goodlad
Representing (SRUC, UHI and Borders College)
Email: jim.Goodlad@sruc.ac.uk
With over 40 years of experience in gamekeeping, wildlife management, education and training Jim is currently the Gamekeeping & Wildlife Management Lecturer within SRUC. Responsible for the delivery of deer and gamekeeping qualifications ensuring that training and education aligns with evolving industry standards.
His 17-year career as a gamekeeper spanned both upland, lowland, with integrated deer management, providing a solid foundation in field-based best practice. A committed advocate for professional development, now playing a key role in shaping the next generation of gamekeepers with a focus on sustainable land use, ethical wildlife management, and sector resilience.
Dan Watson
Environment Link/National Trust Scotland
Email: dwatson@nts.org.uk
Dan is a Senior Nature Conservation Officer in the National Trust for Scotland, with a specialism in upland species and habitats. He previously worked as the Trust’s ecologist at Ben Lawers NNR and Glencoe NNR. Dan has been involved in Scottish Environment LINK’s Deer Group since 2021.
Ron Rose
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS)
Email: ron.rose@forestryandland.gov.scot
Ron is currently a Wildlife Ranger Manager with Forestry and Land Scotland in South Region. With over 45 years’ experience of deer management in the forestry sector, Ron has worked for the Deer Commission, Tilhill, Nature Scot and was director of Eskdale Wood & Wildlife Management. Formal qualifications include an honours degree in Forestry and an MSc in Environmental Protection and Management.
John Bruce
Lowland Deer Network Scotland (LDNS)
Email: johnbruce.bcd@gmail.com
John is Chair of LDNS (Lowland Deer Network Scotland), and previously the Director in Scotland for BDS British Deer Society for some 20 odd years, has been involved in the development of WDBP policy and guides, as an AW and active deer manager he is well integrated to contribute to the continuing development of the guidance. He developed the now much used Woodland Habitat Impact Assessment lite to give the sector a simple methodology to record the impact of deer, without an exhaustive ecological background.
Ben Clinch
Institute of Chartered Foresters / UKDTR
Email: ben.clinch@morayestates.co.uk
Short Biography
Crispin Hill
NatureScot
Email: crispin.hill@nature.scot
Crispin is the Deer Policy Manager for NatureScot with previous experience in wider wildlife management, environmental assessments, and protected areas. Prior to his time in NatureScot he worked for a decade as a falconer in the UK and Ireland, and has always been passionate about bringing conservation, land management and traditional sporting activities closer together.
Jeremy Thompson
Private Forestry
Email: jeremy@forestdirectltd.co.uk
Jeremy heads a small forest consultancy business in the South of Scotland and has been in forestry for 50 years in various roles. A key factor in the success of establishing restocking and more recently woodland creation is reducing deer damage to young trees to an acceptable level. It is vital that a combined approach sharing best practice is communicated effectively to all those involved with an interest in trees and ecology.
Jake Swindells
Scottish Countryside Alliance
Email: jake-swindells@countryside-alliance.org
Jake has been a keen shot and sea fisherman from his days growing up on the West Coast of Scotland. After over a decade in the Police, he retrained as a Gamekeeper at Borders College, working in Sweden and as a single-handed Gamekeeper in the Scottish Borders. From 2016, Jake has worked in an educational and representative role within the fieldsports industry and now heads up The Scottish Countryside Alliance. You can regularly find Jake on the hill and in the woods with a rifle and on the Scottish coast with his rods.
Peter Fraser
Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA)
Email: carol@scottishgamekeepers.co.uk
Short Biography
Nic MacLeod
Scottish Land and Estates (SLE)
Email: nic@scottishlandandestates.co.uk
Nic is an Acting Policy Adviser at Scottish Land & Estates, with a portfolio covering wildlife management, deer, rural crime and other key rural policy areas. She has worked with SLE for over three years, previously serving as a Regional Manager, and brings extensive sector knowledge and practical experience. Outside of work, Nic runs a small native breeds farm and is a keen game shooter, actively promoting high welfare standards and continuous improvement.
Andrew Dunsmuir
Tilhill Forestry
Email: andrew.dunsmuir@tilhill.com
Short Biography
General and legal
The information provided in the Wild Deer Best Practice collection is for general guidance on wild deer management in Scotland only. The application and impact of laws can vary widely based on the specific facts involved and laws, rules and regulations change with time. Accordingly, the information in the Wild Deer Best Practice Collection is provided with the understanding that the authors and publishers are not herein engaged in rendering legal, or other professional advice and services.
Accuracy and use of information
The information contained in these guides is for general guidance on wild deer management in Scotland only. Whilst these guides show ‘Best Practice’ they cannot cover every conceivable operation or situation.
All information in these guides is provided ‘as is’ with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or of the results obtained from the use of this information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to warranties of performance and fitness for a particular purpose.
In no event will Wild Deer Best Practice, or the Steering Group partners, thereof be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the information in this site or for any consequential, special or similar damages, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
Practitioners therefore will need to ensure that they comply with their Statutory obligations, for example Health & Safety, Food Hygiene and Animal Welfare legislation.
These guides make reference to other publications and websites maintained by third parties, of which Wild Deer Best Practice makes no representations as to the accuracy or any other aspect of information contained in other material.
Acknowledgements
The Wild Deer Best Practice Steering Group are extremely grateful to a wide range of professional and part-time deer managers, individual experts, students and organisations who have given up their time to help ensure the quality of the guides.