See All Special Interest Magazines. All North American Whitetail subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets. To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow. Get Digital Access. Subscribe To The Magazine. More Articles From Land Management. April 28, By Gordon Whittington.

Sign Me Up. James C Kroll "Dr. See All Videos. Buy Digital Single Issues. Don't miss an issue. Buy single digital issue for your phone or tablet. Bowhunting Subscribe. Wild Fowl Subscribe. North American Whitetail Subscribe. Whitetail deer breeding season peaks at different times across Texas November 8, Texas.

Annual whitetail season could benefit rural Texas October 23, Texas. Big Time Texas Hunts winners announced November 10, Changes to mule deer, pronghorn seasons April 2, Texas. Deer Demographics October 3, Texas. Deer don't disappoint after hunters' early optimism November 13, Texas. Definitive deer study targets rural property owners March 29, Texas. Entreprenuers clone animals: Local rancher, veternarian supplement deer herd October 25, Texas.

Fair chase, Bill breeds dissension among deer fans April 4, Texas. Herd Status, Deer forecast looks promising throughout state October 7, Texas. Horse cloning experts now cloning deer August 20, Texas,. Hunters have a reason for optimism September 22, Texas. Hunting and fishing in Texas, then and now November 13, Texas. King Ranch loses battle to move deer fence July 15, Texas.

Law sparks a sea change for dog runners August 11, Texas,. Mild summer good for deer, great for hunters November 3, Texas. New rule just in time for deer bow hunting season, dog tracking August 26, Texas. Options in deer feeding December 30, Texas,. Outlook favorable for deer season November 7, Texas,. Outlook favorable for Texas Deer season October 23, , Texas.

Public input sought on proposal to allow use of dogs to trail wounded deer July 25, Texas. Stars aligning for a stellar deer season October 23, Texas. State mulls new dog rules for trailing wounded deer May 25, Texas. Study notes that deer mating season mostly sticking to schedule November 9, Texas. Ted Nugent adds 'fever' to Texas deer hunting debate, fair chase April 4, Ten common mistakes deer breeders make January 10, Texas.

Texas deer hunting forecast remains bright heading toward new season March 21, Texas deer hunting outlook brings lofty expectations during the rut December 9, Texas Deer Population in June 16, Texas. Texas Game Populations Thriving June 22, The heat is on for wildlife in need of summer rainfall July 10, Texas. Traditional firearms deer season on horizon; Experts expect average yield October 12, Texas.

White-tailed deer enjoying healthy Highland Lakes habitat November 12, Texas. Who Owns the Deer in Texas? July 16, Wildlife rescuers overwhelmed in Montgomery County July 16, Texa. A better water trough for deer and other wildlife October 28, Texas. A conservation model crafted specifically for Texas November 14, A single buck from Pa. Bucking the drought: While antlers were down a bit, deer harvest was about average January 19, Texas.

Can hunting endangered animals save the species? January 29, Texas. Cherokee County man gets probation for illegally transporting deer April 30, Texas. Controlled burns begin in area's national forests February 2, Texas. Deer in spotlight: Out for the count October 10, Texas. Deer rut about to peak in East Texas November 15, Does hunting in Texas save endangered antelopes? March 30, Drought may still take toll on habitat, wildlife March 14, Texas.

Early deer season opens with promising results September 30, Texas. Estimating age, Looking a trophy buck in the mouth March 8, Texas. Forecast looks good for archery season September 30, Texas. Granite Shoals: Community consensus is best approach for deer January 23, Texas.

Healthy deer with ample food supply October 31, Texas. Hunting, hunters have changed over the years November 5, Texas.

Illinois geneticist fined in Texas deer semen case December 20, Texas. Not Seeing Deer This Year? Check the Oaks December 12, Texas. Prospects Good for Texas Deer October 23, Reason to cheer for deer October 24, Texas. Spike buck harvest issue pits biology vs. Texas Deer abundant as hunting season opens October 30, Texas. Texas deer hunting season forecast bright as range conditions improve July 30, Texas program takes a bite out of wildlife law violators June 2, Texas' deer population remains stable with current pressure October 21, Wildlife sights a natural draw July 5, Texas.

Wrongheaded wildlife management April 13, Texas. Big game hunters haven't priced average Texas hunter out just yet August 7, Crisis means wildlife needs our assistance September 19, Texas. Deer breeder fined 1. Deer falling on hard times in extended drought conditions July 15, Texas. Deer smuggling October 23, Texas. Deer trickle into neighborhoods in search of water July 12, Texas.

Dismal forecast: Deer, bird populations are being hit hard by devastating drought June 26, Drought is damaging Texas economy in ways that recession hasn't September 21, Drought puts wildlife in precarious position May 30, Texas. Drought putting intense pressure on Texas game, other wildlife July 7, Texas. Farmers, ranchers bank on rain, Smaller Deer December 28, Texas.

Fawn survival, antler size at risk from lack of rain July 28, , Texas. Fence off deer feeders from hogs December 30, Texas. Game wardens target deer smugglers October 18, Texas.

Hunters urged to harvest more deer early in season September 30, Texas. Leschper: Pending deer legislation focuses on breeding, management issues May 1, Texas Management. Lucrative market is luring deer smugglers October 18, Texas. Mess surrounding Texas deer breeding isn't getting fixed June 18, Management. More Texas landowners seek permits for deer breeding September 10, Texas. Mule deer hunts offer more bang for your trophy buck September 24, Texas.

Powell's grandson pleads guilty to negligent transportation of wildlife December 13, Texas. Relentless drought extending toll to wildlife August 9, Texas. State's severe drought conditions could have negative impact on deer May 22, Texas. Mule Deer May 16, Texsas. The man who was driving leaped out and grabbing his rifle from the back.

He shot the deer, gutted it on the side of the road, then lifted it on to the roof. Though shocking for an idealistic teen, it was a fitting start for a career that has come to be defined by the difficult relationship between the demands of conservation and of the wild deer themselves.

Mike sees a similar emotional journey in many of those who have since come to work with him in the field. A way of re-establishing the natural order. In , Mike was working for what was then called the Deer Commission when he and his colleagues were called in to conduct an emergency cull at Glenfeshie, an estate owned by a Danish billionaire in the Cairngorms National Park , where deer numbers had been allowed to grow to remarkable levels: an estimated 95 per sq km.

Mike was in the larder, processing the bodies. Altogether, more than deer were slaughtered. The cull — the first state intervention on a private estate — created an enormous controversy. Animal rights campaigners accused the commission of acting illegally.

Neighbouring landowners and local residents took to the airwaves to voice their disapproval. As the owner of several sizeable landholdings across the country, the conservation group has been using its power to manage the land in a way that prioritises the environment, specifically by preserving and regenerating fragments of the once-great Caledonian Forest. To do so, they say, they must significantly increase the number of deer culled on their properties.

The alternative — fencing off the vulnerable woodlands — is not an option. They would rather reduce numbers so significantly as to render fences unnecessary. However sound their reasoning, it does nothing to endear them to the owners of neighbouring sporting estates.

But though some estates do make significant income from slaughter tourism, they are in the minority. A small few — the Chelseas, the Man Uniteds — are big money-spinners. Generally, though, they run at a loss. Some, shot down in the most far-flung places, were left to rot where they fell, or to be picked over by the eagles. To Mike, these slurs are hurtful and hypocritical: the numbers shot by the John Muir Trust are a fraction of the total culled each year across the country.

And many of those levelling the charges are shooting deer themselves. But the controversy speaks of a deep unease about mass killing among many of those who earn their living on the hill. A specialised strand of folk ethics has grown up among stalkers: the rules are based on perceived sportsmanship, on fairness, on tradition. To them, flying in by helicopter simply feels wrong, like cheating. So does leaving carcasses to rot. So does taking too many in one go. At what point does a cull turn into a massacre?

Big questions, these, to ponder as you stare down the barrel of a rifle. I n a grassy hollow behind the white-sand beach at Achmelvich — a tiny, remote village on the west coast — Ray Mackay, a crofter, lives in a wooden house overlooking a small green lochan dappled with waterlilies. I am sitting at his table, admiring the view, when he appears bearing tea and an A4 folder of grievances. Back in the early s, the Assynt crofters fought a different battle — a long one and a hard one — when they undertook the first community buyout of a private estate, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds to buy the land they lived on and worked from an absentee landlord with whom they had been wrestling for years.

The case of the Assynt crofters came to symbolise the many inequities of land ownership in Scotland, where just individuals own more than half of the land, and where the pain of mass dispossession in the 18th and 19th centuries still echoes loudly in the culture. The problem, says Ray, revolves around a remnant of old-growth woodland situated partly on their land.

It is not just the principle of the matter, says Ray. They shoot deer for management reasons every year. For them, the issue is a matter of scale. If they accept the mass cull, they believe they could send the deer on their estate into a precipitous decline. The crofters have worked hard to escape their debts and to make the community sustainable.

Small crofting townships of modest, whitewashed cottages and modern bungalows cling to the rugged coastline, linked by winding, single-track roads. There are more deer here than people.

He shows me the latest accounts: income from stalking and venison sales amounts to nearly a sixth of total profits. Here the deer are an asset rather than a hobby — this is no football team vanity project — and they do not intend to risk the depletion of this natural resource. Last year the dispute with Scottish National Heritage came to a head. Having declined a voluntary cull, the crofters were threatened with a section 8 order — a forced cull.

In the end, Scottish Natural Heritage backed down. A compromise agreement that would be acceptable to both crofters and conservationists is still being hammered out. Of all the outcomes, it is perhaps the best one. But it has been an exhausting, frustrating process for all those involved. There is a certain class of conservationist, says Ray, who are very keen, and their hearts are in the right place — but at a basic, unarguable level, they are usually incomers.

When they drive in, making demands, it immediately sets up a tension. But this is the place where you find the wild cats. The black-throated divers. I nod unthinkingly in approval, picturing the grand, curving aspect of the Assynt landscape.

It is a stark, treeless place where golden eagles flash over a wind-scoured moonscape of moor and blanket bog. To the untrained eye, the wide-open spaces of Assynt appear an untamed, untameable land. To its occupants, they are laced with human history. Seen through this prism, the question of what is natural and what is unnatural is a tangled one.