With its natural predators long exterminated, huge deer populations controlled by landowners – largely for their own private interests – have had far-reaching environmental impacts. Despite efforts by conservationists to reduce populations and re-verse the damage, historic deer management has left vast areas of rural Scotland under siege from high deer densities.

As the current nature crisis and climate breakdown pushes deer management up the political agenda, the book explores the long-standing conflict around deer in Scotland from the perspective of someone who has been at the heart of the debate for decades. It provides a first-hand insight into some of the most controversial episodes, examining the stories, the science, the culture, the history and the politics beneath the deer conflict. It points to the future – what could be the role of predators, fences and community hunting? What does the next generation of deer managers want, and what does Scotland need in the way it manages its deer?

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'A gripping, and at times dramatic, narrative that weaves together facts, analysis, and the author's own personal story. It is, above all, an illuminating insight into an area of land reform that for many Scots is still shrouded in mystery'