Deer Count - Deer Density

Published by:
Scottish Government SpatialData.gov.scot
Last updated:
30 July 2026
Topic:
Not added
Licence:
None

Summary

Deer group locations and sizes are used in assessing deer populations living on the ‘open range’. ‘Open range’ generally means open areas of habitat used mainly by red deer (for example, heather moorland). From the outset it is important to be clear that although the terms ‘count’ or ‘census’ are used, open range counting enables a population estimate to be made, but with associated error margins. Research has shown that, normally, estimates will vary by between 5 and 16%. In other words if you count 415 deer then the population estimate is at best between 348 and 481 (or at very best between 394 and 435). Open range population counts (and their resulting estimates) are therefore most likely to be useful for setting broad targets or giving an index of deer numbers as opposed to very precise population models. They are also useful for indicating trends in a series of counts. Count information can be obtained by joining table DEERCOUNTINDEX based on COUNTID columns. Both Helicopter and ground counts are included in the data. The majority of the data were collected in ‘white ground’ conditions where the contrast between deer and the background of snow is maximised enabling deer to be more easily spotted. Summer counts of 'Priority' sites are also included where sites have been counted more intensively. Attribute Name / Item Name / Description DIGICALVS / Digital Calves / DIGI = counted from a digital photo SUMSTAGS / SUM Stags / DIGI + VIS combined SUMHINDS / SUM Hinds / DIGI + VIS combined SUMCALVES / SUM Calves / DIGI + VIS combined SUMUNCL / SUM Unclassified / DIGI + VIS combined UNCL = unclassified – so generally hinds and calves combined. SUMTOTAL / SUM Total / Overall total for that group (not necessarily for the 1km2 as there may be 3 or 4 groups in the 1km2 at that point in time. COUNTID / COUNTID / Provides link to accompanying csv file. DIGIHINDS / Digital Hinds / DIGI = counted from a digital photo VISTOTAL / Visual Total / VIS = counted visually during the count DIGIUNCL / Digital Unclassified / DIGI = counted from a digital photo UNCL = unclassified – so generally hinds and calves combined. DIGITOTAL / Digital Total / DIGI = counted from a digital photo VISSTAG / Visual Stag / VIS = counted visually during the count VISHINDS / Visual Hinds / VIS = counted visually during the count VISCALVS / Visual Calves / VIS = counted visually during the count VISUNCL / Visual Unclassified / VIS = counted visually during the count UNCL = unclassified – so generally hinds and calves combined. DIGISTAG / Digital Stag / DIGI = counted from a digital photo

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Data links

Link to the data Format File added Data preview
NatureScot Spatial Data viewer N/A 30 July 2026 Not available
NatureScot OpenData Hub N/A 30 July 2026 Not available
habitatsandspecies:dcd N/A 30 July 2026 Not available
dcd N/A 30 July 2026 Not available
GeoJson (EPSG:4326) ZIP 30 July 2026 Not available
GeoPackage (EPSG:27700) ZIP 30 July 2026 Not available
GML (EPSG:4258) ZIP 30 July 2026 Not available
ESRI file geodatabase (EPSG:27700) ZIP 30 July 2026 Not available
ESRI shapefile (EPSG:27700) ZIP 30 July 2026 Not available

Additional information

View additional metadata
Added to data.gov.uk
2026-07-30
Access contraints
Available under the Open Government Licence (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence)
Harvest GUID
6c329424-ce0e-4595-84c5-39b3a2339ab2
Extent
Latitude: 59.214° to °
Longitude: -7.6001° to -1.0822°
Spatial reference system
27700
Dataset reference date
2010-10-29 (creation)
2026-07-30 (revision)
Frequency of update
asNeeded
Responsible party
NatureScot (pointOfContact)
ISO 19139 resource type
dataset
Metadata language
eng
Source Metadata
XML
HTML

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