Speyside and Grampian gamekeepers say that they are being ignored
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On the eve of the start of the grouse shooting season a new survey appears to show the depth of unhappiness amongst Scotland's gamekeepers.
The survey, collated by Scotland’s regional moorland groups, found that land managers feel they are often fighting a lone frontline battle against criminality, littering, fly-tipping and unthinking owners letting their dogs run amok.
Fears of unemployment forced by governmental regulations scored high in responses.
However, irresponsible access topped the poll.
Lianne MacLennan is the co-ordinator of Scotland’s regional moorland groups, including the Grampian Moorland Group and the Speyside Moorland Group.
She said: "There is a lot of disgruntlement amongst gamekeepers. That emerged very strongly in the responses.
"Most gamekeepers are dealing with access all of the time and walkers frequently enjoy the hill roads maintained by estates.
"That was not identified as a problem.
"However, the feeling is that the balance has tipped too far towards encouragement of as much recreational access as possible and against the people actually trying to make a living in the countryside.
"There is a view that members of the public increasingly feel they can roam everywhere, any time they want, doing whatever they like."
The survey asked over 100 gamekeepers for opinions on changes they feel are necessary to make a difference to their working lives.
All of them cited as a major obstacle the "disinterest" shown by Scottish Government and Police Scotland to vandalism by members of the public upon legal traps and snares.
A number of respondents also said the Countryside Access Code should be part of the school curriculum and that dogs on leads should be compulsory at certain times of the year.
There was a general feeling that organisations such as Scottish Natural Heritage and the Cairngorms National Park Authority had failed to adequately educate the public on what 'responsible' access means.
A further source of anger was the perception that decision makers were too influenced by keyboard campaigns.
MacLennan added that in the eyes of gamekeepers there is an urgent need for independent monitoring to be carried out of satellite tags fitted to raptors.
She said: "They are also tired of seeing what they believe to be dishonesty from conservation NGOs and agencies regarding impacts of expanding numbers of predatory species."
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