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Some people’ grandfathers made some excellent decisions. There's some spectacular stalking above Loch Tay on Remony, bought by the grandfather of its current owner, James Duncan Miller.
Remony Estate, situated at the east end of Loch Tay’s southern shore in Perthshire, has been in the stewardship of the Duncan Millar family for three generations. Bought by Sir James Duncan Millar in 1925 grandfather of the current owner, it was once part of the great swathe of land owned by the Earls of Breadalbane that extended virtually from Taymouth Castle at Kenmore to Oban on Scotland’s west coast. Remony now extends to 3082 hectares, starting at the Loch Tay’s shoreline at some 100 metres above sea level and climbing to around 888 metres with no Munros. This remains countryside typical of this pocket of Perthshire with loch side woodland giving way to grazing and climbing to grouse moor on the tops. Indeed, grouse have become so much a priority on certain neighbouring estates that there is concern that pressure may be exerted on the deer range and that this asset, prized highly by Remony, may be placed in jeopardy. Owner, James Duncan Millar says: “I am concerned about the focus of tick on deer. Some owners make a huge issue of tick, and their impact on grouse populations, and we are in danger of every deer being portrayed as villain because of the tick they carry. “But I favour the three-legged stool - deer, grouse and sheep. Nature abhors a vacuum, and diversity is what everyone here at Remony has always wanted to see.” Bedrock business on the estate is its hill farm which runs some 1,800 blackface ewes and 50 suckler cows, with two spring calving herds. In addition there are some 80 hectares of managed woodland, with some commercial planting of sitka spruce, larch and scots pine. Woodland strips running up the hills at right angles to the prevailing westerlies also provide shelter for stock as well as cover for game. Remony was a part of the South Loch Tay Deer Management Group, one of the first DMGs, started around 25 years ago, with a number of factors involved in the group’s formation – not least that all the neighbouring estates in the area thought that someone else was shooting all the best stags, and that some measure of collaboration was needed! Then the Group went through a period of seeing a huge build-up of deer. James Duncan Millar says: “Through the mid 80s the deer population on south Loch Tay mushroomed, and by the end of that decade there was a huge number of deer to cull. We shot 100 hinds plus on Remony for several years, with comparable numbers shot on the other neighbouring estates. “Now we are culling on average around 25 stags per year, and 40 hinds.” And the local DMG structure has changed – the South Loch Tay Group became part of the South Perthshire DMG, which in turn has been subdivided into three sub-groups to cater better for local interests and priorities. All of the stags on Remony are let, and a fair proportion of the hinds too. The estate has its own self-catering business, with six self-catering lodges open all year. These have been sympathetically converted from the stone Grade B listed accommodation built originally for crofters in the 1800s by the Earl of Breadalbane. Or sporting guests can stay in a number of excellent local hotels. As well as deer, Remony offers grouse on its heather moorland, pheasants on the lower slopes, and two boats on the loch for salmon or trout fishing. In fact, there is every opportunity for a Macnab. Many sporting guests have been coming back year after year, and booking well ahead is advised. But sporting species aside, James is rightly proud of the range of biodiversity that the estate offers, and a fair quota of raptors including this year sea eagles, golden eagle, merlin, peregrine, and buzzards witnessed taking grouse on the wing, albeit the bird brigade would deny that they do this. An application to be granted a license to allow control of ravens preying on pregnant ewes and lambs a year or two ago was, says James “a futile exercise.” Management of the grouse moor also assures numbers of golden plover, curlew, oystercatcher and peewit, although these have declined over the years - largely from aerial predation. But black grouse are making a comeback, and the estate’s red squirrels are flourishing. “I am a lucky man,” says James “to have the opportunity to take responsibility for this beautiful part of Perthshire. In my view, success requires a mix of traditional values with a modern outlook. The estate, and the deer are in good fettle, and I have every intention to see that they stay that way.” Owner's report It was the last day of the stags in 2008, writes James Duncan Millar. I had not been out stalking on the estate since Bruce Buckley, a Thurso graduate, had taken over as our head stalker/keeper from Angus Hogg who had been here for 40 years. But with an outing organised with sporting photographer Glyn Satterley, a spare day at the very end of the season, and the tup sales over, I was looking forward to a day on the hill. I took some shots at the target, and was relieved I hadn’t lost my touch. We met Glyn at the gunroom and headed on up the hill in the Land Rover with Bruce at the wheel. Nathan, a Thurso student doing work experience on the estate, followed on the ATV. The heavens had opened – not just raining heavily, but really blowing a gale. We stopped, and Bruce invited Nathan into the Land Rover. Even then it was still being buffeted around by the wind on the slopes above the loch. When the weather eased we left the vehicle and started spying. There were deer up on the hill to the east above the Remony Burn, and more further up on the face of Black Rock. We decided to drive up to the ford, and then go on up the hill on foot. With the rain teeming down again, and a howling wind, we walked up to the Black Rock Burn, some 3,000 metres, while a glorious rainbow appeared above the loch. We then started crawling on up using the sides of the burn for cover. At last there was another break in the weather, and even the hint of some sunshine on the loch below. We reckoned that the deer were some 300 to 400 metres above us, and moving gently up the hill to reach shelter. There were around 30 to 40 hinds and calves, with maybe four young stags and an older dominant stag. Once out of the cover of the burn, we crawled over a very wet, flat piece of ground. Bruce and I were able to move up into a good position, with the deer under a steep face ahead in relative shelter. From the firing point, the shot was around 180 to 200 metres. The old stag, an eight pointer who weighed in at 13st 7lbs, was visible, flank on, looking north. I squeezed the trigger with the required result. Despite the weather it was a satisfactory result for the final day – and good to see Bruce doing so well in his first year as head keeper. ADMG links
James Duncan Millar was a Deer Commissioner and is a member of the Executive Committee of ADMG. For more information about ADMG on www.deer-management.co.uk
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