The online pilot service on deerstalking is now live. Photo: Photo: Bill Ebbesen CC-BY-3.0

The online pilot service on deerstalking is now live. Photo: Photo: Bill Ebbesen [CC-3.0]

A pilot website to help hillwalkers know where deerstalking is taking place is now live.

The Heading for the Scottish Hills site has Ordnance Survey maps for walkers to check where stalking of stags is likely to be taking place.

The pilot scheme covers some of the most popular hillwalking areas in Scotland and includes estates as far south as Glen Fyne right up to Glen Strathfarrar in the North.

The site, run by Scottish Natural Heritage, is expected to be used by more estates as the stag stalking season reaches its height in mid- to late August. The Hillphones service, which also provides deerstalking advice, is still running, but SNH said the Heading for the Scottish Hills site represents an improvement, with the facility to search by hill names and a more accurate cartographic depiction of estate boundaries.

SNH is also asking users for feedback on the new service, which can be found on the Scottish Outdoor Access site.

Hillphones details can be found on the Scottish Natural Heritage site.