19 year old Stewart Macdonald wanted to join the Stòras Uibhist ranks ever since 2019 when he spent a week with the gamekeepers doing work experience through Sgoil Lìonacleit. Fast forward to 2024 and he’s now taking school pupils out to the hill and showing them what’s involved in the job. 

‘I didn’t even know what gamekeeping was until work experience through the school. I enjoyed it so much, I basically pestered the head keeper, Lorna MacLeod, to get a summer job.

Stewart got his summer job and worked with Lorna and the team every year until he left school and went to the North Highland college.

‘Every Friday for my last year, I did work for The Estate. Then as soon as I left school, it was more or less the week after, I was in. I’m now taking work experience pupils out and showing them gamekeeping as well. So it’s kind of done the full circle.

Stewart says that the younger generation have now taken more of an interest in his line of work which he finds encouraging. Working in an office has never been something he’s fancied, but roaming the hills was far more up his street!

 

For him, being outdoors, and dealing with stocks of animals and the land was ticking all the boxes.

As a gamekeeper, there’s a lot of work to be done on the land and with animal management. They have to keep an eye on the populations of rabbits, geese, crows and of course deer. These animals can be damaging to the community, the crofters and their harvest and Stewart and the team are there to keep these problems in check.

‘The misconception with, gamekeeping is it’s you’re out shooting things all the time or you’re out taking guests out. It’s more than just that. Some of the year we’re with guest on shooting parties and other times of the year we’re helping the crofters. We’re also helping out at local events and helping with the Askernish Golf Open and Fèis Ghasaigh. We get dragged into all sorts of things and I don’t mean that in a bad way, of course.’

With this, the gamekeeping team have been keeping a particularly close eye on the deer numbers. In turn, Stòras Uibhist have been selling and supplying local venison to the community. 

We try to keep as much of our own venison as possible.

It goes to the local supermarkets, and it goes to quite a lot of restaurants. They also sell it at the office, of course, and it’s us that butcher it as well. We like to keep it as local as possible.

 

Each packet has got a serial number. So technically, if I go into the shop and see it, I know exactly who shot it, where it was shot, and know exactly every process is taken  until it gets on the plate. 

It’s selling well. There seems to be a lot more people getting a taste for it, and we’ve just started doing venison sausages, which seem to have taken off.

The Stòras Uibhist Estate spans from Eriskay to the middle of Benbecula and Stewart and the team have to manage this full estate. Further afield is the North Uist and Newton Estate. These different teams are there for each other and Stewart says that:  

‘We’re there to help each other. If we need help with anything, or if they need help we just pick up the phone and call each other.

My favourite aspect of the job is being out on the hills. The deer stalking is kind of my go to. That is my passion, really. There’s just something about it, being away from all humanity. It’s just you by yourself, or your colleague, or you’re taking a guest out for a stag or a hind. I love that break from reality. That’s just your day, or your mission.

We take different types of groups out from all over the world. Here, it’s quite unique, in the amount of different sports that we can offer.

 

 

Between Wildfowl, which is ducks and geese, and then walk top shooting, which is snipe and woodcock, then to the fishing; the sea trout, brown trout, salmon, and then the deer stalking as well. Not every estate can offer all of that in a week long trip.

Stewart finished off by encouraging anyone with an interest to get into gamekeeping. He encourages anyone to simply contact him or the Stòras office for more information or advice.

‘Just don’t be afraid to ask if it is something you’re interested in. It’s something that we say to them every time we take the work experience pupils out. If they genuinely do have an interest then speak to the school and maybe they can set up a summer job like I did. I didn’t do my summer job through the school, but that option is there and the college course I did was absolutely perfect because I never had to leave the island for it. It was mostly online and then the rest of it was more practical. So for someone that is practical and likes to be hands on, it is ideal. In my year on the course there were also people of all ages and some who were going through a total career change. 

With some young gamekeepers, their father, their mother do it and they’re kind of brought up into it. But you don’t have to be brought up in it. You can jump into it.

For more information on Stòras Uibhist, take a look on their website through this link: storasuibhist.com