Deer Management Groups comprise groups of estates or other landholdings that share access to a discrete population or herd of deer that is managed as a common resource. DMGs have been set up over the last 30 years with encouragement from the Government agency, now Scottish Natural Heritage, with the responsibility for the conservation and control of all four species of deer presently found in Scotland.

Deer Management Groups are voluntary and are run by representatives of the landholdings in the group’s area. The collaborative activities of a group would normally include the carrying out of a coordinated count of all the deer in the area annually. This provides a basis for assessing the cull required to meet the combined objectives of group members and to ensure that the deer are managed sustainably – that there is a population of deer suitable in terms of the environment and compatible with other land uses such as farming, forestry, tourism and public recreation, and which makes a contribution to the local economy. The annual cull is agreed among members of each DMG.

Many groups have developed Deer Management Plans. These provide a framework for the integrated management of deer along with other land uses.

In October 2016 the coastline of all DMGs was standardised to OS Meridian Coast, this has resulted in a small fluctuation in area figures.