Open season should be declared on Scotland's "monarchs of the glen" to cut the soaring population of red deer in the Highlands, a report recommends.

Open season should be declared on Scotland's "monarchs of the glen" to cut the soaring population of red deer in the Highlands, a report recommends.

For more than 50 years, stalkers have been banned from shooting stags between October and June and hinds from February to October.

Now, however, in a report commissioned by the Scottish Government, the Deer Commission for Scotland says the closed season should be scrapped for stags and shortened for hinds.

But the Scottish Gamekeepers Association has called for a meeting with Michael Russell, the Environment Minister, to urge him not to implement the recommendations.

Alex Hogg, chairman of the association, said yesterday: "This amounts to treating Scotland's iconic animal as vermin.

"There's no question there will be a huge increase in the number killed."

Controversially, the new report also recommends allowing stalkers to shoot deer at night and to use vehicles to drive the animals to waiting guns without prior authorisation.

The review of hunting laws follows concern over a big rise in the red deer population and consequent damage to native woodlands and plants.