The gun, a high-powered rifle, is slung across the German hunter's back, temporarily forgotten. A sense of anticipation - and mild unease for some of us - sets in as we march in single file behind Niall Rowantree, sporting manager of Ardnamurchan Estates. We are heading up a hill through dense heather while out of sight two large stags sit watchfully at the top. Rowantree has identified one as today's target.

Near the crest, we stop. Rowantree and today's marksman, Malte Glunz, creep commando-style up the bank, peering through the grass at the top. Silently, Rowantree cranes around and beckons for me to follow. The grass is dense, but there is no mistaking the V-shaped antlers.

Malte's rifle is poised, and we sit like that for five minutes, completely tense. Then the stag stands up. "Shoot him, Malte," whispers Rowantree.

But it's too late. The stag spots something - our camera, perhaps - and trots away.

There is a collective exhalation, and a feeling on my part of something like relief.

The reprieve, however, is short-lived. We set off again, stopping for a second time behind the crest of a high ridge, 350m away from the resting herd. Four of us remain while Rowantree and Glunz approach from below.

There we wait, flat against the ground, for more than an hour. We cannot see the stalkers, and the herd appears to be at ease.

Then, suddenly, a shot rings out. I am watching through the binoculars and see a stag instantly sink to his knees, a slick of red on his shoulder. His head lolls and he rolls over downhill, before coming to rest on his side. It is all over in five seconds.

"So that's stalking," says Rowantree, as we reach the dead stag a few minutes later. The well-placed bullet, we soon discover, has pierced the stag's heart. He would hardly have had time to realise what had happened.

We are not finished yet. First, there is the photograph, unsettling to the uninitiated, of the hunter posing with his "kill". Then the stag must be gralloched - have its innards removed - and the meat left for the sea eagles. It will be gone in 48 hours.

Finally, the carcass is trussed up in our Mud-ox vehicle and we must climb in around it for the journey back. So that's stalking.

Killing deer for sport is distasteful to some, perhaps many, but is very significant to Scotland's rural economy. "Deer management" as a whole (which mainly means culling) is worth £105m and supports 2500 full-time equivalent jobs, often in economically fragile areas. And stalkers argue that when done correctly, it is a humane method of killing the animal, helping keep deer numbers down in a country where they have no natural predators.

But sporting managers are facing changes to the way they manage deer. This week sees the end of a consultation period on plans for modernising deer management, part of the Scottish Government's Wildlife and Natural Environment Bill.

Developed by the Deer Commission Scotland, the proposals aim to ensure deer are managed sustainably, in the public interest, and with high standards of animal welfare.

Putting a figure on red deer numbers is difficult, but if pushed the commission estimates between 350,000 and 500,000. Numbers rose in the 1960s and 1970s but are now stable, with perhaps a slight increase over the last decade.

However, the rise has been greater on some estates than others and this is where problems have arisen. As ranging animals, deer often stray across several landholdings. Gamekeepers aim to ensure deer are healthy and numerous enough to support sport shooting, but crofters and farmers often see them as a nuisance, and foresters complain they trample regenerating woodland and damage natural habitats. They also pose a road traffic risk.

Fences are one option, but these create problems of their own, including fatal strikes by capercaillie, restriction of public access and barring deer from areas where they overwinter.

Deer in Scotland are legally "res nullus" - not owned by anyone - so the right to kill them rests with the owner or occupier of the land. Voluntary deer management groups (DMGs), are supposed to bring together neighbouring landowners so they can agree how to manage the deer in their area, yet these often fail because of conflicting priorities.

One suggestion is the creation of a statutory duty on landowners to manage deer sustainably, in the public interest, which could be enforced by law.

More contentious are the proposals on close seasons, the periods when deer may not be shot.

The Commission suggests moving towards abolishing the close season for stags altogether and reducing the close season for hinds to cover the period when juveniles are most dependent.

This would be done once other new measures are in place, including the requirement for all those involved in killing deer to demonstrate expertise.

This would give land managers more flexibility to cull deer that were causing damage, a move supported by conservationists.

Stuart Brooks, chief executive of the John Muir Trust, says the organisation is not "anti-deer", but that the animals are having an impact on biodiversity.

He adds that the Trust's voice is not being heard in DMGs. He says: "Our overriding aim is to get some sort of sustainable deer management going." Removing close seasons for stags, he says, might be "part of the solution".

The Scottish Gamekeepers' Association (SGA) acknowledges that in some parts of the country deer numbers are too high, but is "totally opposed" to doing away with close seasons, fearing deer would be overexploited.

Rowantree, who is on the board of the Deer Commission, is also concerned about overexploitation and believes a community should have the right to appeal if it fears too many local deer are being killed.

He also feels the hind season should be tighter. But he accepts that something must be done and stresses that current regulation is not actually preventing people from shooting deer out of season.

Above all, he would like to see the terms of the debate change so that deer are no longer discussed as a nuisance, but as a national icon and a community resource. "It's about a fair deal for deer," he says. Deer are "more intelligent than dogs" and "terrific amphibians", he says, pointing across the water to Mull, where Ardnamurchan deer occasionally turn up.

"Deer welfare and the sustainable management of a common resource should take precedence," he says.

Perhaps surprisingly, there is not currently a blanket requirement for all those who shoot deer to be registered as fit and competent to do so. The Commission wants to introduce one.

The SGA sees this as unnecessary, but Rowantree supports it, especially for unsupervised individuals. "People who are involved in killing deer and operate alone should have a demonstrated level of competence and opposition to it is based on fear more than anything else," he says, but adds that the training requirement should not be too draconian or expensive.

Ultimately, he believes, the interests of different land managers and the wider public can be compatible, providing sustainability, public interest and deer welfare are the guiding principles: "Standards should ensure they are not overexploited, they are culled correctly and handled properly," he says. "That's a worthy aim for any country."