Deer (Scotland) Act 1959

23 Unlawful taking or killing of deer

(1) Subject to section thirty-three of this Act, any person who takes or wilfully kills deer between the expiration of the first hour after sunset and the commencement of the last hour before sunrise shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) Subject to section thirty-three of this Act, it shall be an offence to take or wilfully kill deer otherwise than by shooting, and shooting for the purposes of this section means discharging a firearm, as defined in the Firearms Act, 1937, other than a prohibited weapon.

(3) Any person guilty of an offence against subsections (1) or (2) of this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(4) A conviction of any offence against this Part of this Act may be treated as a previous conviction for the purposes of the last foregoing subsection.

(5) Nothing in the provisions of this section shall be construed as prohibiting a person having a legal right to take deer on any land, or a person with permission in writing from any such person as aforesaid, from taking a deer alive on that land in any manner which does not cause it unnecessary suffering.