Young Perthshire-raised gamekeeper is named best in Scotland at top awards

A Perthshire youngster with land management in the blood has been named Scotland’s best young gamekeeper.

Aberfeldy-raised Finnley Struthers, whose grandfather was also a gamekeeper, received the Young Gamekeeper of the Year Award 2024 from Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association (SGA) chairman Alex Hogg, MBE. The presentation was made at the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust Scottish Game Fair in the grounds of Scone Palace.

The UHI North Highland gamekeeping graduate has managed for grouse, deer and salmon fishing on estates in Perthshire, Aberdeenshire and Angus to date. He currently works at the Millden Estate, Glen Esk, Angus.

The 23-year-old said: “I have been aware of this award for some time. I’d always said to myself it would be good to get that, some day. I think it is great that it recognises young gamekeepers because the profession can sometimes be a lone activity.

“My grandfather was a gamekeeper in Perthshire and I spoke to him a lot about the job. My uncle took me beating on shoot days as a youngster and, after that, it was the only thing I wanted to do.

“There was a group of my friends in Aberfeldy who had the same idea.

“You are outdoors every day. The lifestyle is good and you are in a beautiful part of the world.”

SGA chairman Alex Hogg said he was delighted to present the award to the youngster in the year that the representative body for Scotland’s professional gamekeepers also introduced its first ever Youth Committee.

He said: “Individuals like Finnley represent the industry’s future. Our young people are more important than ever. We are seeing such rapid change in gamekeeping, in deer management and pressures on our salmon.

“It’s never been more important to have capable, passionate voices who really care and want to take the industry forward in a positive way, into the decades to come.”