Farmer fears stray bullets as hunters roam free

From this weekend, hunters may shoot deer in the state forest he leases that adjoins his Wulgulmerang property without notifying him.

"I worry about the safety of my family, my stock and anyone working for me," Mr Cooper said.

"In Suggan Buggan, I've had cattle shot - some of the hunters have been so cheeky they've even butchered a cow - I've had fences cut and chains cut off the gates to my property and all that sort of thing.

"I don't know how they mistake a Hereford cow for a deer but there you go.

"Don't get me wrong, I love to hunt but my main issue is they're allowing hunters to come all the way up to my fence."

"Licence holders still haven't had any notification that people could be shooting on their leased land from this weekend onwards," Mr Cooper said.

Indeed, an emotional Victorian Hound Hunters' (VHH) Gippsland assessor, Graham Couper, refused to believe the changes would take effect on March 1 and declined to make any comment at this stage other than to say the VHH would "respect the government's decision".

But Victoria's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) was unequivocal.

"From 1 March 2020, people will not need the permission of a licensee to hunt with a firearm on grazing licensed land in State forests under the Land Act 1958," a DELWP spokesperson said.

The department claimed extensive consultation.

"Prior to making this change we have consulted with the Game Management Authority, and hunting and grazing organisations including the Mountain Cattlemen's Association of Victoria (MCAV), the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF), Victorian Hound Hunters, Australian Deer Association and the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (Victoria)," the spokesperson said.

"The hunting organisations have committed to work with the cattlemen to share information with their members and the public about safe and respectful hunting, including information on when mustering may be occurring in the licensed areas."

But Mr Cooper, who attended a meeting called by DELWP last month as a member of the MCAV said consultation had been lacking.

"There's no conditions regard to public safety, there's been no consultation with people with licences who are not members of the Mountain Cattlemen - they haven't even been notified," he said.

"Although they've got buffer zones around townships and they've got buffer zones around roadways where you're not supposed to hunt, they're opening up our back door step and I don't think it's a very safe situation."

Australian Deer Association (ADA) chief executive Barry Howlett said the new access for hunters was a policy rather than a legal change.

The ADA had spent around $20,000 on legal advice to demonstrate that DELWP had misinterpreted the law.

"These are just licences to eat grass," Mr Howlett said.

"And you can't have 360,000 hectares of public land being excluded from hunting year-round when there's a two-month overlap between hunting and grazing and much of the country is too steep for grazing anyway."

In July last year, the VHH celebrated a win on the issue in an email to members.

It said the SSAV, ADA, VFF and MCAV had made a "handshake arrangement" but recommended silence.

"It would be better if we keep this quiet until DELWP make this announcement," the VHH email reads.

"DELWP still have to take this to the minister but think it will be a smooth motion as cattlemen and hunters came to an agreement."

Both MCAV president Bruce McCormack and VFF president David Jochinke emphatically denied any deal was made.

"Nobody I know within the elected VFF has agreed to any such deal and, quite frankly, we also hold the position that shooters need to get permission on any land that is either licensed or owned by farmers and we see deer as a pest and not a game animal," Mr Jochinke said.

Member for eastern Victoria Jeff Bourman of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party Victoria dismissed safety concerns.

"Hunting in Victorian state land's been going on for such a long time but people injured by being shot is statistically insignificant," Mr Bourman said.

"There was one about 12 months ago, involving illegal shooters.

"About once every 10 or 15 years, someone gets hurt."

The ADA's Barry Howlett said the greatest danger was not to farmers.

"The sad reality is it's almost always a member of their own hunting party," he said.

"You're statistically more likely to die falling out of bed."

A string of hunter deaths over the last 10 years have been reported in the media but no data has been collated since 2010.

Mr Howlett said the key to safety was good signage and communication between hunters and farmers.

Occupational health and safety consultant and author of SafetyAtWorkBlog Kevin Jones urged grazing licence holders to seek advice.

"The easy/glib response to reducing the risk of the farmer being shot is for the farmer and those at potential risk to increase their visibility as humans by wearing clothing that offers a strong contrast to the forest - hi-viz clothing," Mr Jones said.

"But this is an issue of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and only works if the farmer is wearing the hi-viz and the shooters don't shoot.

"An additional control would be to establish some rules/signposts at the common entrances to the forest stating identifying conditions of entry, such as notifying the farmer or leaseholder prior to entry, perhaps by phone or by visiting the farm.

"The weakness of this type of control is that it relies on the hunter to follow the rules.

"If they don't care and are cutting fences or chains in gates, any signage is next to useless in controlling the risk as signs don't stop bullets.

"Other than this, it is hard to see any additional practical risk control measures that would not require government intervention and enforcement by WorkSafe Victoria, the game or forestry authorities, and this has traditionally been light-on.

That didn't mean farmers would escape their OHS obligations.

"If the farmer is working the leased forest, that forest is part of the working farm and so the OHS obligations should extend," he said.

"I think there are parallels in this deer hunting scenario to the trespassing by animal activists.

"In both situations people have entered an area of a farmer's responsibility without permission.

"Whether the purpose of the trespass is to release animals or shoot animals, the trespassers are showing disrespect to the farmer and the safety duties the farmer has for themselves, their employees and their families."

A WorkSafe Victoria spokesperson confirmed that, "Every employer, whether working on their own property or Crown land, has a responsibility to protect their workers from all risks to their health and safety."

"Where farmers cannot eliminate an identified risk they should use controls such as appropriate PPE and communicating work plans, and provide workers with proper instruction on any risks in the workplace."

The spokesperson would not say what the "appropriate PPE" might be.