The latest deer harvesting figures show more needs to be done to combat their impact on agriculture and the environment, say primary producers and experts.
That was a 4 per cent increase on the estimated 118,874 deer harvested in 2021 and a 49pc increase on the long-term average (82,802).
GMA Research principal, Dr Jason Flesch, said the research was based on information gathered from randomly selected licenced deer hunters who took part in phone surveys.
"Throughout 2022, approximately 2,400 licenced deer hunters were surveyed to collect information about their hunting activity, including how many deer were harvested, where hunting occurred, hunting methods used, and the species of deer harvested." Dr Flesch said.
Sambar Deer was the most harvested species, with an estimated take of 76,178 animals, of which 53pc were female.
Fallow Deer were the second most harvested species, with an estimated figure of 41,180 taken; 62 per cent were female.
Invasive Species Council Deer Project officer Peter Jacobs said recreational hunting was a very small part of deer control.
He questioned when the state government would release its plans for the review of the 1975 Wildlife Act.
An expert advisory panel presented its report to the government in December 2021.
"There is still an opportunity for the government to remove deer from the act, so they can then be classified as pests - that's what we would like to see," Mr Jacobs said.
He said investment in deer control needed to continue.
"We really need more funding into control on public land and providing more assistance to private landowners," he said.
"The protected status of deer is adding to a lot of confusion at the moment.
"Government is investing in control, but deer are protected under the Wildlife Act."
He said "for some years now" the state government had claimed there were a million animals in Victoria.
"Given deer can increase by about 35 per cent each year, under natural conditions, that means there are a lot of deer out there," he said.
"It's good to see numbers being reduced, but it's clear hunting hasn't kept on top of the deer population, which has exploded and expanded over the last 20-30 years even while hunting has been carried out."
Hunting did not target the areas which had significant problems with deer, he said.
"People hunt where it is easy to find deer, so while it is good to see more deer taken out, hunting is clearly not the answer to controlling the deer population," he said.
'It's not a long-term answer - a proper pest animal program needs to be strategic."
Hunting needed to be part of a suite of responses, including professional shooters and targeting areas where deer were causing the most damage.
Deer were very widespread in eastern Victoria and causing damage to biodiversity and agricultural production.
Beef and prime-lamb producer Simon Lawlor, Omeo, said it appeared no amount of culling would bring deer back in check.
He has had ongoing problems with deer eating pastures and destroying fences.
"They are going to breed and exponentially, numbers are just going to grow," Mr Lawlor said.
"Realistically, there is going to be more deer die of old age and natural attrition rates, than through harvesting.
"Numbers are going to be double what they are today."
He said he'd engaged the services of a professional contract harvester to control deer on his property.
"From what I understand, deer are as elusive and hard to get, as ever," he said.
"It's not as simple as finding them with the latest and greatest thermal gear."
He called for greater accountability among recreational hunters, who sometimes left carcases, which were attractive to wild dogs.
But more work needed to be done, before deer were declared a feral pest species.
"What I do know is that it's a shared responsibility, for all parties involved," he said.
'It's not just landholders who need to bear the brunt of this, we have the wider community that want the farming community to be their environmental conscience, so they have to bear some of the cost of this as well."
Shooting deer was also tricky, when paddocks were waterlogged, he said.
"You can't always go when the deer are out in force because of getting bogged and making a mess," the beef producer said.
"I am not seeing a huge decline in deer numbers, we are certainly carting them out, quite convincingly.
"Sometimes, along the back fenclines of three or four propertie (near the bush), the harvester may get 18 deer and they are quite big animals."
The producer said the recreational hunters did "very little to control numbers, except sometimes cause problems.
"It's a drop in the ocean, some of them are hunting for meat animals, but it's insignificant really, one or two deer here or there."
The deer were densest on the periphery of the bush and farmland - "they like improved pasture, certainly if you put lime and fertiliser out, they want some of that."
A Victorian government spokesperson said they acknowledged and thanked the individuals and organisations contributing to the Wildlife Act Review.
They said there had been $19.25 million allocated to the Victorian Deer Control Program in four years.
"Given the importance and complexity of this review, we want to take the time to make sure we get it right," the spokesperson said.
"The status of deer as game does not prevent their control when they are causing damage to the environment or property.
"In 2022-23 nearly 30 projects have been supported to reduce the impact of deer across the state."
The GMA said there were 50,478 recreational deer hunters in Victoria in 2022.
This was the largest number of licenced recreational deer hunters recorded to date - a slight increase of one per cent increase on the previous highest number recorded in 2021 (49,857).
Of the 50,478 licensed deer hunters, 50 per cent actively hunted in 2022.
On average, active deer hunters harvested an estimated 4.9 deer over 8.6 days.
The most popular hunting areas were around the towns of Mansfield, Licola, Bairnsdale, Dargo and Eildon.
The highest number of deer harvested were around the towns of Mansfield, Eildon, Omeo, Whitfield and Bairnsdale.
The report is produced annually by the GMA in collaboration with the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research.
For a full copy of the Estimates of the 2022 deer harvest report, visit gma.vic.gov.au
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
