At least thirty-eight deer were reported to have been killed by contractors as part of the Parks Victoria aerial deer culling trial which continues in the Victorian High country this month.
The figure was released during a briefing attended by SSAA Victoria on Wednesday, October 17, to update stakeholders on the progress of the trial.
The briefing was held at the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s air base in Ovens from where the helicopters used in the trials access three areas of national park not open to recreational hunting.
Of the 38 deer shot, 37 were Sambar and one Fallow. At the time of the briefing, operations had been carried out for approximately a day and a half.
PV reported that bad weather had hampered efforts to get to Alpine areas and most operations had been carried out at lower elevations.
During the trial all carcasses are left in the bush. No deer were reported as being shot and lost.
Three people are aboard the aircraft used during the trial. They are the contracted pilot and shooter (using a .308 calibre Category D semi-automatic centrefire rifle) and a PV air observer. No video footage of operations was taken.
All shot deer are GPS pinpointed and a vet has been checking as many carcasses as possible to ascertain the effectiveness and humaneness of the shots. The vet accesses carcasses either via vehicle on the ground or drop off via helicopter in more isolated areas.
“The fact that helicopters can fly and shoot, over national parks and land in diverse locations of the park as part of this trial certainly raises the question as to why recreational hunters should not be allowed to use helicopters to access remote areas of park that are open to hunting,” said SSAA Victoria’s Hunting Development Manager David Laird.
Of the trial itself, Mr Laird said there were concerns about the implications for hunters, but was keeping open-minded to the results.
“The Association recognises the need to manage increasing Sambar populations in Victoria and that a variety of tools may be necessary to achieve management objectives,” he said.
“The Association will always advocate for recreational hunting to be the first stage of any management program and will continue to push for access to areas for hunters as we believe that scenario is a win for all concerned.
“It provides hunting opportunities, reduces deer impacts and costs government nothing. Game hunters actually pay for the privilege of hunting deer.
“We do hold concerns around some aspects of aerial culling and are closely monitoring the trial.
“Transparency is key to acceptance of the trial results and independent verification of the trial would be preferable, although Parks Victoria rejected a request by SSAA Victoria to observe the trial.
“The Association recognises that this is a trial. It will wait for the full results to be available, including cost effectiveness, humaneness and the potential implications for recreational hunters before coming to a definitive position on aerial culling.”
