NOTE: COVID-19 restrictions are still in place regarding hunting activities in state forests.
Hundreds of thousands of hectares of state forest are now officially open to deer hunters once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
A government policy that prevented deer hunters accessing huge areas of state forest for decades has finally been amended. State forest that had grazing licences issued under the Lands Act were off-limits to hunters under a legal interpretation that has been found to be incorrect.
As of May 1, 2020, hunters no longer have to gain the permission of the licensee to hunt on that land. SSAA Victoria, along with ADA, has worked for years to see this anomaly overturned. The matter came to a head in 2017 when hunting maps on the GMA website were taken down and DELWP provided replacement maps were found to not meet government standards. ADA sought detailed legal opinion which subsequently provided the basis for overturning the policy. Since then it has still taken three years of consistent advocacy and lobbying by both organisations to achieve this positive outcome.
Public land is there for the use of all Victorians, including hunters. The Association reminds members that cattle grazing will still occur in those areas and that the cattlemen, and all bush users, should be treated with respect.
SSAA Victoria is pleased that some common sense has been shown and that hunters can now enter these areas with confidence in their legal position. Maps on the More to Explore App have been updated and the web-based hunting maps should be updated over coming days.
