TIL: Deer are popping off down here
In 1980, there were about 50,000 feral deer in Australia and by 2002 the population was estimated to have grown to 200,000. Now, the population is likely to have reached more than 2 million.
Saying it'll be the "next rabbit" etc.
Knew we had them, never knew they were becoming such a huge pest.
Deer are a point of division in the hunting community.
I don't know the rules for all the states, but I can highlight the different approaches different places have with just 2 examples.
In Victoria, they only want to hunt deer "sustainably", so they have recognised "Deer Habitats".
It's also illegal to hunt them at night with a spotlight (the easiest method, they'll literally stand still and look at the light) or use a thermal scope (which of course helps silhouette a naturally camouflaged animal), even during the day.
In South Australia, we have shoot on sight laws - as in you're legally obliged to attempt to humanely kill feral deer when possible.
Kind of says it all, doesn't it?
The other issue in Victoria is that we had High Country grazing for decades. This changed the environment which resulted in former bushland becoming grassland.
When High Country Grazing was banned, these grasslands were perfect for other feral grazing animals, such as deer.
Then deer culling was restricted…
Now we have major feral deer problems.
In Victoria, they only want to hunt deer “sustainably”, so they have recognised “Deer Habitats”.
I say this without context, but this just sounds absurd. They're an invasive and destructive species, right? To sustain native wildlife, we don't want to sustain the deer population.
Regulatory Capture.
The government didn't want to be in charge of this, so they've offloaded the responsibility (and the power) to a private organisation, in this case the Game Management Authority.
The GMA aren't all bad, they are also a primary driver behind the protection of native waterways (that just coincidentally happen to be duck shooting spots).
As a shooter, I have complex opinions about groups like the GMA and SSAA that theoretically exist for my benefit.
So the use of feral deer. Are domesticated deer common in Australia?
There's venison farms.
I don't know how many or where.
Theoretically all the ferals are escapees, as they have never been officially released (unlike rabbits, foxes, cane toads etc).
If they're that pestiferous we should be encouraging people who have an interest in venison to do something about it.
In America there’s a few programs that donate hunted meat to the disadvantaged. Usually called Hunt for the Hungry or Hunters for the Hungry etc.
Seems Australia is thinking along those lines too https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/12/deer-meat-for-homeless-shooters-fishers-and-farmers-party-mp-hunters-hungry
First off we're not America, we take care of our citizens. We don't need to feed them carcasses killed by some rando. Leave that RFK Jr crap away.
Bourman’s proposal, dubbed “Hunters for the Hungry”, already operates in the United States, where it is supported by the powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association.
Secondly, fuck no.
A pest, yes. But a tasty, tasty pest.
Opposite side of the globe, in winter North East USA, more deer out this year than I've seen in the winter this season as well.
I think the temp changes (light early winter, sporadic freeze and snow now) have messed up their behavior and now they're out all the time instead of bunking down for the cold.
It's 20 degrees f out (-0 c) and there were two family's of deer cross the roads on my way home yesterday. Usually would not see that until spring.
They were becoming a pest up on the mid north coast 20 years ago when I was a kid, used to sneak up and nibble at stuff in the house paddock at night time (as an aside they make a weird noise when disturbed). Hate to think how many must be in the bush up there now.
More recently I've seen a few bouncing across the road heading through the forestry areas on the way to Bega. Hope they don't become too common as hitting one would be even worse damage/safety wise than collecting a large kangaroo and I do go up and down that way reasonably often.
We are in outer suburban Melbourne. A woman at the pub last year had her work Ute written off when a deer ran across the Princes Highway in a built up residential area adjacent to some unmaintained bush and hobby-farm-land.
Later last year, my SIL was taking my niece to work and a huge 12-point stag was dead on the side of the highway at the same location. By the time she went to pick her up from work, some dirty Bogan had decapitated it (in daylight), obviously to mount it on their Mancave wall.
Back in the good old days, hunters used to cull the feral deer, take them home and butcher them.
Professional taxidermists used to mount their racks, and they would take pride of place in their lounge room.
It would be in violation of HACCP for a Professional Butcher to prepare feral venison steak and sausage, but it would be a a good Cash-In-Hand income stream.
[telephone ringing]
“Roadkill Café, you kill we grillTM. May I take your order?”
“Roadkill Jerky Service, You make them Fly, We make them Dry”
In Alaska there’s a lottery where you get permission to take a hit moose home for the freezer. I’m not kidding. It’s called the Roadkill Lottery and it’s government official.
And since one can feed a family for months people will be excited for you if you get that call, like to them it’s a stroke of luck and good news.
Seems weird and I’d worry about hygiene/storage/disease (there are concerns about humane killing and hygienic transport with roos) but in a place with such food shortages it would be a shame if some idiot just took the horns and left the rest to rot.
Statute of limitations, I used to work for a butcher.
They did occasionally butcher a buck or two for a buck or two, which was not HACCP certified.
They also used to have an annual holiday to the NT for goat culls. The carcasses would be dressed and frozen, progressively on-sold to the Halal butchers cheap (even though they weren’t dressed as Halal).
I know that other local butchers in the region did even more dodgy stuff, a few were closed down, and the Halal and Kosher butchers were just as bad, if not worse (their customers had higher expectations for them).
I saw some in the woods in upper Ferntree Gully a few weeks ago.
Side note, does anyone else associate popping off with farting?
To me it means fighting or looking for a fight.
I always wondered whether it was worth catching them for meat, but apparently they just get trapped and shot
https://clarencevalleynews.com.au/new-tool-to-tackle-wild-deer-population-in-port-macquarie/
They're everywhere at Gariwerd Halls Gap
How do things keep getting out of control in Australia, I thought everything was deadly down there? Where are all of the spiders and snakes and gators and shit when it's being overrun?
Hiding in the toilet, hiding in the footwell of your car, picking your kids up from school (that’s usually just the domesticated ones).
Also, those guys were all brought here to deal with the last invasive species that got outta hand, the deer are gonna need their own predator imported - brown bears should do nicely.
Lots of little things that don't like being stepped on, but no really big predators. No wolves, coyotes, bears etc. Dingos, cats and tassie devils only really hunt small stuff.
We ate them /j