Illegal feral deer hunting on private land
Richard Leppitt made a disturbing discovery while walking on his 40-hectare property in South Gippsland.
Someone had entered his land without his knowledge. And they were recording.
He found a small camera, about the size of a large cell phone, attached to a fence post in a remote corner of his property.
For more than 50 years, he and an owner have been transforming a former dairy farm into a wildlife refuge near the town of Foster. Over decades, they planted thousands of trees where cleared pasture lands once stood, attracting countless species of native birds and animals.
But the discovery of the camera three years ago left Leppitt feeling vulnerable, knowing that trespassers had entered his property and would likely return to check the footage.
“It was shocking that people came here,” he said.
About a year ago, Leppitt found another camera mounted by a stream. Leppitt then downloaded the footage captured by both cameras.
Devices known as camera traps are widely used by hunters and ecologists to record the presence of wildlife. Leppitt believes the trespassers on his property are stalking another group of unwelcome guests: wild deer.
One of the cameras on Leppitt’s property captured images of a man carrying what appeared to be a rifle. There were also images of foxes and deer, as well as the face of another man. Leppitt is confident the photos were taken on his property because he knows the landscape.
“It’s quite invasive, of course,” he said.
Leppitt plans to take the footage to an acquaintance who lives nearby and is a police officer.
Feral deer wreaked havoc on Leppitt’s property, leaving tracks, damaging trees, and trampling the land he had worked hard to rejuvenate.
He hosted shooters on his property who asked for permission and discussed how to hunt safely and responsibly. But an explosion in feral deer numbers across Victoria has triggered another concern for private landowners and advocacy group the Invasive Species Council: poaching.
Leppitt says gunshots are often heard in the area, especially at night, and he isn’t sure who is being hunted.
“You never know how far away they are,” he said.
A 2023 study on deer density by the government agency Arthur Rylah Institute cited reports showing wild deer numbers in Victoria ranged from a few hundred thousand to more than 1 million.
Introduced animals damage the natural environment and cause great damage to farms.
John Kelly, Victorian conservation advocate for the Invasive Species Council, said the state government’s classification of deer as game animals rather than pest species meant the animals were effectively protected for hunting.
Recreational hunting can be part of a strategy to control deer, but not alone, he said. Kelly said methods used in other states, including rounding up deer and greater use of aerial culling, would help alleviate the catastrophic environmental impact the animals were causing in Victoria.
But he said the hunting classification for deer meant the animals proliferated in Victorian times. There are reports of deer moving along waterways into Melbourne’s inner suburbs.
“They are becoming a more conspicuous and problematic presence,” Kelly said.
Kelly said the council was receiving increasing reports of illegal hunting. The small village of Walhalla is just one area where the problem is concentrated, he said. Walhalla is surrounded by state forest where shooting deer is legal.
Walhalla resident Brian Brewer said deer are a threat, but so are illegal hunters. Brewer leads ghost tours of the town at night and often hears of shootings nearby.
“We had active shooters in town when I was walking around with a group of people,” he said. “This is not safe.”
In one case, he said, hunters chased a wounded deer into a main street during the day and killed it with knives.
“We’re a tourist town. We don’t want that kind of thing,” Brewer said.
But he agreed that the feral deer problem requires stronger action. Had to replace fences and historic stone walls after deer destroyed them.
“This is so frustrating,” he said.
It is illegal to shoot on private property without permission. Victoria Police were unable to provide figures on the extent of poaching in Victoria.
Environment Minister Enver Erdoğan said that the classification of deer as hunting does not prevent deer control. He said the government was working with communities and experts to implement the control strategy, including measures taken on more than 1 million hectares last year.
Recreational hunters removed 158,500 deer from the environment last year, 66 percent above the long-term average, Erdogan said.
The government insists deer are vulnerable on private land; This means landowners can shoot them without permission if they cause damage or pose a risk.
However, Erdoğan did not respond to questions about concerns about illegal hunting.
Richard Leppitt backs the push to declare deer a pest species. He said changing the classification of wild animal would put the burden on the state government and its agencies to act with greater coordination and urgency to combat the problem.
This can also help prevent deer from entering your property and trespassers who follow them.
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Benjamin Preiss is regional editor of The Age. He was previously a state tour correspondent and also covered education for The Age.Connect with: X or email.
