TASMANIAN FALLOW DEER MANAGEMENT

Then in the early 1970s a wildlife biologist from Europe, the late Hans Wapstra, joined the PWS and instigated a new regime where hunters could take two does based on the scientific principles of a balanced sex ratio. Pandemonium ensued with hunter numbers tripling overnight from around 1,000 and trespass exploding as the vast majority of the State’s fallow deer exist on private property. Unfortunately, the science behind the new management regime was poorly communicated and explained. It attracted the wrath of many hunters locked in old mind-sets.

In February 1977 the late Ernie Spencer and Ian Peck brought ADA to Tasmania from Victoria. Public meetings were held in the north and south of the State where concerns about the future of deer and hunting were expressed and branches were formed in each region.

Meanwhile there was a constant battle between hunters, the PWS and landowners and in an effort to address this war, the Tasmanian Deer Advisory Committee (TDAC) was formed, made up of hunting groups and the PWS.

The ongoing imbalance in the sex ratio and increasing doe numbers had not been addressed and the vast majority of bucks shot were still immature which led many hunters to the erroneous conclusion that the genetics of the Tasmanian population was ‘poor’ and needed to be improved by the introduction of new genetic material.

Time for Change?

In the early 1980s the Australian Deer Research Foundation Ltd (ADRF) sponsored a visit to Tasmania by wildlife biologist Max Downes to discuss deer management with ADA members. This led to some very spirited conversations but many hunters remained sceptical about scientific deer management.

My introduction to science in the management of deer came in 1981 when I attended an ADA National Conference. I was only 27 at the time and by chance sat down beside an old-time hunter who ‘hit me between the eyes’ by challenging my knowledge. “How do you know?” in the absence of knowledge based on science. The ‘old fella’ was Mike Harrison. He triggered a life-long passion in me for the deer and ADA, culminating in me becoming the first National President from outside Victoria in 1986.

Outwardly nothing much happened in Tasmania after Max’s trip but in ADA it was largely recognised that something had to be done if deer hunting was to have a future in the state; hunters were petrified that deer hunting would be deregulated and commercial harvesting instituted.

In the meantime, along came a proposal to trap wild deer for farming. The TDAC after considerable consultation with the proponents supported the proposal provided it was strictly regulated and a royalty paid for each deer trapped. Fellow ADA member Kevin Rayner and I wrote the Government’s deer farming policy document (simply because PWS didn’t have one) and strongly recommended that deer farming not be allowed outside the existing deer range. The Government ignored the warning, added a metre or two to fencing requirements and allowed deer farms statewide. The current problematic spread of deer in the wild across the state from the far south to the far north west is a direct consequence of ignoring that advice. Deer farming crashed (as had goats, emus, buffalo, etc., before them) and deer were let loose across the state as there was little market for venison and deer farmers could not as a consequence afford to feed their deer.

Then in 1990 the ADRF sponsored South Carolina wildlife biologist Joe Hamilton to visit Australia, including a tour of Tasmania. Joe visited deer hunting properties with ADA members and addressed public meetings on whitetail deer management in the United States and how Quality Deer Management (QDM) delivered through a Property Based Game Management (PBGM) regime could potentially be applied in Tasmania.

Kevin Rayner, who wrote a column in The Mercury newspaper, wrote a highly supportive report on Joe’s visit and suggestions.

Quality Deer Management1

The aim of QDM is to achieve high quality deer herds in balance with their environment, meaning the natural, cultural and farming environments, within which they reside. The core principles include voluntary restraint of harvesting young male deer, while reducing the overall deer population by increasing the harvest of antlerless deer so as to deliver the outcomes desired by farmers, foresters, game hunters and conservationists.

Property Based Game Management

These plans are a formal tool for property owners to use as a communication mechanism between them and their employees, professional shooters and recreational hunters. The plans include a formal indemnity protecting the landowner, requirement for hunters to have public liability insurance cover through a major hunting association (ADA, SSAA), detailed QDM objectives, access to the property, requirements to record animals harvested, the animals able to be harvested (deer, wallaby, possum, rabbits, hares, ducks), and other factors such as wood cutting, use of vehicles and tracks. They may also detail a payment to the landowner for access and volunteer work obligations like assisting with fencing repair.

A Stalemate - No Progress

While Joe’s talks ‘lit a positive fuse’ among many hunters, there was still scepticism outside ADA. Members of the ADA clearly recognised that Tasmania needed some external expertise to come in without local baggage to eliminate the historic wars between the various interested parties, and to advance deer management in the state. Even the TDAC representatives could not agree on a way forward.

During a second trip to Tasmania by Joe Hamilton, again sponsored by ADRF and with the support of ADA members, a plot was hatched to retain a wildlife biologist experienced in QDM and PBGM. Still nothing happened!

In desperation in 1991, Ken Orr and I, in consultation with landowner Paul Ellis, wrote a proposal Fallow Deer in Tasmania – What Future? to document a possible way forward. It included a detailed approach, strategy, objectives, the retention of a wildlife biologist, a re-vamp of the TDAC and a rough budget. Eventually Ken and I were invited to a meeting of the TDAC where we passionately put the case to retain an external wildlife biologist to develop a strategic way forward and give direction on the ground. To their credit, the TDAC members supported the proposal.

Finally, Some On-Ground Action

The concepts of PBGM and QDM remained a dream until 1993 when Garry Bowden of the Fallow Deer Club convinced the relevant government minister to give the TDAC access to the $200,000 collected by the Government in the 1980s as royalties from the trapping of wild deer to establish deer farming. The money was languishing in the Game Management Trust Fund, not earning interest and being whittled away. It was provided to resource a three-year Fallow Deer Management Project. The TDAC had to broaden its membership to include the Farmers and Graziers Association and Deer Farmers Council.

On Joe Hamilton’s recommendation, Brian Murphy, from Georgia in the United States, was interviewed for the role as he had extensive qualifications and experience. However, at only 27, how would he cope with a seemingly impossible task? We took the risk and never looked back!

To employ Brian, we had to obtain the requisite visas, including proving to Immigration that there was no Australian who had the requisite qualifications and experience to undertake the job. It was a long and arduous, but ultimately successful, process and approval was granted in July, 1993. The first three years were so successful that the government minister and Farmers and Graziers Association endorsed an extension until July, 1997.

Brian and his wife Heidi arrived in Hobart in August, 1993, and over the next four years Brian clocked up 140,000 kilometres, made 230 trips to deer range, made contact with 270 landowners, attended hundreds of meetings and made close to 200 presentations to groups particularly in Tasmania, but also via external funding to meetings in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. In his last year he worked within and guided the PWS in establishing a Game Management Unit (GMU).

Brian held a range of training sessions of various duration on subjects such as deer biology, deer aging and data collection. Many participants became active promoters of QDM and PBGM and the GMU employed staff to work on preparing PBGM Plans for landowners.

On completion of the project Brian produced a comprehensive 126-page report titled Tasmanian Deer Advisory Committee Inc.’ Fallow Deer Project (1993-1997), Final Report. Very informative and well worth a read if you are able to access a copy. It contains data and graphs showing a defined and dramatic shift in hunting culture but, in particular, the taking of does and the increasing age structure of the annual buck take driven by the improvement in hunter knowledge and selectivity.

The outcomes of Brian’s work included establishment of a QDM framework incorporated in PBGM plans, a Game Management Unit (now Game Services Tasmania – GST, a unit within the greater Department of Natural Resources and Environment) and perhaps most importantly, far greater communication, cooperation and understanding between landowners, hunters and the GST.

The Hon John Cleary MHA, Tasmanian Minister for National Parks and Wildlife, praised Brian when his employment ended for showing how difficult and complex management issues can be resolved.

The relationship established by Joe Hamilton and Brian Murphy is ongoing with three North American deer management experts, Dr. Craig Harper, Dr. Bronson Strickland and Kip Adams visiting Tasmania during 2023 to talk to hunters about QDM and PBGM.

Legacy

The number one legacy of the efforts that ADA, ADRF and others involved in the employment and support of Brian Murphy was greater understanding and cooperation between the three principal stakeholders (landowners, government and hunters and their organisations) and consequently greater on-going Government support for recreational hunting.

Brian’s work led to a dramatic change in deer hunting culture:

There is now a new generation of hunters who were not exposed to Brian and consequently have little or no understanding of QDM. Unfortunately, many of the old myths are still prevalent in the absence of a ‘how to’ fallow deer QDM manual and hunting in the rut stories in magazines where young immature bucks are regarded as antlered trophy heads (but quite legitimate in other States where the objective is to simply take a deer).

Game Services Tasmania (GST) continues a requirement for landowners to have PBGM plans if they wish to obtain permits for the taking of male deer outside the formal March season and the spotlighting of bucks, does, wallaby and possum to facilitate their management.

While Brian Murphy’s direct impact was in Tasmania, there is no doubt that he had a wider influence elsewhere in Australia as well as in New Zealand through his advocacy of QDM – for example, via the management of fallow deer in South Australia, hog deer in Victoria and through Cam Speedy’s great work with sika deer in the North Island of New Zealand.

Legislative Council Inquiry

In 2017, as a result of widespread public concern, a committee of the Legislative Council, Upper House in the Tasmanian Parliament, undertook an inquiry into the issues with wild fallow deer in Tasmania. The concerns arose largely from deer being sighted way outside the traditional range from the far south to the far northwest of the state and becoming a problem in peri-urban areas. The ADA, TDAC, SSAA and many individuals made submissions and gave verbal evidence before the committee.

The principal outcomes included the desire for a scientific assessment of the wild deer population and their locations, and the development of a formal management plan.

Tasmanian Game Council

In 2018 the Government, through the GST, established a high-level Game Council with membership from a cross-section of the Tasmanian community but excluding representatives of any hunting associations at grass roots level. The TDAC, ADA and SSAA all objected but were ignored until early this year when the Government minister showing firm support for recreational wild deer hunting appointed Scott Freeman from ADA and Andrew Lockett, Chair of the TDAC, to the committee.

Contemporary Statement of Quality Deer Management

In 2019 the Government developed a contemporary statement of QDM with core principles to be applied in managing wild fallow deer (Google ‘Contemporary Statement of Quality Deer Management’).

It is believed that the development of this statement was driven by the Deputy Premier at the time, who as a farmer had met Brian Murphy during the deer project. It was Brian’s work that led the highest levels of the Government to endorse QDM so profoundly.

Five Year Management Plan

The Tasmanian Wild Fallow Deer Management Plan 2022-27 was developed during 2021-22 in consultation with the general public. Of course, ADA and individual members made detailed submissions on the plan.

The plan divides the State into three zones roughly comprising the traditional deer range, a buffer zone and the rest of Tasmania. In brief, wild deer in the traditional range are to be managed under QDM principles through PBGM plans for recreational hunting (zone 1); numbers are to be substantially reduced by hunting in the buffer zone (zone 2); and eliminated from the remainder of the State (zone 3). If the Government of the day in the 1980s had listened to ADA and not allowed deer farming outside the traditional range there would not today be a need for zone 3.

Management is to be evidence-based and requires the regular science-based monitoring of Tasmania’s wild deer herd and its geographic spread.

Overall, the plan is reasonable. The elimination of wild deer from zone 3 and peri-urban areas will relieve the pressure from the public and the Greens to deregulate and eliminate wild deer from Tasmania altogether.

To see the plan, Google ‘Tasmanian Wild Fallow Deer Management Plan’.

Economic Assessment

The TDAC had pushed for over 20 years for a professional independent study of the economic contribution of recreational deer hunting. The study was undertaken during 2023 and identified a contribution to Gross State Product of $15.9 million direct and $13.4 million indirect with 144 direct and 79 indirect full-time jobs from deer hunting.

For details, Google ‘Economic Contribution of Hunting Tasmania’.

Today

Today there are still many on-going and evolving challenges. To name a few, the issues include staffing of the GST being a fraction of its original; there are considerable political (Green) pressures for the deregulation of deer hunting; helicopter culling of deer from the World Heritage Area and neighbouring properties; poaching is rife with poor policing and low application of penalties; issues with peri-urban deer; the spread of deer to far corners of the state (primarily as a result of the collapse of deer farming in those localities); exaggeration in the media of the population of wild deer and impacts of deer, and the commercialisation of deer harvesting for the commercial wild-shot venison market. Fortunately, the current Tasmanian Government is a strong supporter of recreational hunting as evidenced by its continuing support of QDM, the five-year plan and appointment early this year of grass roots hunting representation on its Game Management Council.

The current Tasmanian Government is a strong supporter of recreational hunting.

Final Word

It is suggested that if it had not been for the input of ADRF and ADA way back in the 1980s and the evolution of the Brian Murphy project, the opportunity for many hunters to participate in recreational wild deer hunting in Tasmania may have significantly declined by now.

The young hunters of the 1980s who drove the positive changes are ageing. It’s time for younger hunters to stand up and ensure the longevity of quality recreational wild deer hunting in Tasmania.