The NSW Government is contemplating introducing a regulation to remove the game status of deer.
If approved, removing the status would put the animals in the same boat as other pests, allowing licensed gun owners to shoot feral deer on their private properties.
The calls for action have come off the back of growing deer populations in the state which have seen a 17% increase in the last ten years.
Minister for Agriculture, Adam Marshall says removing deer game status is the common sense solution.
“There’s lots of options on the table that I’m considering at the moment but certainly this is the common sense solution.”Mr Marshall said.
“Feral deer have become a really huge problem for Framers right across NSW.
“Wild deer are treated very differently to all other feral and pest animals like rabbits, foxes, feral goats, pigs and wild dogs where you can destroy them without a license on private land.
“With Deer they’ve always been in a special category and that’s why it’s been hard for farmers to take action on private land to keep their numbers under control.”
