Thread: Dogging deer under lockdown

Pretty common in some areas up north, I see no difference between that and pig hunting. I wouldn't personally do it and I have done a fair bit of pig hunting in the past. I think where people have a problem is that they think of deer as graceful animals and people like having them as opposed to pigs which are seen as a massive menace and not a very graceful creature. Each to their own how they choose to hunt.

In the highlands of Victoria and New South Wales, hunting deer with dogs is normal. It’s a lot more controlled by regulations than our pig hunting. Dogs are not allowed to bite or hold deer, only bail them up. The Aussies are also only allowed to hunt with certain breeds.

I’ve come across dog teams in the Vic High Country a few times. Men, women and kids on horseback, a couple of dogs with high vis vests, big bore single shot rifles etc etc. The people involved are straight up, ordinary folk.

In autumn of 2015 I was stalking a large sambar stag on the edge of the Alpine NP near Benambra - would have been my biggest ever deer by some margin - when two spaniels of some variety came hooning though the bush and wrecked the hunt. Never saw the hunters. Shit happens.

I’ve no idea what the guy chasing deer into the sea is all about, but some strange and highly questionable stuff happens here for sure, especially on the farms with spotlights and .223s... the cockies can get pretty farkin’ ruthless when it comes to deer eating their cattle or sheep feed and wrecking fences in the process.