THE BLOND BAY HOG DEER PROJECT

LOOKING BACK Ken Slee and Barry Howlett

Hands up all those who would love to get a gig hunting a hog deer stag on Snake Island. Just about every keen deer hunter in the country would give that a very enthusiastic ‘Yes!’ and with good reason, as the island is central to the hog deer story in coastal Gippsland.

After almost 50 years of persistent lobbying by the ADA, the political stars finally aligned, and it happened. Hard work and a long and positive campaign finally won through, and Snake Island was added to the long-running Blond Bay Hog Deer Ballot with the first hunt in 2017.

But before we continue with the Snake Island story, let’s take a look at some history of the origins of the Blond Bay Ballot and hog deer hunt.

Initial Set-up

Back in 1982, the John Cain-led Labor Government was elected after years of Liberal/National rule. One conservation priority for the new government was to shift the focus of Serendip Wildlife Research Station near Geelong to native species only; the majority of the station’s 50 behind-wire hog deer had to go!

The then Deer Advisory Council of Victoria, which was made up of representatives from the hunting organisations, was asked by the government to evaluate options for dispersing the Serendip hog deer. They suggested that the 2,100ha Blond Bay State Game Reserve on the northern shore of the Gippsland Lakes near Bairnsdale was the most suitable site for relocation as it was within the species’ existing range, numbers there were low or non-existent, and the local East Gippsland Branch of ADA was keen to take a key role.

In early 1984, ADA’s East Gippsland Branch member David Young was appointed as the Project Coordinator. Paul Kelly, the Conservation Department’s Wildlife Management Officer, liaised with David and other hunter representatives to develop the program and to form a management group representing government, ADA and SSAA members, local landowners and conservation interests; the Blond Bay Hog Deer Advisory Group was formed with Paul as Chairperson.

A pen was constructed at Blond Bay from materials removed from Dutson Downs near Sale, where several hog deer liberations had previously occurred. Groups of deer were held in this pen for a few weeks to settle them and familiarise them with the area before the gates were opened and they were released to the wild.

Between mid-1984 and February 1987, a total of 44 deer were transferred to Blond Bay for release; the original 18 from Serendip and then 26 captured and donated in three lots by Para Park Cooperative of Sunday Island.

In April 1986, a management plan was written in consultation with local landowners, Departmental staff, Para Park members and Max Downes, a game management consultant. The management plan recognised that open-slather hunting in Blond Bay would decimate the deer, so it was recommended that a ballot be used to limit hunter numbers and that a $10 entry fee be used to fund administration and other expenses. Every good project requires a logo, and Mick Kraguljac provided one that is still used today.

When the Blond Bay Hog Deer Project commenced, there was great scepticism among those involved that the releases would be successful - the deer might not breed successfully, or that poaching, 1080 poison or some other calamity would destroy the group’s efforts. However, it quickly became clear after the first release that the deer had acclimatised to the reserve, were mostly staying close to the release pen, and were breeding successfully. Best of all, the hunting community had grasped the significance of the project, and illegal hunting appeared not to be a threat to the survival of the small deer population.

The First Hunt

In late 1988, with an increasing deer population in Blond Bay, it was decided that the first ballot hunt would take place in April 1989. The ballot was widely advertised, and entries were received from all over Australia, indicating the high level of interest and support for the initiative.

In this first balloted hunt, seven deer were taken, and the program was hailed as a great success. Buoyed by this result, hunters hoped that a similar ballot would open up additional areas to legal hunting. Three areas with well-established hog deer populations were high on this agenda: Boole Poole Peninsula, Snake Island and Wilsons Promontory.

Boole Poole Peninsula

Much of this peninsula on the southern shore of the Gippsland Lakes had been farmed before ownership passed to property developers, and the area started to revert to scrub. A mix of heavy cover and open feeding areas made Boole Poole a very popular hog deer hunting area, perhaps the most productive in the species’ range in the early 1980s.

However, in 1987, the majority of Boole Poole reverted to public ownership and was added to the existing Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park. All hunting was excluded despite this option never having been considered during land-use planning.

Then, after lobbying by ADA and deerstalker groups, and with extensive support from Departmental staff, access was gained to a section of the peninsula for hunting. The area was still prime hog deer habitat at the time, and the first ballot hunt took place there in 1992 and was another resounding success.

Snake Island

Since it’s formation in 1969, ADA had pursued hunting access to Snake Island in South Gippsland, as it held perhaps the most significant hog deer population in Gippsland while being a Mecca for game thieves. Snake Island is part of Victoria’s Nooramunga Marine and Coastal Park.

After balloted hunting was shown to be successful elsewhere, the campaign to gain access to Snake Island gained new momentum. However, any proposal still faced opposition from the locals who already had access to Snake Island, with ‘safety’ and ‘negative impact’ on them being their trump cards.

In January 1996, with tentative approval for a trial balloted hunt on the island, David Treasure, the local National Party member of parliament, drew names for Snake Island as well as for the established balloted hunts on Blond Bay and Boole Poole. However, this first hunt never went ahead as lobbying by those opposed to hunting on ‘their island’ saw it cancelled primarily based on safety concerns.

Finally, in 2016, following two risk assessments conducted by Victoria Police, which found that there was no risk to the public from legal hunting on the island, the political stars aligned, and assent was given for trial hunts on Snake Island. Credit for this result rests with the many ADA members who had pursued this outcome over many years, but particularly ADA’s then Executive Officer Barry Howlett, Minister Neville and Daniel Young and Jeff Bourman of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, who brought it home.

In that first year, 53 hunters took 40 hog deer on Snake Island, compared to 11 at Blond Bay and only two on Boole Poole, numbers that highlighted the value of the island for hunting. This high success rate continues to the present time, with 20 deer taken by hunters during 2022.

Hunter Education

As the Blond Bay Hog Deer Ballot is open to anyone with a shooter licence and game permit, many of those drawn to hunt have either not hunted deer before or have never hunted this very different and challenging species.

Initially, hunter education was conducted by ADA at Bairnsdale, as it is close to both Blond Bay and Boole Poole. Still, in recent years, it has been conducted on Sunday Island, as the ballot focus has shifted more to nearby Snake Island. Hunter education has always involved talks by experienced hunters and a tour of hog deer habitat to discuss hunting tactics and safety.

As with every other aspect of the long-running Blond Bay Ballot, hunter education has involved numerous volunteer workers, way too many to list here, but the success of the program is very much due to their unstinting efforts.

Forty Years On

Parks Victoria controls all three balloted areas, and no management is carried out specifically to benefit the hog deer or to facilitate hunting. In the cases of Blond Bay and Boole Poole, both areas that were farmed in the past, this means that they have reverted to impenetrable scrub in recent years so that their value as habitat for hog deer has declined greatly. As a result, the number of deer taken from these areas has declined, as has trophy quality, leaving Snake Island the jewel in the crown of the Blond Bay Ballot.

Blond Bay Hog Deer Advisory Group

This group consists of a range of hunters with expertise in public administration, deer management, land management and conservation and is supported by the Game Management Authority and Parks Victoria. The Advisory Group, as the name suggests, advises land managers on the settings for balloted hunting and works with agencies and other groups to fund improvements to hunter amenities and conservation values in the balloted hunting areas and to support research into wild hog deer.

Significance

Having a place to hunt hog deer has always been a privilege as it is a rare commodity, even if you live locally. That is why the Blond Bay Hog Deer Project is so significant. It has provided access to prime hog deer country for hundreds of hunters over the past 34 years, hunters who would mostly not have had the same opportunity otherwise.

The long-running Blond Bay Hog Deer Project has demonstrated how cooperation between hunting organisations and the government delivers significant benefits. It utilises a valuable public resource, hunters gain a unique experience, the economic activity generated benefits the wider community and bureaucrats, and politicians gain the plaudits of a very appreciative hunting community.