Nearly 160,000 deer were harvested across Victoria last year, according to the latest report from the Victorian Game Management Authority (GMA).
GMA has released the Estimates of the 2025 deer harvest in Victoria report, showing 158,500 deer were taken last year – down from the 167,600 taken in 2024 but well above the long-term average of 95,400 per annum since 2009.
The majority of deer harvested in Victoria last year were sambar, with an estimated take of 118,400 deer – 54% of which were female.
Fallow deer were the next most commonly harvested deer species at 38,000, 55% being female).
They were followed by red deer (1400 deer; 33% female) and hog deer (400), with rusa rounding out the report (200).
There were 51,347 people with Victorian deer-hunting licenses last year, 55% of whom actively hunted in 2025, spending a cumulative 313,500 days in the field – the majority in April, June and August.
On average, each hunter spent 11 days hunting and harvested an average of 5.6 deer.
The regions around the towns of Mansfield, Bairnsdale, Corryong, Wodonga and Alexandra proved to be the most popular hunting areas; the largest number of deer were harvested around Mansfield, Bairndale and Heyfield.
The majority of hunting was done without dogs on public land (around half the total hunting days), with less dog-less hunting done on private land (37% of hunting days).
Interestingly, private land hunters without dogs accounted for more of the deer harvest (42%) than those hunting on public land (38%).
GMA research principal Dr Jason Flesch said around 4700 deer hunters participated in the phone survey, providing information about their hunting activity — including how many deer were harvested, where hunting occurred, their hunting methods and the species of deer harvested.
“This research helps build a stronger understanding of deer harvest trends and hunting activity in Victoria,” he said.
The Estimates of the 2025 deer harvest in Victoria report, along with the reports for previous years, can be found here: https://www.gma.vic.gov.au/research/deer-research.
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