A leading north-eastern Victorian Landcare coordinator has rejected calls to reclassify feral deer as a pest species.
Currently, all Victorian deer species are declared as protected wildlife and listed as game, allowing them to be hunted.
The Invasive Species Council has again argued that protection should be lifted, following the release of a Frontier Economics report which said feral deer could cost the community between $1.5 billion and $2.2 billion over the next 30 years.
The council's Victorian Deer Project officer Peter Jacobs said current government policies were not helping.
"The fact deer remain protected, under the Wildlife Act, is a relic of decades ago when they were being managed for hunting," Mr Jacobs said.
"While that's been the case, their numbers have increased massively.
"While hunting certainly takes out some deer, it's not strategic - we are saying they need to be treated like rabbits and foxes; they need to be considered a pest species."
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But Mitta to Murray Landcare network coordinator Simon Feillafe, Barranduda, said while he agreed deer were having a huge financial impact they should still be covered by the Wildlife Act.
"If you look at the figures of how much money is being spent on deer, versus species like rabbits, foxes, or pigs, you will find more is being spent on deer than any of them," Mr Feillafe said.
"You can't hunt feral animals in certain parks, so there are thousands of hectares that are now available that you lock out, if you change the legislation.
"A control that is free to the state is going to be taken away - we don't value the true extent of how many people go hunting."
He said he had been involved in deer control for more than 25 years and changing the status of the animals would push hunters onto private land, where they caused more issues.
"I am happy to keep shooters in the bush, away from everyone," he said.
Mr Feillafe said he was also concerned about the environmental impact of feral deer,
The deer problem was particularly bad, during cold weather and winter, he said.
"As soon as the cold weather comes, your blackberries drop their leaves and lose quality and the native grasses lose their nutritional value - so that forces the deer onto paddocks and improved pastures," he said.
"The deer rotationally graze ahead of the cows or sheep, they pick the best pastures, absolutely."
Simon Lawlor runs sheep and cattle in the Upper Livingstone Valley, 12 kilometres south of Omeo, and deer should no longer be classified as a game species.
"They are this generation's rabbits - they are that thick," Mr Lawlor said.
He said the good season meant there had been limited impact on his paddocks lately, but another problem had emerged.
"One of the things I am greatly concerned about is that I am starting to see deer around the cows when they are coming into season, especially heifers," Mr Lawlor said.
"The deer are trying to mate with the females.
"I run upwards 100 heifers a year to try and join, are the deer having an adverse effect on getting heifers in calf?"
He said he had to change his management strategies to move the heifers away from any bush line country, which had an impact on how he wanted to run the property.
Lifting the classification would allow the use of more control measures, such as poison.
"As far as I am aware the biggest way to reduce populations is by poisoning, you have seen that with rabbits and dogs and all sorts of feral animals," Mr Lawlor said.
But he said he believed recreational shooting was adding to the problem.
"In most cases the recreational shooter is only after a trophy, so he is just providing opportunity for young stags," he said.
"Or you have the illegal hunters, who just want to drive along with a spotlight, or use thermal imaging gear."