Ground shooting operations of feral deer with professional contractors combined with aerial shooting, helps to achieve landscape scale eradication in a short timeframe.

Professional ground shooting contractors use self-reloading firearms matched with suppressors and thermal assisted scopes to reduce noise and impact to livestock and target feral deer at nighttime when they are moving from native vegetation into open feeding areas.

Ground shooting is conducted across the Limestone Coast on conservation areas, public lands, private properties and roadsides.

Where reasonable deer carcasses are retrieved for meat harvesting.

The LC Landscape Board will provide additional correspondence to notify landholders participating in ground shooting when operations will be commencing.

The LC Landscape Board undertakes shooting operations in partnership with PIRSA and the Department for Environment and Water.

Additional ground shooting operations are conducted by Conservation and Wildlife Management of South Australia (CWMSA) on conservation parks.

Ground shooting schedule for 2025

The following months are scheduled for ground shooting being managed by the LC Landscape Board. Please note, dates and areas are subject to change.

• 20 January to 30 June 2025 - Ground culling operation on private land in the upper Limestone Coast.
• 1 February to 30 June 2025 - Ground culling operation on selected roadsides within the Kingston SE District Council area for approximately 10 days of every month. Roads included are Minnie Crowe Road, Taratap Road, Hirsts Firetrack, Vogelsang Lane, Bald Hill Road, Ballater Road, Beaumaris Road, Bells Road, Bin Bin Road, Blackford Road, Burns Road, Cantara Road, Carrachers Road, Henry Creek Road, James Road, Log Crossing South Road, Marwoods Road, Minnamurra Road, Mount Scott Road, Murrabina Road, Nyroca Road, Paraweena Road, Petherick Road, Pigeon Box Road, Robertson Road, Swedes Flat Road, Tapfield Road, Taunta Hut Road, Thomas Road, Vandepeer Road, Verco Road, Water Valley Road, West Range Road and Williams Road.

Aerial shooting of feral animals from a helicopter is an effective and efficient technique that can be used across a variety of habitats. Aerial shooting is also ideal in heavily vegetated, inaccessible areas during the day when deer are seeking cover.

To maximise effectiveness and efficiency of aerial operations, the thermal assisted aerial culling technique is used where appropriate.

Aerial shooting can remove feral deer missed by other control programs (e.g. ground shooting or trapping), helping to achieve landscape scale eradication in a short timeframe.

Aerial shooting schedule for 2025

The following dates are scheduled for aerial shooting for autumn 2025 across approved areas of public land, managed conservation areas, privately managed plantations and participating private properties across the Limestone Coast. Please note these dates and areas are subject to change and will be updated accordingly.

• 24 to 28 March 2025 – Northern and central Limestone Coast aerial culling operation on areas of private land surrounding Narrung, Meningie West, Meningie, the Coorong, Field, Colebatch, Keith, Keilira, Taratap, Kingston, Fairview, Cole, Spence and Robe. Conservation Parks (CP) and Conservation Reserves (CR) will include: Bangham CP, Big Heath CP, Bunbury CR, Desert Camp CP, Desert Camp CR, Fairview CP, Furner CP, Geegeela CP, Gum Lagoon CP, Hanson Scrub CP, Jip Jip CP, Kungari CP, Lake Hawdon South CP, Lake St Clair CP, Mary Seymour CP, Martin Washpool CP, Messent CP, Mount Boothby CP, Mount Scott CP, Reedy Creek CP, Talapar CP, Tilley Swamp CP and Woakwine CP. The Coorong National Park closure applies from the 25 to 27 March and from an east-west line at Policeman Point (Lat 36.0597° S, Long 139.5802° E) to the southern boundary of the Coorong National Park (Lat 36.5363° S, Long 139.8314° E), the Younghusband Peninsula from a north-south line at Mosquito Bay (Lat 35.5751° S, Long 138.9439° E) to the southern boundary of the Coorong National Park (Lat 36.4662° S, Long 139.7908° E, and 'Potters Scrub' (located on the Narrung Peninsula).
• 26 April to 4 May 2025 - Central Limestone Coast aerial culling operation on Wattle Range forestry areas, conservation areas and surrounding private properties.
  Native Forestry Reserves (NFR), Conservation Parks (CP) and Conservation Reserves (CR) will include: Big Heath CP, Calectasia CP, Burr Slopes South NFR, Claypans NFR, Furner CP, Konetta NFR, Khayam NFR, Lake Edward NFR, Mary Seymour CP, McRosties NFR, Mt Lyon NFR, Native Wells NFR, Penola CP, Overland Track NFR, Reedy Creek CP, Rock Shelter NFR, and the Marshes NFR.
• 5 May to 11 May 2025 - Northern Limestone Coast aerial culling operation on private properties and conservation areas of Salt Creek, Deepwater, Tilley Swamp, Petherick, Taratap and Keilira. Conservation Parks (CP) and Conservation Reserves (CR) will include: Bunbury CR, Desert Camp CR, Desert Camp CP, Gum Lagoon CP, Hanson Scrub CP, Jip-Jip CP, Martin Washpool CP, Messent CP, Tilley Swamp CP and the Southern section of the Coorong (NP). The closure of the Coorong applies from an east-west line at Policeman Point (Lat 36.0597° S, Long 139.5802° E) to the southern boundary of the Coorong National Park (Lat 36.5363° S, Long 139.8314° E).
• 24 August to 16 September 2025 - Northern and Central Limestone Coast aerial culling operation on forestry areas, conservation areas and private properties.

Forestry reserve closures are detailed online at www.forestrysa.com.au on the ‘before you visit’ page, ‘forest closures and alerts’ tab.

Park and Reserve closures are detailed online at www.parks.sa.gov.au on the ‘Closures and Alerts’ page.

The Limestone Coast Landscape Board undertakes its shooting operations in partnership with PIRSA and the Department for Environment and Water.

Pilots will endeavour to minimise disturbance to farm houses, working sheds, horse yards and areas containing livestock.

During operations enquiries should be directed to the Limestone Coast Landscape Board on 0437 030 266.

The LC Landscape Board is committed to supporting landholders to eradicate feral deer on their properties and monitoring to determine the distribution and abundance of feral deer across the region is a key component of the Program.

Information collected from the monitoring inform the LC Landscape Board’s Feral Deer Eradication Program. Sightings on private land are reported to the landholders concerned who are then encouraged to participate in the LC Landscape Boards aerial and ground shooting operations.

Ground monitoring is being used to support aerial monitoring and uses a combination of thermal assisted and visual spotting of feral deer along driven transects in priority areas. The ground monitoring has been conducted with Burrandies Aboriginal Corporation through funding support from the South Australian Government Landscape Priorities Fund.

The deer farm compliance operations of the LC Landscape Board supports the Feral Deer Eradication Program through actions to prevent farmed deer escaping and boosting the feral deer population in the Limestone Coast.

Under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019 (the Act), deer are declared either for destruction or control depending on whether they are classified as feral or domestic (farmed) deer.

As part of the compliance operations, Landscape Officers with the LC Landscape Board work directly with deer farmers to ensure all farmed deer are ear tagged and confined to clearly differentiate them from feral deer.

Deer farm inspections have followed an awareness campaign to registered deer farmers reminding them of the obligations when farming deer.

Results of the Limestone Coast Landscape Board (LC Landscape Board) aerial monitoring and shooting operations, and the findings from the Feral Deer Economic Impact Assessment report have been the catalyst for significant investment over the next three years to contribute to the feral deer eradication effort.

The LC Landscape Board Feral Deer Eradication Program funding partners include:

• Commonwealth funds
• Limestone Coast regional landscape levy
• The Australian Government’s ‘Supporting Communities Manage Pest Animals and Weeds Program’
• Department of Primary Industries and Regions, South Australia

The LC Landscape Board also work closely with groups such as National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia, Burrandies Aboriginal Corporation and the Conservation & Wildlife Management (CWM) SA.

The Conservation & Wildlife Management (CWM) a member group of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA) South Australia, have been in partnership with the Department for Environment and Water (DEW) since 1992 also completing activities for SA Water, Forestry SA, Nature Foundation and many other organisations.

For further information on CWMSA activities or to join the organisation please visit Conservation and Wildlife Management (SA) Inc (cwmsa.com.au).

The Limestone Coast Landscape Board applaud the efforts of the CWMSA program as we all work to eradicate feral deer from the Limestone Coast.