Helping our community reduce the impact of feral deer — together.
A Yarra Ranges Shire Council program, supported locally by Steels Creek, Dixons Creek and Chum Creek Landcare groups, running successfully across our area for over three years.
Why Deer Management Matters
Feral deer populations across the Yarra Ranges are at record levels and continue to grow. In our local area, surveys and participant feedback have consistently identified four key concerns.
Property Damage
Fences, pasture, gardens, orchards, vineyards, native plantings and remnant bush all suffer from sustained browsing and trampling.
Road Safety
Deer-vehicle collisions have caused serious accidents on local roads. Several near-misses and collisions on Steels Creek Road alone are reported every year.
Biosecurity
Deer can carry and spread parasites and pathogens that affect livestock, native species and crops.
Illegal Shooting
High deer numbers attract illegal shooters into the area, putting property owners, livestock and pets at risk. As deer numbers reduce, the area becomes less attractive to them.
About the Program
The Yarra Ranges Shire Deer Management Program is run and funded by Yarra Ranges Shire Council, with annual state government funding. It is delivered by a professional culling team with deep local experience.
Your local Landcare groups' role is to:
- Connect interested landholders to the program coordinator
- Maintain a private participant WhatsApp group for local updates
- Provide mid-year and end-of-year reports
- Run an annual survey to feed back what's working and what isn't
- Advocate to Council and funders for the program's continuation and expansion
The program collaborates with neighbouring councils (Knox, Nillumbik, Manningham), Parks Victoria, and Melbourne Water to coordinate control across the broader landscape.
Our Track Record
Three years of coordinated effort across the Yarra Ranges — measurable, cost-effective, and consistently rated by participants.
Local participation in Steels Creek has grown from a handful of properties at program inception in 2023, doubling in the last 2 years. Roughly one in three Steels Creek properties is now actively engaged in the program.
Three Ways Forward
Want to know more first?
Keep reading below — the next sections cover what participation actually looks like, the professional team, and what participants are saying.
Read moreReady to register?
Email us with your property details and we'll connect you to the program coordinator.
Register interestPrefer a quick chat?
No obligation. Reply by email with your number and a good time, and we'll give you a call.
Request a chatWhat Being a Participant Looks Like
This is the most important section to read before signing up, because it sets honest expectations.
How property visits actually work
The program is not a property-by-property visiting service. Approximately 150 properties are registered across the Shire and each year's budget is finite. Visits are scheduled based on:
- Where deer are most active at the time
- Where adjoining participating properties allow the culler to track deer movements across boundaries
- Where the cull yield per night is highest
- Property access, terrain, and safety considerations
In practice this means some properties may be visited 12 times a year, others perhaps once, and some not at all in a given year — even though they're registered and valued participants.
Why being registered still matters
Every property on the program contributes to the whole. Sambar deer regularly move 10 to 20 kilometres across the landscape, with individual dispersal events of 60+ kilometres documented in genetic studies. They cross property boundaries without a second thought, and the more properties registered in our area, the more flexibility the culler has to follow deer, work safely, and maximise results.
A single deer removed from your neighbour's block — or from a property 10 km down the road — can be one less deer browsing your garden, damaging your fences, or stepping onto Steels Creek Road.
The collective 881 deer culled across the Shire in the program's first two years (July 2023 – June 2025) is the result of registered properties working as one operational area — not 150 separate visits.
A note on smaller properties
Smaller blocks on their own (under ~20 acres) can be challenging. Safe shooting lines are limited and the cost-per-deer can be hard to justify. But when neighbouring small properties register together, the picture changes completely — the culler can work the cluster as a single operational area and follow deer across boundaries.
If you're on a smaller block, it's still worth registering, and even more worth encouraging your neighbours to do the same.
The Professional Team
The 2026 program team has over 10 years' experience as a professional culling company, is a local identity of over 20 years' standing, and has personally removed more than 4,000 deer from the environment. All culled deer are sent for processing as premium pet food — nothing is wasted.
The team's skill set goes well beyond shooting. They:
- Have used thermal drones in the past for precise night-time operations
- Operate safely in areas surrounded by suburbia (e.g. Plenty Gorge in Nillumbik)
- Have a close relationship with police, submitting schedules on where they are on any culling night, and are also called on by regional police to humanely dispatch injured animals
- Confirm timing and access with property owners in advance — you approve every visit
- Are highly experienced working on properties with horses, livestock, and other sensitive animals
- Understand biosecurity considerations for sensitive properties (vineyards, livestock operations)
Local Momentum
Three years in, the Steels Creek program has doubled in size. Roughly one in three properties in the Steels Creek area is now actively engaged, and the numbers continue to grow organically as more landholders see the results on neighbouring blocks.
Deer don't respect fence lines. A male sambar's home range can cover well over 1,000 hectares — that's many neighbouring properties on a single deer's nightly route. A cull on one block reduces pressure across the whole catchment, and the more participating properties the operator can move between, the faster numbers come down everywhere. This is why coordinated community participation works far better than individual efforts: every property added makes every other property's results stronger.
Each new participant strengthens what the next can achieve. Every property added gives the culler more flexibility to follow deer movements, work safely across boundaries, and maximise the cull rate for every dollar spent.
Support is also growing across the wider area — Dixons Creek, Chum Creek and Healesville landholders are joining the program in increasing numbers, expanding the operational footprint across the Yarra Ranges.
What Participants Are Saying
Drawn from our annual participant surveys.
The deer culling program is an important initiative. As a commercial vineyard operation, we are unlikely to be able to harvest this year due to the enormous impact of deer in the crucial early stages of vine growth. We cannot, as individual businesses, install deer fencing around every commercial property.
— JB, 2025
Evidence of deer on our property has diminished over the past two years.
— FP, 2025
Very friendly and approachable. Excellent communication. Would welcome them back anytime.
— 2023 Participant
Need to keep it going. It's made a difference, but there are still deer that need to be managed for property protection and road safety.
— CE.M., 2025
Very supportive of the program. Would hate to think how many we would have in the area if it didn't exist.
— KK, 2025
The Environmental Case
The 226 deer removed across all Yarra Ranges control areas in 2025 alone represented:
Without sustained culling, sambar deer populations grow at 15–24% per year. The 226 deer culled in 2025 would, left alone, become an estimated 3,564 deer within 10 years — consuming over 15 million kg of vegetation annually.
What You Receive as a Participant
- Listing on the Council program through Steels Creek Landcare
- Private WhatsApp group for culler-in-area notifications, deer sightings, and local updates
- Mid-year update and end-of-year cull report with full program statistics (not published publicly — sent direct to participants)
- Annual survey to feed back what's working and what isn't
- Connection to the broader Landcare community if you're interested
Next Steps — Whatever Suits You Best
Some people just want to understand how it works before deciding. Others have seen or heard of the great results and are ready to dive in. Both are completely fine.
Have questions? Want a friendly chat?
No obligation at all. Reply by email with your number and a good time, and we'll give you a call to talk it through. Many people prefer to chat before committing.
Request a chatReady to register?
Reply with:
- Property address and approximate size
- Best contact number
- Access notes (gates, dogs, livestock)
- Neighbours who might be interested
Want to think it over?
Totally fine. Keep our details and come back whenever you're ready — the program runs every year and you can join at any point.
Read more firstContact
Your local Landcare committee is made up of community volunteers working to improve the area we love and live in. If you're interested in Landcare membership more broadly, just let us know.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You approve every visit in advance — the professional team coordinates timing and access with you before each operation, and is highly experienced working around horses, livestock, pets, and sensitive areas. Participant satisfaction with safety and communication is consistently 9/10 or higher.
All culled deer are removed from the property and sent for processing as premium pet food. Nothing is wasted.
No — you approve the timing and access arrangements in advance, and the team operates independently once those are agreed.
Yes. Participants receive notifications through the private WhatsApp group, including when the team is working in the area.
Yes, at any time. Just let us know.
Both have a place, but the goals are different. Most recreational hunters are selective — typically targeting mature stags for trophy antlers, or harvesting a deer or two for the freezer. That can produce useful local results, but it doesn't aim to reduce the overall deer population, and effort tends to be episodic.
The Council program's objective is population reduction: removing as many deer as possible across the broadest possible area, year-round, and coordinated across multiple properties. Cullers don't pass on hinds or young animals — every deer removed is a contribution to the goal. Activity is logged, reported, and used to inform funding for the following year.
Some landholders run both — a private hunter on their property occasionally, plus participation in the Council program. The program coordinator can talk you through what works for your situation.
There are several ways to support the program without hosting culls — reporting sightings via the FeralScan app, encouraging neighbours to register, or supporting Landcare advocacy. Get in touch and we can talk through options.
No program can guarantee that. What sustained, coordinated culling does is significantly reduce deer numbers and pressure over time. Participants consistently report noticeable improvements over 1–2 seasons.
No. The program is funded by Yarra Ranges Shire Council and state government grants.
