Hawke's Bay farmer Bruno Chambers was surprised when a deer turned up in his mob of sheep but said it was reflective of the scale of the region's feral population. Photo / Supplied
Hawke's Bay farmer Bruno Chambers was surprised when a deer turned up in his mob of sheep but said it was reflective of the scale of the region's feral population. Photo / Supplied
Hawke's Bay farmers and landowners struggling to keep on top of the region's growing feral deer population say they can "only eat so much".
Tikokino farmer Richie Wedd has been running the 600-hectare home block opposite Gwavas Station for about 10 years and said deer numbers had increased to thepoint where they were now devouring large slices of native bush.
"We definitely didn't have the numbers we have now. There's no shortage of them."
He said some farmers closer to the Ruahine Range had complained of mobs of between 50 and 100 deer.
About 25ha of the farm was covered in native plants, large parts of which had been damaged by the feral deer.
"We've put a lot of native trees in and had them eaten. A lot of time and money goes into that. They are hurting a significant piece of original native bush."
Wedd said a 7ha block they had retired through the QEII scheme should have been deer-fenced, rather than only sheep-fenced.
Hawke's Bay farmer Bruno Chambers said deer are like "super hares" and cause damage to native planting efforts. Photo / File
Bruno Chambers' dogs brought more than just his ewes in when they came back to the yards - they also brought in a feral fawn.
The Tukituki farmer says the surprise in the 2017 round-up was reflective of the ever-expanding Hawke's Bay's deer population problem, which is ruining attempts to replant natives.
"What's happening is the forestry blocks are being chopped down," Chambers said.
"Deer have been living in those blocks in quite some numbers. Now they are all being moved on because their habitat is being cut down."
He regularly spots about a dozen deer on his Waimarama Rd property.
He described them as a "super hare" and said they cause a lot of damage to native plants, even taller more established plants as they can graze up to two metres high.
Marie Taylor, of Plant Hawke's Bay, said members of the Puahanui Bush at Gwavas were trying to raise funds to deer fence the 130-ha block of lowland podocarp bush. Photo / File
Plant Hawke's Bay's Marie Taylor is also a trustee for Puahanui Bush at Gwavas, which is trying to raise funds for deer fencing the 130ha block of lowland podocarp bush.
"Deer are a threat, not only to existing bush which is being decimated very rapidly but to new plantings as well.
"Even at relatively low deer numbers, forests are not able to recover because the deer browse preferentially, removing all regenerating species so that only unpalatable species remain on the forest floor and in the understorey.
She said feral deer numbers had increased exponentially across the region over the past two decades.
The only fully functioning forests in Hawke's Bay were where deer were fenced out, she said.
"Any new bush blocks being retired need to be fenced to protect them against deer, which makes it expensive, but without a good deer fence, it's a waste of time and effort."
Once this deer fencing is in place, they also need ongoing efforts to remove deer and keep them out, she said.
Some landowners with planting projects had sprayed plants with animal repellent however, this was only a short-term deterrent and "far from ideal".
"Every block of bush or planting needs active hunting to keep numbers as low as possible."
