"I've got better things to do than shoot animals — I like animals."

Key points: Hundreds of feral deer in rural NSW are damaging crops and transferring disease to sheep and cattle

Hundreds of feral deer in rural NSW are damaging crops and transferring disease to sheep and cattle The NSW Government wants to lift the "game" status on deer, allowing anyone with a firearm license to hunt them

The NSW Government wants to lift the "game" status on deer, allowing anyone with a firearm license to hunt them Professional shooters have been hired for trial programs in other states and territories to deal with the issue

Beef producer Ted Rowley is tired of killing wild deer on his property near Jindabyne in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains.

"When it's -14 degrees Celsius and I go out shooting deer on a motorbike, I'd rather be on a sheepskin rug in front of the fire with a glass of good shiraz," Mr Rowley said.

As many as 300 deer a night graze the 340-hectare property, limiting the number of beef cattle Mr Rowley can carry.

Feral deer also damage native vegetation, foul waterways by wallowing in them, and transfer disease to sheep and cattle.

Mr Rowley says more than 5,000 deer have been shot by five landholders in his region in the past year.

"I resent that I have to kill large numbers of animals because some political party who is popular for a moment got elected and controlled the balance of power — that's outrageous," he said.

In New South Wales, the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party has members in both houses of Parliament.

In the last government, the party had the power to insist deer continue to be protected under the Game and Feral Animal Control Act 2002, to provide plenty of deer for hunters to stalk.

Last week, though, the state's Liberal Government showed signs it was listening to landholders' concerns.

Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall signalled that the Government would lift the protective "game" status for deer, allowing anyone with a firearms licence to shoot the animals on private property, under the same rules that apply to other feral species such as pigs, goats, rabbits and foxes.

It would proceed by ministerial order, negating the need to pass legislation through Parliament.

Ted Rowley says more than 5,000 deer have been shot in his region in the past year. ( ABC News: Prue Adams )

"We're pretty confident of implementing the change, and plan to do it within the next month," Mr Marshall said.

"This just makes sense."

Will the change actually make a difference?

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Robert Borsak said the party supported landowners being able to shoot deer without a game licence on private property, but would not support the declaration of deer as a "pest".

In South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory deer are classified as pests, allowing for greater eradication control.

Barry Howlett is unsure how much difference the change in law will make. ( ABC News: Prue Adams )

Barry Howlett, executive director of the Australian Deer Association — one of the main membership bodies for recreational hunters — does not believe the NSW change will make much difference to his members or the exploding deer population.

"We're not opposed to it but we don't think it's going to achieve anything," Mr Howlett said.

"All it means is you won't need a game licence to shoot deer on private land."

The NSW rules will not change on public land. There are some management strategies in place for national parks, and while game hunters would like more access to shoot in them that has not been granted.

Mr Rowley is broadly supportive of the State Government's move but will keep pressure on the Minister to commit to deer control as soon as possible.

He said the role of volunteer game hunters in reducing deer populations was often overstated, maintaining hunters were mostly after "just enough meat for a feed" and "a set of antlers to put on the wall".

"There's a really big difference between hunting for fun on Saturdays and pest animal control," Mr Rowley said.

Deer control trials underway in Victoria

There are six species of deer in Australia. Most of them were brought here for game hunting, but many animals also escaped from venison-producing deer farms.

They are causing problems in every state and territory, in rural areas and on the outskirts of cities such as Wollongong and Adelaide.

Professional shooters take a blood sample and the measurements of a dead feral deer for further analysis. ( ABC News: Prue Adams )

Parks Victoria is currently completing a deer control trial in the Alpine National Park, near Falls Creek.

The program has been targeting Australia's largest species, the sambar deer, which damages ecologically sensitive peatlands by "wallowing" in waterways.

Professional sharpshooters and volunteers have culled 773 deer in the national park since May 2015.

Kirk Stone, who is paid to shoot, uses high-tech thermal imaging equipment and his hunting dog to find and follow deer.

"Three quarters of the deer shot here have been shot by professional shooters," Mr Stone said.

The trial finishes in March next year. A review will determine whether the control program continues.