A Tasmanian hunter described by a magistrate as a cowboy has been fined $5,000 for illegally shooting fallow deer without proper permits over a three-year period.

Joshua Bester, 24, was also given a two-month suspended sentence for "spraying" a deer with bullets from a low-calibre rifle.

The Huon Valley man's smart phone held crucial evidence for police.

It showed photographs of Bester posing with deer carcases and text messages which his defence counsel described as "stirring his mates about hunting deer illegally".

In Tasmania it is legal to shoot deer but only with a special hunting licence or a crop culling permit, which is used to protect farmers' properties from the pest.

Bester had neither but from 2012 to 2014 when the offending occurred he did have a gun licence at varying times.

In sentencing, Magistrate Chris Webster accused Bester of cowboy antics, particularly over the incident in which he killed a deer with a low-powered rifle.

to ensure deer are killed humanely, it is illegal to shoot a deer with a rifle below a certain force in Tasmania.

"A deterrent sentence is necessary … it's dangerous indicated by the spraying of 10 bullets," he said.

Bester's defence counsel Steven Chopping said Bester was a good shot.

"Ten shots were rapidly delivered … for meat," he told the court.

Prosecution counsel Sergeant Gerard Kirkham described it as "death by a thousand cuts".

Bester was also ordered to complete 70 hours of community service for not properly securing his firearms.

Police found the keys to his gun safe hanging on a hook in the same room as the safe.

'He's not killing the last freshwater crayfish'

Sergeant Kirkham said current regulations were designed to protect those who paid to hunt during a designated season, when the condition of the fallow deer made them a valuable trophy.

Magistrate Webster said Bester's crime of hunting without permits only had financial implications, given fallow deer were an introduced species.

"He's not killing the last freshwater crayfish," he said.

"The Government doesn't care when the deer are killed surely?"

The case comes as a State Government inquiry looks into how to deal with growing populations of fallow deer.

There is fierce debate about the issue among shooters, with some wanting deer hunting to be deregulated while others fear that would leave professional shooters without an income.