Allowing recreational shooters to hunt deer in Tasmania's Wilderness World Heritage Area and other conservation lands should be considered as a way to control the population, a report has found.

Growth in the wild deer population prompted a Legislative Council inquiry into the problem.

It found the introduced species had spread hundreds of kilometres from the Midlands, where they are most common, to as far as Southport.

They were also found to be damaging conservation areas on Bruny Island.

Committee chairman and Huon MLC Robert Armstrong said hunting in conservation areas might be contentious but was supported by environmental groups.

"Conservation groups certainly want the deer out of World Heritage Areas," Mr Armstrong said.

He said it had been hard to determine exactly how many deer there were in Tasmania.

"There were different people with different thoughts how many there are, it ranged from 30,000 to 80,000," he said.

Mr Armstrong said the limited information on the number and range of the animals meant the State Government needed to develop a deer management system with a proper data base on current numbers and future population growth.

Deer grazing in irrigated areas

The committee also found the expanding irrigation schemes in the Midlands has worsened the state's problem with fallow deer.

Expanded crops and improved pastures has encouraged more deer grazing and increased numbers.

Mr Armstrong said the answer is to increase crop protection permits to allow deer culling from one year to five years.

He said it was very hard to keep deer out of croplands and pastures.

"Deer can jump a high fence, that's what farmers are saying to us. The fence for a deer is going to cost thousand and thousands of dollars," he said.

"Just a normal fence for farming will not keep a deer out of crops, its got to be a specialised fence."

The committee found there was confusion among farmers about the crop protection permit system for deer culling.

It recommended an increase in the bag limit for recreational hunters and a longer open season on the animals.

Mr Armstrong said crop protection permits should also be amended to allow deer to be harvested for human consumption and as pet food.

Currently, deer cannot be commercially harvested for their meat and abattoirs have to import carcasses from Victoria and South Australia for the restaurant and retail trade.

The report will now be considered by the Government.

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