VICTORIA’S 32,306 deer hunters are battling to regain access to almost 360 square kilometres of state forest northeast of Dargo and north of Wongungarra, after State Government bureaucrats locked them out.

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning staff have told hunters a “mapping error” had forced them to exclude crown land from the Victorian Game Management Authority’s Eastern Deer Hunting Maps.

“It recently came to light that some of these maps were inaccurate or out of date and did not show where certain grazing licences had been granted so they were removed from the website,” a DELWP spokesman said.

Under the Victorian Firearms Act hunters must gain approval from these leaseholders before entering the areas. However the names of these leaseholders are not made public.

“DELWP helps facilitate communication between grazing licence holders and hunters, where possible, to enable permission to be obtained,” the spokesman said.

But Australian Deer Association executive officer Barry Howlett said DELWP’s suggestion was absurd, given thousands of hunters used the area.

“This country has been hunted for at least the last 35 years,” Mr Howlett said.

“There’s been no consultation with us. DELWP has just gone and issued grazing licences, effectively locking it up.

The ADA and Sporting Shooters Association of Victoria have approached Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford in a bid to resolve the issue.

But progress has been slow.

As of this week the smaller of the two leased regions, north or Wongungarra reappeared on the GMA maps’ site.

But when The Weekly Times tried to read the map northeast of Dargo a message appeared stating: “Map 52 is currently being updated by the DELWP”.

SSAA Victoria hunting development manager David Laird said it was a ludicrous situation, with GMA and DELWP at loggerheads on the issue. “We now have two government departments unable to agree on where people can legally hunt. If the Government can’t get it right, how can our members?”

Ms Pulford’s office said she was looking into the issue and would have more to say soon.