A deer was killed every eight minutes during Parks Victoria's alpine aerial culling trial, but critics have labelled the figure meaningless and the trial expensive.
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Parks Victoria declared stage two of the trial a success after marksmen shot more than 130 deer in just over 18 hours during the May operation which took place around Mt Bogong and the Bogong High Plains.
A combined 249 deer were shot during the entire trial, equating to one killed every eight minutes.
A Parks Victoria statement said air crews noticed significant track networks and large wallows had been formed by deer.
Member for Benambra Bill Tilley said the amount of deer culled during the trial was minimal and the carcasses, which are mainly left where they fall, provided 'a free feed for wild dogs'.
"Each year recreational hunters remove more than 100,000 deer from our parks and forests - can we really get excited about 130 shot from a helicopter?" he said.
"That's 0.1 per cent of deer that have been shot in the last 12 months.
"Last year it was estimated that this aerial cull cost about $125 for each animal that was shot. Those 100,000 shot by recreational hunters came at no cost."
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A Parks Victoria spokeswoman did not say what the trial cost, but said a cost-benefit analysis would be part of the final 2019-20 report.
Mr Tilley said recreational hunters should be utilised, and potentially commercialised, with game turned into food for pets or humans.
Australian Deer Association's Barry Howlett said the trial lacked transparency.
"One shot every eight minutes, if they had told us ahead of the cull what they wanted to achieve that might be a useful metric," he said.
"Without knowing what the deer density was... the numbers are pretty well meaningless."
Mr Howlett said it was a shame to see the deer carcasses 'go to waste'.
A Parks Victoria spokeswoman said there was no specific target the trial had to reach and while commercial harvesting was not currently a part of the control program, it may be considered in the future 'where practical and feasible'.
She said Sambar deer weigh up to 350kg and many are shot in remote areas, meaning it was not practical to retrieve the carcasses.
Carcasses are removed if they fall in waterways or are visible from tracks.