Public land hunting opens in Tasmania

BREAKING NEWS TASMANIA: After some back and forward communications with senior members of Game Services today, we can now confirm that public land hunting opens in Tasmania on Friday – just in time for the long weekend. 

Stage 2 restrictions come into effect from 3pm on Friday 5 June 2020. This means that Tasmanians now have full access to hunting, fishing, camping and boating around the state including reserves and lands managed by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Services, Sustainable Timbers Tasmania and Hydro Tasmania. We are now also free to travel anywhere within the state, stay in shacks or on boats, and launch boats outside our home municipalities. 

This is great news for duck hunters who, until today, looked like missing out on the remainder of the duck season. Duck hunting can occur on the reserves and conservation areas until the close of the duck hunting season on Monday 8 June 2020. These include: 

• Mounting Lagoon Game Reserve
• Lake Tiberias Game Reserve
• Farm Cove Game Reserve
• North-East River Game Reserve
• Waterhouse Conservation Area
• Cameron Regional Reserve
• Brushy Lagoon Conservation Area

It also great news for those deer hunters who were successful in gaining a hunting spot through the deer ballot, as they can now hunt according to their authorisation.

These allotments include:

• Tooms Lake Conservation Area
• Buxton River Conservation Area
• St Pauls Regional Reserve
• Castle Cary Regional Reserve
• Top Marshes Conservation Area
• Great Western Tiers Conservation Area
• Five Mile Pinnacle Conservation Area
• Central Plateau Conservation Area – Breton Rivulet and Mother Lord Plains
• Great Western Tiers Conservation Area – Parsons and Clerk Mountain
• Great Lake Conservation Area –Tumbledown Creek and Gunns Marsh

Hunters that were allocated a hunting spot through the ballot but were denied access due to Covid-19 will be contacted over the next week or so and offered an alternative allocation.

Hunters that applied for permits to hunt pheasants and mutton birds are eligible to apply for a refund, as these seasons were cancelled due to Covid-19. 

More details on public land hunting are available from the DPIPWE web site.

Sustainable Timber Tasmania has also announced that Permanent Timber Production Zone land that they manage can also be used for recreational activities including exercising (walking, running, cycling), hunting, fishing and camping from 3pm on Friday 5 June 2020. 

And rounding out that good news is the announcement from Hydro Tasmania that all their lakes and campgrounds will be back to normal operations as of 3pm on Friday 5 June 2020. 

We are betting the roads are going to get very busy this long weekend as Tasmanians look to escape back out into the great outdoors. Where will you be headed?