Context Vehicle-based shooting has been widely used to kill deer, but the animal-welfare outcomes of this technique have not been evaluated in Australasia.

Aim To assess the animal-welfare outcomes of peri-urban deer culling by quantifying the fates of deer seen and shot at, the duration of procedures, and the number and location of bullet wounds in deer.

Methods We assessed vehicle-based night shooting of peri-urban rusa deer (Cervus timorensis) by professional contractors in eastern Australia. Shooters targeted the heads of deer using .223 Remington^® rifles and 55 grain bullets. Independent veterinarians conducted ante-mortem (i.e. from the shooting vehicle) and post-mortem (i.e. inspecting the carcass) observations. The ante-mortem data were used to estimate the proportion of deer seen that were shot at, killed, wounded, and escaped. The influence of variables predicted to affect shooting outcomes was assessed. The numbers and locations of bullet wounds were recorded post-mortem.

Key results Of the 269 deer seen in 21 nights, 48% were shot at and 85% of those shot at were killed by either one (87%), two (10%) or three (3%) shots. The frequency of non-fatal wounding (i.e. escaping wounded) was 3.5% for those shot at and hit, and the median time to insensibility for the deer that were shot multiple times was 289 s. There was variation among shooters in their ability to hit a deer, and also to do so with a killing shot. The number of bullet wounds per deer ranged from 1 to 3 (mean = 1.1), with 83% of shots striking the brain and 17% striking the anterior skull, neck and jaw.

Conclusions The animal welfare outcomes we observed were comparable to those reported from other professional ground-based shooting programs for ungulates, but were poorer than those reported for professional ground-based shooting of peri-urban kangaroos.

Implications Our results suggest that one way to improve the animal welfare outcomes of vehicle-based shooting of peri-urban deer is by improving shooter training. Assessment of shooter performance should be a routine part of ground-based shooting programs.