The state’s feral deer population has exploded and now covers 13 per cent of NSW, the Invasive Species Council says.

The organisation’s CEO Andrew Cox said the population had grown more than 60 per cent in six years. He said the solution was simple – put deer on the state’s list of pest animals.

“Landowners and farmers are being severely impacted by this expansion of deer territory in our state,” Mr Cox said.

Deer are currently classed as game and can only be hunted with a licence.

Mr Cox said declaring the deer a pest would open up more recreational hunting opportunities and allow the government to develop and fund regional plans for deer control, along with designating certain areas for local eradication.

In 2016, the NSW Natural Resources Commission recommended deer be listed as a pest and cabinet is due to respond to the recommendation soon.

The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party is strongly opposed any changes to the deer’s status.

Shooters MLC Robert Brown said farmers already had the right to cull deer on their own property at any time and the current recreational hunting regime was working.

“In state forests where they have been hunted, feral goats and deer numbers have been driven right down,” he said.

“The deer population is entirely controllable. As far as I’m concerned, there is no problem.”

NSW Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham it was time to treat deer like other pests and target them with government-funded control programs.

“It’s clear the approach of treating deer as game has had the desired outcome of seeing them spread across the state,” he said.

“The Greens want to see non-lethal and lethal control measures rolled out across the state, free of interference from the Shooters Party.”