deer farming...?

There's a ranch not too far from here.. and the raise whitetail deer. I was pretty astounded, looking into their fence and seeing a HUGE, massive buck with antlers that would probably fetch $5k on eBay.. I guess that there are wuite a few farms that you can even shop online and buy stock that is actually not wild, but semi-"tame."
Mark is toying with the idea of raising deer. Apparently there are people out here who do, and I know that you need very high fences; at least 8-9 foot. Anyone perchance know of any deer ranchers, or have you ever done this?
Hunting has gotten so lousy even out here.. overhunted land by neighbors.. we do not have a gram of new venison from this year.

There are deer "farms" here in MI, I know of and have seen a couple of them. My favorite is the buffalo though!

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

There's a ranch not too far from here.. and the raise whitetail deer. I was pretty astounded, looking into their fence and seeing a HUGE, massive buck with antlers that would probably fetch $5k on eBay.. I guess that there are wuite a few farms that you can even shop online and buy stock that is actually not wild, but semi-"tame."
Mark is toying with the idea of raising deer. Apparently there are people out here who do, and I know that you need very high fences; at least 8-9 foot. Anyone perchance know of any deer ranchers, or have you ever done this?
Hunting has gotten so lousy even out here.. overhunted land by neighbors.. we do not have a gram of new venison from this year.

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Let me know when you want to come and visit.I can show you several HUNDRED deer in the State park i hunted the Thursday after Thanksgiving.Its possible to see 50+ deer in one feild. It was a special Shotgun(slug) disabled hunt that i particapated in.The rest of the park was open to the other hunters.They have extended our deer season to Jan 31st(normaly ends Dec 31st).We have a Buffalo farm that has 10ft+ fences and for 2k you can hunt one.I do not veiw this as a fair hunt though.

Here's some links for you Jen....

http://www.agmrc.org/agmrc/commodity...erranching.htm

http://www.deerfarmer.com/

http://www.dskranch.com/Q&A.htm

http://www.deerfarms.com/

They are basicly deer breeders and sell to hunting ranches. How much land do you have? You could open your own hunting lodge on your land if you have enough!!:D

There are also "farms" that use their deer to collect urine for hunting scents.

I hate to say this, but that is not really 'hunting'. Its rather along the lines of going out to shoot bessie the cow, and saying you hunted her.
Not that I disagree with raising deer, eating deer, harvesting deer(wild or ranched)... just using the term "hunted" when they are ranched and raised captively.
Several places here in florida raise various antlered animals, and some buffalo also. Water buffalo too. You may have to have certain permits too.
There are a lot of exotics ranches here in Florida and also in Texas.
Wolfy

Wow there is NO shortage of deer here in No. Va.
They are like every friggin where. It's so bad that at least a few times a year they actually end up jumping thru people's sliding glass doors and such.

Everyone I know that hunts has zero problem getting there limit.

I would never partake or offer canned hunts; that is just stupid. :( I would basically be looking into raising bucks to yearly collect their sheds to sell, and to farm them for meat; but we don't actually own the land we are on, we'd have to talk with our landlord about it. But he doesn't mind the horses, so if we were investing the money, it'd fly.. I am trying to think of various investments for myself (BPs are one, but that is just for fun, you know?)

theres a few small family farms by me that raise cattle for them selfs that have deer too, they come in to feed with the cows and don't want to leave do to all the free food and all.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

There's a ranch not too far from here.. and the raise whitetail deer. I was pretty astounded, looking into their fence and seeing a HUGE, massive buck with antlers that would probably fetch $5k on eBay.. I guess that there are wuite a few farms that you can even shop online and buy stock that is actually not wild, but semi-"tame."
Mark is toying with the idea of raising deer. Apparently there are people out here who do, and I know that you need very high fences; at least 8-9 foot. Anyone perchance know of any deer ranchers, or have you ever done this?
Hunting has gotten so lousy even out here.. overhunted land by neighbors.. we do not have a gram of new venison from this year.

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Jinevive,,
Your in up state NY ??.Your right about the deer hunting.The last few years have seen a steady drop in quality.Ny's DEC has dropped the ball,,or something.My first trip out with the bow netted me some venison,so I wont go without this year :taz:

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Originally Posted by Droptines

Jinevive,,
Your in up state NY ??.Your right about the deer hunting.The last few years have seen a steady drop in quality.Ny's DEC has dropped the ball,,or something.My first trip out with the bow netted me some venison,so I wont go without this year :taz:

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I went to college in upstate NY a few years ago, and the decline had already been noted back in '96 when I took some wildelife management seminars.
The gist as I remember it was that the trophy hunters were killing the biggest and fastest-growing bucks before they had a chance to pass on their genes, leaving behind the runtier bucks to father the next generation. Even antlerless bucks are able to find does willing to reproduce with them, in the abscence of larger bucks. This is a complete reversal of the original predator/prey relationship, when the weaker animals were the first to be eaten. It's a really interesting commentary on how predation can directly affect the population dynamics.

Your in up state NY ??.Your right about the deer hunting.The last few years have seen a steady drop in quality.Ny's DEC has dropped the ball,,or something.My first trip out with the bow netted me some venison,so I wont go without this year :taz:[/QUOTE] if you want some GREAT hunting get your out of state license and come to ohio, plenty of good huntin here.

Slartibartfast,,NY is alot of things,BUT,filled with hunters looking to harvest the 4 1/2 or older bucks,,ITS NOT.
History has shown that the average buck taken in NY lives to the ripe old age of 1 1/2...NOT GOOD.Also,you have to keep in mind that 1 1/2 old crotch horn,could have good genetics to pass on,,he just has'nt hit HIS peak yet..
(yes,Jar2476,,I know you guys have some REAL big boys running around :) ,someday,maybe)