Are Farm Deer Wildlife or Ag Products?

[Ben Sobieck]

Ohio is trying to answer that very question. Its Division of Wildlife regulated deer farms since 1953. A recent measure would transfer that authority to the Division of Agriculture.

This raises an interesting question: Do deer farms adhere more to wildlife management or agricultural management? At what point do the deer stop being wildlife and start becoming ag products?

Read the article here, then give your opinion.

[pickleguy]

When you put them behind any fence! It should be outlawed in every state!

[Woods Walker]

ORIGINAL: pickleguy

When you put them behind any fence! It should be outlawed in every state!

[font="Verdana"][/font]I would tend to agree, if it's a fence that they can't escape from. Then they are no longer free roaming animals, and can then be inventoried, and individually managed.

I don't know whether I'd agree that it should be outlawed totally. I DO think that if whitetail deer are native to a state, then you should not be able to farm them in that state. There's already too many issues of "farmed" deer escaping and mixing with the wild ones, and that can lead to spread of disease and dilution of the native gene pool.

There's also the factor that if someone farms elk in a given area where elk are not naturally occuring, and if they get out, then they are fair game at any time if they cross on to someone else's land. How would you know that with whitetail deer if they are native anyway?

Overall, I think that it should be in the hands of the Dept Of Agriculture, because that's exactly what it is. It's also not "hunting" in the true sense of the word. The two should not ever be linked with each other, because it will eventually destroy wild hunting.

I grew up hunting WILD pheasants. Today, I'd have to drive for 10 hours to get into any good wild pheasant hunting. I've shot pheasants on bird farms, and while on the better managed ones I do not hit every bird I shoot at, it in NO WAY can even come close to the wild bird hunting I've experienced. I go maybe once a year, mainly for social reasons, and could really care less if I shoot one or not, as it means nothing to me....it's not HUNTING.

[BuckResearch]

The Ag department would treat deer like cattle, bad idea. You can't take the wild instinct out of a deer,
which is why is should be left in the hands of a wildlife department.

Deer farmers are starting to double fence there operations to protect there herd from wild deer.
A well regulated herd is disease free, Therefore, they are more concerned about the wild deer coming in contact.
When a deer farm test positive after being negative. It's from exposure to wild deer or contaminated ground.
But people are not educated enough to know that, and would rather put all blaim on the deer farms.

Those are the same people that think pheasant hunting in south dakota is
for wild pheasants. Did they ever consider that they were stocked by game farms and originated
in a different country????? Same people who probably hunt in Little Africa, I mean texas.

People should hunt for what they get out of it, and only state there opionions on matters
that they are educated on.

[RedBud]

I think that they should continue to be managed as wildlife. I don't think we want some deer as wildlife some that aren't. Also, I believe the disease control would best be done if they remain as wildlife.

[msbadger]

Both...You have deer farms as in NY that breed and sell deer for the meat and by products only as in live stock...,.pure Ag dept.

Then there are those places that were allowed permits to be "hunting preserves"...that is definitely...DEC dept

That being said much more stringent policies should oversee both situations...and far fewer operating permits be allowed...at least in my state...JMO

[metrx]

I love these people who come on here and THEIR first post is defensive criticism.  This is a sight to discuss topics related to hunting and give your opinion.
 
BuckResearch...this ignorant, uneducated hunter has a question...maybe you could answer? 
If deer are wild animals, why are they being "farmed"?  Tell me the "farmers" who sell the meat, grow bigger deer, allow hunting behind fences or do research...whatever THEIR agenda...arent in it to make a buck?...and by buck I mean money.
 
In my opinion, deer in this environment ARE like cattle.  Thus the term "farm".  They are fed, bred, fenced and pretty much THEIR every move is controlled.  Kinda takes the "wild" out of wildlife, no?

[Stickman]

It is still a wildlife issue, so it should be handled under the Division of Wildlife.

[BuckResearch]

When deer are in any form of a farm they are private property that is not technically wildlife. Therefore, management is usually done by agriculture departments. However, many who make rules in that department do not have experience in handling wildlife. As we have seen many times, wild animals that have been in various forms of captivity have proven that you can not remove their wild instincts (SeaWorld, recently). It is essential that people that understand wildlife are involved in making rules. Just because you add the word farm to deer doesn't make them domesticated animals. Cattle have been domesticated animals for hundreds of years and are bred to remain that way. Deer are deer regardless of where they are.

In hunting operations, deer may very well have more uninterrupted habitat than some deer in the wild. Which is more wild, the deer that is in a hunting preserve of 1,000 acres, or the wild deer that eats peoples shrubs in town that watch as people walk their dogs down the sidewalk? These deer can not be inventoried, can not be handled, and have just as many instincts as wild deer do. It is unfortunate that some money hungry bad apples that have been involved in a few localized incidents have given the general public a bad impression of deer farms. Hunting preserves can give people an opportunity that they may not have otherwise had, especially as hunting places get harder and harder to find. People really like to see the negative in all things. Try looking at all of the good that can come from things like this. It can be viewed as preservation and promotion of hunting traditions rather than a threat or problem to hunting.

[Woods Walker]

[font="Verdana"][/font]You do to deer hunting what was done to pheasant hunting, and then wild deer hunting will cease to exist.

Suburban deer more confined than a fenced in deer??? Please.....a suburban deer may have a smaller home range, but it's still FREE. That is the essence of what we are talking about. That deer can STILL go wherever it wants to, and just by the fact that there ARE wild deer in suburban areas where there were none 25 years ago PROVES that. Their ancestors CHOSE to migrate to those areas. They weren't put there by someone seeking economic reward.

I can understand someone who has an economic interest in deer farming seeing it the way you do. It's about money....YOUR money. But IMO, you're still killing what makes hunting "HUNTING". Preserve pheasant hunting is really more pheasant SHOOTING than hunting. A deer farm hunting operation, while being challenging, still must guarantee a certain degree of success, or people will stop paying BIG bucks for something they can do for free or a comparatively low fee.

Call me weird, but I actually ENJOY being skunked when it happens, as it reinforces for me that it IS still a wild animal, and that it still truly is a "HUNT", and not a "SHOOT".

The day that I must become a deer shooter as opposed to a deer HUNTER is the day I stop hunting.