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Pen raised Deer

nannyslayer

New Member
I have a question. Who here would have a few deer in a pen if they had the land and the money to put up a fence? Myself, I think it would be very neat way to observe deer and would be just a cool pet. Now I am not talking about a "cage", but 10 acres or more. Have a buck and a few doe's, but around the fall time I think you would want to keep them seperate, for certain reason /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif .

But really, if you had the time, money, and land to do so, would you have a pet deer or two?
 
id do it if i had the $

sounds like a way to have fun doing nothing
/forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
Pet Black Angus are better eating... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Seriously, I visit a local deer farm several times a year and take my kids down to bottle feed the fawns in early Summer. It's pretty cool bottle feeding those fawns.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Ghost</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Pet Black Angus are better eating...

</div></div>

Can't argue with that. Thats why you would have to keep the buck from the doe in the fall /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif Really, I would like to have a 20 acre pen with a buck and a few doe's. It would be fun to bottle feed a little one, but eventually you would have to "thin" the heard. I would look more into selling them to another breeder or something of that sort, rather than put the pet in the freezer /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
I have always wanted to do this! It would be a great way to observe behavior and personalities of deer. You are right about the practicalities of it, though; I have two friends who have captive whitetails and they say getting rid of the surplus is getting harder, with CWD and other considerations.
 
Pets are the best eating! You can almost taste the love in every bite! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif I've ate so many hand fed "pets" growing up that it doesn't bother me anymore. Deer would be neat to have as pets. As would buffalo or elk. I love visiting my uncle's elk farm in the fall and listening to the bugles echo through the bottoms and the sounds of the heavy horns clacking as they spar. If I were rich I would own some exotics, not to hunt but to enjoy their beauty.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nannyslayer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
But really, if you had the time, money, and land to do so, would you have a pet deer or two? </div></div>

No.


I have a friend that raises deer, so I've seen it, but I don't want to do it.
 
Skully, growing up on the farm, we always had a beef to butcher, so I never said it would bother me to eat it /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif But my wife really likes deer meat and if she knew that she was eating a pet, that would probably end her eating it all together.
 
Cage an animal that was ment to be wild? I dunno, I think in the long run I'd lose my respect for the species as a "game" animal.

The 'Bonker
 
Theres were about 20 acres of fenced in deer next door (Washburns Deer Farm), and those are the skinniest sickest looking deer I had ever seen. He has since sold the deer and moved to the next town over.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nannyslayer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Skully, growing up on the farm, we always had a beef to butcher, so I never said it would bother me to eat it /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif But my wife really likes deer meat and if she knew that she was eating a pet, that would probably end her eating it all together. </div></div>

True, true. I guess it bothered me a little as a kid when Dad would tell Ma to thaw out some "Ricky Steaks" for supper. "Ricky" was one of our bottle raised calves that had gotten to big and still liked to wrestle. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif He was yummy though. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
I think it would be awesome.

I know of a game farmer that gets more from one deer than
I make all year and sometimes two.

It would also be neat to see their behaviors and interactions.
I would be afraid that someone would end up shooting my bucks and would have to start all over.

I guess that is what insurance is for.
 
If you have 10 or 20 acres to work with plant some green browse and winter plots in the "yard" and you will have all kinds of observing. Neighbors get a little tired of it though.
 
I've thought about raising 8 or 10 bucks in 5 acrea or so just to give myself a decent shot at finding some sheds.......
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Fishbonker</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I've always thought they taste better when you know who you are eatin.

The 'Bonker </div></div>

I've followed that same rule when it came to dating also!!
 
my dad had a few dear penned as I grew up. was pretty neat, He had one good buck and a few does. during the rut we would have lots of wild bucks pacing the fence trying to get at the does. I do remember it was a mind boggling amount of work when they were just born. bottle feedings every couple hrs in the middle of the night as so on. worse thn a kid.
I dont think I would ever have any.
Some penned elk would be cool if they continued to bugal in the fall. I dont know if penned elk bugal though?
 
My grand parents had two bucks and five does on thier farm when i was growing up, alot of fun and getting the sheds were cool, plus back then people wer'nt so crazy about deer like they are now, but during the rut we used to seperate the bucks because they would fight so much, plus you had to stay away from the does because the buck would run you down. I know we ate some of the does but, thats why you dont name animals on the farm. Family friend lives in Yankton S.D. and has a herd of elk. (about twenty) neat to watch, but he has to test the herd monthly to show they are healthy. He used the sell the antlers to China for making insulin but now just hangs them around the ranch.(I beg for as many as i can every year) There's good and bad with everything, but how many animal rights groups have ever cared for such creatures to now thier true beauty?
 
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