WHAT IS DEER FARMING?
Gerald W. Evers Deer and elk farming refers to the raising of non-native deer and elk for venison, velvet antler, and stock for game ranchers. There is also a market for the antlers and hides. In the eastern US, this usually occurs on small acreages of improved pastures. Game ranching is the management of deer and elk for recreational hunting and/or venison production on large acreages of rangeland and forest. Deer farming is not new. Archaeological digs indicate Phoenicians used domesticated deer around 4000 B.C. and the Chinese have a history of deer use that dates back 5000 years. Reports on domestication of deer in North America occurred over 100 years ago. USDA published farmer bulletins on deer farming in 1908 and 1910. Interest in deer farming decreased until the mid-1970’s when the modern deer farming industry began to develop because of the surge of activity in New Zealand and Europe in marketing venison and deer by-products. In 1993, the estimated sale of deer and deer produc
