# Why don't we farm deer (or other game animals)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142 "2008-07-29T20:48:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/21 "2008-07-30T00:43:18Z")
[QUOTE=beanpod] I saw an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, and he mentioned something about game being quite popular (seasonally) in France. Is it actual game that hunters bring in? [/QUOTE] Regarding France, game can only be sold during the hunting season (probably to avoid poaching) but the game actually sold can have been raised rather than hunted. Note that : -I’ve no clue which species are commonly raised and which aren’t. For instance, I’ve never heard of raising deer, but it might be that in fact 95% of the deer meat I ate had actually been raised in captivity. -Some species you mention aren’t considered game. For instance rabbits, that are very commonly eaten, almost always come from farms. Having rabbits in a farm is almost as common as having poultry. -Hunting and/or selling Opalcats is completely banned Finally, I would note the somewhat nasty habit of raising game _for the purpose of hunting it_. It often happens with birds. For instance, pheasants are raised, then released in the wild just before the beginning of the hunting season, and the bemused pheasant is shot two days later while he’s looking around wondering why its daily food ration hasn’t been served yet. ---
**Author:** ![beanpod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9adbd/32.png) [@beanpod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beanpod)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/22 "2008-07-30T01:09:32Z")
[QUOTE=clairobscur] Finally, I would note the somewhat nasty habit of raising game _for the purpose of hunting it_. [/QUOTE] Yep, I realized there are game _preserves_ for all kinds of animals, but I was thinking specifically of game animals raised in captivity and slaughtered for food, which likely wouldn’t get as much publicity as trophy hunting places get. I figured you just can’t treat some animals (even relatively tame ones) the same way you can treat animals that we’ve specifically bred domestically for generations on generations. I was curious about the obstacles people might run into with various game animals. I’m glad you noted that rabbits aren’t considered game. Rabbits are domesticated, of course, :smack: but for some reason I always considered rabbits-as-food to be game (probably because the only ones I ever ate were from hunting). I’ll scratch them off my list. I hadn’t heard of chronic wasting disease, either. Thanks **Bobotheoptimist.** (I don’t need cites, I can look it up myself if I take a notion. Just curiosity.) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/23 "2008-07-30T01:27:58Z")
Game drills have to be custom made, then the damned things won’t stay in the ground long enough to grow into Deer Trees. 😃 One of the problems with Deer and Buffalo is Fencing. Buggers are deadly with an Epee… er, I mean, Deer can jump most fences pretty easy and Buffalo just plow 'em down. Putting up higher or stronger fencing over large areas is pretty expensive. Then there’s the problem of rounding them up. Deer are fast and not exactly docile. And a pissed off Buffalo isn’t something you manage on your own. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/24 "2008-07-30T02:37:32Z")
There is a commercial ostrich farm on NC Hwy 39 in Johnston County NC, about fifteen miles south of where I live. There are commercial fallow deer farms in the Towns of Hounsfield and Lyme, in Jefferson County, NY. The proprietor of the Lyme farm, who is legally heir to one of the old German pre-WWI baronies, said he got the idea from deer farms in Bavaria (no further specifics; any German Dopers able to follow up on that?). There are (or at least were 12 years ago) allegedly some other fallow deer farms in rural Albany County NY, but I don’t have any specifics on that any more. Raising game animals for meat in captivity generally targets a specialty market – meaning such things exist, and are probably far more widespread than most people realize, but tend to be smaller niche operations that are “under the radar” for the average individual. Most people could probably name the big industries of cities like Nashville, Detroit, Hartford, Barre, Wilmington, Akron, Tampa… But it was only a month ago I learned that Modesto CA has always been a major food-canning center. I have no clue what the big industries of places like Mattoon IL, Iowa City, Fort Wayne, or Flagstaff might be. And given that, unless you are a regular consumer of ostrich, venison, buffalo, etc., you probably don’t know (or at leat didn’t before this thread) where they are raised commercially. ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/25 "2008-07-30T02:54:53Z")
This topic is addressed heavily in Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel”. He concludes that humans have tried to domesticate every animal out there, and in he says (paraphrasing) “all good marriages are the same, but all bad marriages fail in their own unique way”. In a marriage, you need to be on the same page with regards to money, kids, religion, etc. Every animal we’ve domesticated has certain traits - ability to be caged with others of its kind, a certain temperament, ability to reproduce in captivity, and many other factors. One interesting one was that almost every animal we’ve domesticated (outside of the house cat) comes from some sort of “alpha” society, and we assumed that role. He goes on to cover many animals, and why it was unsuccessful. For example, the zebra is evidently a nasty animal and tends to bite people readily. I think for deer the explanation was that they tend to run into cages and hurt themselves, and also the males cannot be near each other during mating season. So, each animal fails in their own unique way. ---
**Author:** ![Cider\_Depot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Cider\_Depot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cider_Depot)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/26 "2008-07-30T03:09:31Z")
I can verify that in Australia we farm deer, alpaca, ostrich, emu, pheasant…but not kangaroo. This, I assume, is because they’re so abundant in the wild that if you want one you only need to open your back door and shoot. These brave people farm saltwater crocodiles: [http://www.crocfarm.com.au/](http://www.crocfarm.com.au/) ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/27 "2008-07-30T03:15:52Z")
Someone shot an elk here in Illinois last season that they suspected escaped from a farm at some point. Interesting triva point: You don’t need a license to shoot elk in Illinois because…we don’t have an elk season. There was an Emu farm in the valley I used to live in back in Oregon. Emu is rather tasty. Finally, someone mentioned trout upthread. Most game fish besides bass are readily farmed (just because bass don’t really need farming, they’re just giant sunfish) on a regular basis either for sport fishing stocking or for food. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/28 "2008-07-30T06:23:50Z")
[QUOTE=clairobscur] -Hunting and/or selling Opalcats is completely banned [/QUOTE] Offers to help breed more 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Westrogothia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@Westrogothia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Westrogothia)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/29 "2008-07-30T06:40:27Z")
Theres a place that raises red deer and fallow deer 10 min from where I live. You can see the herd grazing from the road. Fencing is about 15 feet to keep them in. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/30 "2008-07-30T06:42:41Z")
[This website](http://www.elkusa.com/Elk_tenderloin.html) offers “REAL ELK™”. Because real elk is copyrighted, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/31 "2008-07-30T06:49:48Z")
[QUOTE=Cunctator] I’ve seen deer farms here and in New Zealand. There are also emu and ostrich farms in Australia. [/QUOTE] When I lived in small town Georgia the deer population was so out of control it was literally not safe to drive the back roads late at night; it wasn’t uncommon to see a dozen of them in half a mile (and for those who don’t know, a deer can total a car). That’s why it was ironic that several restaurants served New Zealand venison (which was not cheap) but couldn’t serve the local variety. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/32 "2008-07-30T09:50:59Z")
[QUOTE=Cider Depot] I can verify that in Australia we farm deer, alpaca, ostrich, emu, pheasant…but not kangaroo. This, I assume, is because they’re so abundant in the wild that if you want one you only need to open your back door and shoot. [/QUOTE] That, and Kangaroos have an irritating habit of being able to jump over fences- or, just as frequently, jumping _into_ them. This tends to bring the fence down, which lets the cows and sheep out and causes all sorts of problems. Kangaroo meat loses it’s tenderness if it’s farmed, apparently. I’m not a fan of the stuff, but friends who are tell me there’s a difference between reared and wild Kangaroo meat. Ironically, despite the fact there are more Kangaroos in Australia than you can shake a Didgeridoo at, you need permits and tags and so on to actually shoot them. I looked into getting a 'Roo shooters permit and tags, but it was going to cost a fortune, required a course on safe meat handling and butchering, and was basically a Major Undertaking. Having said that, plenty of people do make a living as professional Kangaroo shooters (most pet food here is Kangaroo, I remember reading somewhere), and Kangaroo meat is available in the supermarket if you want it. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/33 "2008-07-30T10:35:00Z")
Can’t speak for the rest of the far north, but in Norway at least reindeer meat is a common sight in supermarkets and it is all from domesticated animals. I believe there is a tiny hunting quota for the remaining wild reindeer population but that meat never makes it to stores. A newly-arrived fellow Yank once expressed her horrified surprise at seeing a slab of frozen reindeer in the grocery store freezer - not only because of the eating-Rudolph aspect, but because she was under the impression they were a threatened species. Not so - in fact, overgrazing is a serious problem in reindeer country. ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/34 "2008-07-30T11:19:58Z")
Amusing anecdote on differences between pet & food farming. My Sister-in-law is an English person working in Spain. She helps the Spanish sell property and land to English people (And other Europeans) She’s at a Spaniard’s house with an English couple and their five year old daughter. The couple are looking at buying one of the fields to build on. While the four of them are chatting away the daughter has found a pen with a couple of dozen rabbits and is engrossed in watching them bounce and frolic as bunnies do. The Spanish man sees her looking and at some point wonders over and asks if she likes them. She says she does. A lot. “Would you like one?” he asks, the Spanish are generous like that. “Oh. Can I?” she asks with glee. The Spaniard reaches in, grabs a bunny, snaps it’s neck and hands it to the little English girl. I guess he just assumed she was hungry. My Sister-in-law didn’t tell me what happened next, but it wasn’t pretty. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/35 "2008-07-30T11:22:09Z")
Pigeons and doves used to be farmed a lot in medieaval England - they would often be housed in a big, bell-shaped building covered from floor to roof with ledges and alcoves on the inside - eggs and meat were produced this way (pigeon eggs are a bit bigger than the shell of a large pecan) ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/36 "2008-07-30T11:28:21Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] they would often be housed in a big, bell-shaped building covered from floor to roof with ledges and alcoves on the inside [/QUOTE] IRRC, this was called a Cot. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/37 "2008-07-30T11:53:31Z")
[QUOTE=essell] IRRC, this was called a Cot. [/QUOTE] Pronounced Cot, but spelt Cote - and in the case of doves, it was “dovecote”, one word. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/38 "2008-07-30T12:27:36Z")
Often pronounced Doo-kit in Scotland, at least… ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/39 "2008-07-30T12:49:29Z")
The first time I saw a deer farm, we were invited by a friend of a friend of the family’s. I was amazed at how high the fences have to be to keep the deer from getting out - anything lower than about 3 metres and they can just leap over them. ---
**Author:** ![beanpod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9adbd/32.png) [@beanpod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beanpod)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142/40 "2008-07-30T13:25:26Z")
Just sticking my head in to say thanks again. (Apparently deer farms are far more common than I’d realized.) I’ve also heard _Guns, Germs, and Steel_ mentioned in a few places lately, and I’ll have to check it out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-farm-deer-or-other-game-animals/458142.md?page=3)