Breeding and Selling Deer

One livestock industry that isn't usually scrutinized or paid attention to all that much is the deer industry. Many people buy and sell deer for many purposes. A couple of those reasons are for game hunting and the like. Some people hunt deer simply for the pleasure of doing so, while others like to hunt deer for the purpose of adding to their collection of antlers that are mounted on their wall at home.

Whether or not one agrees with the fact that deer should be bought and sold simply for the sport of hunting, it is a lucrative industry nonetheless. People are willing to pay thousands of dollars simply for a properly bred and raised doe or buck. Some deer breeders actually engage in artificial insemination of does simply to be able to raise good strong bucks.

Texas is one of the many states that engages in the practice of buying and selling deer. There are several very large deer farms scattered across the state. The does and bucks are usually allowed near each other for the purpose of mating, but then the males are sometimes separated for one reason or another. When bucks are in the process of being raised to be sold, they are usually earmarked with a number on their ear in order to differentiate between the different bucks that have been raised. Finally, the bucks are sold to game hunters and others who are interested in the deer breeding process.

Deer As Pets

One purpose that probably has hardly ever been considered, however, is the fact that deer may be able to be domesticated and actually raised as a person's household pet. I recently had the chance to visit a deer farm and actually got up close and personal with one of the female deer. If anyone has ever said that deer do not have much of a personality, I can definitely prove them wrong! The deer I was close to decided to lick my arms as well as put their heads down just so I could pet them. That sounds like a friendly deer to me! Seeing as how deer may be one of the most peaceful creatures in the wild today, would it be possible for them to be raised and domesticated, just as how cats and dogs were thousands of years ago? It seems as though it might be a real possibility; however, actually domesticating them might prove to be more difficult than in theory.

But until the day comes when deer are actually domesticated and the hunting of them stops, just maybe they will be domesticated. Until then, however, game hunters everywhere enjoy watching and hunting does and bucks alike as they provide not only an excellent meat, but also a fantastic animal to actually hunt!