Deer Farms

[Fletchette]

Here in the USin Pennsylvania we have a Red deer farm. (Red deer are European Elk) Which is on about 40 acres of land. You pay about 100 dollars and they give you breakfast (which is homemade) and set you out on about 35 acres of land (impossible to walk through it all) they keep just for hunting. They have set tree stands and you can hunt with bow,crossbow,shotgun with slugs,or any rifle under or equal to a .300.

A few observations.....Moose are European Elk, not Red Deer. And 35 acres is really small. A person could walk across 35 acres in about 10 minutes, and zig-zag across most of it in about 30 minutes.

[DonderDeer]

Moose are called elk in Europe, yes - but not everyone knows that. I think the actual point though was if someone didn't know what a red deer was, saying "it's like an elk but from Europe" is a really good visualizer. On other points I agree with you though.

[Buckkiller4]

What I said is what I was told and know and 35 acres is hard to navigate in thick brush and undergrowth. The owner is in his 50's and I ave known him for a few years now and he has a lot of knowledge about these things.

[Fletchette]

I think the actual point though was if someone didn't know what a red deer was, saying "it's like an elk but from Europe" is a really good visualizer.

Agreed, clearly I did not ponder his point long enough, PonderDeer...

[Tod1d]

Here in the USin Pennsylvania we have a Red deer farm. (Red deer are European Elk) Which is on about 40 acres of land. You pay about 100 dollars and they give you breakfast (which is homemade) and set you out on about 35 acres of land (impossible to walk through it all) they keep just for hunting. They have set tree stands and you can hunt with bow,crossbow,shotgun with slugs,or any rifle under or equal to a .300.

A few observations.....Moose are European Elk, not Red Deer. And 35 acres is really small. A person could walk across 35 acres in about 10 minutes, and zig-zag across most of it in about 30 minutes.

Another observation... the $100 is most likely a non-refundable deposit. If you shoot a deer it will probably cost you at least $1000, likely much more depending on the size / score of the deer.

[Buckkiller4]

That is correct but your chances of getting one is about 65%

[InstinctiveArcher]

That is correct but your chances of getting one is about 65%

If you can't kill a deer in a 35 acre cage, than you aren't worthy of being called a hunter. This is the kind of hunting that churns my stomach.

[Buckkiller4]

It is possible for them to escape. Last time I was there a nice sized bull got out. Since the government considers them dangerous to the PA wilderness, (which I don't get other than the fact that they would have to fight the native state animal, the whitetail,for food) They couldn't get it back in they needed to kill it on a hard place, the PA state game lands. I volunteered and was one of three to hunt the area. I got it in the end and was given a reward for my troubles.(they weren't troubles just another day as a hunter, but I accepted anyway.It was 10 pounds of red deer jerky )

[InstinctiveArcher]

It would be a huge issue. They are non native animals that are competing with the native wildlife. That's the reason feral hogs are such an issue. In lots of cases such as the deer above, ranchers do not properly fence their animals and allow them to escape.
It doesn't and never will seem like hunting to me. Even chasing that escaped deer doesn't really seem like hunting. It's no different than when one of my uncles cows got loose and we tracked it down and shot it since it was to wild to handle.

[ThesaurusRex84]

Raising deer as part of canned hunts is just really stupid, in my opinion.

Farming deer and elk as livestock? That I like. I don't think Fuddruckers would be the same without elk burgers