Sep 26th 2009, 04:50 PM
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#5 |
Apr 2009 Edgar, WI Cervid: deer |
I went with "no way, never work" for the options available.
My reason is simple. Whitetails do not have the feed to meat ratio to make it worth the time.
Red deer, elk, and maybe others like sika or something (I have no real knowledge about the other cervids out there) are fine for this idea. My understanding is elk are easy to raise, and with enough pasture can be raised for very little cost. The return in LBS of meat versus the feed put into them then becomes worth the time and effort.
All that said I know of one person who has made a couple of dollars slaughtering whitetails and turning them into snack sticks and such for resale. Therefore I think on a small scale SOME of the "over production" does from low end quality herds could become a way of OFFSETTING feed costs. But I don't think it is a good idea to pursue it on a large scale as a way of making money with whitetails.
I think the best end market for whitetails is the hunting ranches, and I think a properly run national campaign to draw in more hunters will give us the effect we all hope for.
Just my humble opinion.
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