Posted on 07/22/2021 7:31:45 AM PDT by SJackson
Deer are the deadliest animal in America, causing about 200 human deaths per year — as well as 30,000 injuries — when they collide with cars. That's a tragedy; it's also a market failure.
Why it matters: Rather than having deer running around and killing people, it would be much better — and much more delicious — were we to be killing the deer and eating them.
The big picture: Deer populations are exploding, causing enormous human and environmental damage. They eat saplings that would otherwise become carbon-absorbing trees; they destroy native plants that would otherwise house birds' nests; and, of course, they eat their way through countless gardens and vegetable patches.
Culling deer is an obvious solution to the problem — one with the ancillary benefit that it would produce large quantities of delicious, nutritious, high-protein, low-fat venison. Natural carnivores also help. Studies have shown that deer-vehicle collisions fall by 22% when cougars are around, and by 24% when wolves are introduced. The catch: Venison can currently only be sold in the U.S. if it is farmed, rather than wild. If you eat American venison that wasn't shot by yourself or a friend, then it's probably bland meat that comes from midwestern farms raising deer on a corn-heavy diet.
What they're saying: Kurt Vercauteren of the USDA’s National Wildlife Research Center tells the WSJ that a sensible first step would be pilot projects in a few states, to see what happens when wild venison can be sold.
If commercial demand fails to meet supply, many food banks would love to make use of the meat, even if hunters are less generous than they used to be. The bottom line: Wild game is regularly sold in pretty much every other country in the world. Given the popularity of guns and hunting in the U.S., it's bizarre that doesn't happen here.
I hit a deer once in 1974 on I-70 just outside Kansas City doing 70 mph............................
I have a better solution: Extend hunting season and increase Doe permits.
Outdoors/Rural/wildlife/hunting/hiking/backpacking/National Parks/animals list please FR mail me to be on or off . And ping me is you see articles of interest.
Since moving to Kentucky, I tell people that they don’t use radar cops here to keep people’s speed down. They use deer.
We’ve hit four deer. Well, one hit us. A big buck ran into the side of my wife’s car and damaged every single body panel as it spun against the car. I was following her and got to watch the whole thing.
Deer are to motorcycles what sharks are to surfers.
How is that a market failure? That's a government regulation.
Deer are a problem. I’ve collided with one and had near misses with eight or more
You want to kill Bambi!!!
Humans should destroy all life forms so that cars don’t get dinged up with all these deer running into them. How dare they immolate themselves on our roads.
I let one of my friends’ nephew hunt on my property (I have 32 acres). BTW, if you have more than 10 acres here you don’t need a license to hunt on your property. I suppose it still has to be in season, but good luck enforcing that. :)
I would say that deer are the second deadliest animal if we count the thugs in Chicago.
Anyway, venison is an acquired taste. I'm game for developing it further.
I was coming back from a gig in Waddy, KY at around 1 a.m. and counted the deer going home. There were 36. I never hit a one.
I think the Lord saved me one time in my FR-S. I was on my way to work in the morning on a great Kentucky twistie doing a little over 60 and came around a corner and there were two deer in the road. One on the center line and one on the edge of my lane. I flew right between them with an inch or so to spare on the mirrors on both sides.
I’m sure they both had a great story to tell their friends. :)
I could easily kill and eat deer that are present on my small residential property.
The deer would be does because bucks are seldom present.
The problem is not finding or killing, the shotgun slug range would be less than 50 feet. No the problem is the work involved. Cleaning, skinning and butchering are simply not worth the effort
I’ve harvested a little over 30 bunnies and a couple dozen birds on my Kentucky commute. Sadly, one bunny hopped up at the wrong time on a particularly cold morning and when my lower “bumper area” hit it, it broke. I’ve only gotten three or four squirrels and, though I’ve passed a hundred or so, I’ve never hit a Possum or, thank God, a Skunk.
I also have a habit of picking up all the box turtles I see and letting them loose on my property. :) Ten or so.
Extend hunting season and increase Doe permits.
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I second that motion
Promiscuous white tail does are the source of the problem.
Take a trip up to the UP of Michigan in the winter and drive M 35 from Menominee to Escanaba. You’ll count hundreds.
Its so bad that the dang ravens wont even pick on the road kills they are so sick of the long legged speed rats.
Yep. I’ve got the 30.06 if I need it, and a few hundred rounds, but dressing a deer is both skill and art. Frankly, I’ve learned that it’s best to turn most of the meat into hamburger. That’s why Cabela’s sells all those electric meat grinders. But there are some great cuts.
I know this because I’ve gotten meat from the guy I let hunt on my property.
Sure, blame the female for wearing that scent...
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