FOREST AND STREAM 
[Feb. 20, 1909. 
Deer Farming in the United States.* 
A BULLETIN on the economic possibilities of 
raising deer and elk in the United States, which 
has been issued by the Biological Survey, con¬ 
tains so much interesting matter that we quote 
from it liberally. 
It is believed, says the bulletin, that when 
the restrictions now imposed by State laws are 
removed this business may be made an im¬ 
portant and highly profitable industry, es¬ 
pecially since it will be the means of utilizing 
much otherwise unproductive land. The raising 
of venison should be, and is naturally, as legiti¬ 
mate a business as the growing of beef or mut¬ 
ton, and State laws should be so modified as 
to permit the producer, who has stocked a 
preserve with deer at private expense, to dis¬ 
pose of his product at any time, under reason¬ 
able regulations, either for breeding purposes 
of for food. 
The growing scarcity of game mammals and 
birds in the United States and the threatened 
extinction of some of them over large parts 
of their present ranges make the preservation 
of the remnant highly important. Very import¬ 
ant also is the increase of this remnant so as 
to make game once more abundant. It is be¬ 
lieved that by means of intelligent game propa¬ 
gation, both by the States and by private enter¬ 
prise, many of our depleted ranges can be re¬ 
stocked with big game. 
The members of the deer family (Cervidae) 
rank next to the cattle and sheep family 
(Bovidse) in general utility, and are the most 
important of the big game animals of America. 
Wherever obtainable in quantity the flesh of 
deer of different kinds has always been a 
staple article of diet, and under present market 
conditions it is hardly necessary to say that 
venison is perhaps the most important game, 
being a favorite with epicures and also having 
a wide use as a substitute for beef and mutton, 
which meats it resembles in texture, color, and 
general characteristics. Its flavor is distinctive, 
though it suggests mutton rather than beef. In 
chemical composition it is very similar to beef, 
though, judging from available data, it is not 
so fat as stall-fed cattle. 
Venison, beef, and other common meats are 
very thoroughly digested, whatever the method 
of cooking. Venison may be roasted, broiled, 
pan-broiled, or used for making stews, in much 
the same way as beef. Venison, particularly 
steak, to be at its best, should be eaten as soon 
as possible after it is cooked. 
The general popularity of venison is so great 
and the demand for it so widespread that over¬ 
production is improbable. The other products 
of the deer—skins and horns—are of consider¬ 
able importance, and in countries where deer 
are abundant and especially where large herds 
are kept in semi-domestication, the commerce 
in both is very extensive. 
A number of species of the deer family have 
been proved to be susceptible to domestication. 
The reindeer, however, is the only one that has 
been brought fully under the control of man. 
The fact that the European red deer and the 
fallow deer have been bred in parks for cen¬ 
turies without domestication does not prove 
*This fuller notice of Mr. D. E. Lantz’s paper, pub¬ 
lished last summer by the Biological Survey and noticed 
in Forest and Stream of Aug. 29, 1908, is published in 
response to numerous inquiries from readers. 
that they are less susceptible to the process 
than the reindeer. Raising deer for profit does 
not necessarily imply their complete domestica¬ 
tion. They may be kept in large preserves with 
surroundings as nearly natural as possible and 
their domestication entirely ignored. Thus the 
breeder may reap nearly all the profit that could 
be expected from a domestic herd, while the 
animals escape most of the dangers incident to 
close captivity. But the breeder who aims at 
the ultimate domestication of the animals, and 
whose herd approaches nearest to true domes¬ 
ticity, will in the end be most successful. 
The number of species of deer suited for 
breeding in inclosures in the United States is 
great, though the chances for success are by 
no means the same for all. As a rule those 
native to .America are to be preferred, since 
they are already acclimated. In selecting any 
species, similarity between its natural habitat 
and that to which it is to be transferred must 
be considered. Important, also, is its adapta¬ 
bility to varied conditions, as shown by former 
attempts to acclimatize it. 
Unless they have shown a peculiar adapta¬ 
bility to such change, deer should not be taken 
from arid parts of the United States to humid 
parts. To a disregard of this principle are 
probably due many of the failures that have at¬ 
tended experiments in breeding the American 
antelope, the Columbia blacktail deer, the 
moose, and other animals in places differing 
widely from their natural ranges. 
The history of attempts to acclimatize the 
several kinds of deer shows that some readily 
adapt themselves to a great variety of con¬ 
ditions, and efforts to introduce them into new 
countries have been almost uniformly successful. 
Such has been the experience with the axis 
deer, the Japanese and Pekin sikas, the red and 
the fallow deer of Europe, and especially with 
the wapiti, or Rocky Mountain elk, and the 
Virginia deer. While experiments, with the. 
foreign species named offer every promise of 
success to the owners of American preserves, 
there are obvious reasons for recommending 
the two native animals just mentioned as best 
suited for the production of venison in the 
United States. 
The wapiti (Cervus canadensis), including 
two related species and a geographic race, and 
known generally in America as the elk, is, next 
to the moose, the largest of our deer. For 
the practical purposes of this bulletin all the 
forms of the wapiti are treated as a single 
species. 
Further safeguards are needed to place the 
Wyoming elk herds beyond the reach of winter 
starvation. At the present time this species affords 
a most promising field for ventures in breeding 
for profit. The period of gestation is about 
8}/2 months. The female does not usually 
breed until the third year, and produces but 
one calf at a time. 
Although the elk is less prolific than the 
common deer and some other species that have 
been bred in parks, it increases fully as rapidly 
as the common red deer of Europe. More¬ 
over, it makes up for any lack of fecundity by 
its superior hardiness and ease of management. 
It has been acclimatized in many parts of the 
world, and shows the same vigor and hardi¬ 
ness wherever it has been transplanted. In 
Europe it has been successfully crossed with 
the Altai wapiti and the red deer, and in both 
instances the offspring were superior in size 
and general stamina to the native stock. 
The flesh of the elk, although somewhat 
coarse, is superior in flavor to most venison. 
That of the bulls is in its best condition about 
the time the velvet is shed. By the time the 
rut is over, in October, their flesh is in the 
poorest condition. As the open season for elk 
is usually in October and November, and only 
bulls are killed, it follows that hunters often 
obtain the venison when it is poorest. The 
meat is not best when freshly killed, but should 
be left hanging for four or five days before it 
is used. Of course fat elk are better eating 
than lean, and it is said that venison from 
castrated bulls is superior to any other. 
With few exceptions the early attempts to 
domesticate elk were made by men who were 
wealthy enough to disregard all thought of 
profit in raising them. They were usually 
placed under the care of servants, and the 
bucks were left uncastrated until they became 
old and unmanageable. Soon the serious prob¬ 
lem of controlling them outweighed the novelty 
of their possession, and one by one the at¬ 
tempts at domestication were abandoned. 
A desire to preserve this important game 
animal has caused a renewal of attempts to 
breed it in confinement, and at present there 
are small herds under private ownership in 
many places in the United States. Of about 
a dozen successful breeders, nearly all are of 
the opinion that raising elk for market can be 
made remunerative if present laws as to the 
sale of the meat are modified. 
The elk readily adapts itself to almost any 
environment. Even within the narrow con¬ 
fines of the paddocks of the ordinary zoological 
park the animal does well and increases so 
that periodically the herds have to be reduced 
by sales. If not closely confined, elk do not 
eat the bark from trees, nor do they eat ever¬ 
greens In clearing out underbrush from thick¬ 
ets, they are more useful than goats, since they 
browse higher. Goats, however, eat closer to 
the ground; and the two animals get along 
well together. 
The increase of elk under domestication is 
equal to that of cattle. Fully 90 per cent, of 
the females produce healthy young. An adult 
male elk weighs from 700 to 1,000 pounds; a 
female, from 600 to 800 pounds. The percent¬ 
age of dressed meat is greater than-with cattle, 
but, owing to hostile game laws, experience in 
marketing it is very limited. 
Cattle, sheep and goats can be grazed in the 
same lots with elk. An elk is the natural enemy 
of dogs and wolves. A few elk in a thousand- 
acre pasture will absolutely protect the flocks 
therein. The does always lead in the chase of 
dogs that get into the elk park. If elk will 
attack and vanquish dogs and coyotes and thus 
help to protect domestic animals grazing in the 
same pastures, a knowledge of the fact may be 
of great advantage to stockmen who desire to 
give up herding sheep and to resort to fenced 
pastures instead. The addition of a few elk in 
the pasture may be an efficient protection from 
dogs, coyotes, and wolves. 
Elk thrive best in preserves having a variety 
of food plants—grasses, bushes, and trees. 
Rough lands, well watered with clear streams 
{Continued on page 285.) 
