Deer Breeders ..Have Some Questions

[BrandonA]

This is what I am wanting to do but not sure how to go about doing it.

My wife and I are looking at 60 acres that I would like to high fence. I would like to raise and breed deer. The offspring I would take and release at our ranch in S.Texas. Outside the normal its not cost effective etc...most hobbies aren't cost effective. So

Few Questions:

What permits would I need?

Would I need to build a a couple of breeder pens? and what size?

How many deer could I have on 60 acres?


Ideally I would like the deer to have free range on the 60 acres and dart and transport when the offspring are 1.5 old and release them at the ranch.

I am in the infancy stage and not sure where to start.

[Mike Murphey]

Call Texas Parks and Wildlife.....they have all the info that you need...there are many permits and inspections from TPW that are required.....A guy I worked with is doing this and he is about ready to get out of it due to the inspections from the game warden that take place....

[cosmiccowboy]

You are about to learn that raising deer isn't as easy as it looks. My advice would be to buy the deer from an established breeder and have the sale include delivering them to your ranch alive. You will still come out thousands of dollars ahead.

If you are determined to do it yourself then 60 acres is plenty of room. I know of a very successful breeder with a properly set up facility that has 400+ adults on 15 acres. You need to start by building a covered working facility with dark rooms and a drop chute serviced by alleys to the raising pens. I WOULD NOT let them free roam the 60 acres. When you get that much money invested in breding stock you need to be able to lay eyes on every deer every day and be able to medicate them when they get sick.

[Sticks&Strings]

I can tell you this, every one has different opinions. But you will need at least 4 pins in my opinion. Maybe 2 acres each, and then you could use the rest of the place as a soft release type pen until you transported.

But, I will say, it will be a lot harder to find those deer in 6o acres if it's heavy brush. Good luck, it will be fun, hard work, depressing, and an experience. I would love to do it, but don't have an extra $100-150K laying around.

[Extremebowman]

No Mr Game Warden, this is not a breeding facility, I have it high fenced to keep the hogs out. By the way, have you seen how fast them deer reproduce? Man they don't waste any time

[STGS]

BrandonA,

Feel free to call me. I have been doing this for the last 4 yrs. I have some experience with the release aspects that you should be aware of prior to release. I wouldn't let everyone scare your off just yet, but it is hard work and expensive. I still love it....

Jeremy Rieger
713-412-2057

[Deer Tracks]

So..you want to become a deer breeder?

First and foremost you need to ask yourself, do you truly love deer? Sure...as hunters we all love deer, but like dog breeders and horse breeders, a deer breeder should enjoy raising and spending time with these animals. Pen deer require DAILY care and maitenance. It's expensive enough just to get started. Expect to spend thousands on fencing, barns, feeders, water troughs, nursing (if you plan to bottle raise,) and a facility for working deer and once you finish paying for everything, you need to feed them.

Each deer will eat roughly 1200 pounds a year. Additionally they will eat hay @ $10-11.00 per bale. Telezol is $50 per bottle, Draxxin is $600 per bottle and then you have wormers, supplements, other medications, Dart Guns, Semen, vet bills etc.

If you bottle raise, each fawn will consume 30-60 ounces of milk per day for 8to 12 weeks.

Deer breeding is a huge investment of money and time. And if you don't have a few hours a day to devote to feeding, medicating, and maintaining their housing, you will have to hire somebody to do it for you. Just another expense.

This will get you started with the state:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdforms/media/pwd_0402l_w7000_deer_breeder_application_packet.pdf

Our pen system was pretty elaborate. I'd be happy to send you a drawing.
If I remember correctly, most of our pens were about 20,000 square feet.

I would start by researching which lines are strong producers. There are a lot of awesome bucks, but not all of them throw awesome offspring.

After finding that line, I would purchase a handful of bred does of equally good quality. I strongly recommend you seek out bottle raised does. Bottle raised deer are easier to work and observe and they have a higher tolerance of human activity around the pens. There's nothing I hate more than a fence banger.

You can purchase a nice breeder for them but AIing is great too. I am a big fan of AI as a way to diversify the genetics of your herd and it's more cost effective than buying a breeder and you get about a 60% conception rate.

If I had $10,000 to buy semen or a live buck, I would buy about 5 straws and AI 10 of my does with the best pedigrees.

My advice, if you just want to stock your ranch with a few big bucks, buy some from a breeder. It will be much cheaper that way. But if you're ready to dive head first into the world of raising whitetails, go for it! Just make sure you keep detailed and accurate records with the state. They do follow up with you.

[Codie]

"You need to start by building a covered working facility with dark rooms and a drop chute serviced by alleys to the raising pens. I WOULD NOT let them free roam the 60 acres."

100% Agree - we worked 37 does last night puting in cedars and the pen settup and pens/working facility is first class. It not only makes it easier on us (the workers), but more importantly it makes it easier on the does. We only had 4 people and we were done with all 37 does within 2 hours. If we had had one person for every single little job there is to do (penning, sorting, verifying ear tags, dropping the floor, holding the head, holding a sack of feed on their back, inserting the cedars, making sure the proper doors were open for each particular does exit, making sure the proper interior holding rooms were open) we would have been done is no time. I am one of those people that LOVES deer, not just deer hunting; so to me it would be a great job and experience to own/run a breeding operation, but if you don't love em' I can see where it would get real old/real quick. Good Luck. If you are interested I will give you my uncles number at the ranch. I am sure he would be able to answer some questions for you.

[Deer Tracks]

By the way, we lost a bunch of deer this past summer to an EHD outbreak.

They can get injuries, infections, and viruses. You need to educate yourself on how to prevent and treat diseases...and be prepared to lose thousands of dollars worth of deer if an outbreak occures.

This is a fawn with EHD. Eight hours before this photo was taken she was eating and walking around normally. Four hours after this photo was taken she was dead.

[Codie]

man that is bad Sika! we had a fawn break a leg between the shoulder and knee last night. Guess she got stepped on in the holding tankl. Was just fine when we got them in there and when she came out to go to her holding cell she had a broken leg. Hopefully it will heal up pretty quick like that last fawn that broke a leg up high.

[Sticks&Strings]

Bottle raising them does not really bring much more money for them if you want to sell them, and they won't be as wild when you turn them out. Something to think about. I've been to ranches with working facilities and one where they don't have working facilities, but shoot them with dart guns instead. Both have their pros and cons. I think if my final goal was to turn them out and not sell them, I would dart them and not bottle raise them. Keep them as wild as possible.

Both ways are stressful on the deer and they probably run the risk of injury greater with a working facility than being darted. That, and think about how much money it is going to cost to build a GOOD working facility that will be sufficient not only when you have 10 deer, but for when you have 400. I don't think either way is better, I think you just need to figure out which way is better for you. If money and time are no issue, the working facility may be better. If you want wild deer and lower start up costs, then I may go the darting route.
Just my opinion. Note: I am not a breeder, but have done a lot of research, attended seminars, and bredding facilities as we were one week away from becoming one until we decided now was not the time. Others probably know better.

[BrandonA]

This would be done on a small scale. I am not wanting to get into the selling to other ranches etc... Just stock ours and have a little fun along the way. I like the idea of darting and not bottle raising. Everything we have ever bottled raise becomes to much like a pet. A friend of mine has some breeder bucks and does so I have a pretty inexpensive start up on animals.

[Codie]

"If you want wild deer and lower start up costs, then I may go the darting route"

I know this is not what S&S was meaning, but don't take the above comment as a statement saying that deer worked in pens,chutes, and floor drops are not wild deer. TRUST ME, I have the bruises and scratches to prove it. The ones that came through last night that were at one time bottle fed deer were pretty calm, not tame, but calm. The others I would put in a category above wild. (more along the lines of crazy wild)

[Deer Tracks]

This would be done on a small scale. I am not wanting to get into the selling to other ranches etc... Just stock ours and have a little fun along the way. I like the idea of darting and not bottle raising. Everything we have ever bottled raise becomes to much like a pet. A friend of mine has some breeder bucks and does so I have a pretty inexpensive start up on animals.

Hunting ranches would rather have wild deer. They don't care how many bucks kill themselves in the breed pens by running into fences. But for me to raise them, I would rather have calm deer. (As Codie mentioned, there is a distinction between "calm" and "tame" - I wouldn't classify any of our deer as "tame.")


If I have to be in or around the deer pens I open up an adjacent empty pen for the wilder bucks to run to. By opening up one or two pens extra pens they have more room to get away and feel safe.

I medicate by darting 99% of the time...even on bottle raised deer. You can dart the medicine right into them without having to tranq them.

The main advantage of bottle raising is the deer are less likely to panic and do stupid things like run into fences and feeders (I've seen both happen.)

If you intend to turn everything to the wild, then by all means, keep them wild. You just have to be extra sensitive when doing work in the pens. Over time you will learn what the deer will and will not tolerate.

[BrandonA]

Sika & all

thanks for the info.