The present bulletin discusses briefly the economic possibilities of raising deer and elk in the United States. It is believed that when the restrictions now imposed by State laws are removed this business may be made an important and highly profitable industry, especially since it will be the means of utilizing much otherwise unproductive land. The raising of venison should be, and is naturally, as legitimate a business as the growing of beef or mutton, and State laws should be so modified as to permit the producer, who has stocked a preserve with deer at private expense, to dispose of his product at any time, under reasonable regulations, either for breeding purposes or 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 important also is the increase of this remnant so as to make game once more abundant. It is believed that by means of intelligent game propagation, both by the states and by private enterprise, many of our depleted ranges can be restocked with big game.
IMPORTANCE OF THE DEER FAMILY.
The members of the deer family (Cervidæ) rank next to the cattle and sheep family (Bovidæ) 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. The following figures show how it compares with beef and mutton: A lean venison roast before cooking has been found to contain on an average 75 per cent of water, 20 per cent of protein or nitrogenous material, and 2 per cent of fat; a lean beef rump, some 65 to 70 per cent of water, 20 to 23 per cent of protein, and 5 to 14 per cent of fat; a lean leg of mutton, 67 per cent of water, 19 per cent of protein, and 13 per cent of fat.
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 considerable 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.
THE DOMESTICATION OF DEER.
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 centuries without domestication does not prove that they are less susceptible to the process than the reindeer. The purposes for which they have been held captive and the environment given them have been markedly different. It must be remembered, also, that few attempts have been made to rear and domesticate deer under intelligent management. The work has been largely a matter of chance experiment. If they had been as long under careful management as cattle, they would now, probably, be equally plastic in the hands of a skillful breeder.
But raising deer for profit does not necessarily imply their complete domestication. 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 domesticity, will in the end be most successful.