Note: A misspelling in the headline has been corrected
There are now over 500 deer-breeding farms in Ohio — with an estimated 25,000 captive white- tail deer at any one time. Some of the animals are raised for meat, hides and agricultural products like more traditional livestock, but most are sold to hunting preserves.
Deer hunting is big in Ohio -- with half a million licenses issued a year. And hunting on preserves, where patrons pay to stalk stocked deer, is now a fast growing and increasingly sophisticated business.
Ohio Agriculture Department head veterinarian Tony Forshey says breeding deer for desired traits is now a lot like horse breeding.
“The stakes are just as high if not higher. Some of these does will sell for half a million dollars. These bucks will sell for from a half a million to x-number of millions of dollars. It’s probably $150-$200 million industry in the state of Ohio.”
There are 29 licensed deer hunting preserves in Ohio. Most involve several hundred acres of fenced woodlands. Operators say the hunting is the same as in the wild, but safer.
