Large Elk
A series of articles pertaining to the handling of whitetail deer is not going to be any small task. I’m sure it will prove to be a very ambitious undertaking. Even though something like this should have been done a long time ago, I’m not sure who would have been qualified to do it. You see, before a person can put some real experiences and knowledge down on paper, you have to have a chance to live them. For me, it’s just lately that I feel confident and ready to tackle such a task. I am trusting that, for people who do not know me, the following introduction will help ascertain and accredit myself for this task.
My first challenging experiences at handling whitetail deer all started in the fall of 1989 when I was fortunate enough to be accepted to extract and relocate wild deer from the Namao Air Base (just north of Edmonton Alberta Canada). Most of the deer that we captured ended up as initial breeding stock on deer farms in Alberta.
Designing and building special equipment, along with continuously experimenting with different handling techniques, became something we had to do. (I say we, because my two boys, Delton and Clayton, who were in their mid and early teens at the time, were always so very eager to help, and in most cases, we needed more than one person). The above offered many challenges and experiences that sometimes ended badly, but most often ended well.
Every year, our confidence in handling deer, and our development of new techniques, along with different equipment, was building up. One thing that we really liked about this animal was how nicely it behaved once it entered a closed-in trailer. Because they were so easy to transport alone or in groups, I was convinced they would turn out to be a pleasant animal to farm and easy to handle once we learned more about them.
Our relocating of deer went on for four more winters, at which time it was discontinued. Winter was the only season we used to do this because that’s the only time of year we could entice the deer to enter our boxes and the fawns were old enough to be weaned.
Picture a 4′ high x 4′ wide x 12′ long plywood tunnel with no floor, and a solid guillotine gate mounted at each end, activated by a fine trigger line stretched across its width at the middle. These capture boxes, as we called them, would be located where the deer liked to feed or often walked. By feeding around the outside and inside the box, we would accustom the deer to hang around this area.
Eventually, we would feed very little on the outside and mostly inside the box. After four or five days, or once we started noticing some activity inside the box, we would hook up our trigger line. Most often, at night-time, the deer would enter the box from either end to go and feed at the middle where a fresh pile of feed had been placed during the day. With the trigger line set very sensitively, and one wrong move by the deer, down would come the guillotine gates, capturing the deer inside. With the solid box that permitted next to no light to enter, it made it dark enough so the deer remained calm inside.
In the morning, noticing the gates were down and knowing there was more than likely deer inside, we would back up our stock trailer to the box. By lifting the guillotine gate between the box and the trailer and having someone make noise at the other end of the box, the deer would jump into the trailer in no time. After resetting our capture box, we would transport our soon to become domestic deer to our farm located eight miles away.
Once there, we would meet officers from our local Fish and Wildlife Department and proceed to tag the deer in each ear and complete the paperwork. Everything we were doing had to be done in a way that would cause the least stress on the animal because we were not using drugs and we didn’t want capture myopathy to set in.
Sika Deer
As the years went by, our expertise was growing and we were fast becoming addicted to raising this beautiful animal. Thirsting for knowledge and thinking of a second honeymoon, I broke the news to my wife Gisele about going to NADEFA’s 1994 Annual Conference in New Orleans.
What a holiday this turned out to be! Can they ever party in New Orleans! The holiday was good but I was sure disappointed with the conference. I’m not saying it wasn’t a good conference. It was a super well-organized and well-attended conference, but the problem for me was the content.
You see, by then I was obsessed with the idea of raising whitetails, and it had never entered my mind that most of the attendees would be raising red deer, elk, fallow, sikas or other deer. There were only a handful of people at the conference raising whitetails, and by the end of the first day, I had met them all. There was so little mentioned about raising whitetails on that first day that I remember going to our room that night being very disappointed.
Getting up early the next morning and primed with new energy, I promised myself not to let this turn into a negative experience. Determined to do something about it, I started to talk to as many people as I could. Not being too shy when I’m on a mission, I can assure you that I spoke to a lot of farmers that day. One question I would always ask, was how come they weren’t raising whitetails.
By the end of the day, I could tell what they were going to answer just by looking at their reaction. The biggest majority of their responses were, “Whitetail deer! First, in our state it’s not legal; and second, there’s only two ways to handle whitetails, and that’s with a dart gun or a gun.” In states where it was legal and the person knew it was, this person would often make the comment that whitetails couldn’t be handled. I spent the remainder of the conference continuing to talk to everyone I could, and learn as much as possible.
Something was really puzzling me. If everybody I talked to had never handled whitetails and were drawing conclusions that they were impossible to handle, where did this misconception come from? Today, in North America, I’m convinced that such an idea was ingrained in our minds only because the whitetail is the most elusive and toughest to hunt of all deer. It’s these same unique characteristics that will prove to make the whitetail the easiest to handle when farmed in its wild state. With a well-laid-out farm, a well-designed handling system, good handling equipment, and a little experience, the above is fast becoming reality. Still in the air and on my way back home, I remember telling Gisele how happy I was about our holiday and the conference. She remarked that she thought I was disappointed with the conference. Yes I was, but can you see now how important it was that we went?
Red Deer
I had just identified two major stumbling blocks, the first being that in many areas in North America, farmers were not allowed to raise whitetails, and the second was the misconception that whitetails cannot be handled. For an industry to eventually materialize around the whitetail deer, it was obvious to me that lots of time and effort would be required. It didn’t take me long to decide at which one I was going to concentrate my energies. If I could prove that whitetails could be handled, it would mean they could be managed, which would mean they could be raised as a domestic animal. This, in turn, would lead to the eventuality of passing laws allowing this super-efficient deer to be farmed throughout North America.
Once back at home in Alberta, I started working at liquidating my businesses and other ventures I was involved in so that I could farm whitetails full time and devote as much time as possible to deer handling and deer handling equipment. A good deer cradle,squeeze or chute, as it’s often referred to, was going to be my first challenge. Today we raise anywhere from 400 to 600whitetails, handle them all on an average of twice per year and have never used a dart gun. I have to admit, a couple of times we have had to use a gun, but not any more.
Here is an example of how far we have come at handling deer. On October 24th, 2000, we held a semen collecting experiment without anesthesia, and it went so smoothly that we feel very confident this way will prove to be the best way to collect semen from our bucks. Again, history was being made at Delclayna.
Part two of this series will reveal details of how our first deer chute was built and to how it has now evolved into our famous Deerhandler™. Also we will discuss what is the first thing you will need before you start handling deer. It will also soon be available in detail in our book titled, “Raising Whitetails for Big Buck$”. Till next time, I say goodbye and may you handle your buck$ with care!
