The commercial sale of venison from white-tailed deer and mule deer in the United States is illegal, and most of the venison that you can buy in stores or restaurants comes from red deer in New Zealand. Prominent outdoor writer Patrick Durkin asks the thought-provoking question about whether or not you should be allowed to sell venison from deer that you kill
in this article.
NDA Member Survey
Last week, we asked about voluntary, or self-imposed antler restrictions, and whether or not those who participated in the survey supported them. We also wanted to know if respondents have ever voluntarily passed on an antlered deer that was legal to harvest, and what were the reasons for passing, or not passing. While survey participants were split on whether or not they supported voluntary over state-mandated antler restrictions with about 46% saying that they do, and 44% saying they don't. An astonishing 91% said that they have voluntarily passed on an ethical shot at a buck that was legal for harvest.
For those that chose to pass on good opportunities, the top reason at 69% was waiting for a larger-racked buck, with 61% saying they are striving for an older buck age class in their area. About 25% said that they simply didn't want to fill their tag at the time the opportunity presented itself. Finally, those who have not passed on a buck that was legal for harvest cited filling the freezer as the number one reason at about 41%. About 29% indicated that they have limited time to hunt and can't be too choosy, while 27% feel that other hunters will shoot the buck that they pass on anyway.
Only about 12% said that hunting mature bucks doesn't appeal to them.
This Week's Survey
Several bills were recently introduced in Texas that deal with captive deer farming, and one of them, HB 3727, would allow deer breeders to process and commercially sell venison from their operations. We want to know how you feel about commercial harvest and sale of venison. Tell us what you think by participating in our survey.
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