KY FALL 2020

KENTUCKY December / 2020 / Edition

Vol 3 • Issue 3

KASE XX

DREAM WEAVER

- BIG ANTLER RANCH Fred and Mike Sulfridge Annville, KY 606-594-3116

BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT

CONTENTS 16-17. FATE VS. LUCK

Sponsored by IDEFA

Robert Fondaw

495 Parker Creek Rd East Bernstadt KY 40729 fondaw44@yahoo.com 606-627-1368

19. ADVICE ON OPERATING A VIABLE HEALTHY AND PROSPERING DEER FARM Sponsored by MDA

VICE PRESIDENT

Josh Neal

1113 Sebree Pratt Rd Sebree KY 42455 joshbneal@ymail.com 270-339-9788

21. HELPFUL TIPS FOR HARVESTING A DEER Sponsored by WOO

SECRETARY / TREASURER

Jason Holland 585 Old Rocky Hill Church Rd Gamaliel KY 42140 hollandfarms585@gmail.com

22. SETTING UP YOUR DEER FARM – ADVICE FOR OPTIMUM SUCCESS Sponsored by KALA

DIRECTORS Ricky Gaines 59 Vanken Ridge Rd Bedford KY 40006 239-340-1171

Tony Maddox

725 Rabbit Town Rd Winchester KY 40391 859-556-7253

26-27.

MANAGING BUCKS IN THE RUT – ADVICE FOR SAFETY Sponsored by KALA

David Kotsch

4217 Mount Pleasant Rd Cromwell KY 42333 615-969-9283

IN EACH ISSUE Advertising Information NEXT DUE DATE IS JANUARY, 14......... 18 Classifieds............................................................................................... 24 Membership Application ......................................................................5 President’s Message...............................................................................2 Recipe...................................................................................................... 10 Secretary/Treasurer Message.............................................................5 Cover Featured Farm Story..........................................12-13

Henry Woodard 9776 Roseville Rd Glasgow KY 42141 423-595-8898

Brian Cooper

916 Lily Creek Resort Rd Jamestown KY 42629 270-566-1881

Reggie Kennedy 680 Earl Payton Lane Olaton KY 42361 713-751-9818

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David Miller

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M3 Whitetails.......................... In. Back Cover MaxRax........................................................... 15 Pneu-Dart.........................................................3 Prime Acres................................................... 28 Purina................................................................6 Stewart Creek Whitetails............................ 11 Sunrise Supply, LLC..................................... 25 Trophy Whitetails......................................... 15 Whetstone Brothers............ In. Front Cover Whitetail Syndication.....................................7

Hilty Whitetails.............................................. 20 KENTUCKY 2020

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE ROBERT FONDAW

s the new president of the Kentucky Alternative Livestock Association, I am looking forward to meeting all of you, our members, and working with all of you face-to-face in the future. By now, your stockers have been sold, your hunting seasons are coming to an end and you’re cherishing time with family and friends for the holidays. I hope your breeding season went well, whether you chose to live breed, or to add your favorite genetics artificially. Now the anticipation begins for the arrival of spring fawns and the daily checking for new life on our farms.

A

social gatherings, so these dates are subject to change or may be cancelled.

However, please plan now to attend each one.

We are all looking forward to when we can all get together in person. We have four meetings schedule for 2021.

January 23rd will be our winter meeting and a time where you can pay for your 2021 KALA Membership. April 24th will be our Spring Meeting. On July 24th we will have our annual Summer Picnic. This will also be the date of our auction. We need to get started on gathering donations for the auction now. September 25th will be our fall meeting where we can boast about all the “monster racks” we have on our farms. Each meeting will start at 12 p.m. eastern time. A notice will be sent to announce the meeting locations.

If you would like to host a meeting please let me know right away. We will follow the state’s restrictions for

A big “thank you” to the officers and board members that attended our first official meeting. From that meeting, a new set of Bylaws and Code of Ethics were developed. Each member will get a copy sent to them. We also discussed forming the follow committees: A Social Media Committee headed by Ricky Gaines and Ethan Woosley. They welcome any of your help and ideas.

Tony Maddox will head the Legislative Committee. He is looking for several individuals to work with him on this.

They will focus on the regulatory issues facing KALA and the deer industry in general, including working with a state lobbyist. Joe Miller was nominated to head the Fundraising Committee. He will be looking to many of you to help him with that. We are also looking

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KENTUCKY 2020

You have probably seen some changes recently with the KALA Facebook page.

It is now being used to identify the location of every paid KALA member’s farm. This will help potential new farmers locate the nearest source for acquiring deer as well as support and guidance. We are also working on the same type of page for every hunting preserve in our productive state.

This will help everyone find the best preserve to sell their stockers to.

for someone to head up the Picnic Committee. This will require a lot of assistance from everyone.

As you know, our KALA magazine is a great source for advertising, educating and informing everyone of what is going on in the industry and within the state of Kentucky. I would like to start featuring and spotlighting different cervid farms in our state by putting Feature Farm articles and pictures in the magazine. Let me know if you would be interested. You can also purchase ad pages in the magazine, too.

I would like to wish a farewell and best wishes to Mike Sulfridge, who served KALA and the State of Kentucky for several years. If you are a newer deer farmer, it is likely that Mike and Fred Sulfridge have been on your farm and assisted you in one way or another.

It is our sincere desire that Mike has continued success with deer farming in the future. Thank you, Mike for all that you did to promote the growth of the industry. In closing, for all of our members, please reach out to me or our leadership team with any questions or concerns.

Robert Fondaw 606-627-1368 fawn-doewhitetails@outlook.com

Photo credit: Dan Verrips

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KENTUCKY 2020

MISSOURI VALLEY MULEYS

SECRETARY’S MESSAGE JASON HOLLAND

M

y name is Jason Holland, and I am proud to be representing KALA as your Secretary/Treasurer. I am a 4th generation farmer, living in Gamaliel, Kentucky. We have always raised cattle, but three years ago, we decided to diversify and get into the deer business, purchasing ten does to get us started. My wife, Mitzi and my son, Jack primarily care for the daily needs of our deer herd, but we all pull together when needed and work to ensure optimal herd health. We truly love the farm life and the opportunities and challenges it brings.

I look forward to working with the board of directors and officer team, as we work to grow the cervid industry in Kentucky. I also look forward to meeting and working with the KALA members. I am currently working to get the paid membership list updated and correct, and I will be providing detailed treasurer’s reports at each quarterly meeting. If at any time, you have a question about your membership, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Jason Holland 270-570-0173 barrenriverwhitetails@yahoo.com

Join KALA!

Membership Application

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Member Name: _______________________ Farm Name: __________________________ Address: _____________________________ _____________________________ Phone: _______________________________ Email: _______________________________ MEMBERSHIP DUES: KALA Lifetime Membership Regular Voting Membership Associate Membership

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I hereby make application for membership in the Kentucky Alternative Livestock Association.

I agree to conform to the bylaws and code of ethics governing the association. _____________________________________ Signature DATE: __________________________ Mail to: Jason KALAHolland 585 Rocky POOld Box 576Hill Church Road London KY 40744 Gamaliel, KY 42140 KENTUCKY 2020

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KENTUCKY 2020

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3/4 cup zucchini, diced

3/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup onions, chopped

1 box prepared stuffing

1 cup mushrooms, diced

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 cloves garlic, minced

Fresh sage

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Brown ground venison in skillet. Drain and remove when finished.

Add 4 tbs butter to same skillet, and add the zucchini, onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Sauté until the vegetables are soft, the onions are translucent, and the garlic is fragrant.

Add the cooked venison to the pan. Add sour cream, creamy mushroom soup, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine.

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KENTUCKY 2020

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Big Antler Ranch – Promoting Top Quality Genetics By: Gail Veley From atop his tree stand on a recent hunt, Mike Sulfridge spotted a buck in the early morning light he knew he couldn’t pass up. “Did you see that buck?” his father Fred asked over a walkie-talkie from his nearby hut. “Yes, I did,” Mike answered back. “Are you going to shoot it?” Fred said. The echoing blast of Mike’s rifle answered the question. Yet he was certain he had missed the buck, as it had taken off running. Both men, moments later standing side by side, wondered which way the deer went. “You hit it,” Fred insisted.

Perplexed, Mike said “but it ran behind you.”

“No, it didn’t,” Fred said. “It went over in that direction.” Turns out, each had spotted a different buck and after a short search, found a deceased one in a nearby thicket. Although they may have these occasional differences of opinion, at the end of the day their teamwork and congruent decision making is second to none at Big Antler Ranch in Annville, Kentucky. As much as Mike, 56, value’s working in the deer industry, he values the relationship he has with his father Fred, 77, even more.

KASE XX

“For me personally, deer farming has afforded me the fatherson relationship with my Dad most adult children would never have,” he said. “We may not always agree on everything, but I always respect him. He is older and wiser.” However, agreeing to start a deer farm together was easy when they opened Big Antler Ranch in October of 2012. Starting out with just a mere acre, a few deer and two pens, eight fawning seasons later the farm has expanded to a little more than seven acres and, at one point, had a herd of more than 200 deer. “I’m also blessed to have a young man, Trent Keltner who at 17 years of age, has helped me almost every day with the deer since he was 13,” Mike said. “Trent has assisted in every facet of the deer process from bottle feeding to A.I.” Aside from offering the best genetics available to their customers, they offer the healthiest deer they can possibly raise. “Genetics don’t mean anything if the deer are not healthy,” said Mike, who spent 25 years working in corporate America mostly as a CFO and had never worked with any livestock prior to deer farming. “But I have always looked for business ideas that challenged me. When I first heard of deer farming and how challenging it was, especially keeping the deer healthy and alive, I was intrigued by the challenge.”

Featured Farm Story 12 KENTUCKY 2020

The challenge of choosing genetics to grow both typical and nontypical impressive frames was also one Mike was eager to meet and become successful at. The two “Rookies of the Year” yearling bucks on this month’s magazine cover, Kase XX and Dreamweaver, prove he’s on the right track. Kase XX, out of The Fed x Miss Fed Ex, sports a nontypical frame close to 200 inches while Dreamweaver, out of Dream Weapon/Secret Weapon x Doc Tine/Gladiator XL, carries a 170-inch typical frame.

Both Mike and Fred are proud of the deer they produce yet are quick to give credit where credit is due for how they ended up where they are today.

This includes the owners and operators of Long Antler Ranch for initially turning the two onto the idea. Others include Kentucky Whitetails (Joe, Johnny and Rita Miller) for providing them with their first does and breeder buck, X-Factor Whitetails (Russ Bellar) for his wealth of farm design and breeding advice as well as Livin’ Large Whitetails with owner Brian Cooper, a close confidant and business associate. Mike is additionally grateful to his veterinarian, Dr. Philip Bundy, for helping to ensure the entire herd at Big Antler Ranch enjoys health and longevity.

Mike’s close ties within the deer industry, along with his business background, inspire him to give back in the form of offering financial advice and consultations to those that seek it, as well as deer farm construction services. He also offers another unique service to his customers. A Live Fawn Guarantee. “If you buy 10 bred does and are expecting 12-15 fawns, if you don’t get 12-15 fawns in the spring, we will give you some of our own,” Mike said. “It’s risky, but we feel it’s worth it. I’m not sure how many other deer farmers do that. Big Antler Ranch is also one of only a handful of Kentucky deer farms that are in the business fulltime. In overall marketing terms, “we offer ourselves to the deer industry as full-service from start to finish,” he said. “We feel very fortunate to be able to do this.”

DREAM WEAVER

Fred and Mike Sulfridge Big Antler Ranch 10901 Highway 3630 West Annville, KY 606-594-3116

KENTUCKY 2020

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KALA SPRING 2020

KENTUCKY 2020

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FATE VS. LUCK IN THE DEER INDUSTRY By: Gail Veley • Sponsored by IDEFA

D

oes “fate” really exist, or is it just a word we use when there is no explanation for a peculiar sequence or happening? Deer farmer and Habitat Enhancement Specialist Derek Borkholder wonders how “fate” versus “luck” plays a role in a deer farmer’s success. The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes “fate” as the predominant or determining cause or will in which things in general are believed to come to be, or why events happen as they do. “Luck” is defined as the ability to prosper or succeed especially through chance or good fortune (rather than through one’s own actions.)

Perhaps today the more modern definition of “fate” has a karma-like meaning akin to mystical and unknown powers that determine the outcome of certain things. “It must have been a score of round-glass wearing Atheists who had a pow wow and came to this ludicrous conclusion to determine the more modern definition of fate,” Borkholder said. “They try to take God’s will or blessings out of the definition. But I believe fate makes something happen.”

Borkholder, 25, has spent considerable time wondering “what could this possibly have to do with deer farming? Deer industry experts know that experience and technique have shaped the industry into exactly what it is today,” he said.

Borkholder has also often contemplated “what if a few perhaps incidental situations had a different outcome? What if Kurt Waldbogel had lost Max as a button buck?” Known to all in the industry as one of the greatest whitetail bucks to

16 KENTUCKY 2020

ever exist, Max’s pedigree can still be found today in 95% of all auction catalogs.

these circumstances, to his own experience harvesting a wild deer of a lifetime.

There are other questions to ponder as well, such as what if Henry Woodard was overcome with the crazy notion to release Gladiator into a hunting preserve?

What if Blue 37 had run headlong into a fence as a two-year-old and never recovered? The infamous doe, responsible for producing so many fine bucks, lived to be nearly 20 years old.

Borkholder believes there are still other questions worth considering such as what if Gene Fleece had been a star baseball player instead of a deer farmer?

Instead, Fleece produced deer whose genetics everyone wildly sought after for their farm. “Everybody has bred everything he ever produced,” Borkholder said. “He was lucky. (Or was he?)”

“Let’s travel from the deer inside your pens and into the wild deer roaming the wilderness of north America,” Borkholder begins. “Most of us have a passion for deer hunting. I have a particular passion for managing and enhancing properties to help increase the odds of harvesting mature bucks. In March of 2016 I had yet to kill a mature buck. I only dreamed of one day achieving that goal. On a cold afternoon I was helping my Dad fill the feeders on our family hunting property.

We were on our way to filling a second feeder and had just turned onto our pine tree lined trail, when I spotted a shed a few hundred feet ahead,” he said.

Borkholder recalled a time that could have so easily gone wrong, but didn’t, for his family. On the side of busy U.S. Route 30 in Ohio a decade ago, a quick-thinking Lamar Borkholder closed the trailer door only a second before Patrick does 110, 111 and 112 could have leapt out, almost certain to become roadkill. After vaccinating all three does, Borkholder’s father Eddie Ray climbed deep in the trailer, mistakenly thinking they were all dead. But in the blink of an eye all three leapt up and were making a beeline for the open door. Had Lamar not been standing there, perhaps the Patrick line as we know it today would not exist. “They were lucky. (Or were they?)” Borkholder wonders.

If those five situations had turned unfortunate “what would out industry look like today?” Borkholder asked. “I would dare wager that much of the deer in a farmer’s herd would not exist today.”

He also relates the positive outcome of

“I jumped from my perch and onto the feeder and then sprinted the short distance to pick up the left side of a 125” three-and-a-half year old buck that had been living on our property that we had never seen in person,” he explained.

Later recognized by his right-sided crab claw, this wild buck was every free-range hunter’s fantasy. “I let out a little screech and immediately set a seemingly impossible goal of finding the right side and harvesting him the next year. Deep inside I knew it would take a lot of luck to achieve that goal. (Or would it?) A week later my Dad and my brothers were working on the property and Dad had grilled burgers for lunch. He wanted me to tell the others that lunch was ready.

On my way to get them, I spotted something in the one tree-lined trail a half mile from where I found the original shed. I ran as fast as I could. The closer I got to it, I started to realize was lie ahead.

Picking up Part Two of an impossible dream I held in my hand the right side of a buck I now called Big Boy. Luck struck again!! (Or did it?)”

“Fast forward to eight months later and countless hours of studying trail cameras and pictures of Big Boy,” Borkholder said.

“I was in my blind awaiting sunrise. None of my brothers or father or I had seen anything of Big Boy since mid-September except trail camera pictures. Soon after sunrise an old buck we had been watching for three years came trotting through. He had been on the decline and barely scored 110 inches. I had a decision to make. By the time I decided to take him, he was on the way out and never responded to my whistle. Soon after I spotted a nice buck chasing a doe. I recognized the crab-claw. Then the doe came through an opening in the woods about a 100-yards away. I put my crosshairs on the scope on that spot until he half walked half trotted through it. I pulled the trigger and he jumped and disappeared. I just knew I had him.”

However, things at that point took a different direction. “I turned around to watch a nice nine-point and obviously I didn’t think of shooting him because I had my buck already. Forty minutes later, a nice buck appeared from where mine had disappeared to. The closer he got I started to realize it was Big Boy,” Borkholder shared. “My heart sank. What in the world do I do now? Did he have a

look alike? He gave me a perfect shot and even turned his head, showing he his imperfection on his right side that identified him. So, I took aim and fired a perfect shot, yet a sense of uncertainty dominated my excitement. I waited on my Dad and together we walked over to him and discovered another bullet hole in his neck a fraction of an inch from his main artery. My first shot didn’t faze him. He came back looking for his doe. I was one lucky hunter. (Or was I?)” As Borkholder analyzed the story of this prized buck, he realized the odds of everything lining up were staggering, as was the deck that was stacked against him, for accomplishing his dream. “Vegas would have probably put the odds at one million to one,” he said. “But with every bit of effort I put into hunting for sheds and studying pictures or every time I went hunting, I believe my odds increased. Yet it was truly a blessing from God that everything fell into my path.”

“Let’s go back and make the connection everyone is trying to make sense of,” he said. “The chances of a deer farmer making that perfect cross and, for at least a year, having the most sought-after buck in the industry seems like a long shot for many a farmer. The odds are stacked

against most of us. How many times have you thought you were going to hit it dead on and it turned out to be a ‘dud?’ So, you just kept on going to the next group and then that same buck, at three or four, turned out to be another ranch owner’s early Christmas present? Was it your fault? Not really, considering his full brother a year earlier was a huge monster.”

“Yet the more we breed top does A.I. to the top sires and the more we study genetics and the more effort we put into our feeding programs, the more spot on we are to be successful,” Borkholder reminds us. “When this happens, we tend to say we got lucky, but the more effort we put in the more “luck” visits our farm.

This industry is a huge group of people with goals and dreams pursued with a huge passion for whitetail deer. So, the next time someone raises a huge whitetail that everybody is talking about and buying five straws of at a time, let’s he happy for him and congratulate him because with enough passion and effort it might just someday be you. So, as the bucks start growing out this spring, we will again have a buck that steals the spotlight and only one thing is certain.

Someone is going to be lucky. (Or is he?)”

KENTUCKY 2020

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ADVICE ON OPERATING A VIABLE HEALTHY AND PROSPERING DEER FARM By: Gail Veley • Sponsoed by The Missouri Deer Association

I

n the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of Missouri has felt blessed to be among those states that was not shut down, that remained viable for deer farmers.

And while hunters may not be visiting preserves to the extent they did last year this time, “there is not a single stocker buck anywhere in the state that has not been sold,” said Missouri Deer Association President Matt Kirchner.

“Everything was gone or spoken for by October and sold for premium prices.”

Missouri deer farms, like all well run deer farms, are steadfast in their care and animal husbandry practices. Yet deer farmers in general would do well to know where they can cut costs, if necessary, and where they can’t in lieu of facing potentially harder financial or economic times such as those brought on by COVID-19. Julie and Byron Young of Antlers and Acorns Deer Farm in Chilhowee, Missouri, offer their advice: 1. Consider mixing alfalfa leaves or pellets with your grain to cut the cost of your feed bill by about 1/3.

However, ask your local feed mill, once or twice a year, to run a nutrient scan on your feed to ensure you are still providing adequate protein, fat and carbohydrates.

2. Take your veterinarian out to dinner and ask them ways you may be able to cut costs, based on where your farm is located and the necessary care congruent with that area of the country.

Examine your worming, vaccinating and feeding practices.

3. Have the best, most pro-active relationship with your herd, so you can catch and treat a sick deer immediately,

therefore cutting down on veterinary costs.

4. Separate bucks before the rut, ensuring there are no injuries, antler goring incidences or death, which could cost you dearly.

2. When providing manmade shelter, use only two-sided shelters, as deer like being able to see through and generally will not go into a three-sided shed or shelter.

3. Develop an intuitive eye for illness by spending enough time with your deer. If you know your deer, most of the 5. Consider “sitting” on your deer for time you can see if it’s not quite how it another year in an effort to get a fair price, rather than selling them for lower should be. amounts if the market is not favorable.

With this in mind, curtail your breeding 4. Use common sense when working with delicate animals who experience practices so as to not overcrowd stress easily. your pens and cause the potential for unwanted bacteria, such as clostridium perfringens and piliforme to flourish.

5. Do not lower your feed bill in ways that are too drastic, such as feeding straight corn. Although you might save 6. Utilize the ability to breed using live money in the short run, your deer will cover, rather than A.I., for those deer farmers with quality breeder bucks. This not reach their full growth potential, causing financial loss when you sell can amount to a substantial savings. them.

7. Consider allowing deer to bed down naturally rather than using straw or shavings. Since deer tend to thrive in the cold, this option can be easy to implement.

Seasoned deer farmer Edwin Ropp of Ropp Whitetails in Jamesport, Missouri agrees and offers his additional advice on raising and maintaining healthy, happy deer.

Kirchner feels one more thing is always important to remember as well. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” he said.

“There are always people willing to help you if you need it.”

1. Continuously keep your bucks in separate age groups, if you have the space, to avoid mingling of younger and older bucks. This will keep fighting to a minimum.

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KENTUCKY 2020

HELPFUL TIPS FOR DEER HARVESTING By: Gail Veley

• Sponsored by WOO

W

hile preserve hunting includes the added amenity of processing a deer for you, every hunter still owes it to themselves to be self-sufficient and knowledgeable about the protocol involved in processing a deer. Experienced free-range hunter, deer farmer and Oklahoma native Kyle Herndon, 38, shares the following tips and advice for processing your own deer: 1. You don’t have to be a professional butcher to properly process your deer.

2. Immediately after expiration, gut your deer in the field. This will eliminate approximately 40 to 50 pounds of weight and make it much easier to drag.

Within 12 hours coyotes and opossums will have eaten these remains.

3. If the weather is appropriate (between 32 and 40 degrees) let your deer hang inside a shed for three to four days. Or allow them to hang in a walk-in cooler for the same amount of time. Place a tub underneath to catch the blood. Allowing the deer to “rest” for this period of time causes the fat (tallow) and meat to begin to break down and typically makes for more tender steaks.

4. If the weather is not ideal and you do not own a walk-in cooler, plan on processing your deer immediately.

5. Focusing on one quarter of the deer at a time, cut the meat away from the front shoulders for steaks and roasts.

Remaining meat that doesn’t lend itself to those types of cuts from the shoulder can then be ground up for hamburgers, spaghetti, tacos, meatloaf or for a variety of other meals.

6. Remove the backstrap and make that into steaks. Then remove the tenderloin from the inside of the rib cage area for steaks. Any remaining meat from that area as well as the neck area can also be ground up and utilized for meals.

7. With each remaining hind quarter, cut the meat into slices and make jerky through a specific process of marinating and dehydrating the meat, and then storing it in sealed plastic.

8. Be sure to buy sizable freezers for storing your deer meat, as you may have quite a bit of it on your hands.

Two large freezers are even better, especially if you make a habit out of regularly harvesting deer.

9. If possible, during the hunt (when focusing in for your shot) hit the deer behind their front shoulder. They will typically expire more quickly, and you will not lose the back strap, one of the tastiest parts of a deer. In addition, chose a hunting rifle that will not fragment the bone and cause you to lose any of the meat, regardless of where it is located.

Herndon, who annually harvests six deer, personally feels that older does are the tastiest and most tender, compared to bucks. He never harvests

a buck under four years of age. He also shares his hunting passion with his daughter, Kylee, and son, Kolton. And although he has many fond memories hunting with them, this story might be his favorite. “It was Kolton’s first year deer hunting and he was asleep in the blind,” recalls Herndon about Kolton, who was six at the time. “And a deer came out and I nudged him to wake up. I said there was a good buck out there. We got him up and on the gun. We got him lined out and he shot, and the deer just stood there.

After a second shot it fell over. His first shot had been in the belly. When I asked him why he shot the deer in the belly he said, ‘you were rushing me!”

So perhaps as a final piece of advice, Herndon offers “keep your cool and your poise. Don’t rush your shot. It always pays off.”

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SETTING UP YOUR DEER FARM ADVICE FOR OPTIMUM SUCCESS

U

By: Gail Veley • Sponsored by KALA

pon venturing forth to build a deer farm, one crucial question needs to be answered first. “How many deer do you plan on raising?” asks veteran deer farmer Henry Woodard of Woodard Whitetails in Glasgow, Kentucky. “Most people tend to underestimate the amount of deer they are going to end up with.

Always plan for expansion.”

Having “benchmarks” or clear business goals and a clear vision of where you’d like to be in five or ten years can make designing, building and utilizing your deer farm an easier endeavor.

Although there are several factors to take into consideration, first analyze the land where you plan to build your pens, Woodard advises. Avoid low spots that don’t have excellent drainage.

Next, consider an optimum location for a handling facility should you plan on having one, and place deer pens and crowding alleys in convenient proximity. However, don’t think of a handling facility as merely a place to do A.I. procedures. “Think of it as a place to load or unload bucks without having to dart them,” said Woodard, whose 200acre deer paradise includes a breeding farm as well as a hunting preserve.

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Next, consider an ideal place for a fawning facility should you include one on your farm. Ideally, it would be nestled amongst pens where expecting does would ultimately reside. Although this may seem obvious “some people have no clue when they set out to create deer pens,” said Mike Sulfridge of Big Antler Ranch in Annville, Kentucky. Crucial to the success of a deer farm is not only the location and size of deer pens, but their shape as well. Considering deer are prey animals, avoid making your pens too small or square-shaped but rather make them long and narrow such as 100 x 300 feet, Sulfridge said. “This gives them the ability to run from perceived danger rather than the feeling of being in a fishbowl that a square-shaped pen gives them.”

cause immeasurable stress for them and lactating does. Stress is perhaps responsible for claiming more cervid lives than anything else and although Woodard is content with the functionality of his farm begun in 2003, “if I had to do over I would build an observation deck over my deer pens,” he said. “It would give me and my customers a chance to see the deer without having to go into or next to the pens.” An observation deck would also allow Woodard to more easily spot a sick deer.

Spotting and treating sickness is paramount to your overall herd health, along with the awareness that deer tend to hide illnesses as an instinctual form of survival. Spending time in your pens provides you the opportunity to keep your pulse on the health of your charges, Woodard emphasizes. With health and low stress at the forefront Within each pen both food and water of any decision making, stress is also sources should be placed within close greatly reduced in deer that do not proximity of the human gate, for your undergo darting. With that in mind, safety. Shade should also be provided either naturally with trees or by artificial should your farm also include a hunting preserve, design your pens such that structures such as carports or lean-to sheds. Ideally, cover would be provided bucks can be released directly into it, without first having to dart and over food and water sources as well to transport them, Woodard said. “This make it more palatable for deer to eat obviously makes the transition much and drink, ensuring proper nutrition smoother and less risky.” and hydration year-round particularly in summer months. Quantity of deer Because successful deer farming requires inside each pen is an important factor a considerable investment upfront, as well. In general, allot for 3,000 ensure you have adequate funds set square feet per deer or about 15-16 deer per acre (an acre measuring in aside as banks are not especially keen to provide loans for this type of endeavor, at 43,560 square feet.)

Sulfridge said. However, the State of Kentucky could be a viable resource for Next, take into consideration business loans and grants and doing the type of fencing you wish research is highly recommended. Above to use in constructing each all, do your homework and study all the pen. Although chain link fence information that is available out there, is more expensive compared Woodard added. “Talk to successful to game fence, fawns are less breeders to learn their habits and likely to get stuck in chain link secrets. And always be open to other or escape through it, which can ideas besides your own.”

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MANAGING BUCKS IN THE RUT ADVICE FOR SAFETY

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By: Gail Veley • Sponsoed by KALA essica Maloney slipped outside for her normal morning routine of caring for the deer she and her husband owned and loved at Central Kentucky Whitetails.

The air was crisp on that chilly October morning in Jeffersonville, Kentucky in 2017. Little did Maloney know as she welcomed the day, that within minutes she would be on her back fighting for her life. It started first by her noticing a water barrel out of place, in the middle of their deer pen where among others, a deer affectionately named Fluffy lived.

Instinctively Maloney grabbed ahold of his antlers to try and push him off.

After struggling for three to four feet with little success, Fluffy once again pinned her against the side of the pen.

“Thankfully, I had my phone with me,” she said. “We moved about eight more feet and suddenly I’m on the ground and my slip-on shoes are off. He kept trying to pin me and push me. I wrapped my arms around his neck like a choke hold which allowed me to use my other hand to dial the phone. I was pecking with one finger and called my husband.”

“He was fluffy as a fawn and very gentle,” Maloney said. “He was always very gentle. We did bottle feed him, but he was not a breeder buck.” Yet, on that particular morning, Fluffy, a deer she regularly took “selfies” with, turned into a deer she had never known before. “I walked into the pen to get the water barrel and he met me at the gate,” she said. “He pinned me up against the feed through and it startled me. I didn’t know why he was doing that.”

Although always happy to talk to his wife, some mornings Chris her husband was too busy to answer the phone and called her back later.

However, that morning he answered his wife’s call. Her phone was no longer in her hand but on the ground beside her, as she desperately needed both arms and hands to fend off the deer’s aggression. “I kept screaming toward the phone ‘Fluffy is trying to kill me! Fluffy is trying to kill me!” she said. Chris immediately called his

26 KENTUCKY 2020

grandfather who lived right down the road and luckily, he was home. Most mornings, he was not. However, he wasn’t feeling well and was still at the house.

At this point Maloney, a young tough and stout 5’ 10” 170-pound farm raised girl, was starting to fatigue, her arms aching and losing their usual stamina from pushing back against the relentless buck. She decided instead to push with her legs. Within seconds

of raising her legs up, a piercing G2 tine drove a three-inch hole into her thigh, spilling blood and sending excruciating spasms throughout the entire limb.

The only audible noise above her groans was the truck now racing down her driveway. Gravel sprayed as the truck came to a screeching halt and Grandpa Trigger (his real first name) jumped out. Startled by his presence, Fluffy sprang up and ran to the other end of the pen, giving Trigger just enough time to rush into the pen and drag Maloney out. A mere few seconds after gate was shut, Fluffy was right back at the gate looking to finish what he started. But Maloney, safely on the other side, was now on her way to the hospital numb with shock yet filled with angst from intense stomach pain.

For weeks following the incident, she took strong antibiotics and changed leg packing bandages three times a day. She also suffered other smaller cuts and abrasions and spent the next three days after the incident barely able to move.

“She’s lucky to be alive,” said Kentucky Alternative Livestock Association (KALA) President Robert Fondaw, who himself had an encounter too close for comfort with one of his own bucks.

After darting one buck out of several who resided in the same pen last year, another buck went after his downed companion. When Fondaw tried to intervene, the buck turned and came after him. Fondaw started to back out of the pen when suddenly the downed deer stirred, momentarily distracting the aggressor. With a little time on his side, Fondaw slipped out of the pen.

Looking back, Fondaw, owner of FawnDoe Whitetails, would have done one thing differently. He would have made sure someone else was there to help him or watch out for him. Now, he always makes sure he has at least one additional tranquilizer dart on him at all times when he works with his deer.

although Chris came home that night determined to put Fluffy down, the affectionate buck showed absolutely no aggression when he entered the pen. In fact, he acted like he usually did, licking and nuzzling him. The couple, who subsequently got out of the deer business, changed his name to “Killer Fluffy” and later sold him to a hunting preserve, fully disclosing his aggressive incident.

“Even though you love them, there are things you can’t control. Never totally trust them,” Maloney said. “Never let your guard down. Always have your phone on you. And if possible, always have someone else there with you.” In fact, Maloney’s close brush with death impelled her to start a new habit.

“I always answer my phone when it rings,” she said. “You never know if it could be someone’s last phone call.”

Without someone to help and intervene for her, Maloney would have certainly had a much different outcome on that unexpected day. And

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