Deer hunting

Deer hunting is survival hunting or sport hunting for deer, which dates back tens of thousands of years. There are many types of deer around the world that are hunted.

New Zealand has had 10 species of deer (Cervidae) introduced. From the 1850s, red deer were liberated, followed by fallow, sambar, wapiti, sika, rusa, and whitetail. The introduced herds of axis and moose failed to grow, and have become extinct. In the absence of predators to control populations, deer were thought to be a pest due to their effect on native vegetation. From the 1950s the government employed professional hunters to cull the deer population. Deer hunting is now a recreational activity, organised and advocated for at the national level by the New Zealand Deerstalkers' Association.

The deer most sought after in North America, east of the Rocky Mountains, is the white-tailed deer. West of the Rockies, the mule deer is the dominant deer species. Blacktail deer are dominant along the west coast (west of the Cascade Range) from Northern California to Southeast Alaska, with introduced populations in Prince William Sound and the Kodiak Archipelago. The most notable differences between these deer, other than distribution, are the differences in ears, tail, antler shape (the way they each fork), and body size. The mule deer's ears are proportionally longer than the ears of a white-tailed deer, they also have different color skin and brighter faces and resemble that of a mule. Mule deer have a black-tipped tail which is proportionally smaller than that of the white-tailed deer. Buck deer of both species sprout antlers; the antlers of the mule deer branch and rebranch forming a series of Y shapes, while white-tailed bucks typically have one main beam with several tines sprouting from it. White-tailed bucks are slightly smaller than mule deer bucks. Both of the species lose their antlers in January, and regrow the antlers during the following summer beginning in June. Velvet from the antlers are shed in August and September. Each buck normally gets larger each year as long as good food sources are present. Antler growth depends on food sources. If food is not good one year, antlers will be smaller. Many deer do not reach their full potential due to getting hit by automobiles, also known as road kills.

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