[labgrade]

Gotta ask.

We live in a fairly rural area, but really notso - about 8 miles west of Loveland, CO (for y'all in the area & familiar = Carter Lake).

Last few years, we've put in for either sex deer archery tags & got 'em every time.

We have deer (& sometimes elk, BTW) walking through & sometimes jumping the dog-fence into our backyard. We've got about a 1.2 acre plot (so to speak).

We run a decent enough garden & always figured that tagging one of these "tame deer" would be similar to walking out back & dragging out a coupla carrots, etc.

Still, I haven't had the heart to harvest/"pluck a deer out of the garden" quite yet.

Make no mistake. I would never consider this hunting in the least, but more putting meat in the freezer. We have had elk, & certainly deer, walk within a distance to smack 'em the head with a shovel off the deck.

Hardly sporting, but I'd just as soon have the meat in the freezer.

Again, we've had these tags a few years running & have never done it - call me a softy. ;)

What's y'all's call on this type "harvesting/hunting?"

Season started just yesterday, we've got 2X tags & again, I find myself just watching the does playing with their twins & somewhat torn.

I'd like to have 'em in the freezer for the food & at the same time can't get around that "gardening" versus hunting thing.

Curious what y'all think.

[ojibweindian]

I see no problem with it. Granted, it's not "hunting", but you're gonna be eating what you kill so I see little difference between "plucking a deer out of the garden" and going to the local Kroger's.

[MeekandMild]

Call it population reduction. You have a duty to reduce the overpopulation of deer in your community lest they starve during a hard winter, get run over by cars, give Lyme disease to everyone, spread mad deer disease and do a hundred other bad things. :D

[PawDaddy]

Well, you can look at the situation in two ways. If they are destroying your garden and you depend on the food from the garden, then go ahead and put them in the freezer. If your garden is mostly for a hobby, then just enjoy having them in your yard. You can learn alot by watching them that might make you a better hunter.

I don't really see killing them as being unethical. It's really not much different than shooting deer that are on a food plot or under a tree eating acorns.

I would love to live somewhere that deer and other wildlife came into the yard. I would probably just enjoy having the visits and video/take pictures of them. It would be great for the kids and or grandkids!

[redneck]

The real question is whether you would rather have the meat in the freezer of the deer in the yard.
If you can't fill your tag anywhere else, you should probably shoot one of the ones in the yard. There will most definitely be more, and its good to keep the population back at a sustainable level.

If they're destroying your property, you should definitely shoot them. Too many deer around to keep the ones that are destructive.

Like you said though, its not really hunting. If those tags are your only chance to get out there, I'd probably go for a real hunting trip and plan on taking the deer at home if I couldn't get what I wanted.

Nothing unethical about it as long as you treat it the same way you would killing a deer out in the middle of nowhere.

[HSMITH]

What are you going to do when you run a sharp stick through one of these deer and it goes running down the street pumping blood like a garden hose for 150-400 yards and piles up in someone elses yard? There are a TON of transplant hippie/granola/treehuggers in your neck of the woods that will cause problems for you at any possible opportunity if they come in contact with you filling the freezer.

I think you are within your rights to harvest a deer in your yard if you choose to, and I am an avid hunter and bowhunter. If I were you I would poke a hole in one, I just know it :evil:. I just wanted to try to present the worst case scenario as that is usually what I encounter.......

[Al Thompson]

Harvesting is harvesting. HSMITH's post is dead on the money. Something to consider. Also, you'll still get deer in your backyard.

[Dr.Rob]

Don't see a big deal as it's just harvesting one more thing out of the garden, some meat to go with the taters.

Seriously private land permits are issued to keep wild game from piling up around planted crops or other artificial foods. "Sporting" or not the DOW issues those permits in hope that you will use one, rather than let the deer get fat on corn from your yard.

If you get too much meat in the freezer you can always have a barbeque.

[griz]

Although not challenging, it's not unethical. If you're interested in reducing losses from your garden then taking one of the brazen ones would help.

Here's another idea. If you have a Niece/Nephew/Friend who is new to bow hunting you could give them an opportunity to get their first deer. For them the challenge would be the shot, not the hunt. Just a thought.

[Joe Demko]

If you had the garden for no other reason than to attract the deer for easy killing, that would be unsportsmanlike. Very similar to hunting bear by piling stale donuts beneath a treestand, which one dufus I have the misfortune to know does. Otherwise, I don't really see anything unethical about it. I'd pop one, anyway. I just wouldn't brag about the rack if I happened to tag a big one.

[zahc]

I wouldn't pop any big ones. Too many hunters out there trying to get them the hard way. Kill the young ones, they eat the most and taste the best anyway.

[Doug444]

What about the legality question? Yes, it's YOUR backyard, but are you legally too close to your neighbor's home? Check the regs. HSMITH has a truely valid point, as bow-shot deer rarely drop in their tracks. Ethically, I see no problem with this but unfortunately, that is not the only thing to consider these days.:(

[gun-fucious]

i would get a white carnation and place it in a pot in the garden

consider this your line in the sand

if the flower is un molested, then the deer are unmolested

any "crop damage" and unleash the broadhead

[HankB]

I live in a suburb of Austin infested by hordes of semitame deer. Thanks to overpopulation they cause about 700 car/deer collisions locally each year, total cost of about $1,000,000. They'll eat all but the most toxic "deer resistant" landscape plants in your yard - heck, they'll eat the bark of a cedar tree if they're hungry.

If it was legal . . . I'd shoot them in a second, with no qualms. Stocking my freezer with venison would be a definite "plus."

My advice - check the local laws, and go for it!

[5ptdeerhunter]

Why not just plant a second garden farther back. Then you can watch them at a distance and still have the closer one to look at and eat from. Then you can look at the second one as a food plot, and most people don't have problems with shooting a deer on a food plot.

[Hkmp5sd]

You could view it from the standpoint that taking the "tame" deer benefits nature better than taking one that is still out in the wild. Over time, these animals will become more and more used to being around humans and eating from a nicely tendered garden over having to forage for supper. It will become dependent on easy pickings. It will gradually become more aggressive and could eventually pose a hazard.

[Art Eatman]

Some deer-killing is just easier than other deer killing. I don't see an ethics question. It's just "less sporting", whatever that means as to hunting/shooting/killing Bambi. Meat's meat.

"House deer" are fun to watch, sure. As was mentioned above, they can get to be too numerous, and it's wise to kill a doe or so to hold down the numbers. They don't JUST feed from the garden, and they won't travel for miles to eat other food. You wind up with an overloaded local habitat--which ain't good for the habitat, long-term.

Art

[labgrade]

Nope. The deer aren't eating the garden (it's all fenced & we've a dog that keeps them at least 5 yards outa the fenced area ;) ) - they're just in very close proximity & I don't have the wherewithall to go after deer this year - except in the yard.

BTW. Although a goodly suggestion, we can't use anothers' tag to allow a "first timer" to take a shot. That's party hunting here.
Tried to do a post a couple ago & something went south with the PC ....

Anyway.

Yup. A stick-stuck deer may run a ways & I'd rather not see that, but part of archery hunting. I've had elk run a bit & never deer - they all died where they stood. & really something I've really thought about here.

Funny thing though, if you can call it that, you must request permission from the landowner to gather your deer. & if the poor critter does decide to break its necj through the "fuzzy bunnies" next door neighbors plate glass window, they must allow access or the DOW will cite them for felony waste of big game. (Beats me where the lawyers go w/the Just as soon it go there, all told. broken window ;) )

Respect most opinions posted here highly & was just curious.

I'd suspect we will again let another season go by w/o stickin' a deer in the yard.

BUT. Area 20 (where our licenses are) covers from I-25 west to The Nat'l Park & from 14 south to 66 - a big are a & i do need to get in some firewood ..... ;)

Thanks very much for y'all's input.

[inGobwetrust]

I'd rather get my meat from the back yard than the super market any time. There's nothing wrong with it for the reasons stated above.

[bernie]

I say whack 'em and say grace over the meat before you eat it.

100 posts! WOO HOO!

[243_shooter]

If it's going in the freezer, I don't have a problem with it at all. It's a fairly common practice around here. I would be concerend about wounding the animal and having it run amuck through the neighborhood, but that's because of my complete lack of skills with a bow and arrow.

If your confident in your ability to make a clean kill in the yard, I'd say fire up the skillet, inner loins for dinner tonight :D

Leo

[nygunguy]

I have the same problem but I'm going to stick a couple if I see them during the day. My garden is fenced in but they still get a piece of it. The burbs have too many deer a too few predators.

I don't have too much of a neighbor problem. They're usually knocking on the door looking for venison about the second week of the season.