As part of our wildlife management, we do things at Hokkaido Ranch to make it a safe haven for deer.
Based on our census counts, there appear to be 8-10 deer that graze at our ranch at any given time. Because they hop fences without issue, they also roam over neighboring ranches too.
In addition to pasture, we have a deer feeder that we fill with pellets and sometimes corn. There’s also a salt lick by the feeder.
For drinking water, there’s a large pond, a seasonal creek, and also a 5,000-gallon water storage tank attached to a well if needed. In fact, the photo above was taken in pasture near the pond where they like to drink in the early morning hours.
Currently we don’t allow deer hunting on our ranch. And that’s unlikely to change unless there’s a good reason.