Deer antler cutters in Ha Tinh earn millions every day during Tet

Bustling antler cutting season

Mr. Nguyen Hong Quan, a velvet cutter for hire in Son Trung commune (Huong Son, Ha Tinh) said that the price for cutting each pair of velvet ranges from 200,000 to 300,000 VND. On average, his velvet cutting team cuts 5-10 pairs per day.

This army usually has 3 people, some teams only have 2 people. The members of the team must meet the requirements of health, agility... In particular, they must have the skills to hold the deer, knock the deer down to cut, to avoid the deer from being injured, the deer's antlers from being broken during the cutting process; know how to take an appropriate amount of blood to ensure the deer's health.

The spotted deer of Mr. Nguyen Van Bang (Quang Diem commune, Huong Son, Ha Tinh) has a pair of antlers weighing 3.2 kg. Photo: Minh Ly

According to Mr. Quan, most communes have teams hired to cut deer antlers. Communes with large deer herds such as Quang Diem, Son Giang, Son Chau, Son Kim 2... sometimes have up to 2-3 teams.

The antler cutting team's tools are very simple, including: a rope tied into a noose to jerk and hold the deer's hind legs, a saw blade (usually a small steel blade), a piece of board with a steel ring to keep the deer's head fixed during the cutting process, a bamboo pole or tree branch to put the noose into the cage for the deer to step on.

For experienced people, it takes about 15 minutes to cut a pair of antlers for a deer. After cutting the antlers, the deer will be carefully tied up to stop the bleeding.

The tools of the antler cutter are very simple, just need a rope, a deer catcher, and a steel saw blade. Photo: Sy Thong

Mr. Tran Thong, Kim Hoa commune, raises up to 8 deer for antlers. Previously, each time he cut the antlers, his family had to borrow from people in the village. However, it was difficult to borrow people because they were busy working, while customers had made appointments to collect antlers, so during the cutting process, one person had to wait for another for a long time.

Now with this deer antler cutting service, Mr. Thong finds it very convenient, just need to make an appointment and the team will come to cut immediately, the price is also reasonable.

“Every day, my team usually cuts from 7 to 10 pairs, and more during the main season. We not only cut velvet in the communes in Huong Son but also in Vu Quang, or down to Duc Tho” - Mr. Le Anh Tuan, a person providing velvet cutting services in Quang Diem commune, shared.

Mr. Tuan also said that during the cutting process, if they come across a pair of velvet antlers that are old enough to be cut but the homeowner has no buyers yet, if the price is reasonable, the velvet cutting team will buy them and then resell them to those in need.

“If deer farmers need to vaccinate their deer after cutting, we can also provide it. Our antler cutting team has a veterinarian,” said Mr. Tuan.

A velvet cutting team of 3 people cuts an average of 8-10 pairs per day. Each member earns from 600,000-800,000 VND per day.

Get rich from deer farming

A newly cut branch of red deer antler. Photo: Sy Thong — A newly cut deer antler branch. Photo: Sy Thong

'This job is fun because after cutting the velvet, the host always treats them, usually with blood wine, roasted peanuts, and balut. Some families even prepare chicken to treat the customers who buy the velvet and the cutters. If the host is generous, the customers are easy-going, and they buy a pair of velvets they like, the velvet cutting team may even get extra money,' Mr. Quan humorously said.

Sika deer is the main livestock of people in Huong Son district. Previously, deer antlers were often ground or dried and powdered to cook porridge or sliced and soaked in wine.

Nowadays, Huong Son people have processed many products from deer antlers that are more refined and convenient, such as powdered deer antlers in soluble form, deer antlers extract, deer sole extract... Many of these products have brands and are registered as OCOP.

According to Oriental medicine, deer antlers have the effect of nourishing health, increasing resistance, especially good for the elderly, people who have just recovered from illness, people with weak health, children and postpartum women.

According to the People's Committee of Huong Son district, in the next few years, the number of deer herds will increase; at the same time, there will be many new products processed from deer antlers.

The deer herd in Huong Son is currently nearly 50,000, with an estimated annual antler harvest of nearly 20 tons (equivalent to 300 billion VND). Deer antler is not only the main product in Huong Son but also a typical product of Ha Tinh in particular and Vietnam in general. Every spring is the beginning of the antler harvest season and lasts until the end of the third lunar month. During this "luck picking" season, Huong Son people are estimated to earn about 150 billion VND from deer antlers.

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