Spring is the time when people in the sika deer capital of Huong Son (Ha Tinh) harvest antlers. The army of “horn sawers” is also in the season to make a lot of money, but a little carelessness can easily expose them to big risks.
Before and after the Lunar New Year , the demand for deer antlers increases, which is also the time when people in Huong Son (Ha Tinh) harvest antlers after a year of caring for the deer herd.
The antler cutting service is gradually formed according to the harvest season. This “sidekick” job lasts from before the Lunar New Year until March, helping cutters make a lot of money.
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nga’s family (63 years old, residing in Hong Ha village, Tan My Ha commune, Huong Son) is a household with many years of experience raising sika deer for antlers. After Lunar New Year 2024, one of his male deer was ready to be harvested, and customers came to his house to buy it.
In the past, he often asked relatives or neighbors to help cut off the horns on the deer’s head.
“According to a long-standing practice, after everyone helps, the family will invite them to stay for a meal and a cup of wine to thank them. Now that there is a service, just pick up the phone and a group of antler cutters will come and help harvest. This method is both economical and quick,” Mr. Nga shared.
After Mr. Nga’s phone call, a few minutes later, a group of 4 workers belonging to Mr. Pham Dong (58 years old, residing in Tan My Ha commune) rode a motorbike to saw the deer horns.
The group of workers brought along simple tools, including: lanyards made from dried banana trees and crushed forest leaves to stop bleeding at the injured deer site when cutting antlers; Bamboo pole is about 2.5m long, the end is attached to a noose rope to trap deer; a saw blade; a piece of board with a steel dome to stabilize the deer’s head during the cutting process.
After the homeowner pointed out the deer, Mr. Dong’s group got to work. One person uses a bamboo pole attached to a noose and swings it on the floor. When the deer fell into the trap, three people immediately rushed to knock it down, tie its legs, and hold the animal tightly. After fixing the deer’s head, the other person uses a saw to gently cut each horn.
After cutting the antlers, a person used a handful of pureed forest leaves to apply to the position of the newly cut horns on the deer’s head and used a dry banana leaf to tie it to stop the animal’s bleeding.
All steps only take about 10 minutes.
During the political season, the army of “horn saws” roam around on motorbikes, everyone is called to take a job. For every 10 minutes of practice, the group receives 200,000-250,000 VND. On average, they can cut 10 pairs of horns every day, and the group of workers earn millions of dollars.
According to Mr. Dong, in the deer antler capital of Huong Son, not only his group provides this service, but communes with large deer herds all have horn sawers.
Usually, this army has 3 people, but there are also groups of up to 5 people. Team members must meet standards of health, agility and skill.
Because the deer is very strong. The process of cutting antlers requires the worker to do it quickly, starting with knocking the deer down so that the animal does not get injured and its horn breaks. After that, the worker must also have the skills and experience to cut at the right location, both to maximize the amount of antlers obtained and to avoid causing too much blood loss and affecting the livestock.
“This job is easy to make money, but just a little carelessness can cause the deer to break its leg or crash its head into the cage, causing a nervous shock and the animal can easily die. At that time, the compensation for the deer owner can sometimes reach tens of millions of dong. But for professionals, the rate of incidents is very rare,” Mr. Dong added.
Huong Son has long been known as the “capital” of deer farming for antler production. From the 1990s until now, deer have become the main livestock, helping local people develop their economy.
According to Huong Son district leaders, the entire district currently has more than 44,500 deer.
Particularly for the Lunar New Year 2024, there will be about 21,000 antlers, with an estimated output of nearly 19 tons. With a selling price of about 11 million VND/kg, the income of people in Huong Son district is estimated to reach over 200 billion VND from raising deer for profit.
($1~24,000 VND)
( According to Dan Tri)