Deer meat sweet! - Portland hunter loves the taste of invasive species

Since his first deer hunt in the hills of Chelsea, Portland, in 2014, Romario Dunkley has been hooked--not just on the adrenaline rush, but also on the unique taste of deer meat.

"The meat nice, man. Nuff people seh it taste like goat, but to me the goat taste a bit softer and the texture [is] more like beef; it more chewy than the goat," said Dunkley, adding that he hunts solely for consumption. His favourite deer meals are jerked deer and deer soup.

White-tailed deer, native to Central and South America, as well as the US, Mexico, and Canada, became an invasive species in Jamaica after six deer -- three does and three bucks -- escaped from Somerset Falls in Portland during Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. With no natural predators, they quickly flourished.

Terrestrial biologist Damion Whyte has estimated that over 6,000 now roam the wild. The National Environment and Planning Agency has even allowed game-bird hunters to shoot white-tailed deer year-round to control their population.

Dunkley, 28, told THE WEEKEND STAR that the deer are a major nuisance for farmers in Portland.

"They're increasing fast because you can't control their breeding, and they need food. Most of what the farmers grow, they (the deer) eat -- sweet potatoes, pumpkin, corn, you name it. It costs farmers a lot every year," Dunkley said.

He also explained that hunting them requires significant skill and strategy due to the deer's intelligence and speed.

"You have to try to be smarter than them, you have to develop strategies. So we actually use dogs to corner them and run them in certain direction, or we have a thing that we use to find the path that they walk, and we set the trap there and try to catch them," Dunkley explained.

Though Dunkley doesn't sell the meat, he pointed out that many hunters do, fetching around $2,000 per pound. With the Christmas season approaching, demand for deer meat is expected to spike.