Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Opinions on high fence hunting

I never felt hunting was a competitive sport, at least not for me. I don't judge my hunting primarily by the size of my buck to anyone else's. Sure I like to shoot a decent buck but its not what draws me to the sport so I could care less if people hunt in deer in high fence enclosure or not. or if they shoot 110 class or 190 class bucks.

I do have a few concerns but they aren't really about the hunting. It seems that almost all, or at least many of the CWD cases up here originally had some relation to game farms. There is also how the non hunting public views things and I am not sure small high fence operations are necessarily good for public image. But in general people can do what they want as long as its not hurting others, particularly on their own property.

I like to do my best to try an keep an open mind about things. Use to have different opinion on fences but after being around a handful (small sample)of private hunting enclosures (no hunts for sale)over the past decade ive changed my mind. Eye opener to say the least. Committed people with a solid plan can do alot of good things.

If i was to ever hit the powerball id fence off a little piece of this world for myself and family too

D.F., In my humble opinion you are wrong. I live, hunt, and guide in the Adirondacks of NY. It’s over 6 million acres with over 1/2 that being state land open for hunting. No 4 wheeler/ATV access on the state land. Also spent a week hunting in the Jackman, Maine area last season. A few thousand acres isn’t that big a chunk of land, unless you’re paying taxes on it. Put up high fences where deer movement is restricted and the gene pool is contained and you’re no longer hunting in a natural habitat. Further, I find the genetic manipulation/artificial insemination of whitetails to grow big sets of horns disgusting and disrespectful of a magnificent animal. Not interested and not jealous. A person/business can do what they want to on their own land but people shouldn’t kid themselves into believing that these things are not being done to make it easier. One man’s opinion.

I sure wish I could afford to high fence my property. It's the only way to restrict deer movement and control the numbers. We can't grow grazing for cattle because of the deer at the house. And the 50 acres of winter grazing I planted on our hunting property for the deer looks like the ground is painted green. I guess we could allow people to stomp the woods hunting and then flatten the woods looking for the deer after shooting and wounding them. At least that way the deer become nocturnal where we don't have to see them every day.

Of course high fences make it easier to kill a trophy. If they didn't people wouldn't pay big money to hunt inside them.

High fence is the best way to improve a deer herd. They bring in trophy genetics, kill out the inferior animals.

And that makes it easier to kill a trophy animal inside it.

So according to this criteria, a tree stand overlooking a green field is harvesting too, and not hunting.

+1

More has to do with the deer being exposed to humans and knowing where the bucks are. Cameras have proven to me that that bucks travel a long ways and are good at not being seen.
A high fence is on my wish list in the next 5 years. But I'm not going to screw with bringing in outside genetics. Deer just need the right nutrition, age and as much to eat as they want. Creep feeding our calves made a lot more improvement than using AI or top notch bulls. I know of 3 pen raised bucks that were wild pick-ups and each one grew big antlers. But all 3 became so aggressive during the rut at 2.5 - 3.5 they became uncontrollable and were put down.

never did the high fence for big game but i have done the pheasant farm shoots a couple of times , if someone wants to do a high fence i could care less . i have never been to Africa but heard those hunts are high fence just that they are a huge fence areas ?

People wouldn't travel from here to Texas and pay outrageous amounts of money to hunt whitetails on a high fenced ranch if their chances of killing a big trophy buck weren't much better. I know two guys from here that did exactly that and both came back from their high fenced ranch hunt with bucks much bigger than they had managed to kill in 30+ years here.

I shoot released pheasants as well along with quail. It's just the way it is if you want to hunt birds. I just came back from four days in Georgia hunting quail. My dogs saw more birds in those four days than in four years hunting grouse.
South Africa has a lot of areas that are high fenced but you wouldn't know it due to the size. Just because an area is fenced doesn't necessarily mean it's a canned hunt. The hunt is what you make it.

Yes, high fences can be used, and are used, to make getting a trophy buck easier. But high fences can be used for other purposes.

Full disclosure, i have taken hogs under high fence when I do the 24hrhoghunt, hoot n' shoot each year.

ya!

GWB

People really shouldn't care what others do, as long as it's legal! Stepping on others rights, is not how I was brought up!!

My thoughts are, I would not PAY for a high fence hunt. But if someone was to invite me as guest......than I'll choot em.

Lol! Good Thinkin

If its legal, yada yada yada...only you have to live with how you choose to hunt.


If its inside a fence, no matter the acreage - you know its in there. Not so much outside. Might be a XXX inch deer on this parcel, might not.

Kind of telling that a lot of guys that shoot deer off high fence operations don't go out of their way to put that detail out there unless pressed. Large buck somewhere out west on public and same guy cant tell you it was "walk in, public" fast enough...

I’d be better to go to a high fence place every other year than pay what I do for lease, diesel, food etc