How do you feel about high fenced hunting?


goodnottygy

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I am tired of watching T.V. shows with high fenced hunting. I like what "Uncle Ted" does to promote our beliefs, but I am tired of watching fenced in hunting. I know he hunts free roaming game too. I even raise whitetails as a hobby, (very small operation) to sell to these places... but I would never hunt this way, no matter how big the place is. I seem to have a problem with someone that shoots a deer that I could have fed apples from my hand. I do think it may be OK for handicapped people, to enjoy the hunting experience. I also don't like the idea that SCI accepts high fenced game into their record books (I have heard). I see them hunting exotics and deer on these "ranches" and I change the channel. How about you all out there?

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A buddy of mine is working on/helping manage one here. They used to be a horse ranch owned by their boss and his wife (barely middle aged retired millionaires). They kept buying up land, of which was already great fair chase deer and turkey hunting. They now are doing all the genetic/breeding aspects of a highend whitetail opperation. They are fencing in 1100 acres for "hunts" and need "guides" and the whole schpeel. Management bucks start at $2300 up to $19,000 for over 200"s. After that you pay by the inch. The guides have to field judge these bucks so the "client" only shoots one within his price range. Apple Creek Whitetails is the name. The owner dropped a ton of $$$ with new breeding facilities, a rustic lodge and lots and lots of pens for shooter bucks, breeding bucks, does and the like. We used to turkey hunt out there but now they will be selling turkey hunts too. I'm not a big fan.

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I've been around about a year now and have been in a couple threads about this. From my memory the majority fall under the line of thinking that to each their own as long as it is legal. It may not be for everyone in every situation but if it's legal why crticize anyone for it.:)

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Have never hunted a high fence so I cannot speak from experience, but I would tend to think that if the deer are not pen raised in a small enclosure that the fence may be irrelevant. I have no problem with it so long as it is legal, but I really cannot say whether it is or is not for me.

I do believe that it really is all a matter of perception and I would imagine in some cases the hunter him/herself may have more issue with the fence than what the animals do. Seriously if the fenced in area is large enough I might consider it, I would have absolutely no interest in a canned hunt or a hunt on a small high fenced property. I think of canned hunts as pen raised animals, jmo. I have considered hunting the arsenal property not far from here, it is about 35,000 acres(that is way more sq miles than a whitetail deer would ever dream of having as a core area) and is fenced, but you pretty well have to have someone take you and I don't know anyone who still works there. Pretty safe to say that the deer on that property are just as wild as the deer here along the river bottom behind my house. So what's the big deal, is a deer who lives inside a fence that is never hand fed or the deer never sees the fence, is that deer any easier to hunt than a deer free ranging that feeds in ag crops?

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I dont think it's a major issue with enough acreage (how many acres is enough is anyone's opinion). One term, however i do get tired of is "fair chase". I think it's one of those feel-good terms that people throw out there to make themselves feel good about that buck they just bought. As to a fence, what's the difference in it and some trophy ranch in texas that is totally sourounded by other ranches of the same caliber? Or giles island in the mississippi river? Their all about the same to me.

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To me, it is not how many acres is behind the fence. It is the animals you are shooting are not afraid of humans, that is the issue. I raise whitetails for a hobby. I can feed some of my deer that I raise, in a 2 acre pen for these operations, out of my hand. Does this sound like hunting? :rolleyes:

No that IS NOT hunting. Just because this is your operation though does not mean that all others are the same. I would assume that many high fence operations are large enough that the the deer on those properties not only never see a fence, but probably might also not see any people outside of scouting and hunting bumps or encounters. In all fairness you might look outside your own experience with a bit of an open mind. What is the difference in a high fence operation and a high fenced government or private owned property that is opened to a limited number of hunters, or is there any difference aside of the obvious that most operations are managed for deer quality?

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high fenced hunting

I am thinking about getting out of it. I started as a hobby, but then you run out of room and cannot afford to feed the critters forever with no return on your investment. They multiply fast! I have done that for years as a cattle farmer, now got a job away from home to support my hobby of cattle farmer and deer raiser! LOL!

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So why raise and sell them to these places, knowing that is what they are buying them from you for? :confused::confused: Doesn't make much sense for you to totally disagree with that style of hunting but yet you are that company's "supplier.":confused::rolleyes:

Was kind of wondering the same thing Lee. Makes little sense to be so opposed to something in yet letting yourself be a major part/factor in or of what it is that you are complaining about.

Really seems as though "high fence" is automatically assumed by some to all be just the way that is led onto here by goodnottyguy, when in reality there may be just a very small percentage of high fence operations that are that way.

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Hey... I was wondering what people felt... and now I know. I wondered how long it would take you to say that! You guys are too nice! I am now removing my tongue from my cheek! LOL! If you knew me... you would know that I am not always a serious person... so I stir things up every now and then! I do want people to know, however, that what many might think is a wild deer on a preserve, may not be at all. I concede that sometimes, that the deer breeding on the preserves, may be wilder than mine that I raised. Hey... it is in all good fun...sometimes it is fun to stir the pot and watch it unfold. After all... I am the goodnottygy! Thanks for your input... don't hold my naughtyness against me, PLZ!

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I am tired of watching T.V. shows with high fenced hunting. I like what "Uncle Ted" does to promote our beliefs, but I am tired of watching fenced in hunting. I know he hunts free roaming game too. I even raise whitetails as a hobby, (very small operation) to sell to these places... but I would never hunt this way, no matter how big the place is. I seem to have a problem with someone that shoots a deer that I could have fed apples from my hand. I do think it may be OK for handicapped people, to enjoy the hunting experience. I also don't like the idea that SCI accepts high fenced game into their record books (I have heard). I see them hunting exotics and deer on these "ranches" and I change the channel. How about you all out there?

100% agree with you mate, hunting an animal in a cage dosent count as hunting at all!!!

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It would be easier to do a search on the subject. Almost everyone has voiced their view on it at one time or another.:)

This topic is getting up there with "how do I get on the prostaff":D

Or...

How come Michael Waddell don't come around here?:rolleyes:

High fence hunting is not my cup of tea, but I will support anyones legal right to do so.

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Not all "high-fenced" hunting areas are created equal. My attitude toward them varies according to the size. There are some that fall under the category of canned hunts. These are little tiny operations where the animals are semi tame, and the size of the enclosure is such that high percentage shooting opportunities are guaranteed. There are also high fenced operations that are so large that many of the animals never see a fence. The fences are more designed to keep out poachers and unauthorized hunters than to keep game in. That all does make a difference in how I view the fair chase aspect of the hunt.

There is another aspect of high fence hunting operations that I find a bit troubling, and that is that it seems to be a trend in hunting. More and more land is being locked up with these kinds of ventures. I believe that the average hunter is going to become more and more sensitive to that fact as hunting land continues to be gobbled up by development and gets fenced in by the increasingly lucrative business of "pay-to-hunt" enterprises. Yes, it is all legal, but I don't have to like it. We continue to watch hunting activity trending downward, and these kinds of operations are not helping that situation one bit.

What can we do about it? .......... Nothing! As long as we believe in the sanctity of private land ownership (which I do), there is absolutely nothing that can be done to turn all this back. In fact we can expect it all to accelerate until hunting in this country begins to resemble the European style hunting experience. It will become an activity of the rich. So that land that is not consumed for development will eventually become private, money-making hunting and recreational resorts for a comparatively few.

No, it's not just the fences that will cause this. There are attitudinal changes within the hunting community that will continue to stress guaranteed hunts and guaranteed trophies that will continue to push up the costs and profits of this accelerating business. As the emphasis continues to emphasize heavy racked trophies, and the TV programs continue to glorify trophy hunting as the only legitimate measure of success, The demand for highly managed, fenced in habitat will grow to the point where that will eventually be the way to hunt.

So while many might be against high-fence hunting based on fair-chase principles, there are other reasons to watch these fenced enterprises with a heavy dose of suspicion and dread.

Doc

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Hey Doc, haven't seen you in a while. How ya been. My take on the high fence, worry more about what you can do for you neighbor than what your neighbor may be doing.

I've been pretty involved in hunting seasons (bow and gun). Now that it's over, I've got a little time to try to bust up the "cabin fever". The internet helps.

I often wondered about how neighbors feel when one of these high fence operations opens up next door. Actually, when you think about it, it might be a good deal (unless you used to hunt that property). What it might do for you is to keep potential tresspassers caged up on their own land.....lol. At any rate, the fences would keep them from drawing deer off your property and on to theirs. No matter how many food plots or feeding troughs or bait-stations that they put into their land, they will never be able to entice deer that you hunt over onto their property like people who do these things and don't fence their property. So, neighbor to neighbor, the situation of high fence can't really be a bad thing.

Doc

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taking game off of a high fence operation is not hunting, nor should it be considered hunting at all. I dont care if it is 20 acres or 2000 acres, it is still a joke.

Come on, tell us how you really feel?:rolleyes::confused:

That is YOUR opinion and you are entitled to it. Not everyone feels the same about the subject. How do you feel about 40,000 acres?

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