Growing up driving through the hill county I wanted to hunt on a high fence place because that would be where the big deer were. Now my buddy’s in-laws own one and I have no interest in hunting it all, even though I’ve been offered the chance to shoot a cull buck there for free. Their curls are bigger than any WT I’ll likely ever kill. The place is crawling with monsters and it’s not a challenge to kill one. A specific one might take you the better part of a season if you had bad luck, or might even get shot first by someone else, but to walk away with a trophy is nothing but writing a check. That is what most high fence places exist to do...insure that the high roller client with lots of money and very little hunting time gets his trophy. I don’t have a problem with it, but it’s not for me. I do the majority of my hunting on public land or some small parcels I’ve secured permission to hunt without paying for a lease. The deer fewer and trophies rarer still. I prefer it though. To each his own.

Interesting discussion in this thread. There is a fervent following on both sides of the fence. I harbor no ill will toward the high fence crowd, but, it's not my gig. I am a low fence, fair chase guy. High fences have been in Texas for quite some time. They continue to gain traction as our culture in general becomes more and more a culture of instant gratification. There are parallels to the steroid age in modern sports in that, it is a much quicker and easier way to produce above average results than trying to cross paths with one of the rare animals nature smiles on. As long as no laws are broken, I've got no beef with it, however, I don't judge the trophies from behind a game proof fence as equal accomplishments when compared to fair chase trophies. The rare frequency of natural occurrence is a large part of what a trophy is to me. Rather than cast stones at what each other does though, I think the sensible path is to gravitate to hunting areas that fit your preferences.

This never gets old....

This should now be a banned topic.


you can't paint all high fence places with the same brush just like you can't do it with low fence places. Big Difference between a 250 acre high fence place that releases pen raised deer to be shot that same season and a 2500 acre ranch that has a high fence and a supplemental feeding program but all native genetics.


There is also a big difference between a 50 or 100 acre LF tract in LLano county vs. a 5000 acre pasture out in Shackleford county that sees little hunting pressure.