I am not an avid fan of TTH, but I have a couple of mags in the bathroom. The main thing that turns me away from this magizine is all of the giant breeder bucks with the eartag, and fence in the background. I was flipping through the july/august 2010 issue when I came across a picture of a huge massive buck, This buck scored 193 and some change won mr. heavy in the los cazadores, and was killed on a 368 acre high fence "ranch". After recent discussions on this forum about hf hunting I have kinda changed my opinion toward high fences. There is alot of work, and luck involved in hunting the larger ones. But this just kinda hits a nerve. That this is in a hunting magizine, how can this be hunting. I hope that I am not the only one who feels this way. I will keep my tth magizines around, but after this article only as a safety precaution. (if I run out of tp)

I was told they are going to try and get away from all high fenced deer, they have to show some because of advertising $$$$, bit i hope they do start getting back to lf deer.

keep with tth because overall it is a good magazine. the market is still saturated with the breeders who need good marketing strategies to justify their breeding costs. eventually, with what I see as a constantly expanding supply, the supply will exceed demand and put many breeders out of operation or working for much less revenue per deer. additionally, breeders are trying to get a prized breeder buck and the market is already saturated, 300 is the new 200 but at some point it becomes irrelevant because there is only so much antler even a protein fed ranging deer can amass.

HF is like shootin fish in a barrel if its not at least 1000acres..... jm .02

x2


Might as well just call it deer farming!!!

i like the magazine a lot of the hunts they talk about are low fence or big high fence ranches read that every time i'm in the blind don't really care bout the fence just like to read about different hunts and the experience they walked away with

The personal stories are the best part. Notice that if there is an article about game cams, for instance, there is a major ad closely tied to the person that wrote or was quoted in the article. A fair amount of the "infomative" articles follow the same pattern.

Just my $.02

deer breeding is just like any other business.

it went from the few people getting into it, that were trying to improve a herd.

then you had people wanting to buy deer to introduce genetics on their places.

originally, most of these were large ranches.

now it seems anyone with 50 acres and access to a tractor supply credit account wants to buy high fence and start a breeding operation.

there are going to be irresponsible and unethical people in absolutely any industry out there, deer breeding is no different.

Once again, it's not about "the fence" its about the entire package.

The ads with those pics of bucks with tags and fences in the TTH magazine are mostly from deer breeders from their licensed breeding pens. Some are hunting ranches and some are just breeders. Like has been said here already they are doing business like anyone else would. Marketing their products in a target rich enviroment. Most people got into breeding to improve the genetics on their ranches. Now some with money have gotten into it with the hopes of making more money. Most of the breeders are in it to raise better deer to introduce into their ranches to improve what their herds. Sadly some are not. I think in time it will weed out those who are not. I do not think you can put a size on a hunting piece of property-HF or LF. I have seen 1500 acres of HF that looked like a park and 175 acres that was so thick it was impossible to even see a deer without feeders. I hunt both HF and LF. I hunt on the ones I choose based on how the hunt will be not from the size of the ranch or the deer on it. To me a ranch has to have several things...water, good nutrition, good escape cover in order for me personally to feel it is ethical. I do not set and acreage size for that due to the fact that I hunt in West Texas and on 3000 acre pasture where I can see just about every inch of it making it much easier to spot game compared to 200 acres in East Texas that is a wall of trees and dense growth. I think it boils down to ones own personal ethics of how and where you hunt. No magazine or deer contest has made that issue worse or bother you as much as we as hunters have glorified the need to kill a bigger deer than a hunting buddy. Hunters are to blame in a way they have forced the need for more and bigger. Nothing wrong with trophy hunting at all in my book or hunting for meat. I just think blaming a magazine for something that they print or do is not the real issue here. I hunt for the joy of it. If it means killing a trophy or a doe it is still hunting and how or what I take from the hunt is more than the trophy in my book. It boils down to ethics and morals.

Sorry but size does matter. Hunting 200, 300, 400 ect. acres under a high fence is just bs.

You are entitled to your opinion as is everyone else. Makes neither one of them right or wrong though. Have you hunted or been a HF ranch that size? Just curious.

You couldnt pay me to hunt on a 200 acre hf ranch. No I have not, and I never will. But In my opinion it is not even hunting. Its finding, and killing on a place that small under a hf.

The same can be said LF also ...sitting at a corn feeder or driving around in a vehicle and shooting a deer it is finding and killing. What is difference if the deer has escape cover and can get away. Also is 10 or 15 guys doing a push in Canada on a 5 acre patch of bush hunting? To me it is not. I agree with you on some HF ranches it is not a hunt but you can not group them all the same until you have tried several of them to know for sure it is what you say it is. Just like all LF hunting is fair chase. It is not. The might be able to escape if he can run fast enough and far enough.

Don't ever do Pronghorn Antelope hunting you will be highly disappointed then

Just out of for personal info how big is the ranch you hunt on?

About 800 acres where the deer can come and go as they plese, oh yeah and you cant pressure them because they can leave.

why when you spook them cant they leave, its not like they are in a pen.

They do return though don't they? So then you let the deer hunt you then?

Say all you want but "hunting" a 200 acre high fence is ridiculous bucks travel miles under low fence how far can they go on 200 acres? 300 yards?

Just my .02

You are comparing a 800 acre lf place to a 200 acre hf. No comparrison I dont know for sure what deer I am going to kill every year. I varmint hunt near a 400 acre high fence place, and he knows the exact number of deer he has. If you think thats hunting more power to you. To me it sounds like farming.

How "pressured" does a buck feel when you sit in a blind waiting for him to come to a feeder? Most deer have a small "core area" where they stay most of their time. Even if you had a drive thru the area, the buck would return soon thereafter.

My point being that the deer are "high fenced" by their mentality even when they reside on low fenced places.

But being low fence, my neighbors and me get to share each other's deer......

Every low fence place I've ever hunted there is usually the same dozen or so deer that come to the feeders all season. Occasionally a new deer shows up but generally it's the same deer.

My experience with HF is that the more you hunt the harder they become to find.

they don't they run in a circle... most wont jump a 5 foot fence either they look for a place to go under.

Just saying the whole idea of sporting has gotten stupid.. not that I'm for hunting a 400 acre HF ranch, but we all make it sound like its so hard to kill a whitetail, or what ever. We also make it sound like a buck off a big native herd HF ranch is so easy... when you can also go to a very well managed LF ranch and get a 170 class buck or bigger if you got the cash..

Just saying the word sporting is stupid... if we want to be sporting then lets laydown the 400yard gun, 320 ft/s bow, the plush deer blind, the climbing tree stand, doublebull blind, coverup mouth wash.. and we need to go back to loan cloths, nasty breath, and pick up spears or wooden long bows and flint tipped arrows.. Just saying


Sorry rant over so lets

I absolutely agree with your rant!