Fair Chase is the only way to hunt. So that leaves High Fence pretty much out. Unless your hunting 20K-30K thousand acres

Low
High fence should be outlawd and put I a watch

Low
High fence should be outlawd and put I a watch

So how do you hunt turkeys Turkey man? I would think the only fair chase way would be with a rock.

what about 5k acres? what about 10k?


what is the number where it becomes "fair"?

Now lets see. Gates and cattle guards but no fences. I think I got it.

I hunt inside a 5500 acre high fence ranch in the hill country. I have a stands in two different 800 or so acre low fence sections of the ranch. So I guess you could say I hunt in both.

As to going a weekend or multiple weekends without seeing anything, I can say I have for the past two years with one of my stands. The first year I had daily camera pictures of 5 or 6 bucks or 4 or 5 does at a time. Come October, they just vanished. From that point forward, we probably saw 2 bucks and 6 does the entire season (we probably hunted morning and night for 15 days that season). They still showed up occasionally on the camera, but they never came out when we were in the blind. We ended up with 2 does and a nice buck that year, but they were shot on a game trail away from the feeder and we didn't get them until January. This past season, that blind was terrible. Very few deer on camera in the off season and nothing showed up during the season. Thankfully my second blind was in a spot on the ranch no one had hunted in years. So we were able to get 2 does and one small buck. Even then, it wasn't the type of appointment shooting many people think of when they hear high-fence and I would say we only saw deer about 50% of the time in that area.

Haha. Somebody shut the gate to your pasture on Oct 1!

Somewhere on this 9 page post someone stated 98% of the B&C scoring deer come from HF ranches. I agree it's sad to say.

However before someone put's down another HF ranch you may want to consider this fact. There are way to many LF chest thumper's who could produce 150, 160, 170 class deer but they choose to be poor stewards of the natural resources they control on their own deer leases. They just continue pulling the trigger on that 90 inch 10 point, 10 men on a lease take 20 bucks and 7 does.

Management takes hard work... Complaints take 2 minutes on a key board.

I don't like HFs because I see them as a sad reflection of hunting losing what makes it hunting. It's not all about getting a big head on the wall or killing an animal. Which is what the pens are all about.
Also, the fact that they always disrupt and often ruin the hunting around them seems to get lost in the shuffle...

I've hunted 3 high fence ranches. All for Axis. 1st ranch was 280 acres in Comfort, Tx. Hunted 3 days morning and evening and spot and stalk on the last day during the middle of the day.....went home with an empty ice chest. Next ranch was 640 acres and after 3 trips and 8 1/2 days of hunting, I finally got my first axis buck. Last ranch was under 300 acres. We hunted feeders, food plots, water holes......NADA. Finally got a shot when we got the wind in our face and found the Axis fighting. Crawled on our hands and knees into shooting range and got my buck.

My uncle has 360 acres low fence in the Rocksprings area. Every time I've been there, I've counted no less than 4-5 shooter Axis bucks and 40-50 whitetail and axis combined.....at every blind I sit at and every time I've been there. His place has fabulous genetics and produces awesome Axis and pretty good whitetail, for the hill country. It's definitely one of the "gameiest" places I've hunted......AND NO HIGH FENCE. It depends on the ranch you go to. People really should experience a high fence hunt before they "Talk Crap" about how it's NOT hunting, cause they can't jump the fence.

I agree with your post. In a perfect world high fences would not exist because they would not be necessary (I'm talking strictly whitetail not exotics)

but the reality is, as long as we have people who ARE poor stewards of the land, shoot deer indiscriminately "because its their land and they have that right" or they lease to hunters who are just interested in filling a tag or shooting something JUST because it has horns, there are going to be high fences because there are people who want to manage their wildlife to its fullest potential, whatever that may be given their resources.


you are 100% right.....hunting is not all about getting a big buck or killing an animal...but both low fence hunters and high fence hunters can and do go to the extremes on each side.

when hunting is all about the kill, regardless of the height of the fence, a persons priorities are off.

I don't like high fence hunting,but each to their own. Not much of a sportsman to pay $10,000 to set in a blind 50 yards from a feeder with a guide that tells the so called hunter he will be here in 5 minutes and shoot the one with the blue ear tag. I've watched this transpire over the last 30 years and wonder how this has come about. It's the all mighty dollar and greed. I hunt low fence from the ground with no feeder,just me against the deer. Not much to brag about to your friends if they know the real story. I had rather shoot a black Angus steer and a heck of a lot cheaper

Deer behind a fence might as well be a dang cow. They walk right out with their big horns sagging looking for someone to pet them when the hunter drives up. 15k to shoot deer stolen from your neighbor and tamed down because it has no place to hide. What a business.

I couldnt agree more with sheep hunter, as far as the ratios of B&C bucks its true that HF produces more 160" plus deer every single year than any LF places ever will. With that all in mind I personally know of a couple private ranches that are larger LF places that shoot B&C deer every single year and do not turn them into any of the books or contests in the areas as they dont do it for the books. The lease poaching is out of control all over and thats just one of many reasons things are kept on the quiet on more of the ranches now days. I prefer HF for our managment practices we use to reach maximum growth and potental from our deer heards. I have nothing against either way of hunting, were all in this sport for the same dang reason. We love it and if it was taken away what then ? So next time your complaining of one thing or anoter just remeber this is something god has blessed us with and a privledge to do so. It is our own personal choices on how we decide to do it but at the end of the day we all love the same thing and thats gods great outdoors. Good luck this season to each and every one of yall as I hope you bag a buck of a lifetime no matter where your hunting. Shoot straight

Deer behind a fence might as well be a dang cow. They walk right out with their big horns sagging looking for someone to pet them when the hunter drives up. 15k to shoot deer stolen from your neighbor and tamed down because it has no place to hide. What a business.

I don't like high fence hunting,but each to their own. Not much of a sportsman to pay $10,000 to set in a blind 50 yards from a feeder with a guide that tells the so called hunter he will be here in 5 minutes and shoot the one with the blue ear tag. I've watched this transpire over the last 30 years and wonder how this has come about. It's the all mighty dollar and greed. I hunt low fence from the ground with no feeder,just me against the deer. Not much to brag about to your friends if they know the real story. I had rather shoot a black Angus steer and a heck of a lot cheaper

Oh wow. So, ya'll have never been associated with any high fenced hunting. Obvious.

But, why don't ya'll really hunt fair chase?

Buncha cheaters. Using weapons. I have absolutely no respect for people like you who use the unfair advantage of weapons to kill deer.

You should be ashamed!