New thread, same ol HF haters

NP, bless your heart but you sound like a broke record. For years now. I hope you realize how little anyone else cares about your opinion. Keep explaining away, nobody cares.

[insert old man yelling at clouds meme]

Lot of back roads in Texas that when I'm driving at night I am glad they are majority high fenced, at least near the highway, that keeps the deer off of the highway. Ask anyone who has hit an elk on 90, west of Sanderson, if they wish the Longfellow ranch would be high fenced.

I also wonder how many on here would turn down a free hunt on a HF ranch that needed to cull 150-180 (or whatever number) size bucks.

I try real hard to never offend anyone on here so I will sometimes straddle the fence on a hot topic. I also hesitate to side with Nogalus on anything cause he tends to get bashed all too often and im way too thin skinned to wanna get lumped in with him. However, with due respect to Maximus I think to say that no one cares about Nogalus opinion is way way off base. First of all rather you agree with him or not he always explains himself with logic and detail and articulates it well, IMO. Also, his main opinion that seems so easy for some to jump on is that he is against HF, PERIOD. I haven't paid attention to this forum till recently but from what I can tell MOST of the forum members are against HF in some form but maybe not to the degree he does. So why wouldn't they want to hear his comments? It seems there are a FEW that type very loudly and very often while a LOT just type a quick sentence and go away. I listen to the loud typers as well as the soft typers because everyone's voice is important. Once again, I am not saying im for or against HF(too many variables) but I want to hear all sides of the debate as long as it can remain constructive and not a witch hunt/pissing match.

After long and careful thought I have come to realize that the only folks that hate a HF are the ones that don't have one and wish they did.

I have no problem with HF ranches, I think they serve a purpose. There are folks out the with busy careers and don't have the time for a lease, but still want a chance at a decent buck. Or just no friends to hunt with. I don't hunt HF's and probably never will, but I have no problem with them. I do however have a problem with hunting deer in small 100-200 acre HF traps.
All that being said, about half my ranch is under HF.

There’s 3 types of HF haters

1). Those that are jealous.

2). Those that hunt small acreage & depend on the deer that stay on their neighbors place (98% of the time) to cross the low fence onto their piddlin place. Most of these pricks are fenceline hunters.

3). Crusty old curmudgeons who recall the glory days of their youth, when they could hunt a lot of property, before all these Dallas people showed up wantin to hunt. Hey you kids get off my lawn!

Probably the bulk of the readers on here don't remember but the HF was started by ranchers to raise exotics. At that time there was a heck of a lot money made on exotics than on WT. I think it is coming back to that again. Then the freaky antlered WT boom started. Those that got in early made money. After a while that went away and along came CWD. That really threw everything upside down. I personally make at least 10 times the money off Ibex than I ever could off WT. I can sell Ibex females at 2 years old for over $2000. 4 year old males for $7500. And it doesn't take an arm and a leg to feed them. I think there are very few in the WT business are getting rich right now. You would be surprised how many are wanting to get out of it and are looking for an alternative to utilize the facilities they have in place. Blaming HF for your lack of hunting skills is playing on deaf ears. Go cry to your mother of wife. Maybe they will feel sorry for you.

I think your 3 reasons are reasonably accurate but IMO you are leaving out at least one more type of HF haters and its the only one with merit. The one that sees HFs as a way to not give the deer a reasonable chance of escape. Fairchase, ethics, etc. This same type of HF hater really gets bothered if the enclosure is extremely small and/or the deer or not wild, ie the canned put and take situations. This is the category I fall into. I know these type operations are very rare compared to the whole and I know many HF ranches that are large and are run great and for all the right reasons. I have no issue with that. I have hunted one like that and I would again if it was big enough and the situation was right. I am NOT telling anyone what they can or cannot do but I am just saying that I do not think it helps the future of hunting when deer are hunted in a very small(cant say how big that is) enclosure or when the deer have been handled by humans and been around humans to the point that they are no longer WILD.

500

And it seems like there is only one type of high fence "hunter". Lives in a subdivision, has huge ego, has spent as much time in the woods as my 12 yo nephew.

Did the state reimburse me for feeding their deer? Did the state reimburse me for supplying water to their deer? Does the state pay damages for accidents involving their deer? Don't tell me you own something and then do nothing to support it or the accept the responsibilities of owner ship.

I hunted 10,000 acres that is high fence for four years. I've been hunting for 47 years. I try to stay humble...and try not to make insanely broad generalizations that show how ignorant I am.

We all have our opinions..... When it comes to ego, you insulting or labeling other hunters that legally hunt in a way you don't agree with is your ego out of control........ And now you might of had a friendship with another hunter that you won't now and for what? Feel better now?

Is this the cul-de-sac guy? Somebody on here really hates cul-de-sacs.

That shows exactly how much you know.

Let the hate flow.

for all of the "the state can't tell me what I can and can't build around my own private property", the state already regulates you more than you realize. why is it that they can tell you when you can shoot deer, with what kind of weapon, what sex they can be, and of those with antlers specifications on them? step back, put your own personal interest and thoughts on the HF debate aside and think about it....keep in mind, this is your own private property that you paid for and pay taxes on. there are also licensing fees for you to pay in order to have a booklet full of restrictions to follow on your own property.

Do you honestly think that property owners don’t know this?

Are you tryin to talk me into accepting MORE regulations on my own property?

And hopefully the majority of people do actually realize that the entire state of Texas private land is not geared toward raising Whitetail Deer for their hunting pleasure. Or after reading a lot of post maybe they don't know this.

No, but a helluva lot of it is - more HF than anywhere on earth outside South Africa.

Texas is also one of the largest states and the first to start the practice so it should be expected they have more acres than any other state just common sense really nothing new.

I find this thread interesting when I compare it to today's politics.........throw out a hot topic that divides two sides and stir the pot........each side tries to win the argument at any cost.......and the end result is nothing changes except people who might of come together one day will not......

You mean licensing tax.....

So you want more regulations that will trickle down to all property rights including home ownership. You restrict pasture fence height, then you restrict materials, you then restrict residential heights, materials etc. You restrict acreage for HF, then you just defined LF rural acreage required to hunt, and that includes small game.

Today’s Hunting Regulations are a bye product of Wildlife recovery which where put into place to increase and recover numbers for sustainability. We are well past whitetail recovery, Infact many HF are in place to keep deer out more so then in.

Most of our laws are out dated, but in all forms they go back to one thing, sustainability. Reason why the 5 month plus MLD program is growing so exponentially, it’s common sense hunting built around and highly successful sustainability program that benefits all flora on the landscape/property, Something that the Article fails to mention...

Access to water has been my concern for me. I have always wondered what other game animals are affected besides deer when water sources are fenced with a high fence and no longer available to free range animals. I bring this up because I know of a specific fence erected along one side of a 16,000 acre ranch to purposely cut water sources off to a "Bad" neighbor's deer herd.

Never thought about how high fences cut off water from free range animals. It is something to think about, especially in west Texas.

I don’t think I have ever been on a ranch of any size that didnt have a sustain water system(outside of extreme drought) in place including far west Texas. Cattle is still king in Texas. Not saying there isn’t just not the norm.