Looks good Jon. I’ve always appreciated the care you put into your ranch and how clean you keep it.

As far as fencing it in, you can’t fault a man for wanting to better his deer herd with neighbors that have a totally different philosophy/mindset. That I can get!!

Looks great! My theory on a lot of these “neighbors” is that they can be newbie land owners. EVERYBODY wants to own 5-? ranches in the so called country; and be the actors on Yellowstone. Hence, you get a lot of idiots living all over the place, more and more in Texas. I’ve been around the same ranch neighbors( or their relatives) all of my life—-and all that “weird hunting stuff/trespassing” just doesn’t happen. Or, or, it’s corrected at some time in the past.

I'm not a high Fence guy ,but It's one thing when you do it to grow big deer & another to do it because you won't have any deer because the neighbors shoot everything. I understand both camps. It is your land to do as you please,but never cared for a HF. Been in the situation where new neighbors in ranchettes changed the whole population around us. Heck I can't even shoot the deer on my place anymore. They are like pets. LOL!!

Stompy, can a deer jump over that fence..looks like maybe 5 ft. tall? I know nothing about fencing in deer..

Well, maybe a real healthy one with a good running start can, but it's rare. The top barded wire is 8' 1".

I'm doing it for both of those reasons. I'm also doing more for personal use, granted I'll have to sell a few hunts to keep numbers in check.

I think it was mentioned earlier in the thread but keep an eye out as deer may still try. We had a 1.5yr buck that tried to jump one out neighbors high fences and took off his whole bottom jaw. Not a pretty sight when we were able to catch up to him

looking good stompy

Good job John! It's yours... do it your way. I like it and the reasons you did it!

When it is finished are we invited to come for beer and barbecue to celebrate?....lol

Won't be any money left for that..lol

It's not hard work, lot's of walking, but I'm sick of painting pipe. Line pipe is every 100', corners, H braces, water gaps, gate braces and A braces, I've painted a lot of pipe the last 2 weeks. Got the last 3000' done this morning, now just touching up welds next week. I painted the first set of gates by hand, I'll be spraying the rest of them.

It's hard work but when it's finished..something to be proud of..2nd to nothing!! Keep up the good work.. I have just got a great idea flashed by me...get all the kids and wife a paint brush..lol

No kids and the wife has her own chores. I'll do it myself, cheaper and it's done right...nice thought though.

I know you agonized over fencing your place John. You are not alone in that respect. A lot of landowners I know who would have preferred not to, have ultimately ended up fencing for the exact same reasons. I suspect it is a bitter sweet project. The MLD program will be a big help in keeping up with the harvest as the deer herd increases. It can become a chore to keep up with. It sounds like you are already thinking about how you plan to keep that in check.. All the best to the new direction that facet of your place is evolving to. I enjoyed talking deer with you when my son and I were there dove hunting. You do more than most with your place. Kudos to you for taking the high road with buckeye’s pot stirring.

I would never feel bad about HFencing a property I owned - as stated before I did so on 600 acres - was for family and friends only and we had a blast - I really enjoyed growing big deer - I also have hunted a ST low fence ranch for years which I also love - so Stompy do not blink an eye about doing the HF - long term you will love it

Exactly right tlk!

I would guess after reading Stompy's post he would never have spent the large amount of money to do this if he didn't have to do it in order to manage the herd the way he wants to and raise mature, trophy class deer!
Hat's off to him for wanting the best herd he can have and digging deep into the wallet to do it.

The last of the wire is going up today, they'll spend today and some of tomorrow clipping and wiring it up. Probably tomorrow afternoon they'll start on gates. With gates and water gaps left, they have about 7 days left before their done. I have everything painted, all that'll be left is gates and gate overheads...Ready to be done, this is cutting into my bass fishing..

Stompy - did you do this project yourself?!? If so, God bless you. If not, can you PM me the company you used? Very good workmanship either way.

Stompy - did you 'inset' the fence from the property line next to your neighbors, or set it on the property line? IF inset, how far and why?

Thanks!

This was the final phase and it all borders the county road. This new fence is on the property line. The other 2/3rds of my ranch is about 6-8" inside the property line. I did that so there's no dispute with neighbors and I didn't want to deal with neighbors cows taking down the old fence. I also left the old fence to sorta protect the new one. Most of it has been up about 15 years.

All I'm doing is painting pipe. Information sent of fence contractor. Very pleased with him and his guys, very professional.

Worked on the main entrance yesterday, adding welded wire today. The overhead was already there and I had some nice clean 4" pipe to do the sides.

Nice, clean looking place.

Looking great..I was gonna paint that for ya ....but since you already have taken care of that I'll just admire all your hard work.
STANDING TALL !!!! Keep up the good work.