Just wondering whar everybody on here thoght about them. If you have been to one what did you think?

The deer were no different from those outside the fence.

Except for larger antlers and bodies.

The ones I saw certainly weren't pets..........

I know some of you have been to one or have a comment on it.

I haven't been to one and don't expect to be invited to one anytime soon. I'd probably enjoy watching the animals they've grown there. Don't think I would care to hunt there.

They are legal. They should continue to be legal. If someone wants to hunt semi-wild livestock deer (depending on the size of the property), that's not much different from hunting free-ranging deer that have been manipulated to grow bigger antlers and bodies with intensive/expensive management practices IMO.

As long as they do no harm to our natural resources, it's really none of our business what they do behind their fences or on their huge exclusive but unfenced properties.

It's those who want our government to restrict the hunting rights and property rights of others who need to be watched very closely.

A buddy of mine up in Selma used to be a timber runner. He told me he was walkin a property after Ivan came through that bordered a high fenced property. A large tree fell across the fence and crushed the fence under it. It didn't lay the fence over. There was the widest trail he had ever seen goin across there. I personally have never hunted a high fence nor will I ever. I believe in fair chase and in my opinion, a few thousand acre enclosure is no different from a cage. If you do happen to kill a Boone & Crockett buck inside one, you wouldn't be able to get him in the books.

I don't agree with you.

Most mature bucks can outsmart and evade most hunters in very small areas. If they were fed regularly by humans and became accustomed to them, their instincts would likely change, however.

I don't think that is much more likely to happen in an enclosure consisting of a few thousand acres unless there is a lot of up-close supplemental feeding going on. Supplemental feeding of free-ranging deer can have the same effect on reducing their avoidance of humans. That's why food plots are effective in drawing deer into the open to make shooting them easier.

What makes it a cage hunt. If the deer in the enclosure are not handled by humans they are just as wild as the free range ones. The difference in a high fence is the landowner can control what the deer eat and see that they don't leave his property to be shot by some jack leg that shoots the first legal buck they see. They grow them to maturity to offer the hunter a buck he probably normally would never have a chance to see.

If they can't escape and roam freely, they're not wild. They're caged.

Period.

any military reservation is fenced on all sides period. If you have ever hunted one you would know they are tough to hunt based on pressure.

Clem,



Would you walk in the cage and pet a leopard at the zoo?

All of the fenced in areas I've seen have been small tracts. They do feed the deer on a regular basis. They would have to I would think. As for comparing high fence hunting to a cage, I have too much love and respect of the Whitetail Deer to ever hunt them out of an enclosure. I can't justify killing a deer like that. In my mind, it's like they are in a cage. If I screw up on a mature buck, I know he's not going anywhere if he is in a high fence, therefore I can easily find him again and pattern him again if he changes his patterns. If I screw up on one in a unrestricted area, who's to say that deer wont move out of the area. More than likely he wouldn't, but I am much more inclined not to screw up hunting free range bucks than high fenced ones. That's one of the reasons why I like to hunt public land. It presents a challenge. In my opinion, the greatest hunting challenge in Alabama is to harvest a MATURE whitetail buck. They are the smartest animal in the woods. If you cage em up in a high fence, you might as well hunt cattle in a pasture. Disagree with me all you want to, you can't change my mind. I will preach this opinion of mine until the day I die as if it were a quote from the Bible itself.

Does putting a fence around the property really change that??

You may not be giving them as much credit as they are actually due.

It does change that because he doesn't have a chance to escape and move somewheres else. If you have a buck you can't kill that is in a high fence, and you knew he was a hoss, and you knew you had him and he wasn't going anywhere, what would you do? Most people would run dogs. There's nothing wrong with that, but in a high fence? Come on. Most people would get greedy. You can only imagine what those people would do. Think of fish in an enclosed net. Sooner or later, as the net gets smaller, you will get the fish. You have enough people, you can push deer out of anywhere. The buck doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell. But, the fish can jump out of a net. There are plenty of holes deer can go under in some high fenced areas. I've seen some bucks can easily get under.

I'd never hunt one. I'd rather shoot a doe with a bow on a WMA that I've scouted and found my own spot more than some manipulated deer zoo being told where to go and sit. That's just me.

Redstone Arsenal isn't fenced on all sides. FT Bragg, NC wasn't. Ft Dix, NJ wasn't. Warner-Robbins AFB, GA isn't.

No, but it would be pretty easy to drill his ass with my rifle as he lay there in the pen wouldn't it?

No way would I take pleasure in shooting any animal behind high fence. Thats just the way I feel and have no problems with anyone hunting the way they want as long as its legal .

No high fence for me.

Didn't say anything about shooting him. Clem says he ain't wild. You say you wouldn't pet him. Is he wild or not??

Zoo animals aren't wild.