I do not like the idea of fenced hunting, period. However it is dangerous for hunters to be divided. If you think you are taking the high moral ground by saying that you would never kill a deer in a fence then, dont use a high-powered rifle or a coumpound bow, dont plant food plots, dont climb up high in a tree unless you can do it barefoot, dont use any doe estrous scent. All of these things are advantages for the hunter. I get tired of people snubbing their nose at a certain form of hunting. Some of the same guys that hunt their deer behind a fence dont think you should be able to run your dogs anymore.

Im going on my first high fence "hunt" next fall. Might like it, might not, but I'm not gonna preach how awful it is until I try it.

Good luck on your hunt Keith.

Like I said starting out, I don't care to hunt in an enclosure. I don't doubt that some deer in some enclosures are as wild as the deer I like to hunt, and some are nearly tame. I don't care to sit by food plots waiting to shoot highly managed deer either. But my preferences should not be forced on other hunters who like those things.

I believe in freedom. We all have a contract with the other people in our state that we should always keep in mind. It protects us when others would like to force their preferences on us. One of the provisions of that contract defines the role of our state government. Any time a new law or rule is being considered, it should be measured by this definition of that role:

Constitution of Alabama 1901


Would a government ban on hunting within an enclosure fit the definition of the role of our goverment in our contract with each other? I don't think it would.

Good luck on your hunt next fall. Most people are scared of change and therfor don't know what its like to hunt a high fence. Most probably can't afford it. If its big enough and the deer have very little human encounters iits no different maybe harder. When we go to Iowa and hunt the small woodlots its no different. The deer have nowhere to go.

Bullcrap.

They may have to run across a field, but they can escape.

High fence shooting should fall under the PT Barnum saying. I think most everyone knows the saying.

Wonder how hard it would be to kill a deer bedded close to the fence? Get 5 or 6 guys and drive him toward the fence. Yeah, its the same as fair chase. Its legal and I have no problem with it but dont try and tell me it is the same kind of hunting. It ain't for me and "afford" has nothing to do with it.

In a 2,000 acre High Fence, how many deer do you think bed up next to the fence?

IF, one decided to, how many of the hunters on here have the skills to sneak up on him? LOL

Highways, Rivers, bluffs, airports and such all act as boundaries. I have spent a good bit of time in a couple of High Fences. One in particular is just over 2,000 acres. You RARELY see the fence and the game is as wild as anywhere I've ever been. As a matter of fact, I had been to it several times before I ever SAW a deer!!!
True story!

I'm not saying the deer act any differently but the hunting is not the same as free range. If I over pressure a free range deer he can leave my property no matter how big. You can pressure a fenced deer all you like but he CANT leave. There is a reason why the record books won't allow fenced deer and it is a very good reason. It may be hard but it ain't the same.

I don't like the record books.

I don't like the way people want to know a buck's "score" either. In fact, I've never cut a bucks head off to hang on my wall. That's not my idea of the right reason to hunt.

I don't like to get his picture before I see him in the woods.

Just me. Just sayin'.

We don't need to turn my preference into rules and call it the only "right" way to hunt.

I have a friend who is getting ready for a trip to MX for a trophy whitetail hunt. His hunt cost $4000 w/o any of the extras, travel or license. The guide has sent him numerous pictures of a 180" buck he has targeted for him. He sees him very regularly.....but, my buddy has basically already 'paid for him'.....so he is off limits. This is on a very large free-range ranch with very limited access and pressure.

Now, by the definitions provided above, his traveling down there, climbing into a truck with a guide and being drove to the stand, sat with while he is there (baby-sitted to make sure he shoots the right deer), and then shooting the deer when he comes out to eat on what will probably be a corned sendero, is more FAIR-CHASE than to hunt in an area that happens to have a high fence over a mile away in each direction????

Has to be; because the deer WILL be eligible for the 'Record Book'!

Absurd!

How or why would it be harder? I'd love to hear the logic to back that up. If any exists.

I also hate to see these lame @$$ slippery slope divided we fall warnings that always get dragged out as a last resort by the pen hunter supporters in these debates. There is absolutely nothing about my or any other like minded persons opinion on high fence places that is of any benefit to PETA or any other group of anti hunting nuts. That is one of those comments that sounds good on the surface but falls apart to utter crap upon close examination. What's the scenario here? I dislike pen hunting so I go vote with PETA to ban all hunting? Really? You think? Or some guy who's pen hunt operation closed down due to negative public opinion runs and joins Greenpeace to spite people like me who didn't care for his place? Really? That seems plausible to you guys? LOL! Peel off the tinfoil hats guys.

I and virtually every anti high fence guy in this thread have stated for the record that we do not advocate making this illegal. I would not vote to make it illegal and quite frankly can't see how it could be made so without setting a precedent that would also shut down all farming of any animals. Because at it's core it's basically just deer farming. It's no more likely to be made illegal than it is for it to be made illegal for a farmer to slaughter a hog or sell a cow. I just don't consider it hunting the way most of these places are set up and run.

If you wanna go buy you an Alabama pen raised 160 class buck, fine. After all once he's on your wall you can make up any story you want to go along with him. No one will be able to prove you shot a glorified cow. Hey you can even delude yourself into thinking it was the same as shooting a wild one that size in Alabama. Maybe one day you will condition yourself to believe it a little. If you believe it totally from the get go however..... well that's just sad.

Im not saying high fence or guided hunts should be illegal or that fence hhunting is not a challenge. I am saying its not the same as free range. your friend has every right to go on that guided shoot and I have no problem with it either but it ain't the same either. As a matter of fact the only skill you need on a guided hunt is the ability to make the shot.

Yes you can domesticate deer without a fence. It's just that most of these places fence in their prize bulls, err, I mean bucks. LOL!

For all the anti-fence people on this thread, have you every gone out state on a deer hunt? Say a hunt in the midwest?

If so, why did you go? If not, do you consider it "cheating" to the rest of Alabama hunters?

Do you think it is fair that deer in the midwest (iowa, ohio, kansas, nebraska, etc.) have a huge advantage in genetics and nutrition over Alabama deer?

How do you grow 150" deer in Alabama consistently without a high fence?

I would love to go up north and hunt.... By myself . My enjoyment comes from doing my own hunting. we have had this discussion before and you won't convince anyone that high fence and guided hunts are the same as free range and unguided hunting. Sure there are similarities but it ain't the same.

Let them get to be more than 2.5 years old without dying of lead poisoning because "my neighbor would shoot them" or "I don't care about horns" or "You cain't tell me how to hunt!" or ... well, because maybe just allowing young animals to get some age on them wouldn't hurt anything now and then?

You missed one important word there, Clem!



You are really spot-on about people needing trigger restraint!
And, the improved age will definitely add inches!
Heck, the improved age structure will help the genetics and make hunting better, as well.

But, the current timber practices and greatly reduced agricultural areas just do not provide the adequate nutrition for this.

We are NOT in the agricultural mid-west!

I have bow hunted in Illinois 4 times. But never with a guide or really even an outfitter. Three of the trips were just with friends on peoples land that they knew. Last trip we paid for access to a farmers place. Every trip however we did our own scouting, choose our own spots, and hung our own stands.

Frankly I don't see what your question has to do with high fence hunting. The deer we hunted, and sometimes killed, were definately not domesticated or inside a fence.

I wonder how common some of you guys think 150 inch deer are even in a place like illinois or iowa? Even 140 inch deer aren't common. They are more prevalent but they are still genetic freaks. It is all relative. I would say that killing a 130 inch deer in bama is equivalent to a 150 inch deer in the mid west.