Tye, what is the point of having it if they can get out or in. 8' is minimum for a high fence. Sure there are cases where deer get out of high fences, but if they are getting in or out, what is the point?

deer have to have a reason to get out...also, holes get dug, many go under rather than over.

we've had tagged does wind up on our place, comming under our fence from the neighbors.

but i'd say it keeps 98% of them in

Because most of the time they won't get out. I've seen plenty deer stand and stare at a high fence but never make the jump. If your life was on the line though, can't you say you'd do something crazy too?

I hunted 200ac h/f once and it was a joke.......could'nt bring myself to drop the hammer....talk about zoo hunting... and I told the owner so.....also I never got invited back.However I also get to hunt 4800ac h/f so.Tex. brush country and it is the most difficult hunting I've ever done in my over 40yrs of hunting...(I don't hunt feeders,my choice). Just sayin'..

Low fence 5,000 acres south of Sonora...

Never hunted HF but I imagine that if the place is big enough it's not that big of a deal. What I wonder about HF is do you have to tag a minimum # of deer? It seems like if you weren't tagging enough deer, the population would explode on you pretty quick...

Some years I'll fill my tags, but some years I'll only take one deer; and a lot of the other hunters on our lease are like that too. So if the land was HF'ed, we'd feel pressured/stressed to go out and fill tags. I haven't shot a deer yet this season and plan on only taking 1 deer, 2 at best. I'd have a lot of tagging to do on a HF I guess

THB: you are exactly on target, in that, once the high fence is up the landowner is obligated (at least morally obligated!) to maintain the population, which means taking enough deer off the place every year to keep the population in check.

That exact number, of course, varies with such things as the size of the place, the amount of groceries available, and the weather during the year.

low fence. I've hunted HF and don't have a problem with most of them. IMO the reason alot of people have negative views of HF is there are some ranches out there that are canned hunts and give bad names to the other HF places where you don't know what you're gonna see if you hunt there. That and alot have never hunted HF.

True that. Just like the guy above that mentioned he hunted on a 200 acre HF....WHAT A JOKE!!!!

Our lease is partially high fenced... several exotics get on to our place through holes and sometimes the fence gets washed out down in the creek.

I saw all I needed to about high fence ranches a few year back when I'd read stories about ranches having grass fires and a lot of wildlife being burned to death because they couldn't escape the fire.

Low fence on both leases, small one is bordered on one side by high fence. Like alot of others on here I don't have issue with high fence if we are talking large tracks. I means like 2000 acres. These high fenced little places, show up and shoot, make me sick. As well as the idea of a place buying deer and releasing them to be shot. If you want to buy a high dollar big deer for genetics feel free. Stick a orange tag in his ear and don't shoot him. Once a deer has been caught, drugged, transported, and released I feel you are dealing with livestock at that moment. I give a broad definition to hunting and think all legal means are ok, but shooting in a 300 acre high fence is just that, shooting.

i agree with you about breeder deer, if someone wants to buy one, thats fine, but it's more or less livestock....but unless you have hunted on a high fence you can't judge it....deer still has to come within range, alot of people don't hunt even 300 acres but will call foul when a tract that size is highfenced....i don't get it. like was mentioned before its not a 20x20 acre pen

Most animals ever killed by our group at one time was 9....took about 30 min....on 200 acres in bandera county....low fence

you shoot twice at our place, deer are running into the brush and mesquite and you ARE NOT going to find them.

Its not a matter of the size of a place when low fenced, deer travel and come and go as they want. I feel at 2000 acres(maybe) less the deer have ample chance to flee, as well as to relocate, mature buck busts you he leaves area. Not the case on 300 acres. He may go nocturnal but he ain't leaving. Gives you to much room for error. Sit on him long enough and you get him. Not the case with low fence, or even large high fence. How would you get a sustainable herd on 300 acres anyway. Do you get lucky when the final section of fence is placed that deer are there, Are you feeding heavy with gate open then closing, are do you import deer? If it is a matter of luck fine, if you are importing deer to shoot, problem. If you are pulling in with feed then closing the gates, problem.

I agree with this 100%. I have guided on a ranch that did release bucks from a breeding pen and were able to harvest 2-3 years later. The guy I guided 2 years ago went home empty handed. He did pass on a 150" buck, but he was wanting a buck that would go in the 160's. Never saw one and this place is around 1200 acres with mostly grass land. Even on this place, you could drive a Ranger around and not see a deer. If they don't want to be seen, they won't. Would I ever kill a buck that had been handled or released out of a pen? Nope, thats n ot my cup of tea. But more power to the people who want to. I'm not one to judge them for what they want to do as long as its legal. Just like I wouldn't judge someone from killing a deer with a rifle that can accurately shoot 500 yards compared to a bow that can only shoot 40 yards.

There will never be a "size" of a ranch that will constitute a pen. 5 acres...yes. 200,400,600, 1000 acres all depends on what type of cover is available. We had a cow get on our place 4-5 years ago. Never saw the cow...only tracks. Ranch is too thick.

To kill any buck on a high fenced place wouldn't be difficult just like on a low fenced place. When you have to look for a MATURE buck is a totally different story. The guys I guided this year saw about 4-5 bucks each outing. Unfortunately most were yearling and 2 year olds.

A friend of mine has 1200 acres near Wichita Falls which is HF'ed on 2 sides. I think there is 1 oak tree on the whole ranch. It's not uncommon to see 20-40 deer on their food plots. They have already killed 3 bucks which ranged from 135-mid 150s. Is it ZOO hunting when they see the same bucks on the same fields time and time again? Is it ZOO hunting when you can predict deer movement on a low fenced place with night cameras and kill the buck the next day? Heckm you can even drive next to the fields and the deer just look at you and the majority of the ranch is LOW Fenced.

How many of you have killed a buck that you knew was going to the feeder at a certain time??????? And its not hard to pattern a deer using cameras prior to the rut. They have to show up to the feeder/food plot just like on a HF place. I know there will be some of you that say....I don't hunt feeders. Well, you will be the minority.

I agree with killemall, As long as it is legal, then hunters can do what they wish. Personally, I just choose to hunt low fence. I have zero desire to hunt high fence. The fence is there for a purpose. All this talk about never knowing it's there, and how hard it still can be to hunt in high fence is irrelavant to the fact that the fence is there for a reason, otherwise you wouldnt need one at all.
I know we hunters are passonate about our sport,and we bicker over methods and means. Even though I despise high fence hunting, and hate everything that comes along with it, I will still stick together with the guys who do. There is a movement out there trying to destroy it all. We need to find common ground and fight these maniacs.
But I will say this, High fence hunting will be the first target. You can call it fair chase all you want too, but at the end of the day, the deer are trapped. And a side note, if your neighbor shoots a 2 year old 8 point, then so be it. It isnt your deer to sell! That is how the cookie crumbles.
I hear some say, that on the giant ranches, some deer never see the fence. If so, why is it there? I have YET to hear a straight forward honest answer to that question.
One of the biggest products of a high fence is turning the deer into property or livestock. I see it all the time. I know that some ranchers spend alot of money managing the deer population and quality. Some of them are growing giants. But then they are selling them at a high price too. It is all a big business. And I hate to see such a majestic animal be fenced in and pumped full of protien to grow a freakishly large rack, then sold to someone who will give $25k to the rancher if he kills it. Ethics?..I think not. It is the prostitution of wild game for profit. The whitetail deer doesnt deserve that. They are far too noble to take any other way than free range fair chase. The way this world is getting, if you hunt HF, you better enjoy it now, because it isnt going to be around forever. Just wait and see.
But as long as your legal, then good luck.

"I hear some say, that on the giant ranches, some deer never see the fence. If so, why is it there? I have YET to hear a straight forward honest answer to that question."

Here is a straightforward answer: Often, the fence is there to keep the neighbors' deer out! Without the high fence there are too many deer, and particularly too many doe.

Another straightforward answer: To keep the neighbors from shooting across the fence: "Oh, I shot him on my side and he jumped the fence". Gee, I have never seen a deer with a broken neck jump a fence and run 75 yards...

Yes, its an unfortunate truth that so many of the people who complain the loudest about the high fences have only themselves to blame for the fence's existence in the first place.

Neighbor's deer?....Your deer?...They are the STATE'S deer. Unless you paid money for them they arent yours. And By the way, I have seen MANY deer jump a fence and run farther than 75 yards with half a heart.
As far as does, the state needs to up the limit on does in most areas.

That is crap....It is so they can grow big deer, and sell them.

I agree with most of the comments you made in this post. My main objection to high fences, regardless of the size of the place, is that the deer are trapped and cannot escape. That is unnatural. And Tye, I disagree with your comment that one can't judge a high fence place without hunting it. I don't need to hunt one to know that the deer are trapped. Obviously, all other things being equal, a larger high fence place gives the deer a better chance to escape a particular hunter than a smaller one. But, they still can't escape the enclosure.

My objections are purely personal. I am not advocating that high fences be banned, I just have absolutely no interest in it pursuing game within a high fence myself.

I'm right there with ya Toepuncher.

Too bad that a lot of high fence ranches are bigger than a whitetails normal range...

Guess that shoots down the "trapped" idea.

Anyway, I hunt both and have some hunts that were more challenging in high fence ranches.

High fences started:

1. Because neighbors made it impossible to manage anything in some areas.

2. To maximize the $$$ per acre a landowner can make.

If the fence was outside their normal range, how is it that the neighbors mismanagement affected it. In order to keep deer off the neighbor's land, you have to TRAP them so they CANT'T..
...to # 2 That is exactly right.

Ok, where I typed "neighbor's deer", please substitute "the state's deer currently standing on the neighbor's property"...

The point remains valid: High fences(not ALL)are put up so that the landowner can reduce the population of the STATE'S deer on his property to within the carrying capacity of the range.

And by the way, notice I stated broken neck. Yes, I know a deer can run a long ways and jump several fences without a heart/lung. But they cannot move or jump a fence if their CNS system has been severly damaged (i.e., a shot thru the brain, or spine).

And the state can up the limit on does all it wants to (and in many cases it has) but that doesn't mean folk will fill their tags.

Deer all around the perimeter will be in and out. Fact is that most unmanaged places are shooting young bucks before they reach their potential and letting culls live and breed with too many doe. Makes it heck to manage a low fence property next door....