I have to stand with Dillonbuck on this one. I had a somewhat similar situation on my first time hunting. My buddy and I went to a place to hunt boar outside Crossville, TN. I really did not have expectations. The boar came by where I had been told to sit. I shot the boar. It really did not sink in until years later that this had all been done behind a fence. It's been 40 years. I might do it again, but I would put it in the same category as fair chase hunting.
I have not hunted Texas, but I have traveled in the Hill Country. You can go for miles with high fence on both sides of the roads and various herds of exotics peeping at you from the other side. I would imagine that, were the enclosure big enough, a hunter would not sense he was hunting in an enclosed area.
Having said all that, I know of a guy in Indiana, near Cincinnati, who was charging customers to shoot trophy deer in a corral. There was some C&W star that paid $15K to fly in, sit in the trailer watching Football. At halftime, he was shown out to the pen, shot his monster buck and then retired back to the trailer for the second half. Needless to say, this operation got busted up and somebody went to jail. I met the proprietor a couple times at Outdoor Shows, exhibiting his trophy deer in dog kennels. I asked him how he kept them so docile. The answer: drugs.
Yikes!
I like IvMiker's term "Purity Test" --- somehow judging how my hunting experience is better than your hunting experience. I've seen these arguments go on here and elsewhere for decades. I probably was just as vocal about it at some point. Over time, I realized that sort of thinking does no one any good. You're not going to change minds by calling someone a slob for what you think is poor hunting etiquette. Rule #1 of Fair Chase is "Obey all Rules." The corollary to that is "Respect legal hunting." It may not be my cup of tea, but as long as the rules are not broken then I'm not going to keep my opinions to myself.
Last edited by shaman; 09/22/21.
