Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Hunting Exotics on "Hunting Preserves"

As it was mentioned previously, I think it really varies on where you are. A thousand acres or more of fenced in property probably would be a pretty fair chase hunt.

Some of these places have a few hundred acres and it wouldn't be much of a challenge and also depends on the animals themselves and how they've been treated or what they've been exposed to.


I was in a place in Tennessee a few years back. The boars were quite challenging and even more so since I was using a bow. You'd have to be a piss poor shot with a rifle though to not connect with one.

All of the exotics you could very easily get within a 100 yards. I chased around one black buck and a couple Aoudads and never could get within 80-100 yards and they were smart enough to always keep some cover between themselves and me.


The first day there before I was out a couple guys were hooting and hollering over some Red Stags they took and what a great hunt it was. I later found out that you could damn near walk up to them and pet them. I'd personally feel ashamed to put such an animal on my wall, much less claim I hunted them.

Pod,

In 1983 I went with a couple pards to a joint in PA. Large pigs where on the menu and my bore came in at 300lbs. That was the only time I have ever been inside a fence.

I took some photo's of some Elk they had there. I was 10 feet away!!! great for a picture but not a chance I would "hunt" there.

Other than that 1983 pig, all else I want to shoot I have to be able to find in the wild.

CLB

Thats why I dont want to hunt myself just let my girlfriend give it a try and see what she thinks.

I'm not a proponent of hunting behind a fence, but I have hunted turkeys on the YO Ranch in Texas. Other than some of the sheep the game seemed as difficult to hunt as free roaming. Another take on high fence hunting is that with our diminished numbers each year if someone chooses to hunt behind a fence & it keeps him or her involved in our sport of hunting I'm all for it. I'm not talking about some postage stamp preserve, but a substantial amount of land. Just because we don't choose to participate in this type of hunting I don't believe we should humiliate someone that does. I have hunted vast fenced & unfenced concessions in Africa & can't tell the difference. In Africa fencing a concession is more about preventing poaching than confining the animals. I'm all for getting anyone involved in any type of legal hunting. Many of the large preserves like the YO Ranch also donate substantially to hunting organizations.

I agree tbear, in the end we are all hunters and should start acting accordingly. With public land hunting as pressured as it is it makes it hard for a new hunter to get to like it.

I'm not a fan of high fences either, but if you want to take her on a hunt then more power to you, and it doesn't really matter what we think. Go have fun with it.

Maybe it will be just the ticket to get the GF her 1st kill and see what she really thinks. I'd take the kids if they wanted to shoot more pork! It's really the only thing I'll pay to hunt in a fence.

Some hunt in huge 5k acre leases with high fences. This is vastly different than 300 acres in PA....

Hoping you get her out and she enjoys it!.

Thanks fellas.

yeah, just take her. But if you wanna get out of FL., TX. is your best option.

maddog

Building fences is EXPENSIVE, not to mention the cost of raising the animals. It's a business that must return a profit.

This is true, I meant to say trophy hunts are expensive. Looks like Mrs Podunk will be taking a doe or ewe of some sort.

I've hunted both high and low fence for exotics.
The two high fence deals were with two differnet "outfitters".

Killed a blackbuck on a 900 acre "pasture" (very little cover) which was not really a challenge. The only challenging part was getting the little bugger to stop for a shot...which he never did. I did connect though, and he hangs on the wall.

The axis hunt I went on was a hunt. 1600 acres of high fence with no cross fence. Lots of cover.
Axis are a bit spooky and get moreso with age.
We passed a couple before i shot this one.
My goal was a minimum of 32" mains which is what this one is. Would of let this one go but the width intrigued me and he had me pegged. Was a quick decision but none that I regret.


My deer lease in the hill country has a lot of axis. We stopped shooting the does @ 4 years ago and the herd has grown nicely. I see them almost every day while hunting. There have been a few good ones taken (@ 1/year) but I have only shot meat-dinks on the lease. We also have the occasional fallow and blackbuck wander through.

This photo is my high-fence deer on the left and a nice free-range off my lease that a buddy shot. Picked them up from the taxidermist the same day.




My thoughts on high fence deals.....check references of past clients, hunt larger properties if the fence thing bothers you, know what will satisfy you before you go, and have fun.

It takes 4-6 years for them to turn black. You know they are mature when they all of their orange turns to black. The oldest ones will have a white ring around one or both of their eyes.

In the end, it will not be the anti-hunters who destroy hunting, it will be hunters who do it. The ones who think their way is the only way and if you don't do it my way; you're not a hunter.

I've never been to a high fence preserve and don't know the first thing about them.

Of course I know people here in Georgia and in other states who would NEVER go to a high fence preserve but will pay thousands of dollars every year and go to places that have NO fences, but because the animals are fed and given supplements; become accustom to living in the general area and of course they grow huge racks, it's then up to the hunter to sit in his 40 foot high tower stand and look through his 24X scope and shoot an animal at 300 yards that weighs 150 pounds with a cartridge designed for moose and grizzly bear.

I believe they call it being a hypocrite.

If it's legal where you hunt, then do it. My ethics are what my state places on me legally and what I place on myself personally. I'm no better and no smarter than anyone else. But noone is better or smarter than me either.

It's that kind of attitude and that kind of mind set that will destroy our sport long before Ingrid Newkirk will.

ive been listening to this high fence no fence argument for years,i have hunted all over north amercia, for almost every game animal and varmit there is,there are good hunts and bad hunts no matter where you go.in the last 10 yrs we have put a lot of work in educating lady hunters and its been a great expireance,and we have developed some wonderful hunters that have a great time,i think as hunters we get a wrapped up guns calibers, scopes, ballistics,and all the blah-blah, that goes with shooting, and dont think about the thrill of the hunt.i have people come in from a hunt that never fired a shot, and tell me it was a wonderful hunt, watching the sun come up listening to the birds seeing all the animals. the smells, they are excited and had a wonderful time, and say next time ill find that big one, i tell them thats why we call it hunting not shooting. when they do get an animal, you can bet its the animal of their dreams, and the picture taking seems to last almost as long as the storys. most of the hunters we guide are not novice hunters, but the novice hunters a lots of times more fun to guide.

Some of the exotic places in Texas are just like cattle operations. It's basically a harvest. I have been on some of these and they are fun but not sporting and really not hunting. I hunted on a 3,000 acre place in central Texas a few years back that was kind of a high fenced deer farm. They had feeders that went off in the morning and you would see at least 50 bucks of every size and description and maybe 1 or 2 does. It was not a very sporting situation either. It was the first time I ever set in a box blind with someone else that was not a kid I was taking on a hunt. These "guides" were young farm boys making extra money and mine was just back from the sand box. They are basically there to pick out a deer for you that you paid for and not shoot anything bigger or smaller. I kid around a lot and I noticed he was very country and shy and very stand offish. The second time I sat with him I said, "You know...this is the first time I ever sat in a deer stand with a man with my clothes on!" You should have seen how fast he left! it was a hoot! Don't take the little lady on something like this and tell her this is hunting.

Good morning laugh there BlowTorch