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High fence poll, more info

iowabruce

iowabruce

Active Member
I'm curious on the 60% negative impact our members are voting on about High fence operations in the state. What kind of negatives are most people that voted that way thinking?
And are we talking about negatives in the hunting community or the non hunters world?
Out of the 60% negative, does anyone have an actual bad experience with a specific preserve? I myself have hunted behind high fence and have always had a great adventure, and met some fantastic people. Maybe I'm just lucky and have just never come across the "bad" side of this industry.
I know I must be a terrible hunter to stoop so low to enjoy myself "behind the fence." I also know it is not as challenging a hunt as on the typical 100% fair chase Iowa wild hunting....It's not intended to be.
So let's hear it...what SPECIFICALLY, makes the high fence operations so bad, and what EXACTLY are the negative effects.
Sorry this got so long.
Bruce
 
The transfer of deer from state to state (genetically enhaced based on matched breeding), the potential for CWD transfer from state to state, The fact that a lot of these operations buy "tame" deer from smaller deer farmers and are passed off as hunts. The fact that ground is bought up, fences put around limiting the area wild deer can live on (I know, I know...we have too many deer in the state but with a high fence, there is fewer acres to run on) The fences also block out the deer travel to one or more sides of someone elses land. It promotes "Jimmy Houston-like" activities for select individuals in the hunting celebrity shows. I can go on and on....I'll log back on this evening after a few beers and type in a few more negatives.
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seems like more "killing" than hunting. not that i'm anti-death, its just not hunting. sure, some of these high fence operations can span many many acres, but its still not the same to me. its akin to wanting to have some pork chops for supper, and going out to te feed lot, climbing on top of the barn, and running an arrow through a hog as it eats out of the trough. its somewhat different, if you are after exotics, like audad sheep, or fallow deer. but it just isn't a REAL hunt. i'm not saying its not something i wouldn't do. it would be fun to take some friends, and go to uncle ted's YO ranch, and shoot a fallow deer. but i wouldn't look at the mount of my fallow deer, and a mount of one of my iowa whitetails in the same light
 
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I'll log back on this evening after a few beers and type in a few more negatives.

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Been there.



This get's hashed out all the time. There are tons of negative reasons, how about the guys who think it's sliced bread, tell us some positives. A little devils advocate if you will.
 
Well,the positives that I see, are it gives me a chance to chase after a critter with my bow when all other seasons in the state are closed. Also, my family loves Fallow venison....if you have never had it, it's wonderful.
Lastly, it's fun and legal in our state to do. Thanks for the responses.
 
I actually dont have a problem with it personally (in a reasonable enclosure), I might even do it under the right cirmcumstances and for the right critter, but I agree with the others that it isnt the same as a pure wild hunt.
To me the negative, in addition to the others mentioned, is the public perception of hunters chasing or killing an animal that cannot escape. Whether that is correct or not isnt really the point, that (I would imagine) is the average non-hunter's perception of a high fence hunt and that doesnt look positive for hunting in general.
Beyond that I dont think its any worse than a non-hunter paying a packing plant to kill their beef so they dont have to get their hands dirty.
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You have to find your own level of comfort. Personally, I think that a high fence hunt on a 40,000 acre Texas Ranch or African Safari is more fair chase than a whitetail hunt where you have groomed the trails and hunt over a food plot you can shoot across. And both are less challenging than hunting public land.
 
It's a matter of personal challenge, and I don't look at a "shooting preserve" as a personal challenge. But, each person has to decide that for themselves.

The biggest negative impact, is how this is viewed by the non-hunting public. And I am against anything that puts hunters in a negative light.

It's really sad when a "pen" hunt is played off as being "fair chase" on TV or a hunting video.

I don't think you can compare a food plot and pen hunt. It's just not an apples to apples comparison.
 
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Shooting any animal in an enclosure of any-kind, IMHO, is not good for the future of hunting!

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You've eliminated the majority of African safaris - most certainly the bowhunting preserves, most Texas deer hunts, Army bases (like the Burlington Ammunition plant and the White Sands Missile range, about 99% of the hog hunts and any bison hunt except the Henry mountains in Utah, the Kaibob in Arizona, Alaska and British Columbia--hogs and bison can't jump a 4 foot fence so fence height is irrelavant. Don't get me wrong, my ultimate hunt is a DIY Alaska moose float trip and torturing any animal in a "small" enclosure is inhumane. However, I argue that management with a fence is no different than management with food plots and trail cam surveillance. Those of us that promote QDM and condemn "fences" need to be much more specific in our critisms.
Just some food for thought.
Danno
 
Yes there are quite a few. One of the largest and best known is Timberghost in the southeast corner. Nice guys too!
 
Having said what I said, I don't think you could find enough contiguous acres in Iowa to put together what I would consider a "fair chase preserve". I agree with Shredder the CWD threat is a big one.
 
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However, I argue that management with a fence is no different than management with food plots and trail cam surveillance.

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Please expound on this.....I really want to understand what you see as the connection.

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FAIR CHASE, as defined by the Boone and Crockett Club, is the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging, wild, native North American big game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper advantage over such animals.

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I would beg to differ that there is a HUGE difference between food plots, trail cams and a fence. With food plots the animal is able to roam freely in and out and away from the food plot. Trail cams are simply a monitoring tool, they do nothing to "control" the animal... a fence by it's very nature is designed to keep animals in or out, they have no choice in the matter...

Fair chase is exactly that. The animal is free... not fenced in. The debate of food plots would be closer to the bait issue than the fence issue. The animal "chooses" to come into a bait... an animal doesn't have a choice when it comes to a fence.
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I think it has everything to do with how big an area the property is. 100 acre Iowa deer hunt inside a fence is a joke. 2500 acre Texas deer hunt might be a different matter. I always thought a fenced hunt was a joke, but my brother has maybe convinced me otherwise. Besides his own lease in TX he has a friend with a fenced in 2500 acre ranch. Last year they saw a 170 inch buck they never saw before. He also has been hunting a particular axis deer for 3 years and he rarely saw him. So sometimes a large area fence may not be that much different than the way we all do it.
 
I think we are getting away from my original question and point. Like I stated in my first post.........
"I know I must be a terrible hunter to stoop so low to enjoy myself "behind the fence." I also know it is not as challenging a hunt as on the typical 100% fair chase Iowa wild hunting....It's not intended to be."

Preserve hunts are easier than a wild hunt, and probably not fair chase in the truest meaning of that phrase.
That being said, they do provide off season opportunities and another form of recreation for an outdoors person. There are plenty of wing shooting preserves that are great training grounds for young hunters and dogs alike, birds are raised and then placed in the hunting "area" for just that purpose. The high fence for Whitetails, elk, fallow deer, boars etc. is no different....they are raised to be harvested and consumed. They are a commodity, totally different from Wild Whitetails or other free ranging animals.
There will always be bad examples in the preserve hunting industry...there will alway be bad examples of so called professional hunters that take advantage of the high fence operations. I've never had a problem watching and enjoying a hunting show behind high fence as long as they tell me right up front they are on a preserve.
Sorry this reply got is so long, my final point....and I promise not to bring this subject up again...is that high fence hunting is a form of recreation that ends with the harvesting of some interesting animals and venison for the freezer. Ethically one has to decide for themselves if it is something they would enjoy or participate in. Thanks again for all of your responses.

Bruce
 
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