Thinking two ways on fenced hunts-your opinion?

[buckmine]

This thread came from the NE forum......

By BisonB

yeah it is a lot cheaper to do your own fenced hunt than than buy from the retail
market.last fall i had 11 guys come in for a do it yourself hunt a couple of bow
hunters came in also it not as easy as a person would think if you have a big
enough area and right terrain.

By Buckalley

A friend of mine did a NY preserve hunt recently for Bison. Not that he's that type of hunter. But he really wanted some Buffalo meat for his health reasons, and it was cheaper to go shoot one & process it. Then to purchase buffalo meat by the lb.

By me, Buckmine

Midwesterner here visiting the NE.

Bison you have me thinking about fenced hunting for bison. I am totally against it for whitetails but maybe not for bison because of the positives you mentioned for it. I think there is an uproar for whitetails because of the dollar amount for antlers has skyrocketed. And the ease at getting a trophy whitetail is easier than doing it the way hunting was meant to be. So true hunters(backed by B and C & P and Y) have to deal with high fence shooters being able to mount a trophy that was shot the confined way. Bison on the other hand, doesn't really have the prestige that whitetails do.

I would also feel the same way for elk like I do whitetails because there antlers hold a prestige over bison horns.

[etothepii]

They way some hunts look on tv, and the emphasis on antlers, it seems like you could achieve the same ends by shopping at yard sales or whittling, or being creative in a ceramics shop. You want big antlers? buy them or make them.

I look at it as hunting for meat, the antlers are a bonus. Some think of it as the other way around. I'm not slamming those folks, to each his own.

I don't know, some people just like trophies. It's easier to get the big ones behind High fences. Just not my thing.

[Tazman]

I will be honest and say I could care less if someone wants to kill deer, elk, buffalo or what ever, on a preserve or any other type of fenced in operation as long as it is legal and humane. But please do not mount that big rack and claim to be a hunter, shooter yes, hunter no.

[Cougar Mag]

I guess I hunt for different reasons. I hunt because I love being outdoors, matching wits with the animal, figuring the best place to set up, and watching all that surrouds me. All in all, its the challenge that keeps me hunting fair chase style. Anything less takes the fun out it for me. Killing game is a bonus and a priviledge for me. We eat the meat and if I score on a big buck.....thats an extra bonus.

If I need meat so bad that I have to pay high dollars for a fenced in area, I can buy my meat at the supermarket much cheaper. I figure that if I have to hunt in an enclosed small area to get a big rack, then I don't deserve it and am doing it for the wrong reasons.

[stork]

I am getting more and more against this fence hunting. Here is my reason. Fence hunting is all about antlers(as in BIG). This has started a trend with a lot of people that has changed the reason they hunt. TV has also had a lot to do with this. It is about the bigest set of antlers and not about the meat, the chalange, the comerodery, seeing nature at work, or any of the other reasons that people hunted for in the past. This leaves me in the minority and now they are changing the laws forcing me to hunt the way they want me to. I want to hunt the way I always have but some of them complain about it because "You killed MY trophy for next year!"

I'm getting tired of this.

[Tazman]

Stork if it is antler restrictions you are talking about, I have a feeling that in a few years the people who dislike antler restrictions will be whistling a different tune when suddenly the woods will have a lot more large bodied mature bucks than they have seen in years. I am not sure where you hunt, but we have tons of doe that are legal if you are just looking for meat.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted by Admins]

[badshotbob]

I don't have a problem with the bison hunting just as I don't have a problem with hunting boar behind fences. It's not like these critters are wild everywhere like the whitetail. I would never venture into a kill pen, but would not like to see that industry go away either. If you want to shoot a deer in a pen, go for it. I agree with you though buckmine - getting a free ranging rack is more appealing than getting a bison rack, to me anyway.

[burniegoeasily]

If I need meat so bad that I have to pay high dollars for a fenced in area, I can buy my meat at the supermarket much cheaper

I didnt know you could buy deer or elk at the store.

[buckmine]

We have tossed this around in a couple threads and I have never commented.

I know high fencing has been talked about so I thought I would be specific in my question. Read what I wrote to Bisonb and comment on the two different views of high fenced in regards to buffalo and the cost being cheaper to shoot for the better quality meat.