I know I really shouldnt come back to this post, but Ill give it one last try. Chad, you are one of those who are decent about this. Others were not. You too do not fully understand what really IS enclosure hunting, though. I know, I know, most of you will quickly reply that you dont WANT to know. Yeah, ok, we get you, we heard you, fine. But, like any other topic in these boards lately, you cant get an intelligent exchange. Instead you have trouble makers shooting off jabs to just try to bait someone into an argument instead. Its a shame really, because theres so much more to this or most any topic, but its seldom seen past the childishness.
We all see the so-called canned hunt on tv and other "legitimate" forms of media. Just like the over sized trap attached to a dead coon to disgust non-trappers, its just plain propaganda. Nobody would want that kind of "hunt". If there were honestly any guys in here who could look at this or similar topics and get a first hand opportunity to learn from people here who know this stuff, at least exchanges like this could be more interesting...and civil.
Instead, Ive enjoyed corresponding with a few guys off this topic and these boards and we have been able to talk facts. I dont plan on making anyone an enclosure hunter, but it sure beats the bullsh*t replies.
Earlier I threw quite a few parallels up for discussion and couldnt get one honest reply. Mine were all fact, all could be documented, yet nobody could contest one. Just the childish remarks. That, my friends, will be the end of this sport...not the manner of taking.
Bill, I appreciate the good word, and I'm glad you took my replies in the way I meant them. No, I haven't hunted in an enclosure, so I don't have any hands-on experience. I have talked with a lot of guys who have, and have heard the good, the bad, and the downright disgusting. Folks that have hunted in fences from MI to TX; OK to TN. Some had a hard time getting a shot at a particular animal. I don't recall any that had a hard time seeing deer/pigs/exotics/whatever. Some seemed to be a challenge, some were downright pitiful. One fellow just walked off without taking a shot, while the animals that had been turned loose in the pen ran up and down the fence looking for a way out. One fellow that lives in TX once told me about his plans to target "city folk" as customers, because they either didn't know or didn't care about a canned hunt, they just wanted to kill something quick. Don't take that as a bash if you live in the city, that's just what this guy said.
Anyhow my point was, and still is, the appearance these operations give, and there is nothing at all positive about the light it puts ALL hunters in. Look at this thread--even the majority of HUNTERS here don't agree with it, some downright despise it. What do you think the majority of non-hunters think? It doesn't matter if it's 10 acres or 10,000 acres--two words stand out: HIGH FENCE. Even if you could get every hunter to agree, we are still the minority, and like it or not the public and politicians are going to decide the future of our sport. I'm not foolish enough to think that a few big shots in TX have enough pull to control what happens throughout the U.S., and I don't think for a minute that TX will still have a season long after every other state's has shut down. There are big shots on the other side of the argument too--probably quite a few more than we have on our side, and they won't be pushing for their own private interests.They will have a whole lot more support from the general public if we don't present ourselves as true sportsmen instead of bloodthirsty killers shooting Bambi in a pen. I know that's not the case every time, but that's the impression those two little words--HIGH FENCE--give! I have to disagree with your statement about hunters argueing being the end of our sport. It goes a whole lot deeper than that.
Chad