Coming from an area of the country where we do not have high fences (Minnesota), I will offer my perspective. Soonershooter brings about some points that are certainly true, but in my opinion, they also make the case for this not being a fair chase hunt. If you keep inferior deer out, you are affecting the deer herd artificially and therefore, deer shot on this ranch should not be compared to deer shot in the wild. If the deer herd is managed artificially, that is the fence aids in any way, then IMO, that constitutes unfair advantage over those of us that have to hunt the wild deer herd. Now that only means that those deer should not be entered into the record book. Can a person have an enjoyable hunt? Sure. Could it be hard and challenging? Sure. But in my opinion, deer harvested off of any enclosed should not be compared with true wild deer. Many say that the fence may not play a role. I contend that it undoubtedly has. Unless the deer in question has never seen the fence in its lifetime, and a big buck will put on some miles over the course of breeding seasons. I believe that it is roughly 15 sq miles. If it is a square chunk of land, that means it is approximatel 4 miles by 4 miles. If the buck was born smack in the middle, that means he is at most 2 miles from the fence. If any of you think that a mature buck has not traveled 2 miles, you are kidding yourselves. If it is not a square chunk, the fence is even closer. It is pure hogwash to say that the deer haven't encountered the fence. So, I would say to bgidd2280, go and have a great hunt, it will not affect you one way or the other unless you shoot a B&C type buck and it is important to you to have your name in the book (and 140 will not make the book, so no problem).

We hunt deer in MN a little different than those in Texas. So this is just the opinion of a guy up north. Those down south may think it is ok. Thats fine. We don't think baiting is fair chase either, but that is another topic.