This question (as evident by the title) is very subjective.

My opinion is this.....If you are attempting to kill a free roaming animal with one of the many legal forms of weapon, thenI would consider that to be "hunting".

Anything else to me is not hunting. Notice I didn't say it was shooting per say just that it is not what I would consider hunting. Is someone who attempts to kill a whitetail in a 10,000 acre high fence hunting or shooting?? For me, neither. I would not consider that hunting due to the fence however it's not shooting either because that animal still needs to be scouted, stand location selected, shot, etc..... In these cases it depends on where in the 10,000 acres the "hunt" occures.

It was asked what the difference between a many thousand acre high fence ranch vs a small acre isolated suburban "honey Hole" setting is. With the mind set that neither animal is going anywhere. To me there is a big difference and that is in the small "honey hole", deer can and sometimes do leave. They most likely will not, but they CAN. With the high fence there is no way to leave. Deer have been known to travel great distances (even in suburban settings)and I'm sure the fence has stopped many many deer from leaving, no matter how big the ranch. After all why did they build the fence in the first place....not to keep trespassers out that's for sure.

If the "hunt" occures in a smaller acrehigh fence ranch then IMO you are leaning more to the "shooting" side of the question as the deer have far less options. Add in feeders, watering holes and motorized hunting platforms and it becomes even more of a "turkey shoot" to me.

For me there are varying degrees of "shooting" and hunting for that matter, butthe difference between to two is very clear.