For anyone on this that is against high fenced operations. Do you use scent products? Do you use camoflouge? If so you might want to stop 90% of those products are developed by and tested on high fenced operations. Also the high fenced hunting operations don't affect you from hunting the way you want to hunt so why are you so against them? If anything you should be for them just on the principle basis that they are a legal form of hunting that promotes the industry. Think about where most of the research on deer hunting comes from. Where do you think food plots were developed? How do you think they figured out the nutritional needs of the deer and so on? High fenced operations doing research studies on these animals. No one is say that you have to hunt at one of these ranches. All I am saying is there is no need to bash them. I understand that the hunting trophy fee's upset some hunters. That is fine. Some hunters like them. There is no reason to have this thread going like it is. If you don't like the trophy fees don't hunt at operations that have them. If you don't like the concept of hunting in a high fenced area, then don't. I can tell you from experience however that everyone who thinks that high fenced operations do not provide a true hunting experience are wrong. And you can't argue with me on this because you obviously haven't been to one if you are going to try to argue with me. Some of the hardest hunting comes in a high fenced area because the deer are well away of the human pressure. They've adapted to it. That doesn't mean there are not unethical places out there. But any ethic high fenced ranch will provide you an enjoyable true hunting experience. It is not shooting fish in a barrell as many of you think it is. I was very skeptical the first time I went.

To those of you who think that outfitters and hunting ranches make alot of money they don't. I have two friends that are outfitters and I made more money than they did when I was selling cars. Yeah the prices seem high but there is alot of overhead. Leasing land is not cheap, paying guides is not cheap, having insurance is not cheap, advertising is not cheap. Think about how many hunters are actually taken out in one season. Its not very many Assuming that you are paying say $2,000/hunter and lets say he has a good year and 50 hunters book hunts with him and actually show up. Thats $100,000 gross sales now take off all the stuff previously mentioned and whats left?

Also we are a capitalistic society. People can charge what they want to charge and the market will dictate who survives and who doesn't. There is nothing wrong with charging trophy fees for hunts. The hunts who want to hunt there will pay them. Those of you who don't won't hunt there. There are other outfitters available that may not charge a trophy fee and that is where you will end up. Its different ways of doing business. Is one way better then the other? Honestly couldn't tell you both guys seem to make the same money at the end of the year. The clients are happy at both places.

All in all stop complaining about the trophy fee's if you don't like them don't hunt there. But don't bash the people that do. Support all ethical hunters and ways of hunting even if it is different than the way you hunt. Hunters make up a small portion of the population and it will take all of us to keep our sport alive.