Honestly, I think a lot of you have absolutely no clue what you're talking about! You're knockinghigh fenced huntsand yetyou've never tried one...certainly the sign of an authority.

If I hear many of you correctly, then the bull bison I took from a 100 square mile ranch in Wyoming (behind fence) was neither fair chase nor free range. These animals could and did go through the fence at will. They roamed where the deer and the antelope play. But yep, I shot my bull behind a fence. I am a slob hunter. I am sorry. Forgive me.

There were many more...

Just recently, I was asked to help cull 6 bull elk from a high fence operation in Colorado. The new owners of a 1200 acre parcel were removing the fence to allow for condo development ( makes me wonder why more hunting isn't going the high fence direction. At least people will have a place to hunt/shop as we continue to suck up more and more real estate). I spent two days hunting the thickest cover you can image. Yep, I thought it was going to be like shooting fish in a barrel. Boy, was I wrong. I merely caught a few quick glimps of dashing elk. I never raised my rifle (I normally huntfree ranging elk in Colorado with a bow for the added degree of difficulty). I hunted as hard (if not harder because of the necessity to remove these animals pronto) as any other elk hunt. There was no "murdering" whatsoever! I tend to think of myself as a fit and able bodied individual. This should have been an easy task right? Wrong!

I have also watched as hunter lined private property (like a fence) waiting for a wandering elk or deer. I've seen those very same hunter drop their gloves and duke it out over a stinking cow/doe, Honestly, I was surprised someone didn't get shot. Hunting public land is not all you guys make it out to be (frankly, It has become incredibly dangerous) and not everyone has a family farm to play on.

Hunting is what we each make of it. We define it for ourselves (morally, gun hunters are just "killers" to some folks). If you would rather shoot a spike, then do so. If you want to see the smile on a disabled boys face, then take him towherever. If you are forced to pay all the money (which it's coming to), you might as well have some sort of gaurantee-whether you're using a bow or rifle. The beauty of beingAmerican is that we all have a choice. The beauty of being a hunter is that we can share a lot with those less fortunate.Moreover, we can allow, those that do not do it exactly the same way asus, alittle leeway. Is shooting from a truck hunting? It is if you're not equipped with legs! At least it is in my opinion.Would I do it? Heck No! I have legs! Is shooting a bow with a mechanical string holding device hunting? It is if you've had a stroke.

Be thankful you can hunt the way you hunt! There will aways be others less capable. Don't get down on them for doing it their way. They deserve triumph as well. Trust me, they know they will never make the book!

Poaching isn't hunting. Hey, now there's something we should all strive to eliminate!

Finally, I think the antisARE watching. They fully understand the concept of "divide and conquer". Let's not give them what they soooo desire! You hunt your way and let me hunt mine! Let's strive to eliminate poaching!

An awfull lot of self righteous comments here. "It's morally wrong" ? Better be carefull with that one. If a high fense kill is immoral then certainly slaughter houses are immoral too.Where does it end? As far as is it hunting or notwell somebody posted the following def.

hunting
n 1: the pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport [syn: hunt]

If you want to get picky then anybody hunting from a tree stand or a blind simply waiting to ambush an animal isn't hunting either. No pursuit when you are just waiting for the animal to come to you now is there? What happens when that type of hunting becomes immoral.

As far as I'm concerned there is nothing particularly moral or honorable about killing an animal. We all hunt for our own self gratification, for our own self interests. All we do when we fling stones at the way others kill is to teach the anti's how to throw them more accurately at us.

Its just rediculous i tell ya, rediculous. Its bad enough that they turned most of portage county into a cwd area because some moron with a deer farm had an entire herd get out and want us to slaughter every deer in that area. But to the topic at hand, you couldnt pay me to hunt there or any highfenced area, i sent them an email saying dont ya think that the reason you took 20 200 class bucks is because they had no place to go?

Then Roosevelt elk on Afognak Island have no place to go either.Therefore, thats not hunting. Novel...

A lot of us approach this subject with plenty of vigor and abilities. What if that were to change? Let's say for example, you were severely injured in an automobile accident. God knows it happens. What if doing a fair chase adventure on a high fence ranch in Texas was the only way you wouldever enjoy the pleasure of huntinga David Pere deer (by the way, David Pere deer were keep from extinction by high fence owners)?Keep in mind, this ranch has over 120,000 acres.

Everything has a time and a place. You have your time and your place. I happy for you! Others are less/more fortunate.

Ill say it again... "morally wrong"

iamyourhuckleberry
"Honestly, I think a lot of you have absolutely no clue what you're talking about! You're knockinghigh fenced huntsand yetyou've never tried one...certainly the sign of an authority. "

I've never bought into the "if you haven't done it then you don't know or can't comment" argument. I don't need to commit a robbery to know it's wrong to do it.

Certinly one could argue that a 120000 acre ranch provides a fair chase for the animal being hunted, but dang what company got the contract to provide fencing for 120K acres? How many miles of fence is that? I assume that a 120K acre ranch is not the norm on these canned hunts.

Ok, so maybe high fence hunts aren't all easy, but they are still morally wrong. Once you begin hunting this way you are no longer hunting for food, for enjoyment of the outdoors, or for enjoyment of nature. All you are hunting for is a rack to "show off" to your friends. ANYONE can shoot a 200 inch deer if they go to a game farm, PERIOD. There is no pride in it, because these deer are raised, live, and die so some pathetic hunter can claim their rack and call it an accomplishment. Hunting is not just the killing of the animal, but that's what it becomes when you patronize game farms because that shows that you only care for a rack and a kill and don't truly hunt. The only thing game farm hunters are is people that have to prove themselvesso they degrade themselves to that level. I hold them in the lowest esteem, but these are just my opinions so don't be offended. By the way, I don't care how hurt I get,I will never stoop to such levels.

iamyourhuckleberry ,
the largest pic n' shoot in my state was the infamous and now extinct Bellar's Place . I've spoken with his son personally , and their largest shooting pen was six acres . From 20' in the air you might as well be shooting them in a dog kennel . From what I've learned this is also a pretty accurate representaion of the industry in general in this state since all the others are considerably smaller , and fairly representative of those in many other states . Comparing such an abattoir to an island is also somewhat moronic since the island in question is larger than most ranches and isn't managed strictly for trophy Frankenanimals . Obviously a ranch with thousands of square acres and escape topography would be a different ball of wax from a 1,000 acre place like Bellar's , but it's still not and never will be fair chase .

Actually my cousin went hunting on one of those buffalo hunts in Montana where they take you out point out the one you can shoot and you try to get withing 150 yards and shoot it. and he said it wasnt bad excypt the buffalo had tags in there ears which the whole time I was thinking to myself wow i cant believe you did this cause my cousin knows the most about hunting guiding and trapping humanly than anyone out there!