"I remember when the compound came along and guys that almost never got a deer during rifle season started to get deer every year"

I guess I don't understand this point. Are you saying that the compound bow gives you a better chance at kill than a rifle?

If you feel it is unethical to shoot a high fenced critter even though it is legal but you do it anyways then it is unethical. If you hunt high fence and it is legal and you are fine with it then there is nothing wrong with it. If it is legal it is only unethical if it is being done by someone who thinks it is unethical. I think land owners should be able to do what ever they want with their land but I would love to see fenced hunting regulated more in regards to minimum sizes. I have turned many outfitter/owners of high fenced ranches down for selling their hunts due to my own set minimum acreage limits. I have toured a few of the ranches but have never personally hunted high fence so I was and still am not 100% sure in my own mind what is a good minimum acreage for a high fenced hunt and I realize it can differ some depending on terrain and cover but 1,000 acres minimum was my own personal decision for selling high fenced hunts. And no one should get the misconception that all high fenced hunts are walk in the park type hunts. We have one high fenced ranch that is the minimum acreage which is home to a field judged world record blackbuck antelope and I had one hunter do a hunt for him for 4 long hard days and never got a glimpse of him due to the difficult terrain and the immense cover.

Pen hunting is NOT real hunting IMHO. I don't care if the fences are low the deer were raised like cattle and are not wild. This is MY outlook but....

Now here are some thoughts to go with my opinion above.

Hunting public hunting land (at least in Wisconsin) is near suicide. It is NOT safe no matter how much blaze orange you're wearing or how many flashing red strobe lights you have on. This is something to consider when taking kids etc. Hunting in an enclosed area would be much safer if you can not get into a lease or buy your own land.

The cost of these "pen hunts" is based on rack size usually. It's not for the low income hunter. Very expensive from what I've seen.

Your "trophy" will not be recognized in B&C or P&Y records. Maybe the Buckmasters club with all of Jackie Bushman's deer.

It might allow someone to hunt a Red Stag or some exotic cheaper then they could going to New Zealand or Argentina. If the hunt is as described by SJAdventures above I could see that.

I don't mean to bash this kind of hunting since for some it is all they can do. It's just not for me.

That is all.

Alltik4
 

Yes, it is easier to kill a buck with a compound bow than a rifle. There is only one argument against that. If the doe in the area go into heat the same time rifle season is in. I have seen it happen here and in West Virginia, but only for one day. In this state the deer are normally "stupid" only during bow season. " I want to challenge myself". What a bunch of crap that statement is. Pa. had a bow only season for years before the compound bow came along, but when the compound started to get accurate and faster, that is when a whole bunch of people wanted to "challenge" themselves. That is what High Fence hunting and compound bow hunting and early in-line muzzle loader hunting is all about. A large portion of todays "hunters" are just lazy and want to be known as hotshot hunters but just don't have what it takes so they try and buy skill. It ruins it for everybody else, but hey they got their deer.

Ok I understand what your are saying with the time of year to hunt them. I thought your point was, all things equal a it was harder to kill a deer with a rifle than a bow. I am not sure about all the factors where you hunt but for me in the past 10 years of hunting (with a compound bow and rifle) I have killed 2 with a bow and 8 with a rifle and passed on countless deer with a rifle. I find hunting with my bow very challenging. I have missed several deer and have never missed with my rifle. My sucess rate with a bow is very low. I am sure it would be even harder with traditional bow. At this time I don't see the need to make it any harder on myself. I use a compound bow because I like it. You can bash those people all you want. I know far more people that kill a deer with a rifle than a bow, that is how it is here.

Pen Raised Deer
 

Interesting post. I'm enjoying reading. :)

Thanks a lot..

I do O.K. with a rifle myself, but I hunt hard. I don't even go out the first 2-3 days of the gun season. Two years in a row I did not even see a doe the first two days of rifle season, even with 30-40 hunters moving around on the mountain. Compare that to the guys that passed up smaller bucks during bow season to kill a big one in their back yard. We can't all have our little private preserves. One year I was dragging one out (Over 2 miles, I know because we were able to drive down the tracks years ago) and two guys near the road stopped to talk. The deer I had was beat up, one side of the rack broken off, and these clowns start down grading it and telling me about two deer they shot in Illinois that year. It is quite a feat to kill a deer on that mountain the second week by sneaking around. A lot tougher than killing one with a bow at a pay to hunt place. About the only people I know that support fence hunting are fence hunters and operation owners. Even poachers have to put some thought and effort into what they do.

The end of hunting started when it became a business, just like any other sport. There has been a lot of high profile pro hunters busted in the last 10-15 years. It has become a money racket.

Gunplummer, it sounds like you got it a lot rougher there then we do here. I married into a family with lots of farm land. They did not hunt so I have the run of the place. I am very lucky. If I had to hunt public land I would not get my rifle out, to dangerous. As a kid we always had a place to hunt. In 1997 our spot was sold and we had no where to go until 2000. It has become more of a money maker for some than a hobby. So the sport attracted a lot of people that would never have been interested in hunting if it were not for the money. There are still good guys out there.

Hunting public land is tough. My hats off to the hunter that gets any decent buck on public land. And decent buck means nice 6 point or basket 8. You're talking about land where few deer make it past 1.5-2 years old and they are skittish as all get out.

I watch the hunting shows where guys are standing 50 yards away from a mature buck, talking, pointing, putting binos up and down. The deer looks for a second, then resumes feeding. On public land, that deer took off 10 minutes before you were within 100 yards.

Even private land with moderate hunting pressure is a world apart. Big bucks are nocturnal and small bucks and does are walking on egg shells all the time.