Madd Ranch

Hi everyone,
I just joined today and I'm glad I found this site. I am about to low fence my property in Rocksprings and can't decide between 4ft net and 5ft net. I have 80 acres and plan on putting some exotics that are not known for jumping low fence. I still want the whitetail and axis to jump in so I'm still able to hunt them. The land I purchased is one of these 5000 acre ranches that has been split up,into 60-130acre tracks. The problem is that the owners of the land on both the north and east sides of the community that are not part of our community are high fencing their land to stop all the deer from coming over in our community. Both property owners are not a fan of the investment group splitting up the land which brings out all the hunters that kill everything that walks and unfortunately that's whats going on (not by me). The owner of the backside of the community that is not part of our community said he would high fence his side if he sees that everything is being killed out there. This community just opened for sale in Jan 2018
If all 3 non community property owners put up high fence all the property owners of our community will have no choice but to get together and have the front of the community high fenced which borders hwy 55. If the other 3 sides get fenced, the front of the community is the only place the animals would be able to get into the community which is not good for anyone in the community.
That being said, if all the moons align and the whole community gets high fenced we would have to buy all kinds of exotics to let go, for everyone to hunt. Most on the owners were talking about doing that already with no fences up.


If that were to happen would it be best to have a 4ft or a 5ft low fence? I know 5ft to have a better chance of my exotics not jumping out when pushed but would it be better have a 4ft to make it easier for the jumping exotics and whitetail to jump in, if an animal is pushed, I don't know if the extra foot of fence matters for them not jumping out.


Thanks in advance for all the good info
Charlie

mrbb

I don't have a clue where your at, but legally , in MOST states I know of, you cannot let exotic's run free, they MUST be fenced in to prevent spreading freeing, maybe where your at its different, but I don';t know where that MIGHT be in the USA

an example of WHY< is if a exotic gets on a road way and someone gets killed hitting it, liability can maybe bite you in the a$$

any how
as for your question, I managed a farm that had a 8 ft fence around a 60 acre crop field in a SUPER high deer numbers area, deer would jump the 8 ft fence like it wasn't there
SO much so as a fact that after about 20 yrs of the fence being up, many sections were knocked down from tree's falling on sections and or farmer ended up taking sections down to access timber
and deer will to this day, still jump the fence when there is an opening 20 ft away, NO clue why, seems like a lot of work to jump such a high fence, but they do!
SO IMO the only difference to a 4 ft or 5 ft fence well be one is a ft taller and cost more
minus fawns and injured deer, its NOT stopping deer from coming and going, if they have a reason to JUMP the fence!(food, safety, breeding)/water)

Oldtimr

You don't stay what animals you are thinking of but 4 or 5 feet is not very much of an impediment to most game animals. You say a net fence, I hope you are not talking about one of those plastic fences because they wouldn't hold back a determined rat terrier. Btw, I have seen whitetails standing flat footed and clear a 6 foot fence.

Madd Ranch

I'm in south Texas and there are ton of free range exotics. The state does not regulate them at all.

Madd Ranch

wire net fence. Black buck, orxy, bison, gemsbok and there's couple more that don't jump low fence unless really pushed. they are more known for finding hoes in the fence not jumping

Champlain Islander

Wow hard to believe Texas doesn't regulate exotics and allows people to buy them and let them loose to mix with native animals. Good luck with your new purchase. If I owned it I would try to keep it open and attract the native species with some habitat improvements.

Oldtimr

A net fence for Bison! Surely you jest! Do you have any idea of just how powerful they are. I recommend you just ditch your idea of fencing your property and stocking exotics, they will be on someone else's property in no time.

Madd Ranch

This is normal in texas guys

mrbb

well I know several ranchers and land owners and hunting guide services in TX< and MOST do NOT allow free roaming of the exotic's they PAID for to wander off THERE land, every single one has fencing in place to STOP them from leaving
SO I do NOT think its that common for folks to let exotic's wander freely in Texas based on what and all I know there!

NOT bashing just saying!
ONLY fencing I would even consider with me heavy gauge wire fencing here if your planning to keep things in
they actually market and sell it as DEER fencing

and it can get costly FAST when you figure out how many miles of it you end up needing to do a large tract of land, the time to install it and materials besides the fence can get very costly
but if you have the $$$ so be it
fenced in lands in Texas ARE very common, there should be a LOT of company's that do just this, and they would be worth contacting to find out what they recommend here IMO< they do this stuff for a living!

I doubt many members here have much experience with fencing in a property with intentions like you have
as most HUNTERS< some what turn a nose up to HIGH fence operations, NOT ALL< but a higher percentage IMO do!

also if your goal is keeping game inside and using a SHORT fence (under 7 ft is short to me) I would also consider a electric fence added to things down low, so anything that attempts to PUSH thru it will have more deterrent!
solar e fence is also pretty easy and cheap to add in the big picture here, wouldn;t ONLY use it, but would be nice added touch for larger stronger animals!

Madd Ranch

Well I guess the black buck, fallow, axis, etc. That I have in my cameras daily are fake then. If you dont live or own land in south texas why are you running your mouth. Do yourself a favor and do some research on the rocksprings TX. There are tons on exotics that are free range and are everywhere. There is no regulation on them. You can hunt them all year round "no season", you can hunt them out of a truck at night with lights in front of the game warden. Of course only on your own property. And yes there are tons on low fence community out here that all the owners get together and buy exotics and let them go in the community. Theres even a wildlife tax exempt processes you can get from the state if you bring a 3rd party co-op game management company in manage the wildlife and property owners. I guess I posted this question in the wrong place.

P.S everything is better in Texas