High Fenced Debate?

[BRICKBURN]

……………. When it comes to hunting behind the fence anywhere in North America, I truly believe this is in no comparison to hunting high fence in Africa. ……...

Exactly.

 

[billc]

Yes fenced areas in the states is nothing like in africa.
But if guys want to hunt it more power to them as long as it is done within the laws.Some guys in the states just do it because they like to hunt for meat.
Tags get harder to get here in the states so it has its place I think.I just take it for what it is to me and dont believe it making a big deal out of it if I like it or not.

 

[Velo Dog]

Most people thankfully understand they are looking at a computer monitor ....

NitroX,

Thanks for the clarification.

Previously I had believed that you were actually standing in my house, aiming an elephant gun at my face.

I kept asking myself: - "Who is this person, why is he threatening me with a deadly weapon and how the balls did he get in here anyway? ... I've got to think!, I've got to think!"

I'm feeling better now,
Velo Dog.

 

[spike.t]

NitroX,

Thanks for the clarification.

Previously I had believed that you were actually standing in my house, aiming an elephant gun at my face.

I kept asking myself: - "Who is this person, why is he threatening me with a deadly weapon and how the balls did he get in here anyway? ... I've got to think!, I've got to think!"

I'm feeling better now,
Velo Dog.

Mr VD you been on the mothers ruin(gin ) again ??

 

[ActionBob]

Hey Spike, be careful who you tell that you have been contacting VD

 

[Velo Dog]

Mr VD you been on the mothers ruin(gin ) again ??

Spike.T,

The more I smart, the drinker I get.
Thiss proovz wunss agan thet jin iz vary goode four yore brane.

Out,
Velo Disease.

 

[Dragan N.]

Apart from the high-fence vs no fence completely free range conflict among hunters and how the people who hunt the latter view the former as unethical and not being true hunters, there are also some hunters who think that trophy hunters-people who go to hunt the globe and just keep the trophy are bored rich people who simply go to shoot animals (and are even poor shots to boot) and that they are unethical and don't represent hunters like themselves. Some hunters are also shocked and horrified that someone would shoot an elephant or a rhino. They view these animals as endangered and majestic.

These attitudes largely stem from misinformation and ignorance though and the abuses/unethical behaviour of a few who ruin the image of the rest, I think the same applies to high fence hunting. Sorry for going off topic but I think that this is relevant to the topic. Hunters need to stay united and it is the goal of anti hunters to cause division. Hunters are a minority as it is. First they will go after high fence hunters, then they will go after trophy hunters (or hunters who go to hunt in foreign countries), then they will go after any and all remaining hunters. Too many times hunters won't fight for a cause that doesn't concern them i.e. the various bans the US has enacted on sport hunters importing certain animals- just because they don't plan on hunting those animals or they might even view it as a good thing. But they don't realize that eventually their turn will come and their form of hunting could very well get outlawed and then there will be nobody to help them.

 

[ActionBob]

Very correct sir, I've seen it happen first hand in other things. What you point out is not just theory.

 

[Upton O. Good]

I hunted the Bubuye for 8 days when, upon my arrival in Zimbabwe, the concession owner on the free range area I was to hunt, reneged on the permits I had paired for. My PH saved the day with quick thinking and great effort, and shifted me to the Bubuye Conservancy.

I don't think anything happens by accident and my impression of the Bubuye was pretty well set when a bull elephant charged our truck on the first afternoon. It didn't seem that he was bothered that the 850,000 acre area was high fenced.

I am also reminded of the four days we spent trying to sneak up on eland. Sneaking, crawling, hiking, every and always hiking, for four days trying to get up close enough to an eland bull to get a shot. I was cut, bleeding, bruised, dirty and exhausted every day for three and a half days. The problem turned out to be the herds of impala and zebra that we encountered, it seems eland like hanging out with herds of smaller, sharp-eyed animals that bolt if they see a human on foot. And it appears, from my experience, that once spooked, those Bubuye eland don't stop running for several miles. And believe me, we followed a number of them.

I got my eland and it was the hardest, most challenging and rewarding hunt I've ever had and I am damn proud of him.

And I never saw the fence after we entered the area until we departed eight days later.

 

[lcq]

I hunted the Bubuye for 8 days when, upon my arrival in Zimbabwe, the concession owner on the free range area I was to hunt, reneged on the permits I had paired for. My PH saved the day with quick thinking and great effort, and shifted me to the Bubuye Conservancy.

I don't think anything happens by accident and my impression of the Bubuye was pretty well set when a bull elephant charged our truck on the first afternoon. It didn't seem that he was bothered that the 850,000 acre area was high fenced.

I am also reminded of the four days we spent trying to sneak up on eland. Sneaking, crawling, hiking, every and always hiking, for four days trying to get up close enough to an eland bull to get a shot. I was cut, bleeding, bruised, dirty and exhausted every day for three and a half days. The problem turned out to be the herds of impala and zebra that we encountered, it seems eland like hanging out with herds of smaller, sharp-eyed animals that bolt if they see a human on foot. And it appears, from my experience, that once spooked, those Bubuye eland don't stop running for several miles. And believe me, we followed a number of them.

I got my eland and it was the hardest, most challenging and rewarding hunt I've ever had and I am damn proud of him.

And I never saw the fence after we entered the area until we departed eight days later.

Same happened to me with those damned zebra busting us

 

[Velo Dog]

Same happened to me with those damned zebra busting us

Me too, plus guinea fowl as well (striped informants and feathered spies).

 

[ActionBob]

Baboons! The damned baboons got me. And to top it off onehad to start his noise making at 4AM every day and bellowed right into our beedroom window...... Baboons would be reason enough to allow hunters to carry high capacity AR15's in RSA.

 

[lcq]

Baboons! The damned baboons got me. And to top it off onehad to start his noise making at 4AM every day and bellowed right into our beedroom window...... Baboons would be reason enough to allow hunters to carry high capacity AR15's in RSA.

shoot them through the window. I would, queue the banjo's I would be right at home

 

[Ridgedog]

An excerpt from a website(Bornfree.co.uk)
"Canned hunting, the hunting of wild animals in a confined area from which they cannot escape, is not only legal in South Africa, it is flourishing.
The animals involved are habituated to human contact, often hand-reared and bottle fed, so are no longer naturally fearful of people. Such animals will approach people expecting to get fed-but instead receive a bullet, or even an arrow from a hunting bow. This makes it easier for clients to be guaranteed a trophy and thus the industry is lucrative and popular."

If you asked me ,I would say most people that hear about high fences or any fences for that matter ,the words in the bold print above immediately come into their minds. Until you actually take someone onto a property with a fence for a hunt and let them see for themselves how a fence, especially on an area that is as large as most if not all the properties in Africa, will not hinder movement of animals nor will it cause them to get habituated. Most of the stuff that people see or hear about is is spread by non hunters so you will always get that no matter how much you try and show how ethical your methods or philosophies are. One can only hope that legislators are not drawn into believing all the nonsense that is put forth by those who dont have a clue what they are talking about. Yes ,it has been shown to happen, the whole "tame animals in a confined space thing" but I'm sure those are or would have been isolated cases. I say just keep the true spirit of a fair play hunt in whatever setting.Trying to take shortcuts just gives them more ammunition.