There will be necessary repairs caused by falling trees, running water at draws and creek crossings, as well as those caused by feral hogs, deer and domestic livestock on either side of the fence. Of the 1,800 acres that I have under high-fence management, I plant 10-percent of that land in both warm-and-cool-weather food plots. For this reason, as well as others, it’s not recommend that properties less than several hundred acres in size be enclosed within a high fence. Its not deer farming, just an interesting bit of trivia. I often bring young people to my ranches and give them opportunities to harvest does if they’ve never taken a deer or have taken very few deer. Overgrazing leads to the overuse of the protein-rich foods that deer prefer, both forbs and browse plants. I establish different food plots to provide food for the deer at various times of the year. Another important factor to consider is why 6 years is set as the optimal age to harvest a buck. Two years after the high fence went up, Gene Riser went one step further and became one of Texas’ first scientific deer breeders, a business that became legal for the first time in 1985. Height and/or width is the most important factor with deer fences, especially if high deer pressure. Managing white-tailed deer within an enclosed area is a huge commitment. We also provide a wide range of height and mesh pattern options and are capable of installing the high deer fence that best suits your needs. To learn more about deer management, you can purchase Jack Brittingham’s Briarwoods Whitetails which includes information about Jack’s deer-management philosophy and shows what you can do to improve a hunting property. © 2020 Jack Brittingham's World of Hunting Adventure, Jack Brittingham's World of Hunting Adventure, Deer Management Under a Whitetail Management Fence, Jack Brittingham’s 2003 Tajikistan Marco Polo Hunt, Jack Brittingham’s Instructional Productions, Jack Brittingham’s Secrets for Taking Trophy Bucks, The First 10 African Animals a Hunter Needs To Take, Ultimate Hunting For North American Big Game II. For example, Lowe’s has a package made from 12 1/2 gauge galvanized wire and measures eight feet high and 330 feet long. You will also find your does to be at their highest reproductive rate at this stocking level. How should the hog population be addressed both before and after high fencing? Written by Jennifer Smith, Deerbusters . So, if the property I’m managing can carry 100 deer without damaging the habitat, I’ll only carry 60 deer. The land is very thick and tough to see a specific deer. Why, you ask? Collars collected location data every three hours for each deer for an entire year. As well, the size of the doe we take has no pertinence in our harvest prescription. I get the best results from Purina’s Antler Max Supplemental Deer Food. Then you’ll know whether or not your expectations are reasonable for your land. The buck harvest takes place with family members and a limited amount of commercial hunting. Just about every exotic ungulate competes with white-tailed deer, so the number of whitetail plus the number of exotics must not exceed the carrying capacity of the property. However, this doesn’t always happen. texas 548-inch buck big deer. I keep my deer herd at 60-percent of the land’s carrying capacity. In his sixth year, he is hunted. For example, the smallest piece of property that I now have under fence is 1,800 acres, and I only want one deer per 8 acres. Jack’s video Wildlife Food Plot and Feeder Basics explains where to set up food plots, how to plant that food plot, and why to use game feeders so that all these practices will attract deer. Most landowners will cite increased control, management over the deer herd as their primary reason for putting a high fence around a property. The most important aspect of your harvest prescription is that once you’ve determined the number of deer to harvest in order to have a healthy herd each season, you need to make sure you harvest the predetermined number of each sex in your harvest prescription. For this reason, as well as others, it’s not recommend that properties less than several hundred acres in size be enclosed within a high fence. Height, of course, is relative, but in the world of high game fences, the minimum is eight feet. Although the owners/managers of high fenced properties realize this, I think it’s important to mention for those considering constructing a high fence around their property. Your email address will not be published. A high fence provides a landowner with the potential to manage deer density, buck to doe ratio and buck age structure, as well as the habitat found on the property (by manipulating deer numbers), but are you ready? High-Tensile Woven Wire Fencing. This means getting a wildlife biologist on the property to determine how many deer the property can support based on the plant communities found there. So I know from experience that by taking 30-adult does every season, I’ll have enough does to produce the number of bucks that I want on my land. My question is about how many acres it would take to make High Fence Ranch fair-chase. Base the strand height by visualizing where the animal’s nose level is if it were to approach the fence with its head at its normal position while walking. This means the deer found there can be even more … When you discuss increasing the nutritional level of a deer herd, someone always asks, “Shouldn’t you put out minerals?” I’ve experimented with minerals and compared the results on properties where I’ve used them with lands where I haven’t. I also feed these pellets to the deer again in the late winter, from the first of February until the middle of March. For a fee, you can shoot a “trophy” whitetail. It’s essentially a marriage between the owner(s) and the property. DIY Deer Fence For Year-Round Deer Management. The typical whitetail deer is known to jump well over 8' high. If you wait to harvest these bucks until year seven or eight, you may not have any bucks that have survived for you to hunt in those later years. To collect the necessary data on deer movements, researchers placed GPS collars on three does and three bucks inside and three does and three bucks outside a 500 acre high fenced area. Initially both populations increased during the first 4 years of the study, indicating that the carrying capacity of the 96-acre plot was higher than 2 animal units (assuming 6 deer per … A fence of any size takes time and money to maintain, but a high fence constructed for the purposes of managing a deer population takes even more monitoring because  of predator issues and the fact that any breech means animals will enter/exit. Selective, age-based buck harvest by shooting, for the most part, only bucks 5 1/2+ years of age will also increase the number of older-aged bucks in the herd. He has a high density of approximately 100 deer, but with the supplimental feeding, food plots, and prescribed burning he does, he has a very healthy deer herd. Avoid fencing fingers, which also reduces corners. How much time will a high fence mean to you? First, determine the carrying capacity of the property for white-tailed deer. Couple of Qs than 1. Would the hunt still have been challenging if the 10,000-acre ranch I was hunting been enclosed within a game-proof fence? Introduction Well planned and properly constructed deer fencing has a huge impact on the efficiency of deer handling. In contrast, I’ve hunted 600-acre, high fence deer hunting ranches for three days without ever getting within bow range of a buck. Deer fencing is going to cost anywhere from $350 to $700 per 330 feet. For our spring and summer planting in late-April and early-May, I plant American joint vetch, iron, clay cowpeas, Alfa Graze, deer weed, Alyce clover. If a buck is more than 10 points, his points don’t have to be as long and his antlers don’t have to be as massive. 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I don’t care if a buck only weighs 50 pounds, if 10 of those 50 pounds are antlers. Some of these places are only 50 to 100 acres. 2. The long term benefits of ease of management from good fencing is realised with a reduction in time taken on fence maintenance, as well as reduced personnel time chasing deer around due to inadequate fencing. Gardening is not just a hobby; it is a way of life. So when I do a summer planting, I only disc up half of the clover field for the warm-weather crops. I know some hunters who prefer not to shoot their big does. The deer will try walking under the fence and meet resistance. High fence deer killing venues along with a combination of comparatively little public land and deer hunting lease prices ranging from $2K to $10K per gun is why most Texans who’ve hunted all their lives find it difficult to pass that tradition on to their children and grandchildren. 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