My buddy and I have discussed this at length on several hunts since that time. Seems like it always comes up when we're stuck in a tent waiting out a storm. Could we have killed pigs and gotten some good eatin pork? Yep, but it wasn't supposed to be going to the grocery store. It was sold as a hunt to us. Partly through guys in this board and party from their website and phone calls to them. If anyone had been honest about what it actually is or was I wouldn't have gone thinking it was hunting. IF I had gone at all it would have been on the premise of going to the grocery store, nothing more. It would be cheaper to go buy a meat hog and butcher it than this was. You simply cannot call that experience hunting.

I'm not going to make the claim that all operations are exactly like that one was. I'm sure that there are better ones but why would I take the chance? I'm not sure what part of that experience I was supposed to enjoy.

I guess I'm spoiled here in Texas (the only state I've hunted in behind high fence). The high fence ranches around here are anything but tame critters. Not to say that some don't exist but that has not been my experience. This could be partly because of the terrain. Hunting in the hill country isn't rough by mountain standards but it's no walk in the park either. Most ranches have some areas that are inaccessible or nearly so. Cliffs and steep hillsides choked with cedar are more common than open ground and there is a lot of rock that ranges in size from small pieces that want to make more noise than dry leaves up to those the size of a Volkswagen. I think we have enough whitetail in the mix to keep everything jumpy as hell. The ranch we were on in Bandera has had 3 kills that they know of by lion in the past couple of months too, not to mention a proliferation of coyotes.

First I'll say that I've never been to Wilderness in Tennessee, and since I've never been, I won't comment negatively or positively. Hearsay is just that, and I've heard and disproved way too much hearsay about guns and bullets to ever be foolish enough to base an opinion on such nonsense. I respect rickiesrevenge's opinion on this because he actually went there and saw for himself and didn't like it. His opinion and mine might not be the same, but that's what makes the world go round 😉 The truth about ALL high fenced operations is that they buy and sell livestock and game animals. The size of the operation doesn't change the genetics of the game that is there. Sheep, goats, pigs, and bovines really are all fairly tame...this shouldn't be a surprise. They were all bought, tested, vaccinated, and dewormed....that's just the truth....deer and antelope can and will remain fairly wild. Now, I've seen Holstein Bulls that would try to kill a pick up truck, but they're still not wild....it is what it is 😉 I like hunting preserves and enjoy them. I enjoy getting together with other handgun hunters, testing bullets, guns, and just having a good time....it's not for everyone, but that's cool too....to me, I eat meat and wear leather, so......I really have no issues....

So you're right if it's a hunting preserve and I think that is a big difference. The ranches I've hunted on here are not a full-time hunting operation and have not had any new animals bought in quite a long time. Many of them are a multi-use operation with cattle and other livestock. They have breeding populations and only take what it will support. Of course the deer are thick because they are indigenous and animals like blackbuck are very prolific if the habitat is right for them so you don't have to worry about restocking if you don't over shoot them. I know there are high-fence operations that are like a machine and they have to restock.

Exactly, Gary, it's just the nature of the beast.

I have heard similar stories but every time I have been there it was quite different than that and we had hogs spook 100 yards way from us. On one of the places (not that little pin as I call it) across the road from the lodge there are elk. There were two big bulls that I wanted to get a close look at but they wouldn't let us get any closer than about 400 yards until they took off never to be seen again. I have seen some very tame sika deer on the place at the lodge that you could get with in 50' of. No way I would shoot one.

I am one that thinks high fences certainly have their place, but they aren't for me. When I went to the ranch in Texas with my buddy a couple years ago, as soon as we drove through the fence, something inside me felt different. It didn't SEEM like fair chase anymore. Don't know why, but it didn't. Deer didn't act like normal deer. They knew we were there, and didn't care. Just didn't seem right to me. I know not all high fence areas would be like this, but this experience just ruined it for me. Kinda like the Applebees situation mentioned in a post above I guess. I know good and well where the meat in the grocery store comes from, and how it gets there. But I don't go into the grocery store expecting to match wits with those critters.

That being said, I would absolutely use that particular ranch to get kids / new hunters started. I would suspect that most first time / young hunters would never even notice the high fence, or what it's purpose was.

Will I ever go to another high fence place? Possibly. But I'll be doing a lot more research on the place, rather than just taking a buddy's word for it.