SCI rules and ethics...high fence hunting debate.

[c-fbmi]

Nobody else seemed to be willing to throw their name on a thread like this, so I will. This debate started on another unrelated thread as a "hijack" but I believe it is a worthy debate and possibly of some educational value as well.
Sheephunter.............travis............the floor is yours and this time I will likely give my 2 cents worth which I wouldn't on the other "unrelated" thread.

I have taken animals in SA inside a high fence but these were not "canned" hunts as in the YO ranch in Texas. When you can drive trails and roads in ONE general direction for six hours and still be on the same property as I was on the De Beers concession by Kimberley, there was nothing "unfair chase" about it. There were animals born on that property that lived their whole life and died on that property without ever seeing the fence.
Expanding this theory is it not fair chase to hunt in Australia, because it's an island and the animals can't get away, or Anticosta or Vancouver Island. I do not agree with canned hunts on 20 acre plots but hunting a 50,000 hectare ranch where most of the animals haven't noticed the fence is just as sporting as a land without fences. It's not like we grab 50 trackers and drive the bush and all the animals into a fence corner and then shoot all the good bucks and bulls.
Travis, there is a huge difference between high fence hunting and canned hunts. I hunted hard for 10 days on that De Beers concession for a 40" gemsbok, drove trails stopped and glassed, climbed hills and glassed, saw lots of gemsbok but not the bull I wanted........the next hunter shot a 41" bull on his second day of the hunt. The hunt prior to mine was for buffalo and they hunted for 10 days and never even saw a single buff.......we saw them almost every day and some beauty bulls......nothing canned about hunting that concession let me tell you.

 

[sheephunter]

Not sure much more needs to be said. Our first time hunting inside a fence was last month in South Africa and honestly, I didn't know how I would feel but in the end, it was every bit as much of a hunt as any free-range hunt I've done. To put things in perspective, the ranch had a large herd of giraffes and on our last day there we wanted some additional video of them and despite spending the entire day looking, we never found them. I understand that it's not for some but I don't understand the desire of those people to belittle those that do......people are strange.

 

[TheTooner]

I think you have the essence of it. It depends on the size of the contained area. What "big enough" is will be variable both with the game hunted and the reach of the hunters - are they on foot or mounted on horses or in vehicles, etc. If there is enough room for the animals to get away it doesn't matter if they are constrained by artificial fences or natural obstacles.

 

[Spy]

I dont know of a game farm or reserve In South Africa which is not fenced, this includes the Kruger National park. Lol some people are Ignorant cant help them,so dont bother.

 

[jongun]

There are "mighty hunters" who have payed to shoot aging animals at African zoos but what's being discussed here is obviously a form of genuine fair game hunting IMO.

 

[bearkilr]

CFBMI has pretty much covered my views on high fenced hunts, which shouldn't be confused with what most refer to as canned hunts or "shooting fish in a barrel". That's where some confusion and prejudice stems from, though I believe it's largely a lack of knowledge on the subject.

Also, many seem to solely link SCI with African hunting and fenced hunts in North America, this is simply not true. They are the only global hunting association which really does a lot in protecting our hunting rights worldwide. Pretty much all other organizations are area and/or country specific. Ducks Unlimited cares little about waterfowl outside of North America. The Boone and Crockett Club, who prides itself on fair chase ethics, has no interest outside of North American game. Your provincial wildlife federation doesn't care what happens in the neighboring province, let alone another country. You may not care what rules govern outside your hunting area, but this is ignorant thinking. There's a worldwide push to end or at the very least curb sport hunting, don't think for a minute your back 40 will be spared in that agenda.

There will always be individuals who dig their heels in and paint all fenced hunting with the same brush. These may very well be same people who take offense to hunting black bear over bait, yet see nothing wrong with hunting a whitetail buck over an oat field, who's movement patterns they've caught daily for the last few weeks on a trail cam linked to their smartphone. For those who have doubts about SCI, I'd suggest you read about them on their web site, you may be surprised what you find.

 

[jongun]

Bear you make some excellent points and personally it seems that a lot of times we are our own worst enemy. All sportsman must unite if we want to continue to be able to practice our right to hunt and utilize available renewable resources.

 

[X-man]

SCI does good work and we're lucky to have them fighting for our rights as responsible hunters. Every hunter should make it a point to help support them financially.

 

[smiley1]

I have a hunt farm across the road from my house that's on 40 acres (I think) and I can't believe people come from all over USA to shoot fish in a barrel! I hear they drag the animals away from the fence to take pictures LOL. I don't care for this type of thing myself but it doesn't bother me. People walk out in fields and pick a bovine cow for dinner and hunters don't fuss about that....

I've met some of the deer at the hunt farm and they come to the fence to get their heads scratched like a dog! They are so friendly...

To each their own. I think in the not so distant future all hunting will be this way.

 

[Buckmastr]

To each their own. I think in the not so distant future all hunting will be this way.

Exactly, whatever floats your boat I guess. I wonder what came first, high fenced hunting or bragging about what we killed (on the internet)? Chicken & egg type thing.

As for SCI, the TV hunting "pro's" say they're great so who am I to argue?

 

[Ardent]

I've hunted both kinds of Africa, South Africa which as a general rule is all high fence, and Zimbabwe. Frankly I've hunted islands that are smaller and free range than where I hunted in South Africa.

Those against it also don't understand the high fence operations are largely responsible for the resurgence of White Rhino numbers and many others. They are protected areas where rare species are cultivated with care as they are very valuable to them. We also unsuccessfully hunted Gemsbok on our "high fence" hunt, there were tons there and we saw one, the properties are HUGE compared to Canadian property. One fenced area I drove accross was 750,000 acres.

Same experience as sheephunter, we saw a distinctive very dark Giraffe bull that the land owners had not seen in a year, they thought he was dead, not a small or inconspicuous animal. It's no different than hunting privately owned islands, and is very fair chase and a good thing for species. Those against it are largely just blind to the whole thing and stick to concepts that actually make little sense.

 

[ekimmike]

I've never been on this type of hunt ... but I think any hunter would know the difference between a high fence and a canned hunt. To me hunting at it's core has the possibility of coming back empty handed, there is pride in finding that one Animal you were looking for and bringing it back. Seeing as these fenced in areas are bigger then some countries .... I don't see it as an issue.

Pretty sure a lot of people don't realize that a high fence doesn't only keep animals IN ... but keeps other things OUT.

 

[medvedqc]

Everybody has his own ethic and this is even difficult to say which is right and who is wrong.

and the ethic is like the sun it can change depending where you're and with who you're ... I ve been on enough hunts and I guided a lot of different people to say so ....

SCI is one of the organisation speaking for us and i'm grateful and happy they re doing it.

of course I don't agree with the whole package but life is the same for everything and in general if you agree with everything it can be really boring.

they re our voices, like DSC and others.

what is good about SCI form to get a trophy recorded is that you need the guide signature and I happened in the past that I didn't sign the sheets for very good caribous taken because even if legally I didn't think that shooting not far from an helicopter was fair chase under SCI rules ...