Interesting discussion with Don Higgins on the Land Podcast

[Hoytvectrix]

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I thought it was interesting that Higgins is now recommending people to use 8 ft fences as a way to protect against bad neighbors. I'm not sure if I've seen or heard of that in the Midwest yet. I'm curious what some of the more grizzle veterans on here would think about that.

He also had a few comments in there on some of the lessons that he has learned on his and other properties. I think he is a tad full of himself but there's been few things that I've come to disagree with him on.

 

[Native Hunter]

I have a 4 strand barbed wire fence around my whole 100 acre place. It's not in good shape at many places, but I like the idea of having it, because it leaves no doubt where the property lines are. In the off season I work on it where it gets torn down and drive a few steel posts at times. I wouldn't be opposed to an 8 foot fence in some areas to protect against bad neighbors. However, I don't feel that I have a problem with neighbors trespassing. I do wish that some of them would quit shooting immature bucks, but an 8 foot fence is not going to help with that. With the current inflationary prices out there, an 8 foot fence of any description would cost a pretty penny....

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Sorry haven’t listened…what is his reasoning? Is 8’ a technical “high fence” to keep deer in? I’m putting 1.8 miles of fence up in the off-season, well not me but a contractor. I have contemplated putting up an 8’ fence where I border an outfitter, but I don’t want to have what is considered a high fence. I’m curious his rationale.
Along with what native was saying, I want people to know good and damn well they are trespassing if they cross my fence.

 

[Spike_Horn_Shooter]

I like Don. He does call bullshit where he sees it. Listen to his discussion on saddles and roller crimpers. Basically going against the status quo and stating the difficulties in following everything you here on YouTube.

I met him at a whitetail banquet. He seemed alright.

For my money - I’d go with a 4’ high tensile with a couple strings hot. Mowed / Sprayed clean. That’s going to keep a lot of coyotes out and let the does feel really safe during fawning season. Might end up with a doe factory!!!

 

[rocksnstumps]

Our WI state DNR publishes a journal that a number of years ago had a story that while nothing illegal was done it does show how some folks get obsessive about their hunting.

Apparently a 40 acre tract had an easement to it, basically a road width to get to from other private property where a son in law of absentee owner had shot a really, really nice deer. It was shot and recovered on the 40 but a very rich jealous neighbor who bordered on 2 sides was furious that someone else shot "his" trophy.

Said rich neighbor promptly put up an 8 ft fence on two sides of this 40 and convinced the other neighbors to also put up 8 ft fence and rich guy paid for everything. So this 40 had 8 ft fence surrounding it except for the one gap where the easement ran of 25 or 30 ft. The fencing was all put up several ft off the property line so entirely on the neighboring ground. Nice huh

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I like Don. He does call bullshit where he sees it. Listen to his discussion on saddles and roller crimpers. Basically going against the status quo and stating the difficulties in following everything you here on YouTube.

I met him at a whitetail banquet. He seemed alright.

For my money - I’d go with a 4’ high tensile with a couple strings hot. Mowed / Sprayed clean. That’s going to keep a lot of coyotes out and let the does feel really safe during fawning season. Might end up with a doe factory!!!

I priced 4’ woven with a single strand of barbed wire on top so about 5’ total.

 

[hillrunner]

Uhg, I hope 8' fences stay out of the Midwest.

 

[hillrunner]

Our WI state DNR publishes a journal that a number of years ago had a story that while nothing illegal was done it does show how some folks get obsessive about their hunting.

Apparently a 40 acre tract had an easement to it, basically a road width to get to from other private property where a son in law of absentee owner had shot a really, really nice deer. It was shot and recovered on the 40 but a very rich jealous neighbor who bordered on 2 sides was furious that someone else shot "his" trophy.

Said rich neighbor promptly put up an 8 ft fence on two sides of this 40 and convinced the other neighbors to also put up 8 ft fence and rich guy paid for everything. So this 40 had 8 ft fence surrounding it except for the one gap where the easement ran of 25 or 30 ft. The fencing was all put up several ft off the property line so entirely on the neighboring ground. Nice huh

Why not just overpay to buy the 40 instead of fencing it off? I wonder if there is more to the story.
It takes an extremely selfish person to do that to someone if there wasn't some unmentioned provocation. Basically ruined there property by fencing everything out.

 

[Tree Spud]

I thought it was interesting that Higgins is now recommending people to use 8 ft fences as a way to protect against bad neighbors. I'm not sure if I've seen or heard of that in the Midwest yet. I'm curious what some of the more grizzle veterans on here would think about that.

He also had a few comments in there on some of the lessons that he has learned on his and other properties. I think he is a tad full of himself but there's been few things that I've come to disagree with him on.

This is where hunting turns into cattle farming. An 8' high fence has no more ability to keep out trespassers than a 4'. A fence that high only has a purpose of controlling animals.

 

[Bill]

I don't believe you can legally put up an 8' fence in MO that does not completely close an area. Not 100% sure but I think I recall reading something about blocking free travel of wildlife.

 

[Dogshooter]

It happens in the high pressure, big dollar areas in Wisconsin for sure. Here is a satellite pic of one such example. Area around Mud Lake is DNR property. You can see the fence line running east/west from the road and then south along the east line of the state ground.

I presume the owner of the large block to the north was tired of folks hunting “his” deer on the state land and put the fence up. There are many other such instances in Waupaca and Shawano counties.

Really off putting how stupid people have gotten over big deer. I don’t even bother hunting the area anymore.

 

[Booner21]

I have permission on some ground that borders public and if I had the resources or owned the ground I would do the same damn thing. The area that borders the public ground is tillable and I have people all over the private on a routine basis not to mention the amount of stuff I have stolen on that place. I could care less about them shooting the deer it is the constant trespassing that I get really tired of.


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[buckdeer1]

Thats mainly what Don was saying that his reason to put it up on one side was a neighbor that had 5 acres would let anyone hunt and shoot deer but if they made it off the 5 acres they ran back on Dons and then they wanted to go walk through his property.He mentioned 2 things ,you have to consider where you end the fence so you don't create a funnel in the wrong spot and that he has more people ask about high fencing a portion of their property way more than they used to and its coming to the midwest.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

Thats mainly what Don was saying that his reason to put it up on one side was a neighbor that had 5 acres would let anyone hunt and shoot deer but if they made it off the 5 acres they ran back on Dons and then they wanted to go walk through his property.He mentioned 2 things ,you have to consider where you end the fence so you don't create a funnel in the wrong spot and that he has more people ask about high fencing a portion of their property way more than they used to and its coming to the midwest.

That's exactly what he was meaning. I should have been more clear when I made the post that Higgins was only talking about a side or two to discourage deer moving between properties. He is not talking about fencing deer in or out.

It's not quite habitat, but I'm sure it's effective at directing or discouraging deer traffic. A broader point that I was hoping might come up here in the discussion was how Texas has been somewhat of a window into the future of managing lands for whitetails. Whether it's been supplemental feeding, using elevated blinds, or a fence, many trends widely adopted in Texas have worked their way to the rest of the country and have been gradually getting more popular. I think this is an interesting observation made by several within the hunting industry, and I wonder if it holds any weight.

 

[TWIG]

I've been dreaming about fencing out a neighbor since I first started archery hunting. As a young lad I always enjoyed hunting where I'd see the most deer. This usually landed me next to and around a neighbors field. Didn't take me long to realize that I'd likely never kill a deer from such vantage points but at 13, what boy wouldn't enjoy just watching a field fill up with 50 deer every night? For context, the deer all bedded on my parents farm and just utilized the neighbors alfalfa as a destination food source.

Fast forward a few weeks, having the time of my life, the neighbor begins to drive the deer off the field every evening with his ATV. Sending his son out to do one lap just as the deer start rolling out. Didn't think anything of it at first but it continued. Almost as if they were watching for me, they'd blow the field off every time I was hunting. Now, 20 years later, the same boy that used to intentionally ruin my deer hunts has now become an archery hunter that unintentionally ruins my deer hunts. Doesn't seem to understand to concept of scent control, wind direction, and just blows the field off every night getting out of his stand. It's like a light switch and the deer know they're being hunted after the opening day of season.

My biggest concern with fencing this guy out has always been the possibility of creating super funnels which he can capitalize on as deer flank the ends of the fence. Another issue I had was the implementation of deer gates. Gotta have a way, for deer that make in into the field at night, to pass through one way gates so they can bound for cover with ease. It'd be easier if they sold me the field but that'd never happen.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I've been dreaming about fencing out a neighbor since I first started archery hunting. As a young lad I always enjoyed hunting where I'd see the most deer. This usually landed me next to and around a neighbors field. Didn't take me long to realize that I'd likely never kill a deer from such vantage points but at 13, what boy wouldn't enjoy just watching a field fill up with 50 deer every night? For context, the deer all bedded on my parents farm and just utilized the neighbors alfalfa as a destination food source.

Fast forward a few weeks, having the time of my life, the neighbor begins to drive the deer off the field every evening with his ATV. Sending his son out to do one lap just as the deer start rolling out. Didn't think anything of it at first but it continued. Almost as if they were watching for me, they'd blow the field off every time I was hunting. Now, 20 years later, the same boy that used to intentionally ruin my deer hunts has now become an archery hunter that unintentionally ruins my deer hunts. Doesn't seem to understand to concept of scent control, wind direction, and just blows the field off every night getting out of his stand. It's like a light switch and the deer know they're being hunted after the opening day of season.

My biggest concern with fencing this guy out has always been the possibility of creating super funnels which he can capitalize on as deer flank the ends of the fence. Another issue I had was the implementation of deer gates. Gotta have a way, for deer that make in into the field at night, to pass through one way gates so they can bound for cover with ease. It'd be easier if they sold me the field but that'd never happen.

Yep the super funnel is what is keeping me on the fence about it…no pun intended

 

[blueKYstream]

I didn't listen, but I could understand someone doing that. It's not really to keep deer in, just make it harder for hunters to poach or trespass. If I could, I'd do it. I have a neighbor that doesn't know borders. I've caught them training coon dogs in the summer and coon hunting at various times. They have about 10 feet of creek bottom with trees and the rest is open cattle pasture. I found bait piles on my property with cameras on the fence line facing my property. Easy to see what was happening. I took the camera down, wrapped up the strap and placed it on the fence post. I then hung no trespassing signs. Don't know if it's helped or not. They also have a Schizophrenic relative that hunts. That doesn't sound like someone I want to encounter with a rifle.

update: after thinking about it, it hasn't helped. They told a friend to turkey hunt our property accessing it through theirs. Caught him on camera 4 days in a row. Game warden showed up on the 4th. He ended up being from several hours south. Fine was minimal so the warden at least made him show up for court date. When that didn't happen, an arrest warrant was issued.

 

[Baker]

The best thing that ever happened to and for the deer on my farm...without a close second...was an 8' fence around the whole farm.

 

[Tap]

For what it's worth, I have seen deer jump a 9 foot fence in Iowa. And they did it from a stand still.

 

[Baker]

For what it's worth, I have seen deer jump a 9 foot fence in Iowa. And they did it from a stand still.

I've seen that as well on 8' fence.They find other ways to get in/out all the time. Nonetheless still provides tremendous value.