I am trying to find information on whether or not most hunting in South Africa is fenced or not. I'd appreciate any help, thanks.

-Robert

As far as I know, 99.9% of it is fenced.

Don't pay attention to guys that poo-poo this, as it is a good experience the first time, or more, to Africa. You can always go un-fenced, big-time, self-righteous hunting the next time around!!

everybody that goes to Africa is an instant expert, including me. So don't worry about the fence the first time anyway. It will not disqualify you as an expert!!!

Will

Most of RSA and much of Zimbabwe is fenced, Just be sure your hunting on one of the larger parcels and it will be a fair chase hunt...

Like the man said, pay no attention to the poo poo you hear on fenced hunting, it comes mostly from hunters who have little experience in the worlds game fields.

your only criteria is that the hunt should be fair chase and 30,000 acres or more of African Lowveld is hard to cover completely in 3 months.

My safari companies in RSA are 75,000 ac. in the Northern Transvall to 500,000 ac. in the Eastern Cape with a few in the 30,000 and 40,000 ac. range, most under high fence. Many concessions are not this big. The world is fenced my friend either by fence or boundries...

Most is fenced, but as the others said do not let that scare you.

If you are in the process of booking a hunt, ask specifically, "How big are EACH of the areas I will hunt."

Most SA ph's will say they hunt 100,000 acres, which usually means 10,000 over here 5,000 over there, etc.

This is all fine, but only if you are ok with it! Better to ask now than be disappointed when you arrive.

Game hunting in the RSA is not a sport as much as an industry. I was very impressed. Rather than hunting / poaching game to extinction they have made big money off the raising / hunting of wild game. Say what you will, that has probably led to a significant growth in wild game populations.

I didn't find the fences in RSA to be an ethical problem for me.

I found it interesting that I was told that the reason big kudu don't sell well at game auctions in RSA is because they don't respect game fences, and can clear them from a standing start. I never saw that with my own eye, but I accept what I was told.

They had a funny story about a local employee at one of the lodges. He was riding his bicycle to work one day along the edge of a property.

When he came to, he was on the ground, bloodied, beaten, and his bike was screwed up.

The people at the lodge became worried when he didn't arrive for work so they drove the road out.

They found him limping along. Turns out a kudu had been apparently standing in the bush on the opposite side of the fence and spooked when the bike came along. The kudu jumped the fence and landed on the bicyclist. They found kudu hair caught in the bike and spoor around where the kudu had scrambled back to its feet and left.

If a fence was used as part of a hunt strategy I would have been greatly disappointed. I never saw that scenario remotely applied.

I remember a friend years ago in West Texas. He was invited on an aoudad hunt south of Odessa. I told him that didn't make sense. There were no aoudad in that area. Dumb me.

The next week I spoke to him. He said he would never do that again. The pasture was high-fenced and essentially they cruised the pasture until they got into the aoudad. The ranch foreman/guide then idled the jeep towards them, herding them to the corner of the fence line. He told my friend to pick the ram he wanted as they darted out of the corner. (He said he did it only because he was the guest of his best business customer, which I know was true.)

I don't think I could ever get used to hunting big game behind high fences in the States. There is something inherently sad about that. Maybe the guys that hunted Africa in the pre-fence era feel the same way.

My experience with pen raised game has not been good. A pheasant hunt where the birds had no wing strength, and could fly only about ten yards rings a bell.

I've had Gemsbok that stood within ten yards of my car and Fallow Deer that allowed me to walk up within five feet of them on hunting leases. It didn't matter that I was just there to service some oil wells, I wouldn't have pulled the trigger had I been hunting; I won't pay money to have that kind of experience.

Kensco,
There are some huge ranches in the states that are fenced, same as Africa...

Texas has a world of unfenced ranches that run from 15,000 to 500,000 acres with only a 3 or 4 strand barbwire fence..A lot of So. Texas big whitetail country is still unfenced and the Big Bend Country is totally unfenced as far as I know.....

I have 5 ranches in West Texas unfenced that are over 100,000 acres and we kill at least 3 bucks a year that go over 230 B&C..Better than Mexico has to offer these days...

At any rate, all is not lost for you, you still have the option....

The only issue I have with hunting a fenced area is if it is 'over stocked' with animals making it more shooting then hunting. If the property is managed properly though hunting 20,000 acres in the Limpopo is as challenging as hunting get's.

The last time I checked the RSA agriculture and veterinary regulations required high game fencing for ranches that were in the business of selling game hunts. They are all fenced, but some of them are huge. There are also some national or provincial park hunts offered on tender within their fences, usually away from the tourist operations. There are also some properties around parks like Kruger National Park that take advantage of wandering animals. Perhaps one of the RSA chaps can comment on the current regulations.

You need to compare the size of the property to the requirements of the hunted animal for its free range to decide if it is "big enough". I have hunted ranches between 2,500 and 1,000,000 acres in size, and if the game is appropriate to the ranch area it can be as sporting as you can stand. No hunter I know wants to be involved with a canned "hunt" such as the example cited above.

All the world's hunting areas can be thought of as fenced, with those made by man or those made by nature as categories.

jim dodd

Are animals taken behind a fence eligible for
SCI,Rowland Ward,or B&C?
If so
What size does a fenced ranch have to be before the animals taken are eligible for SCI
Rowland Ward or B&C entry?
Jeff

Most safari operations on private land are now fenced. In South Africa and Zimbabwe as in most southern African countries the animals belong to the land owner. With hunting being such a big business now many ranch operators are reintroducing game back onto their property. To keep them there they are high fencing. Government owned concession land (safari area)are normally unfenced and are huge pieces of property with game wondering in and out. Normally onto private land unfenced where they are hunted as well. It's each hunters choice where he hunts, fenced or unfenced. Hunting is normally very good on each.

Atkinson - We used to see some great mule deer down around Marathon. I've also hunted pronghorn around Alpine. Some big country. Great places with a few strands of barbed wire. One of the ranches had a small cemetery with three headstones way on the back side. Great sunsets overlooking that valley. Great history probably too.

I had about fifteen years of good mule deer hunting on what used to be the Hart Ranch southwest of Kent. I think I heard Clayton Williams bought the place some years ago.

I need to win the Lotto so I can buy one of those places before they're all gone.

Kensco,
I was raised in Marathon, Tex. and I had the Rosillas Mountain Ranch (75,000 acres) leased for cattle and hunting for a number of years..Houston Hart was my neighbor...I think the Hart ranch you speak of also was Houston Hart and yes Clatty had that leased or bought for sometime. He owns another place between Alpine and Ft. Stockton that runs almost to the city limits of Ft. Stockton....

Ray,

I hunt the Rosillas ranch almost every year with a young guide named Johnnie Hamilton. We stay in the Starr House down by the runway. We hunt for javelina and quail when I get there early enough. I hope to get a shot at one of the areas mountain lions one of these days. It is a great place to practice my poor tracking skills and shoot my open sight rifles and handguns at the numberous jackrabbits. I love to take off with a gun and walk for as far as I want in a days time. I have grown to love that country and the strong independant nature of the people in that part of Texas.

Perry

When I hunted the Hart Ranch there was a widow running it. Her son Jimmy lived with his family in a trailerhouse a short distance away from the ranch house.

Like PWN says it is hard to hunt West Texas for long without feeling like a piece of it.

We always had a semi-permanent camp up the draw from Mrs. Hart's house. I'd wander out of camp about 30 minutes before daylight and circle back by dark; just me, God, and whatever jumped up.