South Africa-high fences
- Thread starter IDHunters
- Start date
Hntnhrd
Member
MOst of what I have been researching says yes. Though some of the fences incompass over 100,000 acres. We are looking into Namibia as not as many fences concessions.
MarvB
Well-known member
IDH you might want to peak through this thread or even drop JJHACK a PM
http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21185&highlight=fence
http://www.hunttalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21185&highlight=fence
Cathunt MT
New member
They handle their animals like we handle are livestock. But I think the fences are more for keeping the predators out.
impala
New member
Hi Guys I live in RSA The thing with the fences is that all over Africa exept for areas in some countries all the wild live belongs to the goverments.In SA all animals on private land belongs to the owner of that property that means you have to take care of those animals.The fences is there to protect your animals.Now there is more animals in SA than 50 years ago ,we provide more water give neccesary mineral licks and take care ofthe animals.
I do agree that hunting in small fenced areas is not ethical therefore our goverment have the necesary limits on hunting areas,some which is still not big enough. Also any true hunter will hunt on foot not from a vehicle where animals dont have a fear chance .
The size of Game Ranches doesnt matter as long as you have an ethical PH.
See code of conduct at the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa website and hunt with someone you can trust.
I do agree that hunting in small fenced areas is not ethical therefore our goverment have the necesary limits on hunting areas,some which is still not big enough. Also any true hunter will hunt on foot not from a vehicle where animals dont have a fear chance .
The size of Game Ranches doesnt matter as long as you have an ethical PH.
See code of conduct at the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa website and hunt with someone you can trust.
Moosie
Grand poopa
Not many Fences in Nambibia I hear ... ?
I also hear that some operations are like 100,000 Acres. Heck, I would never hunt all that area in Idaho.... although if there is a Fence around it, and the Waterholes are limited some time or another animals have to drink..... AHHHH, I'm still going some time. Some time soon
I also hear that some operations are like 100,000 Acres. Heck, I would never hunt all that area in Idaho.... although if there is a Fence around it, and the Waterholes are limited some time or another animals have to drink..... AHHHH, I'm still going some time. Some time soon
impala
New member
Please dont understand me wrong I am not for high fences but thats the country I live in .Me and jjhack are neighbours we hunt the same amount of land but my Favorite is other wide open African countries.We do have lots of areas in extend of 100 000 acres but you can never hunt all that on a normal safari. I hunt other countries on a regular basis. What I'm trying to say is hunt with someone you can trust then size or country doesn't matter, check them out on their local hunting association. Namibia is a fine
place to hunt.
place to hunt.
Muleyslyr
New member
Good Luck IDhunters! I'll be headed to Namibia on October 5th for a 10 day hunt. Can't wait myself. My wife went back this last Oct. (There used to be a Thread? Must've fallen off the page.)
My opinion is there is plenty of good hunting and places to go in Africa that you don't need to hunt behind fences.
Must've fallen off the page.)My opinion is there is plenty of good hunting and places to go in Africa that you don't need to hunt behind fences.
JJHACK
New member
You must be very careful about trusting anyplace that says they have 100,000 acres. Most of these are in the Eastern Cape with very limited "natural wild game" most of the game in the EC is stocked non-indiginous game.
I worked there for many years and saw the same information about 100,000 acres. Although this may be true, when you arrive to see 75,000 as barren livestock habitat, with 20,000 as irrigated crops, then you have 10,000 remaining which is a huge piece of land, but it's then subdivided up into fenced sections to keep all the stocked game from inter breeding.
The Place my very good friend Impala is speaking of is thick bush, it may only be 7500-15,000 acres but that bush is so thick and the habitat so lush that you would not hunt it all in a year on foot. Maybe not a lifetime!
One also must consider that even though the areas spoken of may be game fenced once you get to 10,000 acres your on over 15 square miles of habitat. A Kudu will have about a 5sq mile natural range. The fence becomes irrelevent when that animal will not leave that 5sq mile range anyway, even if it could! Same with impala, warthogs, and most other species. They will simply run you around in circles in the bush until you give up, or they make a mistake and you can shoot one of them.
Another consideration is water. Even though Namibia has vast acreage of unfenced land, they also have very limited water. The outfitters may have installed water and blinds, or improved the habitat to increase activity within the area of the water. These animals may be chased around but they will always come back to the water. The fence is irrelevent it's the water that keeps them in the area.
Even with a million acres of land if there is only water in one area that's where the game will be found. The size of the place is not the whole answer. When we had near record rain last year the water holes on my whole consession were so plentiful that the entire area was populated with game. I'm sure Peter's consession next door to me was the same. Hunting was brutally difficult with that much water and game spread across the entire hunting area. In a normal year the game would be found much more concentrated nearer to the available water.
Remember that many hunting consessions although fully game fenced are not a deterent to many species. I've personally seen a Kudu bull jump clean over a 7 foot fence from a standstill, I've seen a Bull Livingstone Eland jump a 7 foot fence too. He broke a leg when he landed but his buddy that jumped with him was long gone to open unfenced land. Never to be seen again.
The fence is a legal requirement to allow exempt hunting status within the RSA. It's not actually intended to keep your game in. It's really intended to keep the game which belongs to the people of RSA out of your open hunting area. Think about this..........would you turn down a hunt on one of the ABC islands in SE AK because the game is fenced by the Ocean? Have you ever heard of anyone suggesting that the hunt for a Brown Bear, deer, elk, wolf, moose, etc. is unsporting on these islands? The properties can be as large in RSA as these islands are. One is fenced by a required game fence, the other by miles of saltwater.
It's your choice, and always good to have some education on how to make your decisions.
I worked there for many years and saw the same information about 100,000 acres. Although this may be true, when you arrive to see 75,000 as barren livestock habitat, with 20,000 as irrigated crops, then you have 10,000 remaining which is a huge piece of land, but it's then subdivided up into fenced sections to keep all the stocked game from inter breeding.
The Place my very good friend Impala is speaking of is thick bush, it may only be 7500-15,000 acres but that bush is so thick and the habitat so lush that you would not hunt it all in a year on foot. Maybe not a lifetime!
One also must consider that even though the areas spoken of may be game fenced once you get to 10,000 acres your on over 15 square miles of habitat. A Kudu will have about a 5sq mile natural range. The fence becomes irrelevent when that animal will not leave that 5sq mile range anyway, even if it could! Same with impala, warthogs, and most other species. They will simply run you around in circles in the bush until you give up, or they make a mistake and you can shoot one of them.
Another consideration is water. Even though Namibia has vast acreage of unfenced land, they also have very limited water. The outfitters may have installed water and blinds, or improved the habitat to increase activity within the area of the water. These animals may be chased around but they will always come back to the water. The fence is irrelevent it's the water that keeps them in the area.
Even with a million acres of land if there is only water in one area that's where the game will be found. The size of the place is not the whole answer. When we had near record rain last year the water holes on my whole consession were so plentiful that the entire area was populated with game. I'm sure Peter's consession next door to me was the same. Hunting was brutally difficult with that much water and game spread across the entire hunting area. In a normal year the game would be found much more concentrated nearer to the available water.
Remember that many hunting consessions although fully game fenced are not a deterent to many species. I've personally seen a Kudu bull jump clean over a 7 foot fence from a standstill, I've seen a Bull Livingstone Eland jump a 7 foot fence too. He broke a leg when he landed but his buddy that jumped with him was long gone to open unfenced land. Never to be seen again.
The fence is a legal requirement to allow exempt hunting status within the RSA. It's not actually intended to keep your game in. It's really intended to keep the game which belongs to the people of RSA out of your open hunting area. Think about this..........would you turn down a hunt on one of the ABC islands in SE AK because the game is fenced by the Ocean? Have you ever heard of anyone suggesting that the hunt for a Brown Bear, deer, elk, wolf, moose, etc. is unsporting on these islands? The properties can be as large in RSA as these islands are. One is fenced by a required game fence, the other by miles of saltwater.
It's your choice, and always good to have some education on how to make your decisions.
csutton7
Active member
great post JJ...chris
noharleyyet
Well-known member
yep...good info
impala
New member
A well respected Gray N Thornton of Dallas Safari Club wrote this.
"The essence of hunting is not measured in inches or points, but rather in the spirit of the chase, and the noble nature of the game pursued."
This can be aplied in all hunting grounds fenced or not .
Thanks for the info JJ.May all you guys out there get the BIG one this season.
"The essence of hunting is not measured in inches or points, but rather in the spirit of the chase, and the noble nature of the game pursued."
This can be aplied in all hunting grounds fenced or not .
Thanks for the info JJ.May all you guys out there get the BIG one this season.
Calif. Hunter
Active member
I'm off to hunt with Jim the last week of May. Can't wait!!!
impala
New member
Good for you,tell Jim to bring you over for a drink
What I was told is that the areas we will be hunting have to have sustainability in the herds, in other words, they must be able to feed, breed and have a social structure all on there own. They are not "stocked" animals.
I would tend to agree that acreage is not the only factor. I have seen (non-fenced) areas where you could hunt 10,000 acres is one day,hell you could glass most of it from one high spot. I have also seen canyons less than 1000 acres you couldn't hunt in your life, unless you lit one end on fire and waited for the animals to come out the other side!
Also, we have been told that there is little domestic livestock activity in the hunting concessions.
I would tend to agree that acreage is not the only factor. I have seen (non-fenced) areas where you could hunt 10,000 acres is one day,hell you could glass most of it from one high spot. I have also seen canyons less than 1000 acres you couldn't hunt in your life, unless you lit one end on fire and waited for the animals to come out the other side!
Also, we have been told that there is little domestic livestock activity in the hunting concessions.
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