Why aren’t mule deer high fenced?

[narco1]

This might be a dumb question, but whitetail and every other exotic can be found on high fenced property so why aren’t mule deer high fenced?

[twosixteens]

There are places with high fenced mule deer I know of one in Alberta

[AntlerCollector]

There are some, but the mule deer habitat isn’t really conducive to small high fenced places

[Mexico]

Because mule deer typically live on huge public ground, or in areas where private ownership consists of large ranches. Not always but typically.

[WItoTX]

There are some, but the mule deer habitat isn’t really conducive to small high fenced places

Because mule deer typically live on huge public ground, or in areas where private ownership consists of large ranches. Not always but typically.

This. Mule deer have massive migrations. Here is a link to one mule deer migration route, over 200 miles. There are some better graphics out there that show her route, but they are finding this to be more and more common.

https://www.rmef.org/elk-network/mul...ute-242-miles/

[buck_wild]

They apparently don't do well in small breeder pens like whitetails. There are MD in high fence ranches but they are usually in large ranches 10K+ acres plus

[JayB]

I have been on 2 ranches in Texas that had Mule deer under fence. One was 28,000 acres the other close to 60,000. It takes a lot of acreage to have a health MD population

[Farmdog]

I have a friend who moves them around in Mexico in trailers, we have friendly arguments. There are mule deer behind fences in enclosures. (Bad idea) Not an easy trophy to just buy like whitetail

[MAP]

The cost of high fencing mule deer country in Texas. I think building a fence in most of west Texas would be a real pain the butt, the cost to do it would also be a lot more than fencing most whitetail habitat.

Down in Mexico high fencing and breeder deer are common for mule deer. The same with desert bighorn sheep down there. One of the biggest mule deer killed in Texas and entered into the Big Game Awards top 5, was killed on a high fence place in North Texas.

[Pushbutton2]

They apparently don't do well in small breeder pens like whitetails. There are MD in high fence ranches but they are usually in large ranches 10K+ acres plus

Bored and curious..

How much would it cost to high fence 10k acres?

That's 15.6 sections of land.

Round up to 16 for ease
In a square that would be 4 abreast and deep. Each section is 1 mile x 1 mile. 4 miles per side x 4 sides = 16 Miles. Just to do the perimeter not counting cross fences.....

[kyle1974]

Why aren’t mule deer high fenced?

A good portion of the enormous Mexico mule deer you see are high fenced. (230+”, 40” spread, etc) They’re also coming out of breeding pens down there now.

Not sure about and HF mule deer in the US. there are HF/breeding elk operations in Colorado so I would think there’s someone doing it with mulies.

[Deer Tamales]

A good portion of the enormous Mexico mule deer you see are high fenced. They’re also coming out of breeding pens down there now.

Not sure about and HF mule deer in the US. there are HF/breeding elk operations in Colorado so I would think there’s someone doing it with mulies.

This is correct, I was in Sonora in January and learned alot about the high fence operation down there. Alot of the big muleys coming from there were raised in a pen. We were hunting a large ranch and not sure if the drive meant to but we came up on 3 acres pen with young bucks in it. They were raising them to release. Didnt sit well with me but that's besides the point.

[trophy8]

The cost of high fencing mule deer country in Texas. I think building a fence in most of west Texas would be a real pain the butt, the cost to do it would also be a lot more than fencing most whitetail habitat.

Down in Mexico high fencing and breeder deer are common for mule deer. The same with desert bighorn sheep down there. One of the biggest mule deer killed in Texas and entered into the Big Game Awards top 5, was killed on a high fence place in North Texas.

Which mule deer in the TBGA top 5 was from a high fence? None of the top 5 in typical or non typical came from high fence.



I know of a few HF mule deer operations. Most all of those ranches low fence deer are bigger than their high fence ones. But big money in selling breeder deer.

[kyle1974]

This is correct, I was in Sonora in January and learned alot about the high fence operation down there. Alot of the big muleys coming from there were raised in a pen. We were hunting a large ranch and not sure if the drive meant to but we came up on 3 acres pen with young bucks in it. They were raising them to release. Didnt sit well with me but that's besides the point.

I don't have any problem with the breeding in general, but you're right.. they don't exactly advertise that. They also don't have all the regulations for ear tagging, tattoo markings, etc so it's not as easy to tell in Mexico. the place I know about has their "refuge" area of a few thousand acres, surrounded by like 40K+... typical deal, you don't get the deer on a 7 day hunt.. "let's go try this area"

[SmTx]

Mule deer are found out west. Western hunters don't fake hunt