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Antlers keep hooking the fence

IndependenceRanch

IndependenceRanch

Joined Apr 2009
2,617 Posts | 0+
Edgar, WI
This is maybe a stupid question, but what do you guys do that have bucks with really wide racks, or racks with long flyers sticking out the sides? I have not had this issue in the past.

Updraft has those flyers sticking out so far and he keeps hooking the fence when he is walking down the trails along the wire. I see him do that everyday and it is really worrying me.

The only thing I have come up with is building something that runs along the fence all the way around his pen that would force him to walk further away from the wire.

When he walks along the wire he keeps his head tilted away from the fence, but then every so often it hooks the wire and you can see it is a sudden and jerking stop.



So what do you guys do for this?
 
Roger the only thing I have seen others do that works is have cyclone fence running the whole way around the fence......you only need it where there heads are going to be most of the time.....so you could get a 4 ft high piece and put it in the middle all the way around and this should soolve your problem............it's hard for them to hook in the cyclone fence but the game fence they do it all of the time....not the most cost effient way but I know it works.....good luck!!
 
Roger we have the same problem. One of our bucks already broke a nice big flyer. After talking with several other farmers we've decided next year to line the inside of the buck pens with either plywood or site barrier. But only during the growing season. It will be a pain but hopefully it will save a few points. Good luck and keep holding your breath.
 
DC this is a serious problem and although I am happy to have such a buck, I am very concerned about him breaking a tine or worse yet his neck.



I have thought about sight barrier and plywood but we get very strong winds up here on the hill. I don't think that will work for us.

Cyclone fence? Is that the same as chainlink fence?



Any more ideas I am very interested in all ideas.
 
Roger, what about lining the edges with some sort of brush? I'm not talking about trashy looking stuff, I can see from your pictures you keep your pens nice, but maybe some limbs stacked neatly along the edge to give you a 2-3 foot standoff from the edge of the fence. Their walking trails will move to the edge of that and no more fence issue. We have also talked about doing this ourselves, still weighing the pros and cons of both. As Paul said we have had a couple of same issues with the fence, we have two of our two year olds scrape themselves up, as stated above, one broke a flier off and we where worried about maggots and infection. We thought we were going to have to knock him down in mid July to fix the broken point up and as you know, not a good time to have to do that in that kind of heat. Luckily everything has turned out to be just fine so far, only about another month to go. Hope he finishes good for you and doesn't have any issues with the fence.
 
Run an electric wire inside the fence a couple feet? It would be a quick fix for now and should keep them away from the main fence.
 
Roger, I have a solution to your problem... Bring him to my house and he can make new trails wide enough to let him walk without hooking the fence. That would solve both our problems.lol Site barrier would be the choice I would make. Any more fence is just asking for trouble, especially electric fence. Good luck with this problem and congrats again to you guys on haveing a great looking, *** kicking buck. He is awesome....
 
Maybe you should breed for narrow , tall typical deer then you would not have that problem !!! :p I agree with putting a hot wire maybe just in his pen he'll get used to it .
 
I think if this becomes an issue for me I will do the brush thing. I hate seeing the wild does crash the fence in the corners so I was kicking around the brush pile in the corners for visual breaks.
 
I know its alot of trouble but you could put big 3 or 4 inch rock around the border 2 or 3 feet from the fence!
 
Roger,

Yes chain link fence.....it has much smaller holes and is much harder for them to snag their antlers....it's not fool proof but you will see that they do not snag as often......in fact hardly at all........plus you won't have to worry about it falling down with the wind......just get chain link fence that is 4ft high and put it up in the middle of the fence........this way it is permanent.......site barrier will blow down or they will get tangled in it.......this is what i have seen work in the past good luck Roger!!
 
I would just cut his horns off and quit fretting about it. He was done growing a month ago anyways.
 
The antlers are the big attraction when people come to visit so if there is a way of keeping them on especially when we are talking about a buck like the one Roger has then I would figure out a way to be able to fix the pen so he does not hook up anymore.........chain link is worth a try Roger ........call the Millers at RDM Whitetails.....they have lots of big boys running around up their and they swear by the chain link fence.......good luck!!
 
Roger I have thought about putting 2" or 3" rock around the inside of my fence, I dont think they would walk on it.
 
Actually Jay he is still growing some yet. Getting closer to finishing, but not yet.



I think the 2" to 3" rock idea might be the ticket for in the summer months. Not in winter, but maybe then it won't be an issue if I saw him off. I really don't want to do that because of the possible head damage from rubbing on stuff then though.



We are completely rebuilding our pens this fall so I am listening and considering ALL ideas.

Thanks everyone.
 
I hope you all know I was joking. He is still pouring it on by the pics i've seen.
 
Roger

I mow my pen every week, and about a month and a half ago I started leaving a 3 foot strip along the fence so it would grow tall. My bucks are lazy and walk in the short grass so they don't have to pick up their feet. This hasn't completely cured the problem, but it has helped a lot. I was also thinking that since my pen is ready and keeping my bucks from the edge of the fence I would be happy to let you bring him down from late October until ...lets say mid December? I would be willing to do this for their safety!;)
 
Roger, I dont have that problem so just bring him down to my place and I will keep him for you!
 

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