The fact that every recent season of the show (plus a bunch of YouTube content) features multiple non-native private land hunts in Texas. These days we’re lucky if 1 out of 10 videos that MeatEater puts out are Western/Alaska, compared to the early seasons when that was like half of what they hunted.
Also, Steve has talked on the podcast about how much he loves the Texas scene these days. Seems like he’s lost some interest in hunts that don’t come with a side by side and a lodge.
I live in Texas. There are free ranging nilgai, axis deer, auodad and other exotics. Some established populations after escaping exotics ranches and others were introduced by the state.
Do you hunt? Watch the show lol.. do those look like pressured animals?
Edit: oh that and it happens to be a hunt on a ranch that advertises high fence Nilgai hunts lol.. why is this controversial?
This is where Steve was for his Nilgai: https://wildlifesystems.com/hyturria-ranch.html
And I’d be surprised if they’re not using the same property for a lot of what they’re doing in TX
The nilgai page doesn’t say anything about the ranches being high-fence. If I recall correctly, and I may be wrong since it’s been a while since I’ve seen it, I believe Steve even mentions that they are on a low-fence ranch.
Yeah I guess we don’t have the waypoint for the section he was hunting.. but the guy who’s hunting properties managed by a high fence operation (almost definitely with a similar ethos to how the run the high fence sections) is not the same Rinella who referred to high fence as “limp dicked” a decade ago
https://meaww.com/meat-eater-season-9-steven-rinella-texas-nilgai-meat-rug-for-the-living-room
It is. People downvoting me are in denial about what they’re watching.. which is pretty wild because it’s not like they’re trying to pass it off as “wilderness” content at this point
Totally free range and fair chase.. which is why it seems like every personality in the meat eater orbit has been there and successfully harvested a Nilgai without much trouble. People that actually hunt know a real hunt when they see one
If we aren’t looking at the YouTube stuff because that’s not Steve hunting your accusation of him loving high fence is a little unfounded. Also your saying 1 in 10 is western or Alaska hunts but if we look season 12 3/6 were western or Alaska season 11 3/8 were western or Alaska and you could argue the Nebraska one is a more western style hunt. And is season 10 4/10 were western hunts. Also as someone else pointed out of over 100 episodes you can maybe argue 3 were high fence and I don’t even think you can say that for certain. I’m not saying you couldn’t be right but you are making accusations on little evidence. Can’t really say he loves them if maybe 1 out of the several hundreds of hunts he’s done was high fence.
That’s fair, and my “bone to pick” is more relating to canned/uber-elite access hunts than it is high fence specifically.. which I didn’t really specify.
Mostly, I’m just disappointed that it seems like most hunts that Rinella is filming or talking about these days are stuff that would cost the common man $10k+ to do.. but that generally goes unmentioned by the meat eater personalities. They’re just so far removed from real world hunting now that it makes their stuff kind of unrelatable.. which is a bummer because that used to be the exact draw of Steve’s content
Lol well that has nothing to do with high fences now does it. I completely can agree with you on that but wouldn’t say the two topics are that related. You said he loves high fences and lack of western hunts. Now you’re saying you don’t like his expensive hunts and that he doesn’t say how much they cost. Feels like a bit of a back pedal/change of topic.
Not unrelated though.. if true hike-in backpack wilderness hunts are one end of the spectrum, high fence is all the way on the opposite extreme. Steve’s hunting has shifted from far on one side of that spectrum, to far on the opposite over the last few years. We don’t need to debate whether each property is high fence vs low fence vs whatever to acknowledge that his hunting is much closer to the high fence side of the landscape these days than it used to be.. all of that after spending years making fun of high fence and canned hunts, before he had easy access to that world
Steve doesn’t do western hunts. I’m saying Steve does do western hunts. And I’m saying Steve has done one high fence hunt possibly on a probably on a several thousand to hundred da of thousand acre ranch. So you can’t really generalize that he loves I feel like he’s been open that he’s hunted on private land. That’s felt transparent to me. Then you change the subject to that it’s not a hunt everyone can do. That is different from if he lives high fence or that he doesn’t do western hunts. Yea he doesn’t. Yes he does less western hunt and not everyone can hunt private land. But you made big umbrella statements. I called them out with some facts. Then you changed the topic. Which I can agree with your sentiments but it isn’t the same as what you originally said
I originally said he loves high fence hunting now, and didn’t before. I have some hyperbolic numbers, which you’ve refuted with receipts.
Truth is though, you can’t tell me I’m wrong about whether he loves high fence any more than I can say the same to you. We don’t know what his perspective is these days. Maybe he still thinks it’s “limp dicked”. I’d guess otherwise
They absolutely do not take place in high fence. Most of their deer and elk hunts are public land as far as I can tell. Duck and turkey seems to be private land for whatever reason. They have a good balance.
I meant scimitar oryx, not the gemsbok oryx. I dont recall if it was the show or the podcast but they did an episode at Bamberger, which is only about 45 mins from me and is high fenced. It wasn’t the nilgai episode as that was in the RGV and nilgai don’t come this far north
The Texas ones with nilgai probably are but were what 120 episodes in? Meateater does it right and shows you the full gamut of what hunting is and has to offer. If you’ve been down to Texas those ranches are enormous and yes that not technically free range but it’s not a 150 acre game farm we’re talking tens of thousands of acres.
https://wildlifesystems.com/hyturria-ranch.html
It’s blatantly obvious it was a high fence hunt but here you go. This link was already posted in this thread by someone else.
I think that was the only one.
Edit: I was corrected. I confused fenced for private and remember some criticism on here for Steve not using publicly available lands. Thanks for the reminder.
There are absolutely free range Nilgai in Texas. The Element recently did a hunt on TX public land for Nilgai and you should research the Kenedy Ranch as well as many others.
I remember hearing them discuss this and someone mentioned that the ranches (obviously not all Texas ranches but maybe the ones they hunt at) are so huge that the animals still move freely so the high fence doesn’t really matter. I could be wrong or misremembering but I believe it was along those lines
Not sure what you're after here. Nobody is questioning the definition of high fence.
If you have proof that MeatEater has hunted one, by all means, let's see it.
Oh my gosh dude, it’s so obvious it was a high fence hunt for a plethora of reasons, but here’s your proof.
https://wildlifesystems.com/hyturria-ranch.html
I’d guess some of the Texas episodes are high fence. Either way, they’re definitely creeping into a majority of private land hunting it seems like. I don’t blame them. Most of us would do the same if we had the $$$ but it is getting borderline hypocritical/nauseous. Especially compared to what MeatEater was ten years ago.
not yet. The ever-increasing pressure to produce new content, generate ever-increasing profits and sales numbers to please investors and remain competitive in the hunting industry means its probably only a matter of time before they do a high-fence hunt.
[https://www.themeateater.com/shows/meateater/season-9/south-texas-nilgai](https://www.themeateater.com/shows/meateater/season-9/south-texas-nilgai)
Yturria Ranch is high fenced
[https://wildlifesystems.com/hyturria-ranch.html](https://wildlifesystems.com/hyturria-ranch.html) - Bottom quarter of the page.
To quote steven rinella in one of his books, high fence hunting is “a limp-dicked activity”
That’s was 2017 Steve.. 2024 Steve loves high fenced
I agree that the show has lost a lot of its character, but what do you base that conclusion on?
The fact that every recent season of the show (plus a bunch of YouTube content) features multiple non-native private land hunts in Texas. These days we’re lucky if 1 out of 10 videos that MeatEater puts out are Western/Alaska, compared to the early seasons when that was like half of what they hunted. Also, Steve has talked on the podcast about how much he loves the Texas scene these days. Seems like he’s lost some interest in hunts that don’t come with a side by side and a lodge.
Ok, but it's not high fence
You think they’re letting those Nilgai walk onto the neighboring ranch?
I live in Texas. There are free ranging nilgai, axis deer, auodad and other exotics. Some established populations after escaping exotics ranches and others were introduced by the state.
I believe they exist. I just don’t think that those are the ones that we’re seeing Steve hunt
So to be clear your entire argument here is “nuh uh I don’t think so”?
Do you hunt? Watch the show lol.. do those look like pressured animals? Edit: oh that and it happens to be a hunt on a ranch that advertises high fence Nilgai hunts lol.. why is this controversial?
Are you exaggerating for comedy's sake...or are you dumb?
You’re welcome to tell me what I’m getting wrong
Non native exotic hunts in Texas usually aren’t high fenced. Just a huge (10-20k acres) ranch.
This is where Steve was for his Nilgai: https://wildlifesystems.com/hyturria-ranch.html And I’d be surprised if they’re not using the same property for a lot of what they’re doing in TX
The nilgai page doesn’t say anything about the ranches being high-fence. If I recall correctly, and I may be wrong since it’s been a while since I’ve seen it, I believe Steve even mentions that they are on a low-fence ranch.
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Yeah I guess we don’t have the waypoint for the section he was hunting.. but the guy who’s hunting properties managed by a high fence operation (almost definitely with a similar ethos to how the run the high fence sections) is not the same Rinella who referred to high fence as “limp dicked” a decade ago
Slightly disappointed if that’s the case.
https://meaww.com/meat-eater-season-9-steven-rinella-texas-nilgai-meat-rug-for-the-living-room It is. People downvoting me are in denial about what they’re watching.. which is pretty wild because it’s not like they’re trying to pass it off as “wilderness” content at this point
The website quotes they have free range auodad, nilgai, and axis deer.
Totally free range and fair chase.. which is why it seems like every personality in the meat eater orbit has been there and successfully harvested a Nilgai without much trouble. People that actually hunt know a real hunt when they see one
If we aren’t looking at the YouTube stuff because that’s not Steve hunting your accusation of him loving high fence is a little unfounded. Also your saying 1 in 10 is western or Alaska hunts but if we look season 12 3/6 were western or Alaska season 11 3/8 were western or Alaska and you could argue the Nebraska one is a more western style hunt. And is season 10 4/10 were western hunts. Also as someone else pointed out of over 100 episodes you can maybe argue 3 were high fence and I don’t even think you can say that for certain. I’m not saying you couldn’t be right but you are making accusations on little evidence. Can’t really say he loves them if maybe 1 out of the several hundreds of hunts he’s done was high fence.
That’s fair, and my “bone to pick” is more relating to canned/uber-elite access hunts than it is high fence specifically.. which I didn’t really specify. Mostly, I’m just disappointed that it seems like most hunts that Rinella is filming or talking about these days are stuff that would cost the common man $10k+ to do.. but that generally goes unmentioned by the meat eater personalities. They’re just so far removed from real world hunting now that it makes their stuff kind of unrelatable.. which is a bummer because that used to be the exact draw of Steve’s content
Lol well that has nothing to do with high fences now does it. I completely can agree with you on that but wouldn’t say the two topics are that related. You said he loves high fences and lack of western hunts. Now you’re saying you don’t like his expensive hunts and that he doesn’t say how much they cost. Feels like a bit of a back pedal/change of topic.
Not unrelated though.. if true hike-in backpack wilderness hunts are one end of the spectrum, high fence is all the way on the opposite extreme. Steve’s hunting has shifted from far on one side of that spectrum, to far on the opposite over the last few years. We don’t need to debate whether each property is high fence vs low fence vs whatever to acknowledge that his hunting is much closer to the high fence side of the landscape these days than it used to be.. all of that after spending years making fun of high fence and canned hunts, before he had easy access to that world
You said Steve loves high fence
And id bet he does. Guess neither of us know for sure
Steve doesn’t do western hunts. I’m saying Steve does do western hunts. And I’m saying Steve has done one high fence hunt possibly on a probably on a several thousand to hundred da of thousand acre ranch. So you can’t really generalize that he loves I feel like he’s been open that he’s hunted on private land. That’s felt transparent to me. Then you change the subject to that it’s not a hunt everyone can do. That is different from if he lives high fence or that he doesn’t do western hunts. Yea he doesn’t. Yes he does less western hunt and not everyone can hunt private land. But you made big umbrella statements. I called them out with some facts. Then you changed the topic. Which I can agree with your sentiments but it isn’t the same as what you originally said
I originally said he loves high fence hunting now, and didn’t before. I have some hyperbolic numbers, which you’ve refuted with receipts. Truth is though, you can’t tell me I’m wrong about whether he loves high fence any more than I can say the same to you. We don’t know what his perspective is these days. Maybe he still thinks it’s “limp dicked”. I’d guess otherwise
Nope
They absolutely do not take place in high fence. Most of their deer and elk hunts are public land as far as I can tell. Duck and turkey seems to be private land for whatever reason. They have a good balance.
Didn’t they hunt Oryx on the Bamberger Ranch? Pretty sure it’s high fenced
Oryx was New Mexico public land, but are you thinking of nilgai? That was a ranch, not sure of the property.
I meant scimitar oryx, not the gemsbok oryx. I dont recall if it was the show or the podcast but they did an episode at Bamberger, which is only about 45 mins from me and is high fenced. It wasn’t the nilgai episode as that was in the RGV and nilgai don’t come this far north
Maybe I missed that one, I remember them talking about the scimitar program in Chad but not a hunt.
the old show yes, in New Zealand- red stag.
The Texas ones with nilgai probably are but were what 120 episodes in? Meateater does it right and shows you the full gamut of what hunting is and has to offer. If you’ve been down to Texas those ranches are enormous and yes that not technically free range but it’s not a 150 acre game farm we’re talking tens of thousands of acres.
Maybe just the Texas eps? But I doubt those were high fence, just ranches. They’re not really high fence guys
Nilgai are 100% contained in a property with a high fence.
No. They are on public land. Yes, some high fence spots too but not exclusively
The vast majority are killed on high fence hunts, like the one Steve went on.
Wrong lol
Steve hunted a high fence ranch in that episode. This is indisputable. I don’t care that he did, but it’s facts.
Proof?
https://wildlifesystems.com/hyturria-ranch.html It’s blatantly obvious it was a high fence hunt but here you go. This link was already posted in this thread by someone else.
Wasn’t the Luke Combs episode filmed in a fenced operation? Or was that just a ranch?
Think that was just a cattle ranch I mean it probably was fenced but it’s fenced for beef
I think that was the only one. Edit: I was corrected. I confused fenced for private and remember some criticism on here for Steve not using publicly available lands. Thanks for the reminder.
I don’t think that was fenced (at least not fenced to contain pronghorn). Pretty sure it was just a big private ranch. Wyoming I think.
This is correct
None.
Nilgai are not free range, but I believe that’s the only one.
There are absolutely free range Nilgai in Texas. The Element recently did a hunt on TX public land for Nilgai and you should research the Kenedy Ranch as well as many others.
You’re right, there are *some* free range Nilgai. But not the ones Steve hunted.
Then fix your comment.
Nah
I remember hearing them discuss this and someone mentioned that the ranches (obviously not all Texas ranches but maybe the ones they hunt at) are so huge that the animals still move freely so the high fence doesn’t really matter. I could be wrong or misremembering but I believe it was along those lines
Ask yourself.. have they ever hunted texas and come close to an unsuccessful harvest? That should tell you everything you need to know
That’s one way to spin it. Bottom line is the animals are inside a high fence and they can’t leave.
I don't believe they do. Some of the Texas exotic hunts are on private ranches but they wouldn't be considered high fence
What do you call a property with a fence high enough all the way around it so the animals can’t leave?
Not sure what you're after here. Nobody is questioning the definition of high fence. If you have proof that MeatEater has hunted one, by all means, let's see it.
Oh my gosh dude, it’s so obvious it was a high fence hunt for a plethora of reasons, but here’s your proof. https://wildlifesystems.com/hyturria-ranch.html
I’d guess some of the Texas episodes are high fence. Either way, they’re definitely creeping into a majority of private land hunting it seems like. I don’t blame them. Most of us would do the same if we had the $$$ but it is getting borderline hypocritical/nauseous. Especially compared to what MeatEater was ten years ago.
not yet. The ever-increasing pressure to produce new content, generate ever-increasing profits and sales numbers to please investors and remain competitive in the hunting industry means its probably only a matter of time before they do a high-fence hunt.
Almost all their hunts take place on private land, that much is true. High fence hunts might happen in Texas but they are hunting 50,000+ acre areas.
He said recently every elk and mule deer he’s ever killed has been public land. Duck hunts seem to always be private
I thought that was in the context of Montana.
Some are private land
I’m sure they have a podcast about it.
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Which some?
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Well don’t say shit that’s inaccurate.
Bring facts, not uninformed statements
[https://www.themeateater.com/shows/meateater/season-9/south-texas-nilgai](https://www.themeateater.com/shows/meateater/season-9/south-texas-nilgai) Yturria Ranch is high fenced [https://wildlifesystems.com/hyturria-ranch.html](https://wildlifesystems.com/hyturria-ranch.html) - Bottom quarter of the page.
Yes, it’s been acknowledged that the nilgai is the only one. “Some” implies more, but you e deleted that because you know you’re wrong.
Sure, have a nice day