I think most on here would answer the free range...as would I. However there would also need to be asked as to what you qualify as "free range" and also "non native". This leads us to the old belated discussion of high fence versus low fence and pen raised purchased deer vs. non pen raised in natural conditions. Lots of variables in all of that.
I have worked on and managed many ranches that are high fenced that have never brought in a purchased deer nor ever raised a single deer in a pen. Those ranches deer would certainly be classified as "native deer". Those ranches have ranged in acreage from 440 acres to 12,000 acres. So what amount of acreage would be needed to qualify as free range vs not? Do you just say that any high fenced ranch deer is not free range? Would a "native deer" that was never raised in a pen and has been naturally born on a ranch at say, like 5,000 acres, not be considered a rewarding and challenging hunt to some?
I will offer that back in the late 1970's and early 1980's the YO Ranch did a very detailed study of high fence ranch deer and the challenge of hunting deer on various pasture sizes and vs low fence pastures. The study was done by two TAMU Grad biologist with degrees in WFS that worked at the YO at the time. They did controlled observations on various sizes of native pastures ranging from 200 acres to 8,000 acres as it related to deer behaviour and how well the deer could become unseen or "stealthy" (for lack of better terms) from human interaction within those pastures. (It should be noted that they never did any of their observations using deer feeders or baiting of the deer during this study).
The conclusions and findings were pretty surprising. They found that the smaller the pasture, the more the deer knew every inch of their habitat and the more they were acutely aware of a human entering those pastures and became much more wary than in the larger pastures....both high fenced and low fenced.
Their analogy and example of explanation was pretty simple..............Say you walked into your living room after a day at work and your wife had moved a table or chair in that room. You would immediately recognize that something had changed. Now, in comparison, lets say you walked into Reed Arena and someone moved a table or chair, you would probably never notice it. They concluded that actually small pasture high fenced deer are so aware of every detail of their habitat that they can be very challenging to hunt because they are so aware of any foreign noise, smell, etc within their small world.....albeit, they need a habitat with adequate geographical features and cover....(.this analogy would not apply to a 200 acre open coastal pasture with one tree in it of course).
I have stated many times on the OB that I do not condone nor support deer farms or raising whitetails in pens....selling and transporting them etc. I dont think human hands should touch them until they are on the ground from hunting.
With that being said, I have been on high fence ranches that don't allow hunting around feeders or vehicles driving around.... and only allow spot and stalk hunting......and whose deer are all native born (None raised in pens or purchased) that offer a damn challenging hunt.
Personally (emphasis on personally) I prefer that kind of hunt over any low fence or high fence hunt sitting and watching a feeder go off.....those types of hunts (spot and stalk) have been the most rewarding for me, no matter the B&C score of the deer I harvest.
At the end of the day I think it is a matter of preference by the hunter and what makes his hunt happy and enjoyable to him......not anybody else......no matter the deer, how it was raised, or what kind of pasture the deer was in......as long as he hunted legally and obeyed the laws to get that deer. At least we are all out in Gods creation and enjoying the hunt......the trophy is in the eye and memory of the hunter.......no matter his score. But hell, we all like big deer!
