How to Build a Game Fence

Game fences are usually built in the United States for containing native deer and elk or exotic animals imported from other countries. Game or "high" fences are a necessity for intensive deer management where breeding programs are implemented to produce big deer with large antlers. Without a high fence, deer from the breeding program will move to the neighbors. And smaller deer from adjoining properties will infiltrate the improved herds. Building a game fence is challenging because it is hard physical work and must be done correctly, according to the Saskatchewan Environment Resource Stewardship Branch.

Things You'll Need

  • 12-gauge high-tensile mesh wire 8 feet high
  • 6-inch top diameter pressure treated posts, 12 feet long
  • Steel frame gates
  • 2-inch barbed fence staples
  • 12-gauge single strand high-tensile wire
  • 6-inch nails
  • Tractor-mounted post hole auger
  • Wire stretcher
  • 3-foot wooden stakes
  • Carpenter's level
  • Crushed rock
  • Roll of binder's twine
  • 1-inch diameter pipe, 14 feet long
  • Towing chain
  • Wire splicing tool
Show More

Instructions

  1. Setting the Posts

    • 1

      Remove any old fencing and brush from the path of the game fence. There should be a 10-foot wide clearing outside the proposed fence line for unrolling wire. Drive 3-foot wooden stakes at each fence corner.

    • 2

      Use a tractor-mounted post-hole digger with a 10- to 12-inch auger to dig holes for the corner posts. Set posts in the holes and straighten using a carpenter's level. Fill the holes with crushed rock and tamp until the post does not move. Dirt from the hole can also be used, but it does not tamp as firm as crushed rock.

    • 3

      Stretch binder's twine, stout cord, rope or wire between the corner posts. Drive 3-foot wooden stakes every 12 feet along the cord or wire. Install posts at each stake in the same manner as the corner posts are set.

    • 4

      Build braces on each side of the corner posts. Fasten a post horizontally between the corner post and the next adjacent line post. Notch the standing posts so that the horizontal post will fit securely. Position the horizontal post 12 inches from the top of the standing posts and attach it with 6-inch nails.

    • 5

      Double-wrap and attach 12-gauge smooth high-tensile wire just above the spot where the horizontal brace is joined to the outside post and to the bottom of the corner post. This wire should be tightened as much as possible.

    Adding the Wire

    • 6

      Lay a roll of mesh wire on the ground to the outside of a fence corner. Slide a 1-inch diameter pipe, 8 feet long through the center of the roll. Fasten a length of towing chain to each end of the pipe and to the tractor draw bar. As you drive the tractor forward, the wire will unroll on the outside of the fence.

    • 7

      Cut vertical strands of the mesh wire on the end by the corner post until there is about 1.5 to 2.0 feet of horizontal wire. Bend each strand around the corner post leaving about 6 inches of extra wire. Insert the end of the wire through the hole in a splicing tool. Push the tool down to the original wire and wrap several times. Staple the wire to the post. Repeat this process each time a new roll of wire is added to the fence.

    • 8

      Build braces on each side of gate openings and wrap horizontal strands of the mesh wire around each gate post. A roll of wire may have to be cut at the gate post and then reattached on the opposite side of the opening. Install hinges and latches and then hang the gates.