Taking Out an Unneeded Barbed-Wire Cross Fence for Pronghorn and Mule Deer With a T-Post Puller: Wire Off First, Then Every Post and Stay

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A lot of high-desert places come with an old interior fence that nobody uses anymore. It splits a pasture you now run as one, and the deer and pronghorn still have to deal with it every day.

If a fence no longer has a job, take all of it out: wire, clips, stays, and every post. Cut the wire loose at the braces, roll it up off the line, then pull each steel post straight up with a T-post puller. Leaving posts or stays standing keeps the barrier in place for wildlife.

Why half a teardown does not work

Texas Parks and Wildlife's pronghorn fence recommendations say to remove old fences that are no longer necessary. They add that removal of posts and stays is essential, because if they are left, pronghorn will think the fence still exists.

The classic shortcut here is cutting the wire and calling it done. A row of bare steel posts still reads as a fence line to a pronghorn, and loose wire on the ground is worse than wire on posts for anything that steps in it.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks says the same thing in plainer terms in its landowner's guide to wildlife friendly fences: wherever possible, remove obsolete fences that are no longer needed. It also notes that removing obsolete fence can let pronghorn slip through without missing a beat.

What goes in the truck

1. Leather gloves with gauntlets, long sleeves, and safety glasses. Old barbed wire snaps and curls when it lets go.
2. Fencing pliers and a pair of heavy wire cutters.
3. A wire roller or a spare cable spool on a pipe, so the barbed wire winds up instead of tangling.
4. A T-post puller for the steel posts, plus a shovel and a digging bar for any wood posts.
5. A trailer or truck bed with a tarp, and a plan for the scrap.

Taking the wire down

1. Start at one end brace. Release the tension before cutting by unwinding the wraps at the post, or cut close to the post while standing to the side, never in line with the wire.
2. Walk the line and pull every clip or tie. Twisted wire stays come off at the same time, since the guidance specifically calls for removing stays.
3. Feed one strand at a time onto the roller and wind it as you walk. One strand at a time keeps the barbs from knitting into a ball you cannot separate.
4. Tie off each finished roll with a short piece of wire so it does not spring loose in the truck.

Rolled barbed wire is heavy and awkward, so I keep the rolls small enough to lift into the truck bed without help. A smaller roll is also easier to handle at the scrap yard.

Pulling the posts

1. Seat the puller jaw on the post just above the ground, with the lugs on the post catching the grip.
2. Lever it up in short strokes. If the post fights, rock it side to side a few times to break the soil loose, then pull again.
3. Lay the pulled posts in one pile by length. Straight ones get reused; bent ones go with the scrap wire.
4. Fill each hole with a boot heel of soil so nothing steps in it.

In dry caliche a post can feel welded in place. A bucket of water poured around the base and given an hour to soak usually lets it come out without bending.

Wood corner and brace posts are slower. I dig down on one side, rock them loose, and lift them out, then cut any rotted stub that snaps off a few inches below grade.

Before you cut anything

Check that the fence is really yours to remove and not a shared boundary or a lease line. The Montana guide starts with the basic question of what the fence is for, and a neighbor's cattle may be part of that answer.

Tractor Supply sells wire rollers and fencing pliers if you do not already own them. Harbor Freight carries cheap leather gloves, and it pays to buy two pairs since barbs shred them fast.

Once the posts are out, sorting and reusing them is its own job; see this walkthrough on salvaging 40 steel T-posts from a retired pasture fence.