Don't want fenced in yard, 8 acres

My wife and I have just purchased an 8 acre property(cheap!!) in
upstate New York. I want to install dog doors so I don't have to
get up and let the dogs out every minute. Of the 8 acres, 2 acres
are lawn area and the rest is brush and forest. I don't want to
fence in the yard but I want the dogs to come and go as they please.
The problem is I don't want the dogs to run away, especially
chasing a deer or something. I really don't want to install
invisible fence because this is expensive and sometimes I want
to take the dogs beyond the perimeter of the lawn. Can I train
my dogs to stay close to the house? One of the dogs is a male.
I have noticed that the neighbors (few and far between) have
their dogs loose and they seem to stay close to their homes.
Please help with any advise you can offer!

erm... the only thing that comes to minds is this:

in france, from what i know places in the south. they let their dogs out into the villages whenever they want to, and the dogs do stay close to home and dont run away.

I think you should just fence a small area close to the dog doors.Use Chainlink it is much cheaper than wood or electric underground.If you say do a play area than you will still have the rest of the grass area for supervised play or entertaining company and children to play on.

An electric fence is a very good idea or just train them to stay near home!

i agree dont fence te whole thing in... fence the back yard ... or the front yard... but i would absolute stillinstall a fence make it the back yard.. it is great... at least you wont have to fence the whole 2 acres

I have 2 acres fenced for the dogs and bits and pieces of the rest of the 198 acres fenced now too for the rescue or drop off area.

You can still take your dogs outside the invisible fence line, just turn or take off the collar. Otherwise, what my grandma always did was keep the dog tied for about a week whenever she wasn't outside when she first got it, just so it knew that this was home and where the foodbowl was. She never had a dog run off for good. They would explore the surrounding areas, but always come home pretty quick.

Don't want fenced in yard

Thanks all for your input! I think I will fence in a small area for at night when they want to go out. During the day I can still use the fence or open up the gate when I am there to supervise. I was also told that if I walk the dogs around the perimeter of the property with a leash and pull them away from outside the property line they will learn this after two weeks.