Deer drives : Good or Bad?

[Polish Moments]

How do you guys and gals feel about making deer drives. (Gun, bow, etc) Does it work well? Are there any tricks or secrets on how to push a big buck out to a poster? Is wind direction a big factor in setting up a drive?
Were thinking of tring it this year for gun season. Seems the big boys are awful nocturnal and spooky when the shooting starts. Any advice?
Bill

[1dahunter]

I think deer drives are great I am disabled and it helps me, the only bad thing about a drive is you almost always got to shoot em on the run which isnt hard at least not for me I grew up in Kansas hunting Quail so if ya can nail Quail in flight a running deer is no problem.

[Rick James]

If done properly, the deer are not always running. We do them when I am in PA, and always place the watchers downwind of the drivers. The drivers don't hoot and holler either like a lot of places, that just lets the big ones know where you are so they can slip between everyone. We typically have the drivers still hunt VERY slowly, and they usually shoot as many deer as the watchers. We also put watchers on both sides of the patch we are driving as well as one in the backdoor, not just the typical ones out front. The ones watching the backdoor usually shoot the biggest deer and most everyone never sees them.

[wally83]

have the drivers go slow and quiet ...and stay alert some times a big boy will stay beaded down adn you can walk right by him

[cardeer]

Dont like them myself.To many deer shot at that In my opinion should not be shot at. And in a state with point restrictions to many mistakes Could happen..I like hunting them one on one in their natural setting and not a nascar race atmosphere.

[Charlie P]

I put on one man pushes to my son. I just walk slow through a thicket he has a tree stand set up on and it works well.

Don't do the big organized drives anymore,but they were very effective, when they were done right.

[minnesotahunter]

In my opinion, deer drives can work really well. For the MN opener this year, it was warm and we weren't seeing much activity at all. So on Sunday afternoon we had about 3 guys push through the woods with two guys posted on a clearing and got two doe in a couple of hours. It's worth a shot if you aren't seeing much activity.

[OntElk]

We do them 2 ways. Hard pushes and silent ones. Depends on a few things but I aree a silent push is most effective for good clean kills. We put standers downwind so they can't be smelled. Driver (or dogger as we call him) basically still hunts towards the standers. The doggers scent will get them moving and it was confirmed 2 more times again this season what happens:

Does will move and swing around and try and get by the dogger moving upwind. Once they get on the move the bucks will use them as decoys and try and slip downwind away from everything. I have shot 2 bucks which were walking away (with purpose mind you) from a dogger going straight downwind as does were busting out of the bush on the upwind side.

You have to know the bush to be effective. We have camp maps which mark both doe and buck escape routes. Some areas only work with a certain wind and others we just adapt which way we "push" depending on the wind.

I also use this when stand hunting during gun season on public land. Sometimes I just go to a spot very early before first light and use all the late risers as my doggers when they plod into the bush. I shot a doe doing that this year. I could hear the guy shut his truck door on his way in to hunt. Within a few minutes deer were moving.

[Coastie]

There are areas where the deer drive is an accepted and traditional part of hunting, others where it is unheard of. It works and some planning is involved for saftey, if nothing else. Just be careful as things can get a bit hectic at times.

[Hiawatha]

We usually do one big drive a year. I to agree that pushers should walk slowly and not holler. We just walk along loudly stepping on the odd stick and breaking branches. Usually we get the deer to just walk out the back of the bluff. We don't allow any of the pushers to carry guns so that fellas are not shooting in the bluff not knowing exaclty where the other guys are. I would say the 2 key points of a drive are the wind and the pusher spacing. You want to push with the wind if at all possible so the deer pick up the pushers but not the posters. And space the pushers out fairly even. Start guys in a bit from the edge so nothing runs out the sides and keep in a straight of a line as possible. Ideally you should be able to see the fellas to each side of you and you should all be moving at the same rate through the bush. If one guy gets too ahead of the group that big boy will get pushed up and circle back behind him.