Not that this is an unheard of technique, but I think sometimes it can be an overlooked one. My hunting parter, (my dad) and I often hunt together, and it is usually just the two of us. Many times we will be hunting in a variety of places that we may only hunt a few times per season, and are not afraid of "messing up the woods" like we would be on a piece of private ground that needs to remain intact throughout repeated trips. If stand sightings are slow, or if it is the last day of the hunt, we often put on a drive. I think most hunters, when thinking of a drive, envision armies of orangemen roaming the woods whistling to each other making lines and pushing herds in front of them. Our approach is necessarily much smaller. First, we try to pick out areas that we know deer are likely feeding or bedding in, but that we are unable to successfully infiltrate with a treestand because of bumping deer out on approach. Then, we will try to pick an escape route or funnel where they are likely to head to. One of us carefully slips into a tree within range of these funnels, and then the other one works the cover as slowly and quietly as possible. Of course, this tactic is much easier when gun-hunting, as the problem of alert deer is a non-issue. However, we have successfully used it bowhunting as well. The slowly and quietly as possible approach often causes the deer to get up and "sneak out" so to speak, without them turning on the white flags and afterburners, resulting in them wandering through the escape funnel at a leisurely pace while occasionally glancing at their backtrail rather than being on red-alert. It is also satisfying when one of us can help the other take a deer that they would not have otherwise gotten. We just call them little "pushes." Nothing groundbreaking, but it has put deer on the ground for us on trips that we otherwise would have been unsuccessful on.

Jon