I did not see the show but I think showing the public dead deer piled up on each other or strapped to vehicles is only asking for trouble. However, if they are following the law, they are hunters. As a bowhunter myself, I think we tend to be a little holier than thou because we use weapons and tactics that are much harder to be successful with. I dont think we should be bad mouthing other hunters techniques as long as it is within the law.

Heck, a case could be made that bowhunters cripple more deer per hunter than gun hunters. Dont know the stats but we've all made bad shots with no hunting partner at the end of the woodlot to help finish the job and put it out of their misery. Remember, we are all on the same team, we just use different equipment.

Why is this in a BOWHUNTING forum? It has nothing to do with bowhunting?

Besause they've aired this Crap and it give hunters a bad name.

Did you by chance miss the show? It was not what you are describing.

I saw the show and I have done deer drives. What they did IMO was very unsafe and not a good thing to put on tv for all to see. Like mentioned by others here shooting at that deer on the ridge was not a good idea. Also our drivers do not shoot at running deer. If a deer gets up and stands still with a good back drop fine, shoot, otherwise let it go. The standers NEVER EVER shoot at a deer until it has passed them. To shoot at a deer coming to you during a drive means the drivers are behind the deer and in the line of fire.

Deer drives can be very productive and I am sure we will continue to use them some during the gun season. What that show had last night was not a good example of a deer drive. IMO.

I grew up in Wisconsin, not too far from Alma where the show was filmed, and I have hunted quite a bit in MN as well. This is typical of many hunting groups/families in the midwest during fire arms season.

When I was younger, I thought sitting on a stand was boring, you saw maybe a couple of deer all day. I couldn't wait for the drives to begin on day two. As a walker you could talk to the guys on either side of you if you wanted, you saw deer, many of them doubling back and busting right past you. As a stander you often saw a dozen or more deer per drive, not always in a safe shooting situation, but at least you got to see deer, and yes sometimes you would kick that old buck out of his hiding spot.

Now that I am older, more patient, and have taken up bowhunting I prefer stand hunting, and our firearms season group rarely puts on drives anymore as our number of hunters has declined., The program was a good representation of the typical 9 day firearms season that we have in Wisconsin and how many many familes hunt. You might not agree with it (in fact I don't always agree with it), but it works, can be quite entertaining for young and old alike and is safe. Almost a million hunters in Wi and not one firearms death last season, in fact since 1980 the # of injuries has been on a steady decline, I think in part to hunter safety, better equipment and blaze orange requirements.

That show didn't do justice to this style of hunting but without the camera man being in the right place at the right time how could it?And all that blaze really looked bad on TV. As for the shots at a deer on top of the ridge? At first I thought "Unsafe" but then I realized that the camera man was at the bottom of the hill looking up, from that angle you couldn't tell if the deer was a buck/doe, what angle they were shooting from, or what the backdrop was like.

I'm not a fan of the drive, this "hunting show" as I sadly say made us look BAD it was not good for hunters in general, either bowhunting, gun hunting, muzzleloading or however you hunt it was a slaughter not a hunt. was a sad day for us HUNTERS. More negative actions for the anti-hunting community to talk about.

I prefer to hunt on my own, without a drive. But, when done correctly and safely we always harvest deer on our drives. I shot 2 does last year that were both on drives and helped my nephew get his first buck on a drive the year before. When the season (FireArms) has been going for a few days, the deer don't move much at all and the only way to get them moving seems to be drives. We never have more than 10-12 guys on a drive and half are standers usually. I guess on TV, we should be careful what we are representing to the masses. If we show them 25 hunters unloading on 2 deer, the will not like it. If we could show more of the effort of hunting and not the kill, maybe they could respect it better. Personally I enjoy the hunt before the kill, but understand all must happen. If you are willing to eat it, you should be willing to participate in every part of the harvest. Ethics.

yea i am getting not to like these shows with penned deer and stuff like that

I did not see the show so hopefully it will air again so I can watch.I have been involved in drives years ago when I was younger and there does have to be alot of caution and common sense used but that goes for any type hunting.
I would like to comment on these quotes of showing piled up deer dead or deer on a car trunk etc.gives hunters a bad name and just gives the antis more to go on.
I got news for you,the antis will never be happy no matter what you think.Everytime you cave in a little and dont show a kill shot on tv,or you gotta take another picture because the tounge was hanging out,or you gotta triple wrap the deer in a tarp because some kid may see it in your truck,everytime you give these morons an inch they are going tighten up more as soon as you relax on something.Like a boa constrictor,GET THE POINT.
I am tired of hearing all this crap about dont do this or dont show that because we may offend someone,usally that someone does not even hunt.Quit your bellyaching and just hunt and KILL no not harvest KIll them deer...

Pocomoke,

I think the general public does not even think about hunting as we do. For most its out of sight of out mind (unless you live in PA-holiday there). So putting bloodied animals on cars and driving them through town is not a good idea, period. This turns little housewives driving the kids in the minivan that normally doesn't give a sh*t about hunting the urge to become ACTIVISTS. Fear not the soft spoken housewife that may not care for the thought of hunting- fear the ACTIVIST.

I dont think this concession is giving in to the antis, I think it is preventing their numbers from growing. We have enough on our hands, without looking for trouble. Just MHO