RE: Drive Hunting
 

You can' t be being serious !! Or else you' ve never been bowhunting !!

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Umm, yes, I do bowhunt. I think your taking me out of context on this one though. What I am saying that is if you sitting in a stand that someone told you to sit in, then how does that require any more skill than any other type of hunting.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I guess I probably took it out of context . But after reading the above posts I thought you were responding back to SA' s post comparing drive hunting to actually having to scout, place a stand, and hunt with a bow.
Now that I' m with you......... if I put you out on a stand and did a drive to push deer towards you (you hunting with a gun) or I put you in a stand on a food plot with a bow .........you don' t think there is a difference ?
I' ll agree things get closer but there is still a lot more skill required of the bow hunter .
Now a more realistic approach would be to look at this on a new piece of property. Do you think it would be more challenging to scout the land , hang stands, hunt the wind, clear shooting lanes , etc . and kill a nice buck or get 5-6 of your buddies and do a drive a kill the same buck on opening weekend ?
Is the answer that complicated ???

RE: Drive Hunting
 

No, it' s not complicated. I would say that what you described about scouting land, setting up stands and so on does take more skill.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

We hunt with a guy and his son who only hunt using drives. Let me tell you these guys are good. They have taken wall hangers evey year. Now keep in mind they do this during ARCHERY season[:o]. Shooting a wall hanger coming out of the brush at full speed with a bow. If i had not seen it done myself i would not beleive it either. They have over 30 mounts throught out their house. No, they are not hunting in texas, this is in western pa and western ny and northeastern ohio.

Their trick is to do a sh-- load of spotting, get permission from the landowner, do some scouting, find the excape route, set one guy up, the other guy push it out. Then be a good archer and you have got yourself a nice buck once again.

Just though i would share this with you guys. Seeing that i consider myself a avid hunter and have only seen a few wall hangers i find this to be amazing.

Eddie

RE: Drive Hunting
 

and so it continues[:' (]

RE: Drive Hunting
 

sa
It takes a lot to burst my bubble. Tell you what, instead of us beating our chest and mudslinging, I invite you up here for a friendly week of bowhunting. You pick the week. If you can take a wall hanger out of a tree stand in my main hunting area, I' ll pay for your liscense, gas to and back and house you with meals. If you can' t get a wall hanger out of a tree stand, you pay for your liscense and gas. The housing is still your' s for free with meals. The biggest buck I have got with bow is 145 gross/140 net. Shouldn' t be hard for a pro like you to beat. Since you seem to figure yourself quite the hunter, the wall hanger is that big or bigger. My main hunting ground covers 6000 acres. We have a lot of deer. There are only two of us that bowhunt this and since harvest runs pretty long for us, we don' t get much hunting in during Sept and most of Oct. , so the deer aren' t pressured by us. Course I drive deer so what would I know so take it for what it is worth. No need for you to bring lure, rattling horns, or scentlock clothing as you didn' t mention any of these in your previous posts and since you are gifted at reading deer sign and knowing the wind. Bring your bow rig, stand/stands and camos. A bow liscense can be bought over the counter for whitetail and you only need ID and a hunter saftey cert. if born after Dec of 61. Liscense should run about a 170 bucks for a non-res. Very cheap hunt even if you can' t find the big boy.

Tim

RE: Drive Hunting
 

TJF,
The original post was about whether drive hunting is considered " real hunting" by some . I take " real hunting" as meaning , it is real challenging . Now in your last post you just summed up what I think all the bowhunters responding on this thread are trying to say .
You have a difficult place to bowhunt, it requires a tremendous amount of energy, skill, and time to bag the big boy . So an easier way to be more productive is to perform deer drives !

To each his own, but in regards to the original question about challenging hunting ...........to me at least , you just proved my point !! ;)

RE: Drive Hunting
 

TJF,

I don' t think I implied anywhere in my posts that I am the World' s Greatest bowhunter. However, I have killed some pretty nice bucks with a bow. I don' t think I could come up to where you live, hunt one week and expect to kill a bruiser. Bow hunting just isn' t that easy. I feel sure that I could come up and scout them for the last couple of weeks of summer and kill one in early bow season. I do feel like I could come up there pick a few drivers up and pick a couple of good looking thickets and stand an excellent chance of killing one in a week. However, there is only a limited amount of time and financial resources that I have available each year. I choose to use those resources under circumstances that I find to be the most challenging. I just don' t find drives to be enough of a challenge for me personally. I am not knocking anyone else doing it. I am not saying that stand hunters are superior to drive hunters. I merely stated that stand/blind hunting is more challenging, especially with a bow. As far as the invitation goes, I will have to decline. I have a hunt booked in Illinois this year and one in Wyoming & one in Illinois next year. That' s about all the vacation I have.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Me thinks a lot of people are speaking of which they know not.
How anyone can categorize one type of hunting over another is beyond me.
I' m against driving on public land, but could care less on private. Of course I share the concern that the vast majority of folks aren' t as proficient with a weapon as they like to think, and that' s born out by the number of deer I find dead each year with shotgun pellets in the guts from drive hunters each year shed hunting in NJ. But if you pick your shots, God bless.
I' ll shoot every dog running deer I see, always have, but if you have enough land to know you' re dog isn' t going to mess anyone else up, and stay on your property, sounds like a fun way to hunt.
Lots of folks think bowhunting is more challenging than gun hunting, what a joke! 4 months(including the rut) to get a deer within 40 yards, vs 6 days to get a deer within 100yds in most mid West shotgun states. You gotta be kidding.
If I had to feed myself on my deer, I' d take bowhunting every time.
Not trying to get off topic, just pointing out that you only look inexperienced when you make blanket statements about other' s methods. " Challenge" is a word often misused. The guy in my club with a recurrve is fond of saying what an additional challenge his hunting style is, meanwhile he' s shooting every antlered buck he can. I' m out there with a compound, killing mature bucks, but he thinks his hunting is more challenging, LOL. I got spikes and 4pts tripping over themselves all around my tree every week during the season.
Just trying to make a point, that yes, it' s easier to kill any given deer with a drive, vs stand hutning, in GENERAL, but some fella driving hard hunted land they' ve hunted for yeard, scuting escape routes, looking fior big sign to target specific areas, well, that' s not any less hunting than the guys with a private farm hunting over a food plot, it' s all relevant.
I' d suspect the success rate is much, much lower for drive hunting somewhere in North Central Canada, vs a fella bowhunting the Mid-Atlantic or SouthEast, where treestand bowhunting is pretty much a given.


Then again, maybe I should change my post so TJF invites me hunting.


[;)

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Clueless aren' t you?

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Once again, a whole lot easier to kill a deer with a 4 month season and 40yd range, than a 1 week season with a hundred yard range. Much, much, easier.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

On second thought, sa, with all your bitterness towards any other types of hunting, perhaps you should take the man up on his offer for a week' s hunting, ya may learn a thing or two, at least enough to know it' s no great feat to kill a deer over a 4 month season. Just a suggestion.
[&:]

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Well if you like calling out people for not knowing enough about the other guy............then here you go . South Carolina has a 2 week Archery season and 19 weeks of gun season. Everyone laughed at me for bowhunting yet I killed a deer (and passed on many) when some rifle hunter' s didn' t even get a shot all season .

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Why don' t you check your local deer kill numbers for your state and see whether there are more deer killed in that 4 month bow season or that one week deer season. If bowhunting is so much easier why does every conservation department in the country give hunters several times more time in which to kill a deer with a bow than they do with a gun. Becuase it is more difficult. I see 100 deer a year that I could kill with a gun that I never get shots at with a bow. I would bet you that in every state in the nation there are more deer killed during gun seaon than there is in bow season. Also, why don' t you check out the percentages of hunters that take deer with a bow compared to the percentages of hunters that take deer with a gun and then report back to us all of your findings.;)

It' s no great feat to kill one with a gun either. I let my wife practice with my muzzle loader one afternoon. The next day I took her and she killed a deer. She had never been hunting before.

I don' t have bitterness towards other types of hunting. I have just been there and done all that and I think gun hunting and especially drive hunting is to easy. I prefer more of a challenge and that challenge is bowhunting. I still muzzleload occaisionally, just not very often.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Ahh, now your getting the point. Ya can' t classify everything based on your own state, your own experience, you' re own way of doing things. That' s my whole point. Thanks for helping me make it. What' s " more challenging" for you, may not be for the other guy.
Here' s my homework asignment sa. ;)
The last year I could find stats without digging too much in my home state.
1996
52000 bowhunters
92000 gun hunters

18854 deer killed during the bow season(Not sure how many total days)
10035 deer killed during the 6 day firearm season
Hmmm... 36% success for bowhunters, 11% success for gun hunters....

I never said it' s not easier to kill a deer with a gun during any given day, nor did I say it' s easier to get a deer with bow in any given state. I used states with the more common lengthy bowseason and a brief, one week firearm season. Just an example. I happen to share the thought that bowhunting is more rewarding, I doubt I' ll even dust off the guns this year, but who knows?

I just don' t see how you can fail to realize the fact that it very well may be much more difficult to kill a deer in an area like those mentioned above, say, vast prarie, low deer numbers, etc, vs bowhunting in the East or Southeast where deer are as common as Democrats in hell.
Ya just have to realize it may be much more of a challenge to kill a deer for these guys driving in their area, as it is for you to kill one with your bow in your state. Sure, driving would make things a lot quicker and easier in your state, as would it in mine, but last I checked, some of the folks on this thread ain' t from either of those states.
The fella hutning where there' s .8 deer per square mile in Northern Canada has a more difficult time tagging out, driving or not. No getting around that.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Here are some numbers for you.

In Arkansas we have a 5 month bowseason. There were 9,488 deer killed in those five months with a combination of bows and crossbows. There were 115,115 deer killed by modern guns in roughly 3 weeks of season. I can see what you mean that gun hunting is a lot tougher[:o][&:][&:]

Here' s the link if you want to verify the numbers:

http://www.agfc.com/education/deer_h...a/2001-02.html

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Ahh, now you' re getting the point, thanks for helping me make it. Ya can' t base everything on your home state, you' re particular methods, how you were taught.
Sure, drive hunting would make the season too quick, and too easy in your state, and mine as well, but there' s no getting around the fact that the fella hunting Northern Canada with deer densities at .8 per square mile has a lot more difficulty filling a tag, driving, or no driving, than someone bowhunting in the East or Southeast where deer are as common as Democrats in hell.
I can imagine looking over 5 square miles of bush and thinking we have to start driving, and MAYBE there' s a mature buck somewhere in there is a lot more daunting than you or I heading to our woodlot with 30-40 deer per square mile.
Which of those is more challenging?
Oh, and here' s my homewoprk assignment. ;)

1996 New Jersey(last year they posted details on theirr site)
52000 bowhunters
92000 gun hunters

18854 deer killed during bow season
10035 deer killed during 6 day firearm season

Hmmm....bowhunters had 36% success, gun hunters had 11% success....
Sounds to me it' s a lot eeasier to slap a tag on one during the approximately 3 month bow season.

Your state may vary. [;)

RE: Drive Hunting
 

And thank you for helping me make my point.

If the deer densities are that low up there how tuff do you think the bowhunting would be? Exactly! Pretty damn. That' s why they drive because bowhunting is too tuff;)

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Is that the best you could find info from 1996? You got any links to back up your info?

RE: Drive Hunting
 

" If the deer densities are that low up there how tuff do you think the bowhunting would be? Exactly! Pretty damn. That' s why they drive because bowhunting is too tuff"

LOL, sa, I just hope you have a littlee bit of a clue how ridiculous you sound, if nothing else.
So....I guess if those Canadien bowhunters visited your state, using YOUR logic, they could complain how easy it would be to kill deer with a bow, how " unchallenging" it would be, hell, they' d have to catch them with their hands to get the same challenge they' re used to back home, LOL

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Here I will type slow so you can understand. Anywhere you go in the US or Canada it will be easier to kill deer in that region by driving them than it would be bowhunting them from a stand. Have you ever bow hunted and if so how many have you killed that way.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Why go slow? You can change your tune midstride anytime, I think everyone can keep up.
I certainly agree in any specific area it takes more skill to kill a deer on stand than with a drive. 100%
It' s your blanket statements that drive hunting iss not much of a challenge that I had to correct. In many areas, drive hunting is very, very difficult to be successful at, and takes a great deal of woodsmanship and skill. Maybe not in the small hardwood blocks, pine forests, and swamps in your area, but in the home states of some of these guys, very much so. That' s all.
Why is it you change your argument when someone shows a reason to disagree?
Taz gave his opinion on the subject, just like any of us, but you twisted his words to suit your agenda. He said he thought stand hunting and drive hunting both required skills, just different ones, never mentioning bowhunting at all. You couldn' t stand someone disagreeing, so you attacked his credibility by pointing out his bowhunting experiences, however limited. He was talking about standhunting, not just with a bow, but stand hunting in general, at least that' s the way it reads, if ya read it. Ta has said he' s hunted for some years, I seem to remember he killed a buck that you' d be lucky to match in your lifetime, as would I, if memory serves. Just because he' s only just started bowhutning, doesn' t mean he' s not knowledgeable in stand hunting tactics, right? If you take up the muzzleloader for the first time next year, does that mean you all of the sudden know nothing about stand hutning? Try to keep up, sa, with THIS conversation, not the one inside your head.
Not that it matters, but I' ve killed something over 45 big game animals with a bow, mostly deer, I can think of a dozen or more off the top of my head members of this very forum have helped drag out, if ya doubt it. Not near as many as some here, but hopefully enough to meet whatever criteria the fellas in your head demand.
;)
I' m done here, it' s a wide world outside your personal experiences, maybe open your eyes instead of judging so quickly. Have fun

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Me changing tunes!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It' s called reading comprehension! You should try it some time![:o]

I have killed 6 that will make the book, with a bow, 2 of them going over 160;)

RE: Drive Hunting
 

CBM SC

No, I offered him a friendly week of bowhunting, a challenge to get him interested with a very fair deal to sweeten the plot since he is lives so far away. I would have offered him the same deal for our rifle season, but the tags are on a lottery system and the chances of getting one is very slim for a non-resident and with only a 2.5 week season that would be tougher for him to fit in then the 4 month bow season. Now that would have been fun and no I wouldn' t make him go on a drive although I hope he would just to see what it is like in my area. He could hunt any method. Bow can be used also for that tag. He compares what is challenging to him ( which is in his area I might feel the same) to drive hunting and then lumps all drivers in the same catigory as anyone can do it. Well anyone can also bowhunt. Depending on what you put into it or what your trying to accomplish with any hunting method will decide how challenging it is and I have stated that from the beginning. Terrain also plays a part, just as access to land, competition from other hunters, how much the deer have been pressured, climate, length of season and other things. He is trying compares bowhunting with rifle hunting. How do you argue that one and why even compare it to each other. I would imagine using a spear would be more challenging then bow. How about a rock?? Not many would agrue which of these is harder. And yes driving deer with a bow would be much harder then with a rifle if that makes you happy. Also with the idea of getting him up here, he would see trees aren' t the best for wallhangers for bow when relying on just your hunting ability minus the scentlock, lure or rattle horns. The few trees we have are good for hunting deer if you are looking for does, young bucks and if you luck out with the right wind to even be able to hunt it, but if you want the trophy, you will do it from the ground and now you are playing at their level with a new set of rules to follow. That was the main reason I offered the hunt as I was curious how he would adapt as I put enough info in my other posts on what soemone can expect when hunting my area that when he got here and found out there really is not much for trees ( thicket, what' s that?? LOL ) not everything is the same from area to area. That one way is not the best way and is why I like being able to use different methods of hunting. I bet he would find bowhunting on the ground in my area is more challenging then tree stand hunting is in his area. I even left a loop hole when I said he had to shot it off his tree stand. Never did say it had to be fasten to a tree. Course he would have to prove he was actually standing on when he shot the deer off the ground. :D

sa
Too bad you can' t come as I was serious. This post is turning into a real bashing. Alot of good points being expressed but looks like tempers are flaring too much for any good to come of it. I had hoped it wouldn' t really come down to what it has but posts on baiting, dog hunting or drives usually does. You darned bowhunters or is that stand hunters ??!! ;) Course I don' t think I helped it any. Oh well till the next time. Offer still stands should you change you mind.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

It' s funny that you of all people would make that comment, considering this is my original post:

Notice where I say " do I think it requires as much skill" . I simply expressed an opinion.

I never said anything similar to that.

Again, I made no such implication. So you call me out and you' re suprised this thread turns out this way[:o][:' (][X(]

I will go ahead now and be honest. Although I do sincerely appreciate an invitation to your hunting spot, I have no interest in going. I don' t believe it was genuine. I hunt for fun and going to hunt with anyone on a " well I' ll just show you scenario" doesn' t sound like much fun. It would appear that we have very little in common anyway.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Some people think that the number of deer shot is directly related to how good a hunter he/she may be. There are way too may variables to come to that conclusion. Driving deer, hunting with dogs, hunting from tree stands...these are all legal methods and why should one hunter challenge another on his methods, so long as it' s legal. From personal experience, I know hunters from the mid-west that get a deer every year, some with bow, some with M/L others with shotguns etc. They see deer EVERY time that go in to the deer woods and pass on deer everyday. Yet these same three guys have hunted here in NH, and one took a small spike with a M/L, the other two have yet to SEE a deer after hunting the last two years and for 9 straight days. Only one deer seen and the same deer was shot...That' s 54 huntings days for three guys that take deer with ease when hunting back home. Are they good hunters?... probably, but seeing, shooting deer in one region should never be compared equally when hunting in another area. The same applies when using different hunting methods. What' s a good method for one area may not be good for another and personally those who don' t agree with that...all I can say, if you think you' re a good bow hunter.....come to NH, but please don' t call the taxidermist before leaving.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

sa
Maybe I read to much in your post. I guess the cutting wood bit touched a nerve and the blinders went on. I did admit I was no help for this post to go bad.

All' s I was trying to do with the invite was to show you my area so you can see for yourself what it is like. That some of us take driving serious, set limits on ourselves and put a lot into it besides just walking. The offer wasn' t about me being better then you, but possibly you seeing my side of the point when it comes to drives in my area. Since it wouldn' t take a week to try and get my point across, whether you accepted it or not, You might as well hunt as that is a good way of getting familar with an area. You would find trees are not much good here for bow. You can' t say stand hunting is more challenging then any other method here. Since the big bucks " DON" T" use the trees, you " HAVE" to use another method. Tree stand hunting is not challenging but waste of time. It would be as smart as hunting with an unloaded rifle. So my opinion is driving deer is much more challenging or any other method for that fact since you need to hunt where the big bucks are at in my area. You might get lucky in a tree stand but you will not do it year to year, nor every 5 years by hunting by deer sign or patterning bucks.

The invite was sincere. Since I invited you, I would have done my best to make sure you enjoyed yourself. If you can' t find fun in a week of hunting 6000 acres, define fun to me as I don' t get it. Even if we didn' t hit it off since bowhunting is generally a solo style of hunting we would not be hunting together. I know you live far away and have many reason for not being able to come or you just didn' t want to. I would have excepted any of them. Simple no thanks would suffice which you provided in the post before.

Maybe we don' t have much in common and it won' t be something I would lose sleep over nor doubt you will either.


Tim

RE: Drive Hunting
 

If you don' t legally hunt the way I hunt, you are a irresponsible, unethical hunting slob.....Bull####

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I personally feel deer driving should be outlawed, but that is only my opinion. Every year after gun season, I go out and start my scouting process over because in this area, drives seem to be the only way to hunt. I have hunted with guns and bows, hunted from stands, ground, still etc. I will not hunt with a gun again unless I become physically unable to bow hunt. Bowhunting is much more challenging, you get more time in the woods which is what I enjoy the most, and quite frankly you don' t have to worry about stray bullets flying your way like I did while rifle hunting. You will see far more deer in a drive yes, but you will also wound, maim, and endanger everyone and everything in your hunting area doing a drive. A coworker poo-pooed me for saying this to him and his family who are well known drive hunters. He told me his family had always hunted this way, it was the only true way to hunt deer to him. When asked how many deer were shot then not found the last season, he said that was part of hunting, he didn' t care. Asked what he would do if someone in the group got shot the rush and excitement of the drive, " Will never happen, we are good shots and know what we are doing." This past season, my co-worker and his cousin were doing a drive with friends, they entered a field with their truck and a deer took off, in their rush to get the guns out(they kept them loaded all the time) of the truck, my co-worker shot his cousin in the head killing him. Accidents can happen to anyone, this one was preventable by practicing better gun/safety methods. The cousin left behind two sons, his wife and a farm, just because traditions couldnt be broken.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Silenassasin I will not say my feelings after reading that crap! I have killed more deer with a shotgun from a stand under 20 yards than you have probably seen, I have hunted for over 35 years, yes I have killed one deer with a bow, but I have killed more with a shotgun than you could imagine. You are talking out your arse!

That comment right there shows just how little you really know about hunting with dogs! Here is one for you, would you consider a bird dog a good deer dog?

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Silent that statement tells me something, your scouting is done for you, your stands are set for you, this kind of disqualifies you and your claim to be a master scouter![:o] Scouting takes a little more time than jumping on a plane and flying out to meet your guide for the hunt!;)

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Silent I wonder how many book bucks I could have killed over the years if I hunted with guides doing my scouting and setting my stands, oh BTW my biggest buck with a shotgun, shot at 20 yards from a stand (on the ground) dressed at 175 pounds, had 8 points, with a spread of 21 3/4 inches on the inside of the beams and measuring from the top of his head to the upper most tines was 19 1/2 inches. I had no guide, there were no stands set for me by a guide, I did my own scouting and stand placement, I killed him in 1974 in Lancaster County Virginia.

Oh yea I have bow hunted 2 full seasons, and my first kill was from the ground, I did all the scouting and stand placements, I do not pay for my hunts except with the sweat of my own brow!

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Did it last year. Wont ever do it again.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I think this thread has run it' s course. Let' s move on to something else.