Drive Hunting
 

Many people when I tell them that we drive hunt say that, that is not real hunting. Let me tell you something drive hunting is alot of work and sure gives you exercise. Besides our family has to drive hunt because of all the hunters we hunt with. All the hunters are family or really close friends. Total we hunt with 15 people. Drive hunting takes alot of skill because you have to be really quick and ready to shoot and be able hit a deer running at full speed. Drivers usually make the deer scatter and help out other people (strangers) who are sitting in their stands get a chance at getting a deer by making the deer run everywhere and allowing some other hunters the chance to get a shot. Last year we were doing a drive a guy and his son were up in their stand we ended up pushing a six point buck to there stand. Even though one of our guys didnt get it, it still made me happy to see someone else get it. What do you think? Do you think drive hunting is real hunting?

RE: Drive Hunting
 

That about sums up my feelings on the topic. [:' (]

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I' m not going to get into wether it is hunting or not but I will tell you that in my experiances I have seen many many more bigger deer by still hunting or making small two or three man drives with out all of the hooting and hollarin. A deer is not stupid, if people go into an area year after year doing 15 - 20 man drives the big boys are not going to hang around. Fellas I used to hunt with down in Florida did drives and used dogs and the deer, after the first couple of times, would all but dissapear. If we got any big bucks then it was on the first couple of days and after that it was pretty much a few does and small spikes and fork horns. We also wasted more time fartin around figuring out the next drive or chasing dogs than we did hunting. I never did like it but that' s the way the owner of the land wanted to hunt and it is his land so I went along with him.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

drive hunting is real hunting in my book. I grew up in Wisconsin and it was standard issue after the opening weekend. Still do it to this day but much with a smaller group. Since this was brought up, I' m going to share some things that I have learned from driving deer

1) don' t drive them, push them. Meaning don' t do the yelling and smacking stuff. Have everyone slowly walk like they are still hunting (maybe a little faster though) this makes deer get out of there beds and walk/trot to there escape route. They are much less likely to sit tight and let you walk past, or haul ass out the side of a drive.

2) post someone where you first enter the woods (opposite end of standers) If you start doing this, you are going to be very surprised at the quality of bucks that end up coming out the " back end" of a drive that none of the drivers saw. I smart buck will sit tight and let you walk right by, within yards/feet.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Jorgy, some very sound advise. I used to hunt the Western Md mountains and the locals would drive the heck out the place, we even had a few run ins with them as they didn' t pay any attention to property lines, but after all their hooping and hollering the big ones would come slinking out the back door. Payed off for our group every year.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

mdbohuntr, that is how I learned that trick myself. When I tried to incorporate it into my new hunting group they all thought I was an idiot until they saw the success

RE: Drive Hunting
 

We man doged (drives) deer for many years and the still hunt method toward standers on known run ways works very well, it makes the deer nervous when they hear a snap here then nothing then a snap over there then over here,they dont know which way the threat is coming from.We even had guys still hunting behind the main doggers just to catch the sneakers as they circled behind the line (you must have ultimate trust in these guys for safety reasons). Now I hunt with dogs and it is a blast (different folks different strokes). As for not finding the big boys after things get stirred up, might be you dont know where they hole up when the crap hits the fan( ie: a spit of dry land in a swamp, behind the out house, a row of bushs on the front lawn of someones house (seen this one b4 and it was right beside the road with cars/trucks driving by within feet of it), behind my wood pile at the trailer,under someones cottage etc.), in short an out of the way spot where nobody in thier right mind would look for a deer.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I feel that if you enjoy it and it is legal then by all means have a good time. The comradery is half the hunt anyway.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I have been on drives years ago. Never really cared for it for several reasons, but like said above, if it' s legal and you stay within the guidelines....have a blast.

It' s been said by several already, but take it slow, and don' t intentionally make noise. As a matter of fact, stop frequently when driving....a good buck will many times sit tight or double back....they kinda freak out when you stop because they think they' re busted!! Quite a few years ago up in some very deep timber up near Lake Superior we had access to some private land that you could actually drive in certain areas. A nephew of one of my buddies that lived close by took a huge 232#, 13 pointer with a big drop tine by doing this during a drive. This was one of the " toughest" deer I have ever seen. He hardly had any teeth left, had a club foot that was probably broken several years before, and at 232# dressed, he was thin. His ribs were actually showing!!! An old bruiser that made it through many seasons and would have probably made a good dinner for a wolf that winter!!

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RE: Drive Hunting
 

we do deer drives. but i am going to try stand. but i still like the drives. and yes they do get you alot of exercise.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I am just north of mrfishy34 and drives is the main style of hunting for my area. Road hunting is the second most used method if you can call that hunting which doesn' t quite cut in my book by a long ways. We have very few trees here so stand hunting is not much of an option. I just can' t quite force myself to build a shooter shack out in the middle of nowwhere here and sit 2.5 weeks in a small cramped shack as that is not for me as I like walking. Shacks are for ice fishing here. ;) I am not much of a fan for drives of more then 5 people just for saftey reasons. I will walk for a group of friends on their drives, but I generally like hunting solo by stalking, tracking or just wandering using the method needed at the time. I do like 2 man drives where one guys pushes the cattail sloughs and the other guy stays up high and slightly foward off to the side but is also moving with the pusher. Unlike a big drive with posters on the end and the wind needs to be in their favor, a 2 man push allows you to hunt in the wind with the pusher moving slowly, silently, zig-zagging, backtracking and stopping a lot. The deer get up close and both may have a shot. You will have running shots no doubt but standing/trotting shots are also possible. Terrain and how the deer use it dictates how you hunt. What works in one area might not work in another and drives are hunting. Some might disagree with that but then as hard as it may be to believe, some people actually like chevys. [X(]

Tim

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Here in Virginia we are aloud to use dogs, and we do. But on days that the club is not hunting and if I can get a few people together we have small drive hunts and they have proven to be very worth wild. Just like someone said earlier the fellowship is half the fun. Good luck.e

RE: Drive Hunting
 

If you have a gun and are looking for a deer, you are hunting. I prefer to use 2 -5
people at the most. After the rut when the bucks hole up in inpenetrable cover, My friends and I leave our stands around mid morining and start pushing the thick stuff. We have taken alot of very nice bucks this way and most of the deer arnt
running wide open but are easing along and picking their way. Some people use alot more hunters but I just prefer to use as few as possible.
This is better than sitting around camp waiting for an evening hunt.[:-]

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I mostly stand hunt, but once and awhile we do some drives!

RE: Drive Hunting
 

So is cutting wood but that don' t make it hunting. I am certainly not going to criticize the way anyone hunts. I am just pointing out that you might want to refine your argument if you plan on swaying the undecideds. Do I think it requires as much skill as reading sign and setting up a stand that puts you within archery range? NO! Is it still hunting. YES!

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RE: Drive Hunting
 

I Hunt solely by myself, usually in a stand and have gotten a deer these past four years from a group that drives in the area I hunt. So I must admit I don' t mind people who Drive deer, especially if it is a well planned one. Not just a bunch of guys roaming around hoping to get lucky. The drivers and myself stay in contact with radios. Also when hunting is slow it helps pass the time away listening to the drives. Sometimes I can hear the shots on the radio before I can hear them in the distance.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

silentassassin

Drives are a lot of work. Instead of letting the deer bring the hunt to you, you take it to them. Stalking, stillhunting and tracking also takes that approach. Just like stand hunting any idiot can use any method and have a chance to kill a deer. I think they call that luck. To be successful (not luck, although a tiny bit is always apperciated) takes a bit of brain work for any method. Drives are no different. Bring familar with the area helps, knowing the escape routes or where they will head to hole up, placing posters to capitalize on either, reading sign to figure out what needs to be thoughly walked/back tracked, kicking up does during rut means a buck is close by and more then likely crawling away so you start circling, kicking up a fawn or doe and watch where she looks if she stops to look back when she is not looking at you ( Hint.... there is a reason she looks back to a certain area and a smart hunter would know why ), and many more but no point boring you with details as only tree standers are smart enough to read sign and know the ways of deer. :D Hunting is what you put into it. Implying stand hunters are smarter shows us how much you know of the other methods and doesn' t give us much a challenge for arguements sake. Safe to say I could put a deer well within archery range for you. Course I don' t recommend using a bow for drives as you would only have the hoof print on your forehead to show for it when the deer ran you over. :D

Tim

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I kind of agree with rack buck, taking shots at dead sprinting game isn' t ethical, no matter how you cut it. I drive hunt, but in a manner that will spook deer up into a bottle neck where someone else is positioned, or into an open area where we can flush them out to to get good, open shots. BUT, it' s done in a manner that keeps them trotting and looking back over their shoulder, not sprinting. Do that too often and you' ll push all of your deer away for good!! I agree it takes a lot of skill to place a bullet properly on a moving target, but it takes no skill at all to loose a bullet at a sprinting deer and call it skill when you accidentally clip it somewhere that drops it within a quarter mile. Knocking them in the dirt at a run is a skill, knowing that you can do so nearly everytime at any given distance is a skill, loosing rounds because you see fur doesn' t count.

I occasionally " drive" deer (snapping twigs, and dragging my feet) to drive them to cross an open area into the range of a partner, i.e. when one draw dies off, and the nearest creek (running parallel to the draw) isn' t the one I want them to go to, but the one that starts up a eigth mile north of the end of the draw, push them hard and fast for a little bit in the draw, and they' ll run north to the next creek/draw/woods, and pass on simply side stepping me to the parallel creek, claimed many a deer doing this in years past. BUT, that' s only one man, with no screaming, and only snapping twigs and scuffling feet, not banging branches and whatnot carrying on, just keep them moving fast, a dead sprint doesn' t do any good, because they won' t stop, while a deer at a good clip will usually stop and perk to a sharp whistle or a blunt " hey" .

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I have never actually done a drive, but the area I hunt has a fair amount of people that do make drives. I don' t like it at all when they come through making all kinds of noise. I feel that does more harm in pushing the deer away from that area into a less pressured area. I do think that small drives of 2-5 people who know what they are doing and are using the still-hunting methods that were previously mentioned can be very effective. However, I still like seeing the deer moving naturally and unpressured. Is it hunting? Sure, if it' s done legally.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

rangerstud620

I wish we had more trees here for stand hunting or stillhunting. The deer are pressured long before the rifle season starts in my area. September is the only month you can pattern deer. Once October 1st hits and the duck/goose hunter swarm the area with 4 wheelers and setting up on any slough where the deer bed, the bigger bucks and older does head for thicker cover and move mostly at night. I do agree that hollering and big groups are not to my liking either but each their own on that. Since over zealous drives do tend to move the deer to other areas, we have gone to the smaller, quieter approach and try to give an area that we push a couple days to a week of rest before hitting it again. Since some of these spots are very good spots that the deer call home, they will filter back into an area that has been pushed and some never leave it but circle around the hunters. As long as the does come back the bucks tend to stay in the area.

Two season' s ago we walked one of our best areas. We pushed out a fairly decent 4pt but the one guy missed it. He was bummed as it would have been the nicest buck he had ever had a chance at. Needless to say he wanted to hit the spot again the next day. I wanted to wait and give the area a couple days at least but the group decided to push it. They kicked the same buck up but this time the buck stayed low, in the cattails and out foxed them. The guy did get a shot but I think buckfever set in and he missed again. We are talking one real bummed hunter now and off course we didn' t help as we teased him about letting the big one go twice and maybe some practicing was in order. The next morning most of us had to work. About 9 this guy pulls in the farm. He had shot a buck and stopped to show us. I am thinking it was just to make sure we knew he could hit a deer as he was all smiles and giving us a bad time about having to work. He left and about an hour later he pulled back into the farm. He was bummed again as it had gotten the best of him and he went back to the area to where he had missed the big buck. The buck was back and was chasing a doe. All that he could do was watch which after missing it twice I think he got his just reward.

This buck had been kicked up and shot at two days in a row. I would say he had been pressured yet he came back. Drives if done right will not chase deer out of an area or at least keep it to a minimum. Over driving an area will of course but then that' s not smart hunting. Since I like other methods of hunting also, I don' t want to see them push out of our area as it would only hurt my chances to fill a tag. I did kill a bigger 5pt a week later in that same spot while hunting solo. I also saw 3 other smaller bucks. Not bad for 40 acres and I only coverd half of it before getting the 5pt. North end is usually good for one or two.

Tim

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I am with rack attack on this one. I guess that I am not a real fan of slinging lead at a deer running full speed. My opinion of deer drives come from my experience with the garbage that I see here in Northeast Ohio during the yearly slug law. First I must state, I am exclusively a bow hunter. I have never hunted deer with anything other than a bow. Never will. I have budies that hunt the week of shotgun law. I have no problem whatsoever with the guys who go out and actually get in the woods and hunt for the deer with guns( be it on stand or still hunting). That is cool with me. But the majority of the guys here are what we call heater hunters. The hunt in large groups, it is nothing to see 25-30 in a group. They drive around until they see deer. Here in our area everything is small woods and open fields. These guys surround the woods the send guys through and run out the deer, then the guys on the outside slaughter them. Throw em in the back of the truck and head to another woods. No trespassing signs mean nothing this week either. If there are deer and a woods, it will be pushed regardless if there are permission slips or not. It is truly sickening. People hate this week. I am talking non hunters as well as law abiding hunters. Many farmers will not let anyone hunt because of trouble they have had with these guys. We have one game warden per county and he is run ragged all week. They hate it too, and believe me that comes straight from there mouths. I have seen deer with 6, 7 -8 slugs in it, from different guys. Belive me, there is nothing that makes a guy madder that spends the whole year before the season scouting, setting stands, shooting the bow etc. Then hunting hard the early season waiting for that buck you have been after. Then gun week rolls around, and that guy that hasn' t been out in the woods since last years gun law goes in and buys his liscense the day before the season, meets up with his 10 buddies, loads up the trucks and 4 wheelers and pushes every woods in sight, including the woods that only you and your hunting buddy have permission for, and end up killing all kind of deer in your area. They never scouted, never put any effort into it. just pulled out the gun a fired away. Then you hear them at work bragging about the big buck that they chased for several sections and finally brought it down after hitting it 3 or 4 times. Thats hunting!! Sorry, but that is the idea that comes to mind for me and my buddies, and many other of the caring and hunting loving sportsmen here in our area.If you want to think that I am exagerating, that is fine. But I challenge you to find any honest law abiding true hunter here in this area that won' t agree with me. That is the way it is here. maybe in other areas and different states driving is different. I am sure that you do get alot of excercise doing it. Maybe it is alot harder where some of you guys do it because of the larger peices of timber. But I know what driving is here, and I never, ever want anything to do with it. I heard one old road warrior in our area ( who a year later was busted in the off season for poaching two deer and busted during gun week for shooting out the window of the truck he was in) put it perfectly when confronted about the way the hunt. He said " Hey we are out here to kill deer, and that is what we do" He hit the nail on the head. They are there to kill deer. I want the hunt, the challenge and the staisfaction of knowing that me and the deer went one on one, and most days he wins. But on that day, I did things right, and a little luck came my way, and my family will benefit from the meat, and I will have a lifetime of memories from that one on one , up close and personal hunt. I will pass on the deer that was pushed and ran and shot at running full speed. I want to take mine up close and undisturbed because I scouted and made the right stand choice, not because other guys jumped him and he happened to be running my way. That is my idea of hunting.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I cannot agree with drive hunting as every year on opening day when I hunted private property a truck load of guys would come thru the woods barking like dogs, banging trees, making a joke out of the sport if you ask me and if any deer happened to move the lead flies everywhere!!! Where is this safe? How can you say its sportsman... sure its hard work but walking to the grocery store is to! If you were really thinking about the game you were after you' d remember ONE SHOT, ONE KILL!!! Just my opinion

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Proff
I don' t doubt you a bit as we have our evils here too. I don' t like what you described, nor would I defend those slobs and I hope you don' t think all people who drive deer would. No ones says you have to like driving, gun hunting or any other legal method. That choice is yours. When you find the answers to your problems, please let me know as our Game Warden covers over two counties, is run ragged, the few trees we have are close to the road and I am just not brave/foolish enough to sit in a stand when a lot of road hunters care not about posters and will shot at any deer running out of/in the trees not knowing if someone is hunting in the trees. We have slobs that bowhunt out of stands and I would imagine the 2 deer and a moose with an arrow sticking out of all three less then 100 yards from a stand would have made the warden' s day if he caught the SOB especially as there was no moose season at the time. In the last 4 years, 3 moose have been found dead near my area during the waterfoul season. I know a few people who pull bows out the week before season starts. I jumped a few on that and all' s they say is these compounds are just like rifles and they don' t need to practice much to be ready for hunting. Sad isn' t it, or deer hunting ( poaching ) is still going on long after the season has closed here for rifle. People party hunt for deer (illegal) and I bet there are still quite a few wifes out there that have filled tags yet don' t hunt. Drives are abused here too by some. Do we ban these methods of hunting we have problems with or work to clean up the slobs who abuse them?? Bowhunting would be one of the first one' s on the chopping block. You start trying to take their methods away and since there are many more rifle/slug hunters that don' t bowhunt compared to all bowhunters, who' s going to win in that shoving match?? Which style of hunting does any state need the most for controling the deer population. It' s not bowhunting. I love bowhunting so don' t get me wrong and your area is no different then mine with quite a few slobs/proachers that are abusing a method/style of hunting. I know what it is like to find dead deer that were proached, poached and not found, lost and not found, and chased out of an area from slobs/proachers. I would imagine you do too. What method do you want to blame?? Sucks big time but it is not the method of hunting which is evil. Slobs are the problem. I hope you can find a cure to your problem and we can find one here. I don' t mean this as an attack on you nor I' m I defending the slobs in your area as it does sound horrid. I just hope by this that you can see where the blame really needs to be put as there are a few of us who drive deer that do respect hunting, other hunters and have a good sense of ethics. Just like bowhunting, I know my limits with a rifle and am not just slinging lead at running deer. I will teach my son the same ethics. I will not hang my head in shame because others abuse methods I use nor will I give up defending a method for the same reason. I wouldn' t expect you to either.

Tim

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Well put TJF

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Is it hunting? Yes, it is. But is it ethical?

There is to much margin for error while hunting under the conditions of drive hunting.

Not very many people have the skill to place a leathal shot to a deers vital while it is at full bore and moving in every direction it possible can, this meaning up and down, over and under.

Deer can be taken by way of drives. but it is in my oppionion not a very good way to hunt.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

TJF,
I agree copmpletely with what you said. Today at work I thought alot about my post and I hoped that I didn' t imply that everyone who gun hunts is this way. You are correct, there are low life slobs who bowhunt, shotgun hunt, and muzzleloader hunt around here. The problem isn' t the means, it is the jerks who abuse the privledges that they have to hunt. I do agree that I don' t want hunting in any manner that is legal or ethical to be scrutinized any more than it is. As I said, I have no problem with someone who takes the gun out in the woods and makes it a fair and safe hunt. Same with other bowhunters. I also know guys that claim to be bowhunters who pull the bow out the night before and go afield with the rusty broadheads and no practice etc. That makes me want to puke. But because the gun week here is 7 days long all the garbage is so evident because these idiots are on a big mission to slaughter as many deer as they can. Believe me, I could go on and on about the things I have seen and heard. We have talked to our game wardens several times. we have offered to take vacations and help patrol for no pay if the state would train and deputize us. last year my buddy had a perfect opportunity to videotape a guy jumping out of his truck and shooting right on the road ad a buck running into the woods we are the only ones with permission to hunt, but he grabbed the wrong battery and missed it all. We don' t let him forget that!!:D Si I hope you understand where I am coming from. I know that every group has it' s bad guys. But it is just so much more obvious here because of the types that are out that week. Hey there are some great hunters that hunt with the shotgun that week. They get out of their vehicles, hunt where they are supposed to and don' t run the deer from section to section until it' s tounge is hanging out. Unfortunately that is usually the case with the deer killed that week. If you saw it it would make you sick. I just wish that there was a way to stop all the poaching and unethical and illegal hunting. It would be great if the woods was full of sportsmen who respect the great lifestyle and heritage that hunting gives us. But there are always gonna be scumbags who don' t play by the rules. So hopefully there was no offense taken by anyone. I was not trying to lump all gun hunters or guys who enjoy driving deer in the category of the idiots that we see here. Just as you weren' t trying to lump all bowhunters in the group of idiots that you talked about. If you are a hunter and out there doing it the right way, and being a true sportsmen, regardless of your weapon of choice, I am standing shoulder to shoulder with you and backing you 100%. But if you are one of the mindless slobs who are there nraeking the law and hunting unethically, well, I won' t even say. No hard feeling with anyone I hope.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Different strokes for different folks I guess! Whitetail hunting isnt the same everywhere,, try it in northern/central ontario where its nothing but swamp and cedars. The deer population is possibly 1 to the square mile.

Tell my uncle that his camp and the adjoining 2 camps for a total of around 20 guys total are unethical,,, they party hunt(legal), they hire guides, they do drives and they use dogs! by the way there are several Ministers and Deacons along with a couple doctors in this camp.

Ive hunted a couple times with them 75% of the shots are when they are stopped, looking back and forth down a logging road before they cross it.

Personally,, my camp does 2 or 3 drives toward the end of the week. Nothing big,, maybe 30-40 acres each maximum. We push them through very narrow funnels that hold someone with a sluggun. All are done on private property.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Jred, if you ever make it to Wisconsin for deer hunting I would love to take you out and show you a good push in the woods/swamp. It isn' t always like you described with the deer running full bore zig zagging as they go. If they are, it' s a simple matter of not shooting at a deer that you don' t think you can hit. I myself can' t hit a deer at full bore, so I don' t pull the trigger. It' s as easy as that.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Personally i like to still hunt in a stand or in a blind. Diffrent strokes for diffrent folks.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Proff

I know you weren' t implying everyone that rifle hunts is evil. Your post did raise the hair on the back of my neck though and made me growl. Not at you but what you have to deal with. How many people will read your post and will make their minds up that drives are wrong and only slobs use this method yet have never been on a drive that is done right or had first hand experience with it?? I wasn' t attacking you like I said but was trying to make others see not everyone is like that and it is not the method that is bad but the people abusing it. I am not trying to convince you or any others who don' t like that method to go out an try it as it is the only way to hunt and my way is better then yours. Your side of the issue does need to be heard along with the others who have problems with it. Hopefully the ones that abuse will read your post and see how wrong they are and how there poor standards wrecks it for all. If driving is banned, these slobs will just move on to another method or style of hunting. Nothing was fixed and more will be lost on account of it. This day and age, people don' t seem to know where to put the blame and will make all suffer instead of the people that deserve it. Look at all the gun laws. These laws sure haven' t stop or even slowed down the crime and truth be told it has helped crime. The only ones it effects are the honest law abiding people that follow the rules. Who benefited on that?? It wasn' t us.

I like using a variety of methods to hunt. Drives happen to be one of them but on a " MUCH, MUCH " smaller scale compared to what your familar with and I am not out to slaughter all the deer nor weigh the world down with lead and cause us to crash into the moon. [:o] Our area is not the same as yours and I will use the method that works or I enjoy. Like I said in earlier replies, we don' t have many trees. I don' t know if I have 30 years left in me to plant a tree, watch it grow so I can put up a stand and hopefully a deer will come within range before I die. You got to remember us drivers can' t read deer sign to save our soul. ;) :) I want to hunt now and enjoy what I have before it is taken away due to some slob or someone' s greed. I hope the same for you. It is good to see you are trying to do something about your problem. Goodluck!!

Tim

RE: Drive Hunting
 

TJF,
Thanks for the post. I am glad that you understand where I was coming from on the subject, and I completely understand your side. I can tell just from posts the same way I do and there is no doubt in my mind that I wouldn' t have a problem with your hunting methods, nor you mine. I apreciate the fact that you replied to my first post and questioned my meaning in a very civil and polite manner. It seems like too often on the forums guys just start ripping without taking the time to see the other guys point and how he intended it to be. Sometimes the way a person writes something isn' t really the way that they intended it to be taken. It just isn' t the same as being there talking to someone. So thank you for taking the time to understand my side of the of the discussion before jumping to the wrong conclusion. That is the way that these types of forims should work. With that, I wish you the best of luck in all your hunts.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

My friends and i have done a drive or two and its not realy for me. Part of the pleasure of deer hunting is the quite solitude. Not to mention the fact that taking a shot at a runnin deer can very easily = a wounded deer. IM NOT KNOCKING ANYONE WHO HUNTS THIS WAY. Its just not for me, difrent strokes. Besides Oklahoma woods are flooded with hunters come rifle season.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I' ve put on drives from just me and another person to parties of 15 people. Each can be very effective methods of taking deer. Yes sometimes your only shot is a hard runner, but no one is forcing anyone to pull that trigger if such is the case. More often than not you can get a slow trotting or stopped shot at a deer from a drive. I do also bowhunt and by far and away prefer that as my chosen method to hunt. I know people who drive in archery season. They go extremely slow. That I' ve never been in on. Its all a matter of what' s the accepted methods in the area in which you live.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

TJF,

I hate to burst your bubble but I have drive hunted, dog hunted, stalk hunted, and stand hunted all quite a bit over the years. I think it is hunting and it is ethical. I just think any 13yr old that can shoulder a shotgun can kill the biggest deer in the world. Take that same inexperienced individual and let them figure when a where that big buck is going to be at an exact moment in time and then make sure he can put himself within 30 yards of that animal at that time, without alerting them to his presence with scent or sound, then you have a challenge. Any one can call their buddy and say " hey I saw a big deer run in that thicket behind farmer Ben' s house. Call Billy Jim and Billy Jake and the rest of the boys and we' ll go run him out of there and shoot him" [&:] That fact that you find that as challenging as the aforementioned scenario tells me that you know little about the other aspects of deer hunting.

Try walking through that same thicket only next time do it, while carrying a deer stand without making a sound. Then hang a deer stand again without running off everything in the country (you' re intent when driving). But hold on and wait a minute before you do all that you need to actually try to figure out if it is a complete coincidence that deer is there or is it a routine that you can capitalize on? Then you need to get him within 30yrds to get a shot at him, not while he is running frantically for his life, but while he is moving slowly and cautiously through the area. All without ever letting him know you are there.

So is cutting wood??????????????

I didn' t say that treestands hunters are smarter. I said it requires more skill (i.e. it is more challenging) that' s doesn' t mean drive hunters don' t have the skill to treestand hunt, it merely implies that they don' t have to use it (at least not nearly to the same extent) while drive hunting.

I can take a group of my bowhunting buddies and go out drive hunting and HAMMER them anytime. Can you and your buddies pick up a bow at will and go kill deer consistenly? I hope you are going to answer NO unless you have already PROVEN that you can do so.

jred,

That question can' t be answered with a definite yes or know. For some it is completely ethical for others it is completely unethical. I grew up dog hunting in Mississippi and in those days some of the members would kill 15-20 deer a year, all running. It was extrmely rare for them to miss a running deer. They had grown up doing it and had shot a few hundred a piece that way. So yes it was ethical for the majority of those hunters to shoot at deer running.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Well my preference now that I am older is stand hunting, but in my youth when I was full of pee and vinager I enjoyed running dogs and doing drives.

Each type of hunting involves a totally different set of skills which need to be learned.

Stand hunting requires intense scouting to locate a spot where deer move through on (hopefully) a daily basis and positioning your stand properly for the wind and cover.

Running dogs with any degree of success requires knowledge of a large tract of land and the deer in that area. We used to run short legged beagles because they didn' t push the deer hard, it was rare to take a shot at a deer on a dead run, most shots were either with a deer trotting or stopping to look over its shoulder. The skill set here is not to learn where the deer move on a normal daily basis, the skill is to learn where they bed during the day and where they will go when pushed. If you have done your scouting right you posters will be standing right where the deers escape route is for an easy shot.

Drives with people involves many of the skills of running dogs but on a smaller scale, the way we drove never involved noise or hooting and hollering, it was slow stop and go movement by the drivers and excellent knowledge of where to set your posters. There were many times the drivers would kill deer, because if you were driving right you would catch them trying to circle back through the drivers.

Any one who says it takes more skill to stand hunt than drive or run dogs doen' t know what they are talking about, the skill sets are totally different, if done properly they are all hunting and not luck, each method can also be luck!

RE: Drive Hunting
 

Well your stand hunting credentials certainly don' t give your opinion any merit in my opinion. I believe you have killed 1 deer from a stand with a bow. How does that qualify you to judge? You just told me how little you know about stand hunting. If you truely think that it takes as much skill for someone to say " hey grab your rifle and cover this side of the field" as it does to scout and area, prepare a stand, get into and out of that area without spooking deer, be in the same place that a deer is at the same time he is, and then get an arrow into him?[&:] Well sufice to say you sound like someone that has only killed 1 deer with a bow.[:o]

Not to do it, to be successful at it. A judgement you aren' t qualified to make as you have not yet been successful in the archery stand hunting realm.;)

One more thing. If you showed up with a pack of beagles where I grew up dog hunting, you would get laughed all the way back to Virginia.;)

RE: Drive Hunting
 

You aren' t talking about the same thing here. I would say it takes more skill for someone to cover that side of the field than someone is sit in a stand that someone pointed too and shoot that same deer.

I think you are assuming that all stand hunters pattern a buck, put up there stand and wait for them to come to you. In the real world, where I reside you can' t throw everyone under one umbrella. Just because you hunt the way that you do, don' t assume all other stand hunters do also.

RE: Drive Hunting
 

I can however throw all drive hunters under the same umbrella. Because all that you can do is walk and shoot.

As you will see from my original post I was specific:


Any numb scull and I mean any numb scull can stand there and shoot a deer that is about to run over him. It' s a self defense mechanism. It doesn' t require skill, just reflex. It is much more difficult to put time in scouting, reading sign, hanging stands, hunting the wind, and then making the shot with a bow.

I know a lot of people that consistently kill deer doing drives. As a matter of fact I have several friends who resort to drives when the hunting gets tough. Because they know they can go kill one on a drive. It' s just that simple.