RE: Is Driving deer is really " hunting" ?
 

Just to further my point on the subject. I found this from another thread started by this guy.

I especially like how you gotta wait a couple hours and call them in. This is what we' re dealing with?

RE: Is Driving deer is really " hunting" ?
 

Another classic!!

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RE: Is Driving deer is really " hunting" ?
 

I' m sorry, but deer drives are NEVER a necessity. They make things easier I am sure, but there are many other methods out there that work as well. If you can' t see a deer any other way, I' d say you need to improve your hunting skills. I' m not trying to insult anyone here, but to say it' s the ONLY way to see deer is just ridiculous. Where I hunt it' s common for people to go all season without seeing a legal deer, but some very nice bucks get shot, and guess what? Driving them is illegal here. It' s one way to hunt........I don' t agree with it but I won' t put anyone down for hunting that way where it is legal to do so. It is not, and never will be, the ONLY way to see deer however, doesn' t matter where you are!

RE: Is Driving deer is really " hunting" ?
 

I posted this over on the BigGame side a month ago, I couldn' t resist the parallel to this thread....

Indian Tiger (Elk) Hunt

Thank God for at least two things: (1) folks who like to sleep in and (2) folks who hunt with the addage that " the best course between two points is a straight line." When it comes to elk hunting in my area they are both priceless. When my group started arriving in the main elk camp on Thursday before the Saturday opener the arrival conversations went something like this, " Looks like there' s not quite as many hunters camped out along the road as last year!" " Yeah, I know it. I was concerned early on that there might not be enough hunters, but they' ve been showing up in droves since Wednesday. I think we have enough now to make things work! Good, we don' t want to have any shortage!" No, we were not hitting the sauce, we were dead serious!

If you have ever seen movies with the British tiger hunts in India where the " beaters" fan out in a long line and thrash the ground with sticks to drive the tigers to the waiting hunters on the far side, then you will recognize the parallel in my story. In our case, the " beaters" are the scads of hunters camped out along side the road at one side of a large basin that the elk love. Of course, these hunters are not our employees or friends and they certainly don' t intend to go out of their way to help us --- that is where the two " thank God" items above come into play!

We set up elk camp a mile and a half away from this crowd, just to get some peace, quiet, and privacy plus there is water for the horses. Come opening morning, we get up at 1:00a.m. and eat a super breakfast and are out of the camp by 2:30a.m. and take off leading our pack horse behind the pickup -- we wind our way up through all the camps and they are all dark -- sleeping away. We avoid the basin and start the " long way" around to the far side of the basin (where our spike camp is located) with out disturbing the herds of elk that are in full rut in the basin or the hunters sound asleep on the ridge.

Then we head off the road and into the timber. It' s a full moon and you can see color in the middle of the night. The lights of the small towns twinkle below with their residents also sound asleep. The only souls we meet on our lonely trek in are three hunters from Georgia -- I had met them a week earlier, they talked a good game -- and now I can see they walk the walk as well as talk the talk -- these are some good ole southern boys and hard core hunters -- we shake our heads and we laugh at each other, wish each other good luck and go our seperate ways.

We make good time and reach the spike camp by 430am, dump off some of our stuff, tie up the horse and head out! Soon I have everyone (5 of us) posted on their stand on the ridge. Looking across the basin, our " beaters" are now awake and active and their camp lanterns in the far distance are all lit and resemble a distant army. Meanwhile, the elk herds in the basin below are putting on a show: bugling, chuckling, roaring, screaming, mewing, raking trees, breaking ground cover -- just like in the videos for archery season or blackpowder! We are simply stoked at the prospect of taking on rutting elk in the high power rifle season! We take off our packs and settle into our " sniper nests" (stands) on our ridge. I break off and eat some elk jerky we made from an elk taken not far from where I am now -- it' s all gone full circle.

The sky turns red in the east and the temperature drops. My oldest boy and I are doing a " tag team" i.e. I am hunting right along side him with the goal being for him to get a bull this year. Twinkle, Twinkle --- here they come --- we can see the headlamps of the " beaters" taking the short cut from their camps straight into the bowl -- right at the elk herds below. " All hell is going to break loose in about 45 minutes and those boys are going to just ruin this nice concert we have been enjoying!" The " beaters" didn' t disappoint us and neither did the elk, although they did not " hit" our positions as squarely as they did last year -- we were short 2 or 3 hunters this year plus I was " buddied up" with my son so our picket line was not all that long -- we' ll remedy that next year! The more we hunt this area, the more we learn and the more we " make it ours."

Here is a few photos:

Battle Stations!




Nice Raghorn 6x6!




Happy Young Man -- proud Dad!



Notice the shoulder shot, he hit him just like ole dad preaches -- never mind shot placement -- this is hunting not benchrest -- put a heavy for caliber bullet right there in the middle of that big kill zone, you can be off some and still win -- take out his front axle, scramble the boiler room a little, and you' ll own him right there!

EKM

RE: Is Driving deer is really " hunting" ?
 

No disrespect intended here fella' s....but I am surprised that so many object to deer drives......but on other threads in Hunting.net....so many embrace baiting as a credible " hunting" technique. Doesn' t seem consistent.

Clint

RE: Is Driving deer is really " hunting" ?
 

I have never made a sound on any drive I' ve ever done.

Whatever.All I can say is had a great time the other day.When most people were home or back at their camp my son and I we' re enjoying ourselves and seeing deer. I don' t shoot at running deer and he stalks better then most adults I know. He' s just 13 and knows deer habits,bedding area' s and how to follow a blood trail. When he can finally hunt next year we' ll sit stands and do two man drives, call it whatever you want. I call it a blast.

So does a compound compared to a recurve or self bow. Or a rifle compared to a shotgun. Or using food plots or a feeder,tree stand etc etc.

I hunted off the ground most of the time with my bow this year,using natural blinds. All the rest of you guys are just killing. See how silly it gets.

Wait I used a compound instead of a self made bow, cedar arrows and a loin cloth guess I' m just a killer too.

Careful there' s always someone that would be more then happy to judge you as only a " killer" .

RE: Is Driving deer is really " hunting" ?
 

Some of you fancypants, elitist snobs just crack me up with your " I' m so great BS!!!!" Edited out take it from a fella thats got 50+ kills over 23 years in the field, I' ll take ' em any way that I can that' s legal. I reckon I' ve shot about half of them out of my climber, the rest were shot mostly from a bucket or still hunting. My very first deer was killed in front of dogs and I have participated in man drives. It' s all gooooooddddddd!!!!!! If it takes a stick and a string to make you happy, go for it!! I' m happy for ya:D You talk your smack in anonymity on the web, just do try to push the same buttons in person. Your superior air about you might just get you............

Jeeeesshhhhh!

RE: Is Driving deer is really " hunting" ?
 

Here in jersey for as many years as I can remeber someone gets shot. Last year it was a 16 year old boy who shot his dad while driving. The year before a 17 year old was shot by his brother driving deer. Im not against it but im not willing to take that chance either. Every buckweek guys drive the woods adjacent to me but they' re not aloud to drive my piece. This year permit bow is in during 6 day. I will be in my stand with my bow waiting for them dummies to push the deer right to me. I seen one of the guys the other night I told him thank you. He said for what and I said you' ll see.

RE: Is Driving deer is really " hunting" ?
 

I also gun hunt in N.J and we do a " push" or a " nudge" , not your normal " deer drive" per say. One walker and two standers. The walker will go through the area slowly and silently. Not yelling or blowing a whistle or banging on trees. We normally do this during mid day when the deer have gone to that secret hiding spot after the shooting starts. We have several cedar thickets in our area and we know the escape routes. This method has worked very well for my Dad and my hunting buddy and I over the years. But as far as driving deer by tromping through the woods yelling and making all kinds of noise, I don' t like it but to each his own. By the way, it is illegal here in Delaware to " drive deer" on public land. I' m surprised that it is not in other states [:o]