Some of our biggest bucks in Gun and Muzzleloader season are taken on Drives. I'am usually a driver as I bag my buck with the bow most years.

john.....we NEVER cross land that we dont have permission on.....and its WAY harder then stand hunting....to drive deer from 10 or 11AM till dark every day makes for a long day....and planning drives that WORK takes more scouting and prep then stand hunting....we still have to scout.....and learn where the deer are at....and where they are going to head....and gutshot deer isnt a problem with us.....sure...once in a while someone hits one nonlethally and we dont find it....but having all them guys there will find deer that are down....and if they are wounded and dont go far we always bring em back around to finish them.....2 years now we lost 2 deer i think....both terrible hits...deer ran miles....and yes....WE STILL WAIT to track them...30 mins to an hour......then we take up the tracks and find the deer...its the shooter....more deer are lost by lone hunters.....we got alot of guys to cover the land and find the deer....and the deer usually do win...even though we try our hardest to get the deer....they are VERY smart animals...they do the unthinkable.....what deer in their right minds going to run across an open field in the middle of deer season instead of follwing the thick stuff to the standers?? we have toooooons of deer get out every day....its definently not as easy as it may sound....i once thought it was...and thought id never enjoy hunting like that till i tried it last year....im hooked.....i love it.....exciting way to hunt....and its the best way to see deer around here.....they are pressured hard....and becomre very nocternal....and the land is set up so the deer dont have to leave their beds to feed.....and sneaking in to their beds to stand hunt is next to impossible.....drives are the way to see deer here....to each his own...you dont like how i hunt it dont bother me....i was just looking to hear everyones opinions and see why....keep em coming.....just keep it friendly....we arent trying to start a fight or argument....be nice and hear what eachother had to say about it.....ill keep posting my responses...and im sure the rest of the people that like drives will...help you see the light....its not like we push out an acre of land with 20 guys and push out every deer and stand on the other end and mow them all down.....

johnch, . Not working for my deer? You obviously ain't been to this part of the nation. Rugged terrain, straight up and down hills, hollows, bluffs, bottoms, swamps, its all a problem to get deer out of when they bed up during gun season. i've put my fair share of blood sweat and tears into some of those drives. you can't tell me we're lazy when you're up there in your treestand. Crossing property lines? we've never, EVER tresspassed when doing a drive. always stays on our land or land we have permission to hunt. And losing gut shot deer and losing others? Our group has lost 1 deer in the 6 years i've hunted with them when we've driven them. 1 deer in 6 years is pretty good. Why would deer shot on drives tend to be gut shot anyway? i dont see where you're coming from at all. Going back to losing deer, i think in those 6 years we've lost 5 or 6 during bow season or during rifle season but not driving. i dont think driving has anything to do with losing deer. in fact, we found dead a 175 3/8" typical shot during bow season. no drives there. think about what you say next time you speak.

one last thing i love about drives: our whole family and friends are together for them. I spend most of bow season and early rifle season all by my lonesome up in a tree or out still hunting, and its fun to have a break and hunt with friends and family. we plan the drives out to a tee, everything is as good as we can make it before the drive starts. just as much planning as when you hang a treestand.

slayer

Deer Slayer have you ever drove a corn field? 6 guys on one side of the field 6 coming through it all with big bore rifles. When they cross the road they are on posted property so ya got to shoot before they hi it. That means ya have to shoot at them coming out of the corn. Oh thats right there is 6 more guys in that 80 acre corn field that the shooters are shooting at because the deer just came running out of it. So on and so on. Yes you are right there probably are more poeple hurt from falling out of stands but when they fell was one of their brothers , buddies,cousin, grandpa, so on shooting at them. I personally think they are dangerous my thought i dont care for them like i said earlyer a 1-2 person little push is one thing these 20 man deer DRIVES is another

Sounds like your drives aren't very well planned! Done RIGHT drives are safe and very fun!

You are 100 percent accurate my drives are not planned out because I dont do them! Just telling the way some folks around the area hunt. To tell the truth I dont even rifle hunt around here because i dont like the way theyconduct buisness in the field. That is my thoughts on drives in the area. If you all do them different where there is never and i mean EVER a muzzle of a weapon trained in the direction of another hunter have at it. But ill bet you cant answer that in all honesty can ya!

This debate arises every year.....John? Try driving deer..its not a lazy way to hunt.

Deerslayer...take it easy and stay away from personal attacks. Go ahead and debate without the attacks.

I have hunted deer for a long time stand hunting is no harder than driving deer. We don't lose deer. Frankly I can't remember losing one. It can be amusing at times when someone who...lets say baits deer, or uses scents or even rattles...ridicules deer drives. Too funny.

I understand your concern. Done wrong and careless a drive can be unsafe. Thats where the planning comes in. No buck is worth taking the chance of shooting another hunter and many shots are passed up for just that reason. Common sense is all you need. Hunt with others who hunt like you. Keep the idiots at home! I was once sitting on the tail gate of my pickup when a shotgun slug hit a stop sigh 10 feet away from me! That was from a guy in a tree stand shooting over a hill! Idiots are dangerous with or without drives! Imagine that fool with a high powered rifle! SCARY!

We do small drives that are very effective. We set rules for where we can and cant shoot and no matter how big the buck is we dont take the shot if it is in a danger zone. One thing that helps us is the fact that we use hand held radios. We know where everyone is at all times and The drivers can talk to us and let us know that deer are moving. At this point the drivers stop moving and wait until it is safe to move again. This year during gun season the only way to see a deer was to do drives. We knew the deer were there because all the signs were there. Seems like all the deer were moving at night and laying during the day. If it werent for doing drives we wouldnt have gotten any deer. I would rather eat deer any day then to eat beef. No matter how we hunt we are all out there for one reason and one reason only. Why not use this tactic to harvest an animal that has been outsmarting us for years as long as it is done safe and mindful of other hunters in our area.JMO

teejay, what are you talking about?
really, i never knew this. maybe im not reading the same newspaper as you. i dont hear of too many drives like you describe either. most drives are conducted in a fairly safe manner, with the posters knowing where the drivers will be. on drives, posters never take shots which would come anywhere near the drivers. sure, theres exceptions every year. but its alot safer than hunting out of a treestand, i bet you that much.

slayer

ps-sorry for that comment basser, just ticks me off when people write without having any idea of what they're talking about.