DEER DRIVES

[Woods Walker]

I love it when people drive the properties adjacent to where I hunt.

In fact, if I know about it ahead of time, I make DARN sure that I'm in the woods on that day, because any big bucks that are in there WILL NOT be driven off their home ground, and will double back or lay low. If you know your ground and the wind is right, they will many times push that buck to YOU, if you are quiet and stealthly. Many times that big buck is watching and listening for a group of hunters moving and making noise on his backtrail and is not looking for a single hunter who is waiting in ambush for him in an area that he thinks is "safe". This can work especially well if the drivers are driving ground that they have "saved", and has not been hunted much or at all that season.

I actually learned a lot of this by doing deer drives. I got to the point where I prefered to be a driver, and the group would let me hang back from the rest of the drivers to try and catch anything trying to "slip out the back door". Obviously, I had to be EXTREMELY selective with my shots when I took them, and passed on quite a few deer because I wasn't 100% sure of where evryone was. But boy, did those deer teach me a lot! You'd be absolutely AMAZED at just how little cover a big buck needs when he wants to slip past you!

[kellory]

Woods walker, I have to agree with you. You are a fart smeller, er...I mean a smart feller!

[Woods Walker]

LOL! I've been accused of worse than that!

But I will also add, that a well run, efficient drive is NOT for rank amateurs. In fact, the most consistantly successful drives are usually done by hunters who know their ground as well as the deer do. There's MUCH more to it that acting like a marching band in blaze orange. When we drive on the last day of gun season, we don't slam car doors, or even TALK in anything above a whisper while we are getting into place. On some of the places we drive, the standers will sometimes go in a few hours before, "stalking" their way in, so that hopefully the deer are unaware of them. If they are aware of them, then you may as well stay back at camp and drink coffee.

[MZS]

Growing up, folks in the neighborhood (Central WI) would do drives in the last few days of the season, usually starting on Thanksgiving morning. And they were the "Whoopin and Hollerin Marching Band in Blaze Orange" type. Frankly, these drives were one of the most unsafe things I ever took part in! Hunters just 80 yards from each other, shooting at deer that double back between them! Also, near the end of the drive, you had hunters shooting toward each other again! Almost needless to say, it was pretty worthless to try and stand hunt after we started driving. From and ethics viewpoint, I would say it is no more unethical than grouse-hunting with a dog - you are flushing them out of cover. Still, it is not my cup of tea. Not too much of it done up here in N. WI where I am now.

[rednecksape]

i grew up and was raised doing deer drives. Runnin and Gunnin! a few years ago i started geting into archery hunting. and i do agree they are two totally different styles of hunting. both having advantages and disadvanteges. when driving deer, it requires a good shot cause most of the time the deer are running full speed causing a tough shot. where as with just still or stand hunting you have them walking in see them for awhiel and can allow yourself to get the shot ready and have a still standing deer. i love both styles but being raised a deer drive guy thats just what i love. nothin like walking through the woods yellin YOOOOO BUCK and waiting for shots to fire!

[kellory]

If your drivers are any good, they should be just bumping the deer. You want that deer just to be moving on, not running for DEER LIFE. It affects the taste of the meat, and is much more likely to cause a bad shot, and fewer shots as well. A cautious deer will travel quietly and smoothly, but is less likely to cross rivers, or make harder exits by choice. A panicked deer will take any exit at hand, running hard and noisy. He is much more likely to stay on the property if he is gently bumped, and he is a much easier shot if he comes nearby.

[Woods Walker]

What he said! ^^^^^^

When I was a kid we used to hunt a lot of pheasants (that's back when there WERE pheasants...WILD ones mind you....). What we learned back then was that the best way to hunt them was NOT to go charging through the cover, as that would either blast them out a 1/4 mile ahead of you, or they'd just sit tight and watch you go by. If they could hear you, then they'd know where you were. We found that walking slowly, with a lot of zigs and zags, and most importantly many stops and pauses at varying intervals. What you wanted to avoid was a predictable rythym. We soon learned to be ready for a flush...many times VERY close by (depending on the cover)....during those pauses. That seemed to un-nerve them when you stopped, mainly I guess because that's how their canine predators hunt them. Deer, IMO, are much the same, especially bigger bucks. We all know that many times it's the big buck who will lay low and let you pass him by.

[kellory]

Same way as you hunt rabbits. step and pause, step, step and pause. watch for a panic. and cover it exits.

[kellory]

They are useful, I build my own with quick release wheel chair wheels. pop the wheels off, lay it flat, and cover it with leaves and it is gone.