Deer Drives

[idahohikker]

Anyone have experiences with drives, good or bad? It’s mentioned as a method in Robby’s book and the oldtimers I’ve talked to used it pretty regularly. I’ve also noticed that if you read stories on record book bucks, you’ll see drives mentioned fairly often.

Obviously it’s not 1960 anymore so I think it has some potential for causing some issues. However, it is commonly used back east today and I think with some care being taken that’s it’s a feasible method.

I have just barely dabbled in it, not enough to comment really. My thought is that the placement of the hunters and the selection of the timber and openings is critical or the drive has a high likelihood of failing. There is some value where it can be deployed outside of peak spotting times and some big bucks just never really show themselves in the open after rifles go off.

I’d be interested in hearing thoughts from the esteemed company here.

 

[Pistolpete28]

I know guys that use the tactic in Washington. They have killed tons of deer in 3 different deep timbered canyons. There is tons of pressure in this area but they killing about 90% of the deer. Some years they get small 3 points other years they take 150 to 180 mature bucks. I personally dont like it but its very effective in this type of country.

 

[Scrappy]

I'll get the popcorn.

 

[idahohikker]

I'll get the popcorn.

Haha I thought it might go that way. Let’s hope it stays civil. Reasonable minds can differ.

 

[dirtytough]

I participated in them when I was young. In Washington for blacktail. We never killed anything on them. Looking back I would say we didn't have enough people. The one time I remember one of the blockers saw a good buck it had circled around the drivers and he saw it behind us.

 

[Calbuck]

My family used to hunt this way and took many, many good bucks using that tactic in heavy brush. I'm not sure why anyone would bash the method, as it is very effective in hunting strips of land with heavy cover. This should not be confused with "Party hunting" as at least in my family's case, everyone on the drive had tags. The more people you have, the better, and in our case, the areas we hunted were year after year. We knew that country like the back of our hands, and how far apart to place the drivers and how many people posted out front. Great way to hunt but since our draw system started, we just don't hunt in big groups anymore.

 

[Macegl]

This might come across the wrong way, but I think part of the reason it doesn't happen as much anymore is it takes large groups of unselfish people.

 

[Pistolpete28]

Deer drives work there is no doubt about it. It may take time to learn how to properly plan it in an area but it does work. You may have wounded animals and ethics can be questionable. I know a group of whitetail hunters were doing a drive in Washington a few years back and a hunter was killed in a drive. You definitely need a decent size group of people and you have to trust that the hunters are very level headed.

 

[HuntInWild88]

Never done one in the states as its illegal in the states i have hunted.
However I have done several in Germany. In Germany they use them mostly to cull the hogs and help with population control. They do allow deer during the drive hunts however its femal only due to the fact that the bucks have already shed their antlers. I wouldnt particularly call large drives hunting as it is just shooting....but fully condone it for filling filling the freezer.

 

[neil.hansford]

I participated in some while growimg up in the south. Man drives and hunting with dogs. Never really cared for either. They both resulted in more wounded animals than I care to see. Also takes some of the fun out of it. When I'm sitting a stand (back east) or glassing a basin (out west), there's always the excitement of what may show up, and you can sit/hunt as long as you want. When someone pushes through timber, what's in there is gone, and your hunt is over quickly, whether you saw the deer come out or not. I guess I just enjoy seeing deer (and really any animal) in a more natural, relaxed state.

Also, seems kind of dangerous on public land, as you may not know what other hunters are present....not to mention a good way to piss people off....

Sent from my SM-T290 using Tapatalk

 

[Raghornkiller]

I live in the midwest and my girlfriend's family does it almost every weekend during gun season.they have killed a ton of deer doing it.that said we have tried it on mule deer and it was like herding cats.they tended to not go in a straight line like a whitetail does but that was flatter country.maybe in eastern Montana you could drive the deep washes and canyons

 

[Cornhusker]

I grew up in Iowa in the 1960's and 70's using this a lot. Most of the farm kids and adults in my area of Iowa would all get together and we'd do a morning push and then and afternoon push. It was pretty effective for killing deer and worked well because the farm I grew up on was on a few hundred acres and it allowed us access on a drive to more small farms in the area.

I personally didn't like it at all:
1. It was incredible dangerous even with a slug in a shotgun which travelled a shorter distance. Blockers were put in place and weren't supposed to move, they often did,.
2. Often people also got excited and shot without thinking of their travel of the slug it they missed.
3. To me it wasn't fun as it offered little challenge it seemed more like luck than skill.
4. Most shots were at running deer sometimes with several guys blasting away with an automatic or pump shotgun so it was often hard to tell who shot the deer.

That's just my experience not looking to start a debate or argument.

 

[idahohikker]

Thanks everyone for sharing. I just reread the part in Robby’s book about drives. He shares about a group that was really effective with it, even on big mature bucks. They had an established plan, they knew the country well, and they knew how to execute. I agree with Robby that with the right group of unselfish hunters it can be very effective. I don’t think it will ever be plan a for me but during a midday and after you’ve glasses an area that should hold deer and they aren’t in the open I think it’s worth considering. A lot of guys still hunt and that’s half of the drive without shooters set up.

I don’t think drives should make other hunters mad. Not only could the other hunters benefit from deer on the move, it’s public land and a legal activity. I do think having the drivers still hunt and not be all loud in a big group is best practice for avoiding conflicts.

Many in my grandpas generation performed essentially mini drives everywhere by walking around and jumping deer and shooting them. It had the effect of moving animals all over, sometimes to others benefit or detriment.

 

[bluetick78]

Pushing mulies out of quakie pockets in the foothills is how I learned to hunt. Post a guy or 2 on top, one or 2 guys walk through the trees. When the deer came out the top they got shot.....maybe. Now guys find a glassing knob and alternate between binos and spotter with phone attached. We saw way more deer 30 years ago because guys were pushing them all day. I have no problem with either kind of hunting, but if you want a good workout go push pockets of trees all day. It's a lost art that was very effective if executed properly in the right places.

 

[muleyslayer5]

My grandfather and Dad killed tons of deer like this in so cal over the years. It is way too dangerous now days due to the influx of Mexican hunters in the areas who will shoot at anything that moves.

 

[Block]

Not a “drive” but Iv has mixed results bumping deer on purpose when they were in nearly unstalkable bow terrain... sometimes you’ll get lucky and they reBed in a more favorable spot... ^ happened with the buck in my avatar. Bumped him out of THICK oak brush and he ran to a wide open slope... watched his backtrail for 45 min like a statue,,, then flicked his tail and reBed in a great spot.

 

[CREillY]

Dan Infalt and The Hunting Public have some good youtube videos out there showing how they successfully execute deer drives and wind bumping.

 

[LongWayAround]

We did a little elk drive a couple years ago that resulted in my buddy's dad killing his first bull.

We knew the elk were on one of two finger ridges so I took one and they took the other. Still hunting my way down the ridge, I hit a few steps of crunchy snow with the herd just over a small rise. The main body of the herd was on their feet and moving away slowly, providing me with no shot to fill my cow tag. Fifty yards later, I spotted a small group of bulls. Asses and antlers through the timber I watched them for a few minutes until some deer blew above me and ran right into the bulls. The bulls crossed the draw and trotted right to my buddy's dad who was sitting in a rock pile. Two shots later and I saw the celebration on the next ridge.

The elk were back out feeding on those fingers before nightfall.

 

[West.mass.hunter]

My group does them in northern NH at least a few times a week when we're up there. We've taken our share of deer doing this. Mainly mid day though as we all like to sit for the first couple hours and last couple hours of light

 

[Bull_n_heat]

I've done lots of drives for whitetails over the years. For muleys... Unpopular? Yes. Would I do them the first day of the season? No. But potentially successful? I see no reason that they wouldn't work. I see the challenge in most mule deer locations is figuring out what places deer use as escape routes, and how to get people in place to be successful. And of course, how to not anger the folks that aren't so pro-drive.

An alternative to a "drive", would be a coordinated still hunt through timber. I've seen tons of scenarios where those opportunities could be deadly.