advice on small drive in marsh

[vwj]

Dan and other Beast members,

I saw that you had a nice successful drive in the marsh. I want to know what the strategies are done when it comes to driving in the marsh.

I plan to do a small drive in a public marsh sometime in the next few weeks. where did you guys concentrate your drives, was it close to cattail meeting woods, or was it a straight line to the standers going into deep cattails?

being detailed will be very helpful. cause this will be the first time doing a drive in the marsh ever. I want to make sure we do it safely and successfully.

[dan]

What you want to do is drive sections of cattails that hold buck bedding. I like to study the land with aerials and find ways to drive them thru tight spots or where there is one or more trees you can get high into. Most of the deer we shoot in the cattails are shot out of trees. Otherwise you can't see them, and cant see the drivers.
The drivers should have radios cause they can't see where they are going. In most drives with multiple pushers, the pushers can't shoot cause they do not know where the other pushers are...

[Edcyclopedia]

I tend to be a lone deer hunter but have been on a few drives thats been successful.
Not to mention my bird hunting experiences that ultimately yielded deer busting in between the bird hunters...

Typically the way I've seen deer during my drives has been by lining up in a straight line and pushing the thick cover.
In NH you are allowed to have 6-hunters on a drive and recommend standing 30-50 yards apart maximum.
We would send 4-guys through the thick area with two guys posted in known escape routes or at least expected escape routes.
Once we meet on the other side we would back track the same parcel but select two guys to hang back 100 yards (very quietly) behind us hoping for deer to sneak out the back trail.
Surprisingly it works well and the second drive back through was usually the one that had the most action as the deer tend to crouch and/or hide to let us walk by.

I've had deer bust out at a mere 5-yards from me and you crap your shorts - well almost anyways
Maybe once I pass 50 I might not so lucky...

[vwj]

I have done drives before but it was mainly hill country which is pretty easy to do.

Do the deers ever run into the woods when being pushed or do they stay in the cattails?

[dan]

I have done drives before but it was mainly hill country which is pretty easy to do.

Do the deers ever run into the woods when being pushed or do they stay in the cattails?

They somtimes hit the woods, but most of the mature bucks avoid leaving the cattails and often will not move untill you are within 10 feet of them