Deer drives--- Good, or bad?

[dan]

Read the article I wrote for wired to hunt then comment:

http://wiredtohunt.com/2013/05/16/deer- ... od-or-bad/

[christian1]

I think that the mentality of most Wisconsin hunters is to do things on public that they would never do on their own property. A direct quote from a friend, "We're trying to grow big bucks on our property so if you guys want to shoot little bucks or does go across the road (to public)". Not sure I am a fan of this type of thinking.

chris

[Bowhunting Brian]

Fun to do, not good if your trying to grow big deer. When I stated hunting, it was a social thing. I didn't care what I shot. We did a lot of drives on the private land we hunted. We had a lot of fun. We shot 18 deer one year. The next year only about 9. I knew nothing about deer or deer hunting really as I just followed along with the land owner and friends but I did put two and two together and saw the result of over hunting. I wanted to get more serious about hunting and decided it was time to go somewhere else to hunt a couple of short years later.

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[dan]

I think that the mentality of most Wisconsin hunters is to do things on public that they would never do on their own property. A direct quote from a friend, "We're trying to grow big bucks on our property so if you guys want to shoot little bucks or does go across the road (to public)". Not sure I am a fan of this type of thinking.

chris

Interesting way of looking at it... To me, the difference is the private is managed with rules... The public is not. We have lots of new hunters who would shoot anything that is brown on public, and if it gets there skill level built up and gets a deer or two under there belt, Im all for it, but I would not want them hunting on my managed land....

There are also meat hunters, still hunters, and people who do drives on every hunt... While I support that they can hunt how ever they want on land open for public use, I certainly don't want them on land I manage for big bucks...

On public land I have miles and miles of land where big bucks hide... I see no reason not to drive them like others do. However, my private is managed for specific reasons that the public is not... I would never want to force my principles down others throats. Each property serves a different reason.

[UntouchableNess]

Also, if you have a big buck on your land and do a drive, its likely one of the others in the drive gets the buck and not you! Just as likely, the buck may get killed by the neighbor when the buck flys through their land or relocates over there. The neighbors also might not be as willing to let the bucks you pass go once you push them onto their property. Many hunters sit in their stands all day waiting for the neighbors to drive the deer to them. Don’t give your neighbors this luxury!

The neighbors used to do drives, with the adjoining property owners lining up on the fence (not by design, but their neighbors came to anticipate the drive). They quickly realized that they were pushing deer to others, often without getting a decent shot. They have gone to stand hunting.

I stand hunt because if I walked my property, I'd be done hunting in an hour.

[dan]

A direct quote from a friend, "We're trying to grow big bucks on our property so if you guys want to shoot little bucks or does go across the road (to public)". Not sure I am a fan of this type of thinking.

I can't say I wouldn't make the same comment and see nothing wrong with it... People can shoot what ever they want that is legal, and I support that... But not on my property. There I make the rules.

[Jackson Marsh]

Small drives (a few hunters) are a fun way to hunt and it's fun to get out of the treestand after bowhunting in one for so many months. Large group drives IMO are a disaster waiting to happen and I do not participate in them. You wouldn't believe it until you see it, but an Iowa shotgun hunt with 20 or 30 person deer drives is not uncommon.............it is a complete rodeo

[Stanley]

I'm not a big proponent of deer drives. Hey, a father son deer drive is good. You get 30 guys together for a drive and that usually means trouble of some kind in the small wood lots of Iowa. Trespassing is a big problem with gangs of drivers in Iowa. I think it is more under control today than it was 10 years ago. More of the land is leased and controlled much better.

You'd be surprise how many guys wives & friends(pun intended) hunt during the shot gun season in Iowa. I almost fear for my life when in the woods during shot gun season in Iowa.

[UntouchableNess]

You get 30 guys together for a drive and that usually means trouble of some kind in the small wood lots of Iowa. Trespassing is a big problem with gangs of drivers in Iowa. I think it more under control today than it was 10 years ago. More of the land is leased and controlled much better.

Agreed.

I know of one large local group (almost 30 people) that quit because of access issues and confrontations with new landowners of ground that they had always been able to push.

[tim]

I see no problem with deer drives. I don't really do it much, I have before but not lately. I guarantee many big bucks have been killed as part of a deer drive without the killer knowing they were on the receiving end as opposed to skill.

[Dewey]

Deer drives during the gun season are the main reason I started heading way north to hunt and avoid the crazy lunatics that have no business carrying a gun. I have seen some good private and public property totally slaughtered by deer drives and I have absolutely no desire to participate in this. The safety factor was my biggest reason though. If you ever had a slug wizz by your head in a cattail marsh you will understand where I am coming from.

Sure it's an effective way to kill a big buck but it's not for me. Almost every deer I killed during the gun season up north was using natural movement and showed no sign of being pushed.

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[seeds]

I hunt several small parcels of public. Access is difficult for the general public but neighboring landowners can access and drive around that public land with trucks and atvs from their properties. Sure,it's illegal to operate motor vehicles on the public but when you're large landowner in the area - and in some cases used to own that land - you can pretty much do what you want within reason.

Deer drives on the public start with the youth hunt,and every weekend until the end of the holiday hunt. In fact,I was recently told that I can hunt that PUBLIC land until the neighboring farmers finish harvesting their crops,then it'd "be best" if I found somewhere else to hunt....The guy who explained it to me was on an ATV at the time - on public land - and was miffed that i was out there picking "his" morels.

I haven't been part of a drive for 33 years....Something just seems wrong about a farmer owning 800 acres (only half in ag) and leaving that alone while repeatedly pounding the snot out of the neighboring public 160.

[Bigb]

The only time that we have done them in the past three years is during the January Antlerless season. Most bucks are still sporting antlers at that time so we don't worry too much about shooting a shed buck. If we do, then it's just bad luck. We always talk about doing one on the last day of the shotgun season but usually we have a few deer at that point so we decide not to. Most of Illinois doesn't have the amount of public land to do drives or they are illegal so I can't say I have too much experience with them. I know one of the neighbors where I hunt does them opening day of gun season. They only have a small narrow ravine of woods so they either get a deer in a 20 minute drive or that is it. They haven't had any luck in a few years though. They seem to always have deer in their fields at night when we leave but I think they are coming out a nasty bedding area along the road next to an odd farm house on the land that I hunt. I have a feeling this is one of those spots Dan talks about that are overlooked. Thick smaller cuts that dip down about 15 to 25 feet that are narrow but have a lot of cedars. I might have to break down and put a stand near there this year. Its just one of those spots that is so close to the road you wouldn't think hold buck but hey, these deer might realize I walk 3/4 of a mile in the woods and stay close to the road.

[MOBIGBUCKS]

I have no issues with deer drives....In fact, the biggest whitetail I've ever fired at was on a classic Iowa deer drive. The owner I was hunting on invited me the first weekend I was there; I wasn't going to disappoint him so I went with the guys. I had a great time and embrace their passion and love for hunting whitetails that way.

It's not my way to hunt deer, but I had a good time going.

[JoeRE]

You'd be surprise how many guys wives & friends(pun intended) hunt during the shot gun season in Iowa.

Yea they have a tag but for some reason they never seem to leave the truck or the house...

My thoughts on the matter are a little more complex. I really don't like large scale deer drives where the deer are literally surrounded. It is unsafe, it offers poor shots at panicked deer, and the crowds that do the big ones tend not to be people I would have a beer with although I am sure there are exceptions.

On the other end of the spectrum are small scale nudges, I do quite a few of them with my two brothers late season in IA. You have to have a lot of knowledge of how deer move to make them effective particularly after the regular gun seasons, but they can work very well. Generally the target deer have no idea they are being directed to a certain point by us until the shot that kills them. This I won't hesitate to continue to do on limited access private land.

Unless you completely surround an area (which is how a lot do get shot), I actually think traditional deer "drives" are a very low odds for getting big bucks. That is based on observing other peoples drives and watching big buck after big buck avoid blockers. I like to be out in the woods during the shotgun seasons just to watch this.

I really don't think more guys driving public land is the way to go though. Dan, I know your advice was given mostly in regard to the large public areas Wisconsin has but in Iowa, with most public being smaller parcels that essentially are driven from one side to the other by multiple crews every year, more guys doing drives on them is only going to make the hunting worse for everyone. In fact, I would support quotas of hunters that can be on a piece of public at any one time particularly during the shotgun seasons. 20 guys on a 100 acre piece of public is too much, particularly when 15 of them are in one crew driving the entire property. It does not lend itself for respect toward your fellow hunters.