Safe And Effective Deer Drives

Safe And Effective Deer Drives by James L. Bruner
article copyright

While many hunters would debate that driving deer is an unsafe practice, it’s hard to deny that this is an effective means to harvesting those deer that survive by keeping themselves out of sight during daylight hours. In this article I’ll give a few scenarios from actual deer drives, some set-up advice, techniques, and of course a safety lesson.

Intro
A good friend had called and explained that he had yet to connect with his buck and the season was nearly over. The area he hunts is rich with farmlands and holds deer of every proportion imaginable. Honestly, I was surprised he hadn’t filled his tag with a nice buck on opening day like he had so many times before. He was interested in driving a small 20 acre swamp on his property and was sure the bucks were holding tight in there throughout the day. I was familiar with the tract of land and recognized the possibility of driving the swamp using the wind and natural landscape to our advantage. The truck was loaded with gear and I began to create a mental blueprint of how the drive would take place as I headed down the backroads.

At the farmstead I was greeted by an anxious hunter with his own ideas on the technique we should use to drive the intended woodlot. We pooled our resources and decided on a drive that accomodated both our ideas. I had the knowledge of the drive and he knew the layout of the land down to the smallest detail. We planned on driving the deer from the north end to an open powerline on the south end. There were 2 major trails the deer used leading into an adjoining woodlot that he was sure the deer would use for their escape. The powerline itself might be 15 yards wide at the largest so our approach to driving the deer was to be more of a “silent push” to allow a decent shot while the deer crossed the opening.

A “silent push” is what I refer to as stalking through the woods like you’re hunting without worrying about every little twig cracking but still trying to avoid the larger limbs and sharper noises. You use the wind to your advantage whenever possible by driving the swamp with the wind to your back. You want the deer to scent you but not necessarily recognize your exact location. This will force the deer to keep ahead of you but usually not send them into the next county on a dead run. When using this technique, more times than not the deer will use their best trails to make their own silent escape. If all worked well the deer shouldn’t be in a major panic and try to sneak across the powerline exposing themselves for a clear shot. The landowner positioned himself with easy viewing access of the two main trails as I headed for an old tractor trail that disected two adjoining parcels. The sky was mostly cloudy, the day was in the low 40′s, there was a strong prevailing wind from the north, and we knew the deer were bedded down in between us. We couldnt have asked for a better scenario considering the drive only consisted of 1 driver and 1 man posting for the shot.

Using The Wind
I remember deer drives from back when I was just a mere spectator from a distance tucked safely inside a vehicle as an army of men discended into the woods. What followed sounded like a bar-room brawl straight from an old western movie as all kinds of hootin’ and hollerin’ began and anxious hunters, posted on the edge of the field, squatted down with rifles ready for the sea of deer that was sure to vacate the woods at any moment. More times than not very few deer made an appearance.

This was how many hunters drove the woods and still do to this day. Most times there is no planned strategy besides the use of manpower. What you might lack in manpower you make up by creating as much noise as possible. I honestly thought “that was the way” back then but looking back it’s easy to see that the results could have been much higher even with the use of less manpower.

I cant recall the wind directions from that many years back but, thinking of the property and the time of the year along with the prevailing winds, its easily recognized that these groups paid little attention to wind direction. If you think logically about using wind direction to your advantage it makes perfect sense. What gives you away to the deer more times than anything else while hunting? Exactly! A deer can be well out of sight and still catch your scent. All you see is a white flag bouncing between a few trees here and there and your opportunity to harvest that deer in particular just decreased dramatically.

Pages: 1 2 3