TreeStandBowHunter Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTbowman Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] What do you all think? [/ QUOTE ] Criticizing they way other hunters legally pursue game is probably the most dangerous thing hunters can do to our sport. [/ QUOTE ] Well said. I do not do drives and really dont care for them but would never critisize those who do. Unless its those dang tresspassers that drive my land while I am at work... Thats my only issue with them. I think its screws it up for those who dont do drives in a localized area. They should be saved for last week last ditch efforts, not opening weekend. Unless its a large track of leased or private land then to each his own. JMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? [ QUOTE ] I'm not hunting to be fair to deer. [/ QUOTE ] That was prob. the best thing I've read so far! Hunting isn't a "game" or "sport" like football, baseball etc...its a way of life that I believe all animals (including humans) are. Its instict to hunt...fair and ethics are two very different things. In my opinion...ethics isn't how I hunt the animal...its more on how quickly and humanely I put the animal down. Fair chase is anything that is legal in your state that isn't fenced IMO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest deerhntnwithdogs Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? [ QUOTE ] I'm not hunting to be fair to deer. [/ QUOTE ] Amen nor do I if we can never make it fair unless you take an antler and like stab him to death or something haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swamphunter Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] I was thinking of somthing. How many guys have entered the woods with a buddy and while you are going to your treestand, you see a deer your buddy accidentally bumped? Would you take a shot at it if given a standing broadside shot (ethics here)? What if it was a B&C? You took it legally, how would it feel that you couldn't have your name in the books because someone pushed it to you? Lets face it guys, unless you are fortunate to own and hunt thousands of sprawling acres (all by yourself), there is a good chance that the deer you see coming through the woods was pushed by another hunter. Whether by sight, sound or odor, that deer left the area it was in. This also brings into question, still hunting. I love to still hunt, but this is basically a one man deer drive. You walk through the woods until you see a deer and it provides you with a good shot. How many times have we snuck up on a bedded deer? Probably not as many times as we jumped one and it paused for a second giving us a clear shot. Legal? Absolutely. Ethical? Absolutely. [/ QUOTE ] I think some of you need to read this post right here from Swampy. He hit it right on the nose The mentality I see around this thread is when it's convienent for the hunter, "driving" deer is fine Great post Swampy [/ QUOTE ] No I don't need to read it. I hunt alone. How has your hunting success been this year? [/ QUOTE ] Great, thanks for asking. I shot several deer this year...got this guy while perched high in a tree. I was using a high power 30-06 and a very nice scope, dressed in full camo. Used a boat to get to the island I shot him on also. Had several guys there and we all had a great time, this is one of several killed that day... legally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ODH Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? Here in Ohio, deer drives are legal. I have done this some in the past years of hunting, with no luck to harvest a deer doing so. I am alright with this practice of hunting, as long as it is ethical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest deerhntnwithdogs Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? not in ohio I hope though right? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rutbuster Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? I don't mind deer drives I've been deerhunting 27 years and half been on tons of drives, deer will go were deer will go, you can post up the travel routes,, to me it's 50-50 those deer especially whitetails will lay tight, sneak out the side, or may circle back, I guess it depends on the terrain your making a drive,, it's legal where I hunt, I have nothing against them but trail cams, how many deer or big bucks in that matter are shot by having cameras out taking photos I don't own any but would like to myself,, that an advantage too is'nt it... that my two cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VtBowhunter Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] What do you all think? [/ QUOTE ] Criticizing they way other hunters legally pursue game is probably the most dangerous thing hunters can do to our sport. [/ QUOTE ] Well said. I do not do drives and really dont care for them but would never critisize those who do. Unless its those dang tresspassers that drive my land while I am at work... Thats my only issue with them. I think its screws it up for those who dont do drives in a localized area. They should be saved for last week last ditch efforts, not opening weekend. Unless its a large track of leased or private land then to each his own. JMO [/ QUOTE ] I guess they don't know that it's illegal to drive deer here in Vermont then? Call the warden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? In places where deer drives are illegal, how do they officially define a deer drive? The wording must be really something, unless still-hunting, hiking and just plain walking through the woods with a gun is also illegal. After-all, that is all a drive is. You have some guys sitting on stand ...... that's legal, right? You have some other guys still-hunting, walking, or just plain hiking in a direction that happens to be toward these other guys .... That's legal, right? So how in the heck do they word this law so that it can hold up in any court? Just curious. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swamphunter Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? [ QUOTE ] In places where deer drives are illegal, how do they officially define a deer drive? The wording must be really something, unless still-hunting, hiking and just plain walking through the woods with a gun is also illegal. After-all, that is all a drive is. You have some guys sitting on stand ...... that's legal, right? You have some other guys still-hunting, walking, or just plain hiking in a direction that happens to be toward these other guys .... That's legal, right? So how in the heck do they word this law so that it can hold up in any court? Just curious. Doc [/ QUOTE ] Good point. A one man drive is a very effective to "bump" a deer to your buddy who is perched near an escape route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Fantastic thanks for asking, I'm touched. See that 's why I like these forums so much, the members really care! How has yours been? [/ QUOTE ] I stuck a doe and a 12" spread 8 point. Nothing to brag about. And also let many more walk than most will see. And yours? [/ QUOTE ] Did you get a deer with your gun? Ranger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWSmith Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] In places where deer drives are illegal, how do they officially define a deer drive? The wording must be really something, unless still-hunting, hiking and just plain walking through the woods with a gun is also illegal. After-all, that is all a drive is. You have some guys sitting on stand ...... that's legal, right? You have some other guys still-hunting, walking, or just plain hiking in a direction that happens to be toward these other guys .... That's legal, right? So how in the heck do they word this law so that it can hold up in any court? Just curious. Doc [/ QUOTE ] Good point. A one man drive is a very effective to "bump" a deer to your buddy who is perched near an escape route. [/ QUOTE ] Good Points Doc Ken, When you have the chance I would like you to see the one and only video of a deer hunt I have made...so far. It is of a hunt just as you described and here is a pic showing where I was and where my father started Stalking from: ...and here is a Pic taken from about the last "D" in DAD...just to give you an idea of how large the area is(it was by no means unfair to deer with all the possible escape routes): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Personaly.....I hate deer drives......thankfully they're illegal in Vermont. [/ QUOTE ] Never posted here before so hopefully this works. I have reviewed the VT laws and cannot find anywhere that it says deer drives are illegal. If you know of where it says this please point me in the right direction. As for my opinion, it is up to the hunter how they want to hunt. Many old timers only know how to hunt by doing drives. I myself have participated in many. [/ QUOTE ] I think we may have some confusion here over drives as in "one or more hunters moving through the woods with the intent to push deer to another waiting hunter" and drives as in "using dogs to push deer to a waiting hunter." Does anyone else get that feeling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWSmith Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? [ QUOTE ] Does anyone else get that feeling? [/ QUOTE ] No...Not me personally. I think some of the views from people who dont participate in drives or have a negative attitude towards them may come from a bunch of different reasons(I'm sure I wont get them all): Possibly: Having known someone who participated in an unorganized/unsafe drive and had an accident or death. Having their stand hunting interrupted by a deer drive. Having never been a part of a deer drive. Obviously I have a positive view towards them being a part of them in the past and having taken into major consideration the best possible way to conduct one through an area with Safety being of the utmost importance. So lets have them state those reasons here and talk about ways that any problems could be avoided in an adult manner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHISKEYSWAMP Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? As I said before I'm not against them entirely since I take part in a couple every year. I usually hunt a 200 acre parcel and me and a buddy will save a 30 acre seperate woods until later in the week to drive... I just wish some of the idiots in another county I hunt would have better respect for other hunters. If they see another hunter back in a section then wait and come back later before driving all the deer out. The groups around are usually around 10-20 guys in a caravan of vehicles and they will push every woods in the area starting from the opening daylight of gun season until the final minute. Usually only one guy will have permission to hunt a section but he thinks it gives him the right to bring his buddies as well. It has finally gotten to some of the lanowners the past couple of years and they have been calling the DNR and pressing charges. Personally I think it makes a bad impression on non-hunters when they hunt this way. GWSmith... you hunt alot like I do when I go with the old man... I'm content with with sitting and waiting for deer where my dad doesn't have the patience and likes to move around so he'll still hunt towards me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VtBowhunter Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Personaly.....I hate deer drives......thankfully they're illegal in Vermont. [/ QUOTE ] Never posted here before so hopefully this works. I have reviewed the VT laws and cannot find anywhere that it says deer drives are illegal. If you know of where it says this please point me in the right direction. As for my opinion, it is up to the hunter how they want to hunt. Many old timers only know how to hunt by doing drives. I myself have participated in many. [/ QUOTE ] You may be on to something. It's been the law for so long that I haven't read up on it for a few years.........Last I knew it read, "Organized Drives for big game are prohibited", but this year, I'm unable to find it in the book. Maybe they changed it and I just never noticed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWSmith Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? I assume we are alot alike in the ways we hunt! I dont do deer drives everyday I'm out there...I do them later in the season or later in the time I have at a particular area. Ussually when the deer have gone Nocturnal and are not moving during the day. If they are still moving around with some regularity...I'm in a treestand. Of the 3 main ways I hunt deer I would have to say that Deer Drives take...3rd place in the methods used during the rifle season. 1. Stand Hunt 2. Still Hunt 3. Deer Drives I love to stand hunt...I love the challenge of trying to figure out where the deer are going to move through an area and get there before they do and be in a stand...ready for action. I love to still hunt and attempt to sneak up on a deer with the goal of possibly taking a good shot at it without it knowing I'm in the area...Totally Awesome Thrill!!! All deer drives are to me is a combination of those different aspects and methods of deer hunting. The Hope of seeing deer is still involved. The Challenge of figuring out where and when the deer will move through an area is still involved. I also have an issue with people who use very large groups of individuals to do a deer drive. IMO...It drastically decreases the safety factor that should be a part of any common sense hunters arsenal. I think of it as the "Mob Mentality"...People tend to get caught up in the moment and start shooting at anything that moves. They are less likely to identify their target before touching the trigger. Personally I like a deer standing or walking very slowly to shoot at. On that drive that my father did...When I shot there were 4 deer standing. I had plenty of time to look them over, select the one I wanted, and most importantly for me...check behind the deer for any reason not to shoot! IMO...The Challenge of figuring out how and where a deer will move through an area is part of hunting. IMO...The Hope that results in the applying of the skills you have learned is a part of hunting. The above 2 statements apply to hunting from a treestand, still hunting or stalking, and deer drives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bownarow Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? I don't have any problem with drives. I don't usually participate in them however.....not my style. It is a good way to get the younger hunters a good chance at a deer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest generallee Posted April 7, 2006 Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? I have done some hunting in WIsconsin with family, and deer drives is something that has to be done to see deer most times. The gun season in WI is only 8 days, so every hunter in the state is in the woods all at once. The deer figure this out quick and lay low all day.....nothing mmoves unless a hunter pushes that deer. We always sat opening weekend and then started to do some driving later in the week. Stand hunting in situations like this would be incredibly boring and would yield very little results. I have no problem with driving deer, and it is a legal hunting practice after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAbowhunter4life Posted April 7, 2006 Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? [ QUOTE ] A well organized deer drive can easily push deer into the crosshairs of a waiting hunter. The deer have no choice. [/ QUOTE ] No choice???? The deer have every option in the world. Just because they are bing driven a certain way doesn't mean that's where they're going. I've been on drives where I've kicked up deer that were supposed to go to the watchers and I was darn near mauled by them when they came running right at me and towards the direction I had just come from. Wow, come to PA and hunt some of the hickets with me man lol. Picking a shooting lane is a chore in itself let alone worrying about how easy the shooting will be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted April 7, 2006 Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? I really haven't developed any strong feelings against deer drives, but I do see a whole bunch of pros and cons. I havent really participated in a bonafide massive drive in quite a few decades. Rightly or wrongly, the activity just scares me to death. Drives that are going on while I am stand-hunting make me pretty nervous and I spend more time looking out for approaching hunters than for approaching deer. However, just because I have not been involved in drives for years does not mean that I don't remember how much fun they were. I think when you boil it all down, I just don't care one way or the other. I'm sure that things could happen that would make me take a pretty opinionated stand, but so far I have simply not been impacted to the point where I give a darn. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkoholic Posted April 7, 2006 Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? A definition of "Fair Chase" would be a good place to start. Anytime that the animal being pursued has the opportunity to use it's instincts and natural senses to detect and escape danger while being pursued by a predator using their natural instincts and senses should be considered fair chase. If that is the case, than drives are certainly fair chase as long as electronic surveillance/tracking devices are not used and electronic communication devices are not used to alert other hunters to the presence of game. As previously stated, in some areas of the country you would be hard pressed to see a deer during legal shooting hours if it were not for drives. Most of the hunting shows/videos are filmed on ranches under controlled/limited hunting/hunter conditions which, unfortunately, the average hunter seldom, if ever, experiences. I do have a few issues with deer drives, but those issues are more related to the hunters themselves rather than the drives. Those issues are, drives that involve trespassing, poor shot choices and the ability to properly identify the animal being shot at. I have seen hunters(?) empty their firearms at running deer, broken legs and gut shot deer being the result. Then there is the safety factor, but then again, that is more of a hunter factor than the method of hunting. Me? I prefer to still hunt with a rifle and either still or stand hunt with a bow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaTrophyHunter Posted April 9, 2006 Report Share Posted April 9, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? Deer drives are legal here and alot of fun. you get to be with alot of friends while doing it. we were walking a fifteen acre bottom of 6 year old planted pines, I was up on top of the hill and i could see the walkers in the pines and two huge bucks got up and I hollered and told the walkers they are circling around behind them and they went around them deer and turned them around coming Back toward us. them deer never came out I watched the deer for two hours before it got dark as the walkers went back and forth but the deer stayed in the middle going around the walkers, I killed one of them bucks(10pt. 247lbs.) a week later in a corn field two hundred yards away from the pines, we never killed the other buck. So you see it is fair chase and alot of times the deer want move unless you real close to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossyhorn Posted April 10, 2006 Report Share Posted April 10, 2006 Re: Drives=Fair Chase? I have never really organized a deer drive...but if I am hunting with some buddies and I will try to see if i can't push something torwards them on my way to meet them. I would rather me scare a deer to them then scare one from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.