invited to go on a "drive" hunt
No, not where you stay in your truck and shoot out the window.[:D]
The last day of the season is coming up for a group of guys I work with, and they invited me to their hunting club to do a drive. All I know about it is we march through the woods, trying to spook the deer and shoot them as they pop up. Or others shoot them as we move them towards the other hunters.
I plan on bringing my 9-year-old son (so firearms for him) and my Marlin .30-30 b/c it's lighter for carrying around, and I doubt I'll be taking very long shots.
Any other advice, besides wear LOTS of orange?[8D]
The last day of the season is coming up for a group of guys I work with, and they invited me to their hunting club to do a drive. All I know about it is we march through the woods, trying to spook the deer and shoot them as they pop up. Or others shoot them as we move them towards the other hunters.
I plan on bringing my 9-year-old son (so firearms for him) and my Marlin .30-30 b/c it's lighter for carrying around, and I doubt I'll be taking very long shots.
Any other advice, besides wear LOTS of orange?[8D]
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[xx(] 0 -
IMHO..no place for a nine year old........just my 2 cents 0 -
How about you add more than 2 cents please? 0 -
OK heres a $.......go have fun but be careful........A guy I worked with years ago was shot doing a "drive", he lived to tell about it but wishes he had his left arm back....and I am serious about the 9 year old being involved in this activity.... keep him very close. 0 -
OK, thanks, just wanted more info that what you'd said. I'm not sure of all the details yet, so I haven't made up my mind. 0 -
quote:OK heres a $.......go have fun but be careful........A guy I worked with years ago was shot doing a "drive", he lived to tell about it but wishes he had his left arm back....and I am serious about the 9 year old being involved in this activity.... keep him very close.
When drives are done properly(with safety as an upmost importance) they are very effective and just as safe as any other type of hunting.
Jon0 -
quote:Originally posted by Jon0322
quote:OK heres a $.......go have fun but be careful........A guy I worked with years ago was shot doing a "drive", he lived to tell about it but wishes he had his left arm back....and I am serious about the 9 year old being involved in this activity.... keep him very close.
When drives are done properly(with safety as an upmost importance) they are very effective and just as safe as any other type of hunting.
Jon
I agree with you, but a group of hunters is only as safe as the most unsafe/unfamiliar hunter in the group......EVERYONE must be on the same page 100% of the time...when it comes to "drive" hunting0 -
Be carefull,I've been on a
few drives in Maine and the sitters
sometimes go wacky0 -
So y'all enlighten me, please. What should I be looking out for? I'd like to think I know safe from unsafe, but being a new hunter, what might be second nature to some may be a total lack of clue bird for me. 0 -
quote:quote:
Originally posted by Jon0322
quote:
OK heres a $.......go have fun but be careful........A guy I worked with years ago was shot doing a "drive", he lived to tell about it but wishes he had his left arm back....and I am serious about the 9 year old being involved in this activity.... keep him very close.
When drives are done properly(with safety as an upmost importance) they are very effective and just as safe as any other type of hunting.
Jon
I agree with you, but a group of hunters is only as safe as the most unsafe/unfamiliar hunter in the group......EVERYONE must be on the same page 100% of the time...when it comes to "drive" hunting
Totally agree with you on that. I know that whenever our group does them, we lay out a plan and rules before we make each and every drive. We all want to get a deer, but we are all family and understand that no deer is worth a relatives life.
Jon0 -
+1 0 -
Drives are fine . I have been on many.
HOWEVER I would never go with a group that I had not hunted with before and new VERY well.
I have also refused to take part on some drives because I knew those that were taking part.
SHOULD BE DONE BY THE VERY EXPERENCED ONLY!!!0 -
quote:Originally posted by callktulu
So y'all enlighten me, please. What should I be looking out for? I'd like to think I know safe from unsafe, but being a new hunter, what might be second nature to some may be a total lack of clue bird for me.
you walking to drive the deer out ,
guys in front of you will shot at them .
sometimes in the same direction you are walking from.
you need to watch out for that one that will blast a moving bush,
he will also shoot your way[xx(][xx(]0 -
drive with people I do not know completely...no. Did it once and will never do it again. Would also not take your 9 year old. Usually if I do a drive, the folks walking do not have their guns (depending on how many there are), only the people on the other side waiting for deer to pop out. Maitain radio communications throughout and know where the others are. 0 -
don,t go on a duck drive with out your life preserver, two of my dumb uncles darn near drowned on one. eastbank. 0 -
I love drives,just make sure drivers stay inline.Good luck and enjoy. 0 -
I wouldn't take the 9 year old for safety and other reasons. At 9 years old his legs are shorter than everyone else's. He'll be taking two steps for every one of yours. You will be dragging ass at the end of the day. Imagine how beat you would be if you had traveled twice the distance. He will try hard to keep up, but there will be times he will lag behind. Hopefully you will lag with him, but that leads to unhappy situations. He's not likely to complain. He's 9 years old and wants everybody to know he's a man.
I've been on drives with rifles, but I'm more comfortable on a drive when everybody has shotguns. Wear as much orange as you can get on your body, then add a little orange. Carry a whistle. Have fun.
You take turns driving and standing. Generally speaking the standers get most of the shots, but stay alert when you are on the drive. It's not unusual for a deer to double back and give one of the drivers a shot.0 -
Been on lots of drives when young and stupid
Figure this out for yourself---I'm setting with a rifle/ shotgun, you are pushing the deer out of heavy cover toward me. Get the picture? Now two deer clear the heavy cover I take aim toward the deer and you are behind them. Am I a good shot So as not to miss the deer? Might the round pass through and still cause you to be in a bad location? Would you go target shooting with me and after putting up a new target for me to shoot at and then step 25 feet to the side and feel safe with me shooting at the target? I am a very good shoot 25 feet would be safe, but still would be a very dumd thing on my part and yours. With the deer running and you still in the heavy cover you might not have the 25 feet margin.
I love hunting--but I want us ALL to come home to our family.
I dread to think how I/you would feel if I/you injured or killed a hunting partner!
Enjoy hunting but be safe. Please dont take your son into a mess like this.0 -
quote:Originally posted by dipits
Drives are fine . I have been on many.
HOWEVER I would never go with a group that I had not hunted with before and new VERY well.
I have also refused to take part on some drives because I knew those that were taking part.
SHOULD BE DONE BY THE VERY EXPERENCED ONLY!!!
I'll have to think about that one for a bit.0 -
i don't believe at shooting at running deer, and don't give me any crap, the rest of the year all of you complain about "clean kill" "responsible hunters", and just because it is the "last day of the season" is no excuse to be or do any different 0 -
I went on one once. Deer drives are not hunting. They are a pretty good way to get yourself shot but they are not hunting. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by dipits
Drives are fine . I have been on many.
HOWEVER I would never go with a group that I had not hunted with before and new VERY well.
I have also refused to take part on some drives because I knew those that were taking part.
SHOULD BE DONE BY THE VERY EXPERENCED ONLY!!!
Agreed, I would not go with guys that I have not hunted with many times and completely trust.0 -
The only way I'll go on a drive, and the only way I've been on a drive, is with everyone who are the shooters using shotguns only, no rifles. And orange, orange, orange. 0 -
I wouldn't take your 9 YO.
Have they told you what type of terrain you will be walking ? I'm in PA, we drive for deer and bear after the first day and usually the rest of the first week. We have a core group of guys, probably 15-18 with a couple of new guys (those we have hunted with 2 years or less, 2 this year are grandsons of other members)
We have some drives that take well over an hour and include some side hills that you think you should walk with one leg a foot shorter than the other. You crawl over rocks and under laurel. Lots of sore knees and ankles by the end of the week.
If our drivers shoot it's because the deer/bear have broken through the line and are headed away from the standers or are standing just in front of the shooter. Almost all of the bear and all of the deer arrive at the standers 15 to 20 minutes before the drivers. This year of 7 deer taken we shot 5 on drives, including my 10 point. We always put 1 guy in charge of the drivers and 1 in charge of the standers. The standers allways know were the other standers will be posted and so can adjust their lanes of fire, most are 150 yards apart in areas were they have good visibilty to see and be seen, or on an escape route used by the animal with a safe backstop for the shot. The drive captain decides which driver walks where and keeps all of them in a "line". I can't recall any problems with our drives for the last 10-15 years.
JamesRK made a comment about being more comfortable with a shotgun. Had a friend killed with a shotgun in NY about 10 years ago. He was hunting with his core group of 4 guys and a "newbe" on leased property they have hunted for a few years. 2 guys see a small herd of deer on a open sidehill about 150 yards an take several shots as they crest a small rise. Go to check for blood but no sign and no dead deer. At the end of the day they gather but Rich doesn't show. Begin a search and find him on the other side of the hill. Took a pumkin ball in the cheek. I don't know if it killed him outright or he bled out. NY State Police figured out that 1 of the 2 shooters, over 1200 yards away had fired the shot. Trajectory like a "rainbow". The "newbe" couldn't pinpoint were he was standing when he fired because no one could find his empty cases. The other shooter still hunts in NY, but by himself on his own property. He will come and stay at our camp and drive for deer with us but by his own choice won't carry a gun. We know he blames himself but no one else does.
All said and done, don't take your son and if any of these guys you work with are "8 balls" tell them you have other things to do.0 -
+1000 to what the rest have said. Leave your son at home. I have seen some crazy shiite go down on drives.
You are a new hunter and your "friends" are probably experienced hunters. You will be made the "dog" of the group. You will be sent to the thickest section of scrubs and brush and will need to traverse this unknown territory while keeping your eye out for deer!! If you will be driving...leave your weapon in your vehicle. If you will be on stand, put your back against a tree between you and the driving group. Only shoot at what runs past you and it better not be wearing orange, never shoot back into the group. Of course if you're not familiar with the property.....which way will they be coming at you from[?][?][?] Hmmmmmmm.....lots of points to ponder with this one.
Take your son to the range and spend some time plinking.0 -
Not a good practice,more people shot that way in this state than any other. 0 -
I wouldn't do it with people I have never hunted with before. Even if there is only one unsafe hunter in the group it is one too man and often you see groups that will "tollerate" unsafe practices rather than exclude a buddy. On the occassions I do participate in a drive it is generally as a driver and I use a short range weapon such as a bow or handgun. This generally helps insure that you readily identify the game and what is beyond. I also believe that a slow, quiet drive is much more effective than a loud one. The goal is to get the deer moving not spook he!! out of them. It has been my experience that during loud drives a larger % of the deer will slip between the hunters unseen because they can readily identify where the multiple hunters are, where as in a silent drive they will often only be aware of the particular hunter that spooked them any occasionaly run right at a hunter they have not seen or heard. Even if the other hunters are making some noise I try to stay as quiet as possible and generally get some pretty close encounters. And lastly if shooting starts I will generally stop for a moment and plant myself behind some cover just in case. 0 -
We do it and my advice, lots of orange, keep your shots close and most important, keep your nine yr old very, very, close, and I wouldn't let him pack a firearm. 0 -
Really doesn't need to be repeated, but WTH!
I would never take a 9 YO on a drive.
I also would never be part of one again, as to me it is not "hunting".
Back when I hunted, it was a "one on one" thing,........but to each their own.[;)]0 -
I went on a drive once with two very good friends. We were all experienced hunters, but usually hunted from deer stands.
My two buddies wore lots of orange, and they walked with the wind into the woods, not trying at all to be quiet.
I stood at the far end and of the woods, about 400 yards away, along a dirt road, and I had on lots of orange, too.
I didn't see a deer but my friend Gary shot a big doe with a Ruger .44 carbine.
This whole thing made me nervous as hell. Too many ways for it to go bad.
Never did it again.0
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