by George the "Silverfox" Lawver
Growing up and hunting in northern Wisconsin farm country, remember the chase for the big farm "bucks". Back then no one ever sat over a bait pile. We worked hard, but always got deer. How did we do it? Making "DRIVES". We had very systematic organized drives. We would line up guys and move through an area pushing the deer towards others who were standing waiting for the deer to step out. The object of course was to chase the deer to the guys who were standing, who would then shoot the deer. Of course it wasn�t quite that simple! Much time and effort was put in to it long before we ever hit the woods opening morning. I went back to this basic way of hunting this year with good success. We moved many deer seen many does and did shoot the bucks we seen. Here are some tips and ideas to make your deer drives successful.
KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL DEER DRIVES
1. Know the area you�re hunting> It�s important so you don�t lose
hunters .
2. Know the deer pattern and runways in the area.
This will help you move the deer naturally!
3. Wind Direction. Deer prefer to run into the wind and will
also be pushed cross wind.
4. You need a good starting point and finishing point.
Everyone needs to start at the same time, moving in the
same direction to those standing who should have an idea of
how long it should take the drivers, drivers should be spaced
out to cover the area and come out close to the standers
5. Standers need to be able to cover areas for shooting safely between standers and drivers. Standers must also be able to cut the drivers off after the drive is over.
6. Communication between everyone is a must. Starting and ending of drives must be communicated. Hand held radios
or whistles work well.
