Should deer drives (gun hunters) be a legal hunting method?

On a personal level I honestly don't care for deer drives because of the type of shots that lots of times get taken. Bucks in my area hardly ever get age to them. My neighbors to the east have outstanding bedding. There's a 40 acre swamp that holds the bucks. They have no idea on how to hunt it so they drive it every gun season after they try still hunting it just one day. A few nice bucks have been shot by their drives through out the years but mostly it's young bucks (2.5 year olds getting shot). Usually every year come spring or in the winter while shed hunting we'll find a dead buck or 2. It's always a 2.5 or 3.5 year old. They all take stupid long running shots. I hear about it from them every year. If they would be much more ethical about it with their stupid choices of shots I'd be better on this subject. Bow or gun hunter, I can't stand people taking low percentage shots.

Without gun hunting we would not be able to manage any wild animal herd period! Not in the least am I against people who gun hunt. I just question the ethics used (gun or bow). To be honest come late season we've done some deer drives bow hunting. We've had excellent results in doing so. Most shots are with in 10 to 12 yards and deer standing 100% still (no running shots). Last year I shot a doe at 9 yards with my recurve. My brother did a very slow push through a doe bedding area December 30th (2 days before the season closed). Talk about a rush shooting a deer on the ground at 9 yards.

 

Smh at this one. Fair chase is a funny term considering we are humans and they are deer. It will never be fair especially when you add food plots, 24/7 365 herd monitoring, high tech everything, aerial photos, and this list could go on for days. Yeah it' so fair and noble to do things that way gtfoh What a bunch of self serving non-sense. Here's a bit of info most of todays modern "tv" style hunters forget. They are not your deer, hunting season is for herd management not necesarily trophies. Deer drives are like any other method, effective for harvesting game when used correctly. The problems most here have mentioned are people problems not method problems.

If you banned dog hunting and deer drives (mainly dog hunting) here in VA the herd population would explode as if still hunters could kill that many in all this timber company pine and swamp thickets. Yeah right. It's about killing deer folks not whatever else it's been turned into.

Wounded deer running shots that whole line of thinking is funny to me considering I read about 5,000 posts a season it seems like of some bowhunter shanking a deer. We really want to go down that road? I mean the effective kill road? As bowhunters you think that's not a slippery slope. Got a meeting but can't wait to read the rest of this crap pot thread later.

 

So who on here that uses dogs for drives would have a problem with the neighbor shooting one as it ran deer across their property?

 

So in your eyes there is no difference between a capable bowhunter making a bad shot on a still target and a gun hunter wounding a moving target?

I had hoped that the majority of people had more respect for the animals that they hunt. I guess not.

 

Effectively killing deer is about preparation and good decision making....regardless of the type of weapon used

 

For selfish reasons I say no lol. I don't like them and don't think its "hunting"...chasing maybe. But that's just being picky on wording, so I wont argue that. I don't like the pressure it puts on deer, don't like the amount of bad shots that happen (sure, happens on nonmoving game also), and don't like the little time it gives a hunter to decide if an animal is mature. So many button bucks and young doe get killed from them. But, there is nothing illegal about any of that. I hope the method goes away over the years. I think it would help deer population in areas that I hunt and lead to bigger bucks, but I cant think of a reason it should be illegal. I also haven't read all the responses, so not sure others opinion.

 

Ive done it before and ill do it again.

Hell maybe this year ill push deer...off my corn pile...towards hunters using crossbows and rage broadheads.

Come at me bro!

 

I don't care what caused the deer to be wounded, a running shot or a "capable" Bowhunter making a bad shot the end result is the same. My point was as a group Bowhunters probably shouldn't say much about other hunters wounding deer.

I do deer drives, I hunt deer with dogs. I take running deer every season with a shotgun and buckshot. Not sure what you're talking about as far as respect.
Most the negative comments all come down to hunters being just like everybody else, self centered and self absorbed. It's their way and their deer or ban it.

 

Ok and I agree. Yet we'd be lying if we said that well prepared hunters who make good decisions in the field were immune from wounding deer. They're not, it happens every season.

 

If deer drives should be illegal does that mean the way that 99% of people pheasant hunt should be illegal? It's the same thing from the animals point of view except pheasant hunting also uses dogs.


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I think drives might be more akin to harvesting than some other forms of hunting. I don't think it would be much fun but I'm not going to criticize someone else's hunting methods as long as it's legal. It seems to me that when you put down someone else's hunting, you get too close to the anti-hunting crowd. We're all in this together and I think we need to present a united front.

You know, I absolutely hate watching hockey, but I have no interest in banning it.

 

Legal on private property... not on public, unless it is a management hunt. Personally, I hate dog drives but as long as those participating stay on their own property its up them how they hunt it. When their dogs get intentionally run across another's property... "I see nuth-thingk!"

 

The term "hunting community" is dead. There's a civil war among "hunters" and it's embarrassing.

 

It is illegal to shoot a pheasant that is not flying.

 

I couldn't agree with this more. Im tired of seeing hunters being rude to other hunters because they used a cross bow not a vertical bow, or they use a bullet not an arrow, or he shot it over bait not a foodplot, or drove deer instead of treestand. I get it, my post is only a few above this, and I said id love it to be illegal. But I stressed that it was for selfish reasons and I will always admit that. If any of you tell me you shot a deer on a drive though and were proud, id be happy for you. One of my best friends in NJ only does drives...always so pumped when he kills a good buck. As hunters we need to fight less over some things. Most people here have been decent but some have been rude. No need for it. We need to stick together more.

 

If I only hunted 3 days a year and wanted to put meat on the table, 80% of my hunting would entail driving deer.

 

Sums it up perfectly.

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Live and let die...as in this thread.

 

Alot of selfish bastards on this website these days. Truly sad.

 

This ^^^