Drive or Stand Hunt??

[Grandee]

Just curious who enjoys driving and pushing for deer or who would rather try and pattern the deer and stand hunt. I quite pushing deer about 5 years ago and enjoy and get more satisfaction from trying to figure out the deer and stand hunting. Just curious on your thoughts. Thanks

[JDM]

I have shot plenty of deer doing both, but I have never seen a trophy shot while driving (yes, I know that it does happen, though). I prefer to stand hunt, but a good drive can be effective in the right spot at the right time. Just my opinion, but I get more satisfaction and feel more accomplished when I harvest an animal from a stand. I think it takes more skill and preparation to do so, not withstanding any running shot on a whitetail at the end of a drive. Do what you enjoy. Our group went from all driving to more sitting and we do kill more deer that way.

[BLACKJACK]

Both stand hunting and deer drives have their +'s and -'s, both put venison on the meatpole and can be exciting. Where I hunt in zone 4, we stand hunt in the morning and evening and do drives during the day.

Stand hunting is fun, sitting there at first light, imagining that black bush at 100 yards is a deer, the challenge of scouting out the right spot to sit where deer will walk right by you. But sitting in a stand can get boring if you're not seeing deer. And that is where deer drives come in, you can make something happen. Its challenging figuring out the right way to conduct the drive, where to put posters, etc. It can be very exciting when you're a driver and you step into a woods and it explodes with deer running all over. Or if you're a poster, the anticipation when you're starting a drive, the excitement as that first deer comes trotting by you, and the satisfaction of making a good killing shot.

I was a poster this weekend on a deer drive and shot a buck at 40 yards, it ended up being the only deer we got all weekend. The one downside to drives is that they can be dangerous, if you have people that start shooting recklessly at anything brown without regard to where other people are at, thats bad.

Both stand hunting and drives have their place and can be exciting.

[eagle_3464]

To each their own and I will not put down any way one chooses to hunt as long as it is ethical and within the laws. I am a huge fan of stand hunting by archery or muzzy. I have given up the firearms season becuase I find so much more challenge and satisfaction in the other seasons. When I did hunt by firearms, many times I shot nice deer because I had the patience to stay on stand while others were antsy and had to start moving. Though our group usually shot several deer on drives I was never a big fan of hunting that way. Maybe I just had it in my mind that it was unsafe and not necessarily a fair challenge to the deer.

[Cootz]

My preferred method is still hunting. I generally stand hunt for a few hours morning and night though. I don't have the patience to sit all day long. Now that the old timers have all passed on we only have three people left in our hunting party so hard driving isn't done any more. We'll still put a guy or two on a stand and still hunt to him during the middle of the day. I've never shot a wall hanger doing that but I've shot some respectable deer. I'll concede that if you want a wall hanger you have a better chance sitting all day.

[harvey lee]

During the rut I like to stand hunt (Contact Us Please) the bucks will be moving.I also like to find a high doe pop. are and sit and wait.I also feel safer sitting in a tree.

[bigbucks]

I do both, but generally prefer stand hunting.

To hunt a small woods where there may only be deer occasionally it's nicer to take fifteen minutes or a half hour, whatever, & drive it, versus dedicating a 2-3 hour sit for it, to find out nothing's moving there that day. Days when it's really windy I definitely think drives are the way to go.

You have to be very careful about who are the drivers & the standers & where you put each guy. There are obviously guys in your party you can put anywhere, but there are some, especially young hunters, where you want them away from houses & vehicles, where you don't have to worry about them shooting at the other guys in their excitement. Anyone that there's any concern about just very carefully take the time to explain when & where they can & can't shoot & why. If it's too inexperienced of a hunter, have them walk the drive without a gun, or double post with a very experienced hunter, they'll learn a lot either way.

We've seen a few big deer on drives, but most of the time they're the ones that stay hidden until the drivers are on top of them & then blast back through them away from the posters. In my experience the drivers often shoot as many or more deer than the posters. I have no idea how many deer I've shot while walking a drive, but it's quite a few.

[BobT]

I hunt in zone 1 with my brother. Me, I'm not very good at sitting in one place very long. I'm getting better but I still get antsy. My brother is the guy that can crawl into a stand and not come out until it's dark again. Over the past 25 years of hunting together I can say without a doubt that he has bagged more deer and bigger bucks by a 2:1 margin. In the northern forest my experience has shown that staying in the stand far outperforms moving.

I'm guessing that those who hunt the open areas around my home in Osakis probably have an almost opposite result, but I'm only guessing.

Bob

[eyepatrol]

Our group which consists of all relatives has driven deer since before I was born (30-some years ago). It has been the accepted way of hunting for those of us younger guys that grew up watching them hunt, learning from them. From dawn 'till dusk we are walking constantly......groves, waterways, cornfields, grass patches. In my years of hunting, I've found that it can be an effective way of getting does. However, the bucks seem to have an instinct about it and many times will bust out of a grove or cornfield and head in a completely different direction than the does, not coming close to any of the walkers or posters. They just seem to know what to do. The does will come out and follow the "traditional" exits from a location.....they'll take a fenceline, they'll take an adjacent waterway, they'll take a low area as their escape route.....the same places we put our posters. We've gotten some dandy bucks over the many years we've hunted by driving, but not the numbers I think we'd get if we were in a stand or a ground blind at locations where you pattern deer.

Driving can be fun, especially if you're the one doing the walking and you have that deer bust out in front of you, or you see it a ways down a corn row and stalk your way up to it, etc. You certainly have to be knowlegable about where everyone is at though, both those walking with you and those that are posted. We only have one young guy left in our group (16) and we hunt the same areas year after year, so we know pretty well where everyone will be and what everyone's shooting lanes are.

Personally speaking, I'd rather hunt from a stand in a location where I've patterned a nice deer. That's why I'm going to get into bow hunting for the first time ever. Purchase and practice with the equipment over the winter, spring and summer and be ready for deer hunting next year. Take some time to find places to hunt, scout out hopefully some nice bucks, and just maybe I'll make my own luck and get my first dandy buck!

Both ways of hunting can be effective and have their time and place I believe. But I want to get into bow hunting and scouting my deer out. I believe what the others say in that it would feel more rewarding.