Deer drives

If I were able to see the boats, I would not go through them. The problem exists when we do not know who, or where people are. I cannot look out for everyone in every situation.

I will continue to do drives in this area. It is the way this group has hunted for 3 generations, and I am not going to tell them what to do. I’m sorry that you get angered when people do drives through “your” area, but there is little if anything you can do on public land.

With that said, when I want to hunt, I go bowhunting. It is a challenge to get a deer with a bow, there are no other people in the woods, I can look out for myself and myself only, but this deer camp is tradition, and for you or anyone else to tell me that the way we hunt is wrong because you are not doing it, is wrong.

I am not trying to stir the pot here, because we all need to share the land, but how am I supposed to look out for other people, when I don’t know who they are, where they are, or even if they are actually there? I try to show courtesy when in the woods, on the water, or anywhere I am, but this is one situation where I will continue to do drives, and share in the rich deer hunting tradition my party offers me.

I wish you good luck if you are hunting this weekend. Shoot straight

id love to be sitting in a stand during gun season and have a group of guys do a drive right to me. Id have no problem shooting the deer they did the work for.

My view on it is that if your sitting in a spot that is close enough for guys to set up a drive then you really dont care if you see someone anyways. Most people will not set up a drive if they have to walk a mile into the woods to get it started

id love to be sitting in a stand during gun season and have a group of guys do a drive right to me. Id have no problem shooting the deer they did the work for.

My view on it is that if your sitting in a spot that is close enough for guys to set up a drive then you really dont care if you see someone anyways. Most people will not set up a drive if they have to walk a mile into the woods to get it started

So true……I don’t want to drag my deer any further than I have to… It’s a bonus when they head toward the road after they’re shot!
I used to hunt by boat and found several deer in the river after I shot them way up in the bluffs Just load them in the boat and away you go!
Jon

So true……I don’t want to drag my deer any further than I have to… It’s a bonus when they head toward the road after they’re shot!
I used to hunt by boat and found several deer in the river after I shot them way up in the bluffs Just load them in the boat and away you go!
Jon

I certainly don’t mind other hunters driving deer to me. I just don’t care for it when they walk within 50 yards of my stand. They can see me from at least 150 yards away and they know there is a cliff about 100 yards behind me. Plus the land I hunt is private property and is not the property that they start their drive on. If I were to see somebody sitting in a stand very near the end of my drive I would at least try to keep 75 to 100 yards between us. Maybe I don’t have the nerve to walk under his stand as if nobody was in it.

Eyehunter

I certainly don’t mind other hunters driving deer to me. I just don’t care for it when they walk within 50 yards of my stand. They can see me from at least 150 yards away and they know there is a cliff about 100 yards behind me. Plus the land I hunt is private property and is not the property that they start their drive on. If I were to see somebody sitting in a stand very near the end of my drive I would at least try to keep 75 to 100 yards between us. Maybe I don’t have the nerve to walk under his stand as if nobody was in it.

Eyehunter

As I stated in my first post, this is a strip of land no more than 75 yards wide, this isn’t a big block of woods like you see in Northern MN, is it in Crookston. Farm counry where you can spot 80% of every stand hunter from a road. I understand tradition etc, and I understand what it’s like to hunt the big blocks of woods. In that situation you can out work people and get back and away from them if you want to. 2 years ago I had a old timer cost me a 10 point because he was sitting on a log about 70 yards from my stand. I got down and spoke to him and had good conversation after he apologized for being there. He had no idea I was there and me the same. I guess the point is these guys are fully aware that there are people in this strip and still pile right on through. That’s the part that is wrong as I see it. The more pressure that it applied to our WMA’s etc, the more these issues will come up. If we cannot treat each other with some respect then the lawmakers will get involved and we all loose!

As I stated in my first post, this is a strip of land no more than 75 yards wide, this isn’t a big block of woods like you see in Northern MN, is it in Crookston. Farm counry where you can spot 80% of every stand hunter from a road. I understand tradition etc, and I understand what it’s like to hunt the big blocks of woods. In that situation you can out work people and get back and away from them if you want to. 2 years ago I had a old timer cost me a 10 point because he was sitting on a log about 70 yards from my stand. I got down and spoke to him and had good conversation after he apologized for being there. He had no idea I was there and me the same. I guess the point is these guys are fully aware that there are people in this strip and still pile right on through. That’s the part that is wrong as I see it. The more pressure that it applied to our WMA’s etc, the more these issues will come up. If we cannot treat each other with some respect then the lawmakers will get involved and we all loose!

Besox,

That I understand. The land we hunt is large sections of land (riverbottoms near Caledonia) where you cannot see if people are in it or not, and much of it is public, with sections of private. We take every precaution to stay away from people, but it doesn’t happen sometimes.

We try to hunt and treat people like we would like to be treated, and in all honesty, have never had a problem. The only real problem we had was with some guys without proper licenses who got picked up by the local CO’s, after we talked to the CO’s.

Besox,

That I understand. The land we hunt is large sections of land (riverbottoms near Caledonia) where you cannot see if people are in it or not, and much of it is public, with sections of private. We take every precaution to stay away from people, but it doesn’t happen sometimes.

We try to hunt and treat people like we would like to be treated, and in all honesty, have never had a problem. The only real problem we had was with some guys without proper licenses who got picked up by the local CO’s, after we talked to the CO’s.

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Farmboy, just wondering? If you seen 15 boats anchored on a reef would speed troll through them, weave in and ot of them? Not picking on you, just get a vibe that you are of the mind that you will do what you want regardless of the situation.

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I would almost consider this scene to be like this:

You go to a small river to fish.
At the public access you see a boat trailer.
you drop your boat in and buzz down river.
2 miles down river, you come up on the person fishing and “wreck that area” for them.

Or

You can go home……..because someone else is already fishing the river.

Not picking on you by any means…….just giving another view point.

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Farmboy, just wondering? If you seen 15 boats anchored on a reef would speed troll through them, weave in and ot of them? Not picking on you, just get a vibe that you are of the mind that you will do what you want regardless of the situation.

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I would almost consider this scene to be like this:

You go to a small river to fish.
At the public access you see a boat trailer.
you drop your boat in and buzz down river.
2 miles down river, you come up on the person fishing and “wreck that area” for them.

Or

You can go home……..because someone else is already fishing the river.

Not picking on you by any means…….just giving another view point.

Gary-

Just a wee-bit of a stretch.

Gary-

Just a wee-bit of a stretch.

Besox,

What Gary said is not a stretch if you know the areas I am talking about. We can normally do 2-3 drives per day. These are 100s of acres of land.

Now rather then the river, maybe you are fishing a 2 acre farm pond. Then I see the situation differently.

I think we are talking apples and oranges based on the places we hunt. I think it is inconsiderate of people to go into small areas when others are there, but it is not a issue with the amount of land where I hunt.

Brent

Besox,

What Gary said is not a stretch if you know the areas I am talking about. We can normally do 2-3 drives per day. These are 100s of acres of land.

Now rather then the river, maybe you are fishing a 2 acre farm pond. Then I see the situation differently.

I think we are talking apples and oranges based on the places we hunt. I think it is inconsiderate of people to go into small areas when others are there, but it is not a issue with the amount of land where I hunt.

Brent

Farmboy-

How is the pressure on the public land down there? I hit Whitewater here and there but never went any further south.

Farmboy-

How is the pressure on the public land down there? I hit Whitewater here and there but never went any further south.

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The problem exists when we do not know who, or where people are. I cannot look out for everyone in every situation.

]Do you think this is safe with rifle bullets going where you dont know someone is? Drives are extremely dangerous. be careful Know where people are before the drive or dont drive! As explained in firearm saftey

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The problem exists when we do not know who, or where people are. I cannot look out for everyone in every situation.

]Do you think this is safe with rifle bullets going where you dont know someone is? Drives are extremely dangerous. be careful Know where people are before the drive or dont drive! As explained in firearm saftey

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The problem exists when we do not know who, or where people are. I cannot look out for everyone in every situation.

]Do you think this is safe with rifle bullets going where you dont know someone is? Drives are extremely dangerous. be careful Know where people are before the drive or dont drive! As explained in firearm saftey

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Benji – With that viewpoint, you better not ever take a shot from any place in any direction on any piece of public land . How would you know for sure where every other person is ? You better never shoot on private land TOWARDS any public land, or shoot on public ground towards ANY private ground. Be realistic.

Tim

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The problem exists when we do not know who, or where people are. I cannot look out for everyone in every situation.

]Do you think this is safe with rifle bullets going where you dont know someone is? Drives are extremely dangerous. be careful Know where people are before the drive or dont drive! As explained in firearm saftey

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Benji – With that viewpoint, you better not ever take a shot from any place in any direction on any piece of public land . How would you know for sure where every other person is ? You better never shoot on private land TOWARDS any public land, or shoot on public ground towards ANY private ground. Be realistic.

Tim

Realistic= Normaly in drives you drive small parcels of woods40-100 acres not 1200 acres at once think about it! You should know in 40-100acres where people are! Know the area and where people are! Just cause someones there dosent mean dont drive just dont shoot in his direction! All the fatalities but one this year were due to drives the other was self inflicted gunshot to the face by a duck hunter. I encourage everyone to shoot a box of tracers out of there guns at various objects watch them after impact were they go it will scare ya. Firearm safty class wasnt something to ignore! If you dont think anything will ever happen keep ignoreing it it will happen!

Realistic= Normaly in drives you drive small parcels of woods40-100 acres not 1200 acres at once think about it! You should know in 40-100acres where people are! Know the area and where people are! Just cause someones there dosent mean dont drive just dont shoot in his direction! All the fatalities but one this year were due to drives the other was self inflicted gunshot to the face by a duck hunter. I encourage everyone to shoot a box of tracers out of there guns at various objects watch them after impact were they go it will scare ya. Firearm safty class wasnt something to ignore! If you dont think anything will ever happen keep ignoreing it it will happen!

I know of many many times when we set up a drive from one road to another and there are people sitting inbetween these 2 roads. There were no vehicles on the road so we had no idea there was anyone in there.
This kind of stuff is going to happen no matter what anybody does. You just have to make the most of it when it happens, and be a curtious as possible when it does happen.

Good luck to all hunting and be safe out there.

I know of many many times when we set up a drive from one road to another and there are people sitting inbetween these 2 roads. There were no vehicles on the road so we had no idea there was anyone in there.
This kind of stuff is going to happen no matter what anybody does. You just have to make the most of it when it happens, and be a curtious as possible when it does happen.

Good luck to all hunting and be safe out there.

This is probably one of the reasons why here in Iowa no one can build any type of stand on public land, no nails-no nothing. Myself i’d be real reluctant to just stand while other hunters are approaching on a drive. I knew a guy once who went with his dad by themselves and stopped by a tree to take a rest, his dad lit a cigarette and stooped down to relax and a slug hit the tree right where he was standing when the other hunters opened up on the deer that was coming thier way. They both layed on the ground behind the tree and waited for the hunters to go by then went to thier car. I agree that any hunter approaching and seeing someone on stand or in a stand should stay clear of them atleast 100 yards, its only common courtesy to leave the guy on stand some room, even if its just to let him know they know hes there and safe, maybe even wave to him.

This is probably one of the reasons why here in Iowa no one can build any type of stand on public land, no nails-no nothing. Myself i’d be real reluctant to just stand while other hunters are approaching on a drive. I knew a guy once who went with his dad by themselves and stopped by a tree to take a rest, his dad lit a cigarette and stooped down to relax and a slug hit the tree right where he was standing when the other hunters opened up on the deer that was coming thier way. They both layed on the ground behind the tree and waited for the hunters to go by then went to thier car. I agree that any hunter approaching and seeing someone on stand or in a stand should stay clear of them atleast 100 yards, its only common courtesy to leave the guy on stand some room, even if its just to let him know they know hes there and safe, maybe even wave to him.

The pressure on the public land is normally high. There are a lot of “non locals” down there that don’t always follow the rules, if you catch my drift. The public land is numerous, but sometimes very hard to get to. We have permission on a bunch of private land, just to get to the state land, meaning often landlocked.

If someone was to put some time in and bowhunt the area, they could do well, but there is a lot of land to cover, and not having a place to stay would hamper any major hunting plans over the course of a year. The gun season gets hit hard, in both seasons.

As far as drives being dangerous, we have the talk every year about safe shooting lanes. This area is river bottoms, meaning large hills, knobs, and valleys. Most of the areas we hunt are almost a 45degree angle straight up. We try to always work them with the hill (walking sidehills). In our group, there is absolutely no shooting downhill, or uphill, all shots must be taken straight ahead, or you must be able to see everyone around you. I have let more then a few deer walk past me when I did not know where others in the group are. But there is no deer worth the life of a member of the group.

Shoot straight, and be safe