amazes me how many people also dont understands how well a WELL RUN deer drive can be , and thinks all who drive are idiots.
Drives started well before all the newest crazes out there and im sure will also be used well past when they run out ( Baiting, cross bows, mineral licks etc).
Drives were a way for the guys who only hunt one week out of the year to see the most movement.
For the most part deer move a few times a day, driving keeps them up and on their feet ALL day .
And drives using the wind and being done by people knowing where to put the standers on escape runs put ALOT of deer on the ground.
Many guys yelling the YO BUCK or what ever they call out are doing that to let the standers as well as the other drivers know where they are. Its a safety thing.
Cant tell you how many deer BEDDED and also sneaking out the back of the drive I shot safely knowing where the driver next to me was.
It also allows the drivers to keep in a line creating less holes if someone gets out in front or lags behind.
So seems more to me the guys bitching and whining about it just dont understand all the mechanics of what makes a good drive succesful.
Guys I grew up with are mostly farmers, who are working their asses off during the bow seasons. and the short gun week and orig doe days is where they put their meat in the freezer from .
we hunt all private land , and us driving may even help the neighbors some as deer do get out of the drives, and the movement created stirs up the woods some.. and when sitting the end of the day we see more movement than noraml due to the deer trying to get back to the areas they had been pushed from . as they circle back
more than likely until the snow stops there will be little deer movement today .
instead of sitting getting wet and snow covered, guys driving will get out and have a blast with friends and family, This week its a WE game not a ME game.
and while I love the serenity of bowhunting all fall and even in late winter. I probably like this week as much or maybe even more as I get to see many friends having a great time SHARING the woods together.
and the misses as well as the sucessful shots become memories were all like talking about while waiting till the following year.
and regarding STATE LAND , I guess the deer only come back when the Bird hunters leave. Those deer have learned to adapt to human walking pressure a THOUSAND times more than the deer on private pieces do.