eelgrass
Long Time Member
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Back in the old days it seems like a lot of hunters participated in deer drives. I don't hear much about them any more.
We used to have them every year. I'm talking about 10-20 hunters getting together and getting organized. We had stand hunters (usually the older guys), pick up guys (guys who drove around to a designated pick up spot), dogs (guys who beat the brush), and trailers (guys who quietly came in behind the dogs to get any bucks that slip between the dogs)
If you picked your spots well and really knew the area and how to position everyone, it was deadly on killing bucks. You had to know where the deer were and their escape routes. Once you have that figured out it's like a turkey shoot. We used to drive the same areas many years in a row, all with the same predictable success.
Back then we weren't too much into trophy hunting. We were just trying to put tags on deer, and meat in the freezer. But then some of the biggest bucks taken were taken on drives. You cover a big bucks escape routes without him knowing it and you got him, if the "dogs" did their job right.
Back then it did have its draw backs though. If other hunters happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time it sure did mess up their hunt and piss them off. On the other hand, some hunters figured out what we were up to and tried to "poach" off of us. We didn't much care about either situation. It was all public land, and I'm sure we messed up a few honey holes.
And by the way, our group never party hunted, even back then, even though a lot of people did.
Many times when the weather is hot and dry and the deer aren't moving I think about trying to get another bunch of guys together (who you trust of course) and get a little revenge on those bucks.
We still do a form of it, but usually with 3 or 4 guys and not really organized.
It seems like the hunting community is going in the same direction as society in general. There doesn't seem to be a lot of close friendships or sense of community much any more. I kind of miss those days sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy hunting alone with the quiet solitude and the one on one hunter vs. buck deal too.
Eel
Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.
We used to have them every year. I'm talking about 10-20 hunters getting together and getting organized. We had stand hunters (usually the older guys), pick up guys (guys who drove around to a designated pick up spot), dogs (guys who beat the brush), and trailers (guys who quietly came in behind the dogs to get any bucks that slip between the dogs)
If you picked your spots well and really knew the area and how to position everyone, it was deadly on killing bucks. You had to know where the deer were and their escape routes. Once you have that figured out it's like a turkey shoot. We used to drive the same areas many years in a row, all with the same predictable success.
Back then we weren't too much into trophy hunting. We were just trying to put tags on deer, and meat in the freezer. But then some of the biggest bucks taken were taken on drives. You cover a big bucks escape routes without him knowing it and you got him, if the "dogs" did their job right.
Back then it did have its draw backs though. If other hunters happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time it sure did mess up their hunt and piss them off. On the other hand, some hunters figured out what we were up to and tried to "poach" off of us. We didn't much care about either situation. It was all public land, and I'm sure we messed up a few honey holes.
And by the way, our group never party hunted, even back then, even though a lot of people did.
Many times when the weather is hot and dry and the deer aren't moving I think about trying to get another bunch of guys together (who you trust of course) and get a little revenge on those bucks.
We still do a form of it, but usually with 3 or 4 guys and not really organized.
It seems like the hunting community is going in the same direction as society in general. There doesn't seem to be a lot of close friendships or sense of community much any more. I kind of miss those days sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy hunting alone with the quiet solitude and the one on one hunter vs. buck deal too.
Eel
Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.
