Archery Deer Drives

Personally, I truly enjoy participating in archery deer drives. Its a good way to see old friends and meet some new ones. It also gives me a good chance of getting information about new equipment and strategies. Some of the deer drives we have are with just a few of my friends and family and some with an organized bunch of archery hunters from various clubs such as the Michigan Bow Hunters Association or a local club like Bend of the River Conservation Club.

In order to organize a deer drive you must first think about safety. Setting a few rules before the actual hunt can save a lot of heartache and misery. First, make sure the area that you are about to hunt is permissible. In other words get permission first from the landowner or make sure the property is open to the public. Make sure everyone that is hunting is legal and has the proper license and equipment. Then decide who will be the pushers or walkers and who will be the sitters or blockers. Then placing the sitters in certain areas so that the pushers will always know where they (sitters) are. This is for obvious reasons so no one will be shooting toward a fellow hunter.

When small groups of maybe just a few hunters want to have a deer drive, you might take a look at the terrain. You dont really want to pick a spot that is too large to drive. A good place to drive is a wooded area that has a bottle neck in the middle of it. By placing one or two sitters in the bottle neck the remaining pushers can then push from the outside toward the middle. This has worked very well for me and my two sons.

After the big archery deer drive, we usually have a chili and hot dog lunch. This gives all of us a chance to sit around and talk archery and archery hunting. I cant think of a better way to spend a day! Friends, food, hunting and good ol BS!

Large organized archery deer drives also work very well. Usually ten to thirty hunters is sufficient enough to have a good deer drive in a large area such as a State or National park or woods. Normally using half the hunters to sit on one end of the woods and the remaining half to do the driving or pushing toward the sitters. Even though I have not been successful at this type of a drive, I have seen numerous deer and other wild life. Numerous others on the hunt have been successful. That also is a thrill in its self, to see a newcomer shoot a deer or even to have missed one. They are thrilled and have learned another valuable lesson in archery deer drives.

Remember, share with others and keep it SAFE!!!