Deer Drive

[rudysts]

Is it legal ? 2 years ago I had my son sit in one of our stands in GMU 117 (timber company land) and a group of ladies on horseback rode up on him talking loudly through the woods following game trails. at the time I thought nothing of it until it happened to me on opening day of late buck this time they were wearing orange so they knew it was hunting season. I have a feeling they were doing a drive only because I heard a few shots to my right before they showed up that were not to far away. I personally think if you were out for a ride on horseback during hunting season you would stick to the road and not ride through the woods.

[Rainier10]

Tag.  I think they are legal but maybe someone will chime in that it is harassing wildlife or something like that.

I don't think I would just be out for a ride on horseback during the modern season.  I do know guys that hunt off of horseback during modern elk.

[rudysts]

I forgot to mention they had no rifles with them or a side arm that was visible.

[pianoman9701]

Anyone who's allowed on those lands have as much right to be there as you. I see nothing in the regs which prohibits driving. I previously thought it was illegal. Anyone else?

[JDHasty]

Mature blacktail bucks don't necessarily "drive" to where people think they will.   They are not whitetail deer and tend to move only as far as they have to to eliminate an immediate threat, hunker down and then slip away unnoticed.  We have even seen them belly crawling behind cover when they knew someone was present.   

[Timberstalker]

Mature blacktail bucks don't necessarily "drive" to where people think they will.   They are not whitetail deer and tend to move only as far as they have to to eliminate an immediate threat, hunker down and then slip away unnoticed.  We have even seen them belly crawling behind cover when they knew someone was present.

How many blacktails are there in GMU 117?

[Woodchuck]

Mature blacktail bucks don't necessarily "drive" to where people think they will.   They are not whitetail deer and tend to move only as far as they have to to eliminate an immediate threat, hunker down and then slip away unnoticed.  We have even seen them belly crawling behind cover when they knew someone was present.

How many blacktails are there in GMU 117?

[JDHasty]

My mistake

[Timberstalker]

JD, I was hoping for an Eastern Benchleg!!

[BULLBLASTER]

JD, I was hoping for an Eastern Benchleg!!

That's waaay to close to Portland... or they smell different or something .. 

[jackelope]

I've never seen anything illegal about deer drives whether they were for blacktails, whitetails, mule deer, eastern benchlegs, you name the potential cross species.

[bracer40]

Driving whitetails can be very effective when done right. On the other hand, maybe they were just out riding. Nothing wrong with that if proper permissions are obtained. Probably less intrusive than a caravan of jeepers.

[Curly]

Technically, doing a deer drive could be illegal.

Here's the definition of hunting in the regs - To Hunt: Any effort to kill, capture, injure, or harass a wild animal or wild bird.

If they are driving deer, they could be considered to be harassing deer.  So, it seems like if they don't have hunting licenses, they could be hunting without a license or simply written up for harassing wildlife.  Thoughts? 

[pianoman9701]

Mature blacktail bucks don't necessarily "drive" to where people think they will.   They are not whitetail deer and tend to move only as far as they have to to eliminate an immediate threat, hunker down and then slip away unnoticed.  We have even seen them belly crawling behind cover when they knew someone was present.

Hunting in NH, I turned around to see a whitetail do this after I walked by him on a cross country ski trail. I didn't even know what I was looking at, at first. Freaky.

[predatorpro]

We run into women on horses up elk hunting all the time always wearing orange but they are rounding up cattle...just smart to wear orange when on a horse during elk season...

[jay.sharkbait]

We run into women on horses up elk hunting all the time always wearing orange but they are rounding up cattle...just smart to wear orange when on a horse during elk season...

Spike!

[Bob33]

We run into women on horses up elk hunting all the time always wearing orange but they are rounding up cattle...just smart to wear orange when on a horse during elk season...

Spike!

Better yet, a "true spike".

[Chesapeake]

We run into women on horses up elk hunting all the time always wearing orange but they are rounding up cattle...just smart to wear orange when on a horse during elk season...

Spike!

Better yet, a "true spike".

We call that there a "slow elk".

[Rainier10]

Technically, doing a deer drive could be illegal.

Here's the definition of hunting in the regs - To Hunt: Any effort to kill, capture, injure, or harass a wild animal or wild bird.

If they are driving deer, they could be considered to be harassing deer.  So, it seems like if they don't have hunting licenses, they could be hunting without a license or simply written up for harassing wildlife.  Thoughts? 

This is what I was thinking might come up.  Pretty sure this is an argument that could be made and that is why I was tagging along.  Not sure it would hold up but it is an angle that could be used to call deer drives illegal.

[predatorpro]

We run into women on horses up elk hunting all the time always wearing orange but they are rounding up cattle...just smart to wear orange when on a horse during elk season...

Spike!

Bahaha! Nice...those spikes you can just lead into a trailer...

[jay.sharkbait]

We run into women on horses up elk hunting all the time always wearing orange but they are rounding up cattle...just smart to wear orange when on a horse during elk season...

Spike!

Bahaha! Nice...those spikes you can just lead into a trailer...

I fancy myself the ethical hunter and would rather lawndart them at a grand.

[Bob33]

Technically, doing a deer drive could be illegal.

Here's the definition of hunting in the regs - To Hunt: Any effort to kill, capture, injure, or harass a wild animal or wild bird.

If they are driving deer, they could be considered to be harassing deer.  So, it seems like if they don't have hunting licenses, they could be hunting without a license or simply written up for harassing wildlife.  Thoughts? 

This is what I was thinking might come up.  Pretty sure this is an argument that could be made and that is why I was tagging along.  Not sure it would hold up but it is an angle that could be used to call deer drives illegal.

Yes, it could be considered hunting if the intent is to move the animals towards another hunter. It is possible the riders had valid hunting paperwork, but if not they could be cited.

Here's insight on a similar issue: http://wdfw.wa.gov/help/questions/86/Do+I+need+a+hunting+license+if+I%27m+just+helping+my+child+or+others+to+hunt%3F

[fishnfur]

From everything I've read over the years, deer drives are completely legal and fall right in line with the definition of hunting provided above - attempting to kill a deer (vice  harass it).  Deer drives were a very common tactic used in Blacktail hunting years ago - send the kids into the brush and have them work down a draw;  shooters post at the bottom and pick off the escapees.  The ethics of this type of hunting though, seem to have fallen into question with the advent of fair chase ideologies.  Certainly, two hunters working together through the woods, one upwind and one downwind of a suspected holding area is a form of a drive, as would be a hunter positioning him/herself in the expected escape routes used by deer fleeing the orange hoard on opening day.

In this case, we have no idea if the ladies on horseback had licenses, so any discussion of whether they were legal or not is strictly conjecture.