Deer Drive

[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.