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First time shotgun season for me, any advice?

Tomo

Tomo

Member
Being a new Iowa resident I get to experience a shotgun drive for the first time. What advice can you guys offer?

Also, what's the protocol on a running deer aiming wise? I've hunted plenty of pheasants and ducks so I know how much to lead them but not sure where to put it on a buck running flat out!

Thanks,
Tomo
 
Don't shoot the orange deer :way:

But really, just talk with the group you are running with.
Every group has there own set of rules.

I regards to shooting @ running deer......it's all a matter of opinion.
IHMO......to make a comparison to your statement.....If you can shoot a goose on the fly (about the size of the vitals on a deer), with a slug.....then shoot away @ a deer on the run.

Shooting birds on the fly with bird shot, and shooting a deer on the run with a slug are two COMPLETELY different things.
 
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Good luck and be safe! Make sure you know what's going on with each and every drive, where you will be standing with relation to everyone else. Don't move from your designated unless told to do so.
I'm going to agree with the above posts about shooting at running deer. It's up to you, but a shot at an deer that is ALL OUT running will most likely end up with a wounded deer or wasted shots. A slowly moving deer is a different story though.
 
You always need to be thinking ahead if your pushing or a person posting. If possible we use to keep eye contact with the other pushers and if your posting at the end, do not leave the place where they tell you to post no matter what. That's what gets most in trouble because the others are expecting you to be in a certain spot. I don't shoot at flat out running deer, but you know on the others you can shoot at.
 
Back when I hunted in a group that did drives, the biggest mistake I saw (IMO) was that the drivers walked too fast, did not pay attention to their surroundings, basically conceded that the only action was going to be at the standers. Not sure why we were in such a hurry as we didn't have that much ground and usually went back and pushed things again the same day hoping that somebody else had chased something into it.

If you are a driver and the group is good with it, slow down! Stop occasionally and scan. I bet our group marched right by tons of deer who froze until after we were past them, then went running out the back side of our drive.
 
You say you've hunted plenty of ducks & pheasants. If you've hit a decent percentage of them, then don't think about it... shoot them. Your instincts will be right. Keep your ranges reasonable and be safe but if you've done a bunch of wingshooting you are as good as anyone at hitting a moving target. Good luck & above all BE SAFE!!!!
 
i would not suggest shooting at running deer as alot of unethical shots happen and result in slow deaths. once i walked upon a doe one evening that had been shot at by two members of our group that morning. lets just say she had no jaw, intrails hanging out, and a hole through her front leg. i walked to 10 yards and she didn't move. i couldn't put a slug into her fast enough.:( the most important thing to remember is be aware where everyone is going to be. ask lots of questions about the land you are hunting. make sure they show you a map of the area you are at and show where everyon will be. stop if you are pushing at brush piles and look close, those bucks are sometimes as hard as a phesant to flush. good luck and be safe!
 
JNRBRONC said:
Back when I hunted in a group that did drives, the biggest mistake I saw (IMO) was that the drivers walked too fast, did not pay attention to their surroundings, basically conceded that the only action was going to be at the standers. Not sure why we were in such a hurry as we didn't have that much ground and usually went back and pushed things again the same day hoping that somebody else had chased something into it.

If you are a driver and the group is good with it, slow down! Stop occasionally and scan. I bet our group marched right by tons of deer who froze until after we were past them, then went running out the back side of our drive.
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Well said. I still hunt shotgun but have changed quite a bit on how we do things. We will hunt say a 50-75 acre timber lot and spend 4+ hours doing so. we will send 1 maybe 2 guys in (who know the ground well) to just mosey around very, very slowly stopping a lot, glassing, then walk a bit more. We get many more deer than my first couple years when we just blasted through. IMO if you are slow and subtle the deer will have a chance of being more at ease (depends on the pressure in the area). We shoot at moving deer but not at an all out run. Also going slow and just subtly bumping them kinda keeps them in the timber/on your gnd, gives them a little falser sense of security rather than ramming 10 guys down their throat. we still post 6-7 guys at fnc's, pinches, ravines where a mature buck may try and slip out. This makes for some cold sits for the blockers but we have set up buckets and pallets or plywood at these areas to help that out and they usually take their heat seats so really not that bad.
 
My advice would be, get off the ground! last year there was a fallen tree near where I was suppose to stand so i jumped up on it(I was about 5 feet off the ground) I ended up shooting the deer in my profile pic at 15ft and closing! Good luck!
 
rc10pt said:
We will hunt say a 50-75 acre timber lot
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We hunted lots of wooded creeks/stream beds and the standers were usually at the road at the end of the drive. Rarely did the deer run along the creek to the stander, more often they would head out across open ground away from the cover where they could see any danger.
 
First off, good luck to you tomorrow.

Secondly, stay safe....no deer is worth doing something crazy.

Thirdly, don't shoot a running deer. It's not worth wounding an animal.

If you are hunting with a group, make sure you know where everyone is so you know where it's safe to shoot and not to shoot. If you are hunting alone, get up in a tree and find a funnel that deer will escape to.
 
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