Let us look at some of the other methods of hunting which could help you to hunt better next time. Driving the deer by large groups is one such method, which has been quite popular and successful. But this has become illegal in Maine. So know that it is illegal to hunt in-group in Maine.
The driving of deer by large groups has always been popular and successful, but numerous objections to this method of hunting have caused the Maine Legislature to pass laws limiting the number of hunters participating in such a hunt. The object of the drive is for one group of hunters to drive the deer out of a particular piece of woods, or section of country, into the range of another group waiting to shoot them. In order to be successful, there should be enough drivers so that the area to be hunted, will be covered from side to side by men who are near enough together so that there will be little chance of failure to move the deer and prevent their cutting back. The watchers should be posted so as to cover all probable escape routes, which the deer might be expected to use while fleeing from the drivers. It is obvious that it would require a small army of hunters in order to make a perfect drive in any sizeable piece of woods. Since these large groups are illegal, those hunters who care to hunt in this manner must substitute knowledge for numbers.
Three men can drive quite a large piece of woods if they do not attempt to drive the deer in a direction other than they wish to travel, but try to nudge them along their natural course. Two men on watch can usually cover the most probable escape routes if the deer are not too much alarmed by their pursuers. Two more men may be added to the drivers, if they are available, and they will add to the ground that may be covered. Driving by a group of this size is legal in Maine at the present time.
Excessive noise made by these large groups was responsible for a part of the public objection to this type of hunting. The object of this noise was to panic the deer so that they would run blindly instead of using strategy to avoid the drivers. This system might be successful in driving the true wilderness deer, but deer which have lived for years in constant contact with humans are not as easily panicked and the noise of the drivers gives them ample warning of the hunters' intentions and an accurate picture of their location. These deer might be panicked momentarily, but this initial fright would not cause them to leave any large piece of woods before they have recovered and evaluated the situation. Their accurate knowledge of the drivers' positions will enable them to circle the outside drivers or permit them to run between these men. Sometimes they are able to pick the probable course of these drivers so that they may remain perfectly motionless in some small thicket an d permit the noisy drivers to pass on each side of them.
The only real need for noise by these drivers is to keep them in line, also to keep them in touch with each other in the event a deer should try to pass between them, reducing the chance of hitting a companion while shooting at the deer. The center man on a drive should announce his position periodically so that others may adjust their position in relation to his location. In case one of the men jumps a deer, the entire line should shift so that the center of the line is on the deer's course while the others are in a position to shoot or turn the deer if it should attempt to pass between them. These outside men should be quiet because nothing will turn a deer any quicker than for it to encounter an unexpected danger while it is trying to avoid a known one.
The success or failure of this type of hunting depends on the participant's knowledge of the wood and of the probable course which the deer will take when startled. The best way to obtain this knowledge is for the hunters to drive deer in an area until they are able to discern a definite pattern of action which may be a guide to future drives. This holds true in any type of hunting. The man that does not correct the mistakes which are learned from experience will never become a very successful hunter.
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