Ok, here's a subject that will probably make many tman members feel sick, disgusted, or just shake their heads but there are actually places where much of the deer hunting is done by driving cover, kicking deer up, and shooting them on the run. I know that big, undrivable cover guys will have a hard time with that thought but out here on the plains, if you want to hunt deer all day long, you will have to push cover and take running shots.

I haven't hunted deer or antelope for a while but I've shot a good number of whitetails, some mulies, and a few antelope on the run. Probably not on a whietrail crossing a pasture at full speed or an antelope in the head down on after burners run, so I'm talking about whitetails running through tall grass, through dried up wetlands, and busting out of small patches of trees that we call "sheltebelts" here. My typical deer hunts, often 3 to 6 hours away, were to "post up" during the first 45 minutes - 1 hour start and finish of the day when deer are still moving or will move around and a guy can get a more traditional broadside standing sort of shot but if that didn't happen, then it's to drive some sort of cover just like a group of pheasant hunters would do.

I have emptied a rifle a few times without any hits but often I would connect somewhere between shot 1 and shot 5, especially if the angle of the run starts turning from more straight away/angling to more of a crossing shot. Sometimes it ends with a solid knock down and they're not getting back up or at least not being able to run to a few where a leg gets knocked off and there's a finish up aspect to it. But, overall, I think I've dropped and kept down more running deer than tracking down and finish up deer. I suspect that most of my running shots have started at say 35-50 yards to my longest maybe pushing 250. After that, it gets way more problematic and typically the rifle is empty anyway.

If it ends up being Hobson's choice deer hunting out here, running shots are pretty much the norm.

Ok, I'm sure a majority will tear into me and perhaps a few will fess up. Let's hear it...

That use to be pretty normal here too but it's few that do it anymore

Its not something I've ever done and dont have a problem with it. Just as long as I'm not caught in the middle of a drive. Been there a few times and that was not a pleasant experience trying to find quickest way outside the drive without getting shot. Especially when you could see that a few of the drivers were shooting just to "make things move".

Get em in the pickup

That’s exactly how I was raised deer hunting in NCSD. My brother and I would walk CRP, sloughs, waterways, or shelter belts and flush and shoot deer just like pheasants. That was the norm. We became very proficient at it. I shot a 22-250 and bro shot a 270. I didn’t take long to figure out a lead and it’s game over. We killed countless deer that way for 10-15 years. Haven’t hunted that way for several years now. Basically spot and stalk now. I got your back.

Done it every way it could be done .

Deer drives are common practice here. Shooting running deer is the result of that. No big deal.

We do drives at the end of the year to try and take a few more does. We’ll have maybe 3-4 shooters and 1 or 2 drivers. We only use shotguns and 00Buck, can’t imagine slinging shots with a rifle through the woods. It is pretty cool to roll three in three shots or get ragged as heck when you whiff on all three.
With that said, I’m only doing drives with people I know and trust, lol.

Did lots of drives years and years ago. In NJ it was with shotguns and once I got to Pa it was the big woods with rifles and always had pot hunters on the out side trying to sneak a deer out of our drive. Now adays people are so secretive and unfriendly that no one dares drive and let someone else shoot at "their" deer. All tree stands now.......jk

Common here.Usually at the very end of season to try and fill remaining tags.Drives in the early or middle of season are frowned upon here.

Drives after the first few days are pretty common where I hunt in north central PA. I've never been a fan of "slinging lead at tails" which is how a lot of guys describe their shots. Misses are common, checking for actual hits and following up...not so much. I'm convinced these guys are responsible for the number of walking wounded deer I see after the first few days.

I'm a one shot, one kill guy. If I don't have a shot I'm comfortable with, I'll pass. I don't shoot at running deer. There will be another deer to shoot at eventually. I can't remember the last time I had to shoot at a deer twice. Without checking my log, I'd say it's been at least thirty deer since that happened.

Both my buck and my doe this year were heart shots, my preferred shot. Both fell in their tracks. The doe fell within ten feet of the buck's gut pile. I had killed him seven hours earlier.

My newest hunter at camp, a young guy, shot at and missed the doe I killed. I heard him shoot and got ready in case they came my way. About five minutes later one doe did. She was walking and looking around. I waited until she stopped where I had a clear shot and dropped her. As I was field-dressing her the new guy came walking down. He said he had shot then seen one standing but didn't shoot again because he thought he might have one down.

After I finished field-dressing her I went with him to where he shot from. He showed me where she was when he shot. I saw right away that there was a lot of brush in the way. I walked down to where she was and found no sign of a hit. I had him fan out and check blow-downs and other brush to make sure she hadn't piled up somewhere we couldn't see.

I followed the trail she was on in the direction she was headed and eventually came to my field-dressed deer. I concluded it was the same deer he had shot at.

He's lucky I didn't cut his shirttails off and hang them in camp! I did stress the importance of waiting for a clear shot. The kid is a good shot too. He shot sub-MOA at 100 yards with his new rifle at the club a month earlier. He just couldn't thread that bullet through all that brush.

If we feel the need to move deer we do small, silent drives, sometimes just one guy still-hunting and one guy on stand. I've been hunting the same 10,000 acres for twenty-plus years. I know where pressured deer are likely to hole up and I know where they are likely to go when they are moved.

Running shots are common in deer hunting.
Used to drive deer out of the swamp holes around the farm.
Many of the neighbors frowned on scaring deer away from its core areas.
Always maintained that if I sent the girls out into the countryside , they may bring boyfriends back.
Maybe they are with them and sometimes maybe they are reminding the boys where they live.
Seems like the does always came back home in a day or less.
Killing does back then required a much coveted and received by a Doe Tag draw system .
Don't remember anyone Trophy Hunting back then.
Trophy Hunting will be the death of itself.

JMO

When I was a kid, we used to do deer drives......usually orchestrated by the adults.......and deemed essential (read desperation move) so as to not suffer the humiliation of having been skunked. We moved some deer, but don't remember anyone actually killing one. Last one I can remember was about 20 years ago. Inept nephew was one of the blockers.......instead of getting ready to shoot was messing with phone or something, and missed his chance with deer going past him on both sides. Didn't get the first shot off until they were 200 yards off. Emptied gun and never touched a feather. That shooter couldn't hit a deer standing at 200 yards, let alone running. On balance, whole thing a really bad idea.

Deer now more plentiful than rabbits and if you don't get one that is just standing around, it's your fault.

Missing in all this is if a deer is run too hard and stressed out, it won't be edible anyway. One of scariest hunting incidents I ever witnessed was from front seat of a pickup. Coming out of farm on a field road. Got to the paved road and started hearing gunshots. Two large bucks running around in an 80 acre open field in front of us. Guns opened up with guys shooting at them running and from at least 3 different directions. They pinballed back and forth across that field 3 or 4 times, guns going off the entire time After the first dozen or so shots it occurred to me bullets were flying all over, including past us. Both bucks eventually got away unscathed. But would not have been fit to eat if someone did get lucky.

Raised that way and still do it that way. Fun and excitement galore. This is the foundation of civilization. I been thru the bow hunting stand craze and came out the other side. You show up to go hunting with us in your new Mossy Real Tree and knee high rubber boots and your pegged a greenhorn. We’re busting brush and thorns, seeing the country and having a ball. 5 mile days are the norm while picking thorns out of yer face. Run em to me!!!!

I have another topic that might have been discussed here before with some similarities to Mr. PCfed; That regarding shooting at deer or game in general, at ranges exceeding 1000 yards. Is it doable? apparently so. Is it ethical? What do think.

In both senerios the odds of making a clean kill are most likely diminished. Personally, I'm much more in the close range running shots fraternity than in the assasination squad, lagging a bullets through wind and weather at an unsuspecting animal across a canyon. Coyotes and metal targets yes. Big game? I have some real concerns. Just my opinion

Many guys here add to the challenge of hitting a running deer by adding the element of a moving vehicle to shoot out of at the same time.

Running coyotes are good practice

Never had much trouble hitting them running across a field, but have had a couple misses at running Deer through the woods. Doesn't take a very big stick to deflect the bullet.

Our camp use to start driving second afternoon, and hunt all the first week. Posted ground took over most of our hunting when the antler restrictions and doe shooting started.
Camp is a shell of itself now, when it use to go full bore for a week.

Yep. Fun too.