Pushing Deer
By Rick Spoerl
As my Uncle Al, friend Gary and I started the leg burning heart pounding climb to the top of the ridge, we heard the loud crack of my eighteen year old son Sean’s 270 caliber rifle and we knew the "push" worked. He called us on the radio and said "I got a nice buck and there is the mother of all does standing near, should I shoot her too?" Before I could answer, "BANG". I guess he made up his own mind. The doe was huge, and Sean had two doe tags along with the buck tag. He had his work cut out for him as we had to keep going. Bridgette, Gary’s 14 year old granddaughter was also in hiding at the other side of the farm, waiting for a deer to move her way.
As we walked the ridge several deer bolted in different directions from the hills of mixed hardwood. We hoped they would head Bridgette’s way but as of yet had not heard her shoot. We were basically walking the fence line of the 160 acres. The farm was located in Northwestern Wisconsin. The land was half woods and half pockets of CRP fields. This country was hilly, full of oak and had lots of agriculture as well as CRP lands. It’s a perfect mix for Wisconsin whitetail deer.
As we moved close to end of the push we finally heard Bridgette shoot. We approached the area carefully and found the nice deer she had shot. We had completed a half circle around the 160 acres in about an hour and a half.
Moving, driving or "pushing" deer are all relative terms. They’re all used to get deer moving. But when I think of driving deer, I’m thinking about a traditional line-up of hunters walking in a straight line covering as much of the field, swamp, marsh or woods as they can. This process uses standers set at the corners of the far end of the field waiting for deer to run out of the area past the standers offering a safe shot. The standers are placed at the corners so the driver has a safe shot at deer ahead of them. They all understand direction of the standers or they don’t shoot. I don’t care how big the deer is; if you’re not sure, don’t pull the trigger.
Pushing deer is really just moving them around but in a direction you think they’ll go when disturbed. This is learned from scouting and trial and error. It’s used when you only have a couple hunters, not really enough for an all out deer drive.
You start out by placing the "shooters" in close proximity to hiding places deer might use or runs they have used in the past. Then the rest of the group starts at one end of the property and makes a circle or semi circle around the property, slowly getting closer to the shooters.
Using radios for communication is a good safe tactic. Always announce your presents when coming into range of the shooters.
Usually the deer will try slipping away from you but normally if not to alarmed they will stay in the same general area. Sometimes they’ll even circle around you.
We like using this method when deer aren’t moving much and on land we haven’t hunted on opening weekend. Save a little safe haven for them opening weekend and try this on Monday or Tuesday. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.