Driven hunt

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DRIVEN HUNT

Line driving is always linked to hunting cloven-hoofed game, where the game are slowly ‘driven’ out to rifle shooters manning positions in high seats and towers. You cannot use dogs, which range far and wide and pursue the game, as you want the game to walk calmly and quietly towards the shooters, who can then make a reliable shot. When the game is ‘driven’ out of the woods and not chased by dogs, they will hopefully take the trails they use each day. This means that you can position shooters on these trails. Line driving can be done in large or small areas, with few or many hunters, and can be divided into several smaller beats. Since the game walks slowly towards the shooter, he has good opportunity to make a selective shot.

DEERHUNTER

Challenges of line driving

It requires extensive knowledge of the area and the deer population to organise a line drive. Hours have to be spent observing trails and setting up positions. This must all be done well in advance, so that the area is calm prior to the hunt. As a shooter on a line drive, you sit very still. The deer arrive calmly, and have time to scout and assess where it is safest to go. You must therefore be dressed in insulating clothing, as you will need to sit still for several hours per beat, especially for large line drives.

Hunting stories from a hunter

We have heard that there is plenty of game in the woods. The deer population is dense, so there is a positive mood as everyone meets in the old barn for well-brewed coffee and breakfast. Like-minded people – who know each other’s opinions because we are all hunters and familiar with the nature of hunting – with a direct and forthright tone which is pleasant to be yourself within. But during the conversation, each hunter sits with his own personal memories of past hunts and experiences. Good days with hunting success. Other days that were just cold and long, where you best remember the open fire in the evening, when the mood rose again in step with body temperature and the satisfaction of a good meal. As a rule, you will have still seen something or other that you can recount. Or otherwise you sit enjoying having seen roe deer in winter coats. They look handsome with thick cheeks in a white winter landscape, where they stop up out of shooting range in small jumps, in order to scan back where they came from.

DEERHUNTER

A special atmosphere

The loud laughter and good stories from the breakfast table die down as soon as the hunters climb into the trailer, that will be pulled by an old Ford tractor that has seen better days. Only soft chuckles and smiles over minor stories which cannot yet be forgotten are seen on the otherwise concentrating faces. It’s time! One by one, people climb down from the trailer at their posts. They tip their hats, and a quick wink means ‘good hunting’ to those who remain. You look around. Is there any game that senses danger, or is it standing still following the trailer with its gaze? On your way up to the high seat you remember that the fourth step from the bottom creaks. You just manage to put your boot on it before you think ‘oh that’s right’, and tread directly on the fifth.

Winter and flushing

It takes a few minutes before you relax completely in the seat, and before long you start to listen out for breaking branches and scuffling noises on the forest floor behind you. Minute by minute, hour by hour, until the drivers come into sight and continue on, leaving you as a back stop. This is when you may have a chance to bag the fox. He likes to sneak out the back. You can almost sense a haughty laugh from him as he sneaks lazily between the beaters in the line and down to the reeds by the lake. You try to remember which hunters were set off where, and who it could be that fired a shot. Was it a roe deer or a red deer – or was it the fox that was outsmarted this time? You can see your breath in the frost, and the days are short but clear. Winter light is pleasant because with snow it comes from both above and below, and your eyes get a special winter tiredness after a full day sitting in such a clearing. The tractor can be heard approaching, and you can quickly hear laughter again. Everything wakes up again as you climb into the trailer. Now it’s back to the parade with spruce, torches and a horn salute. The barn and fireplace await more stories, but now they are different to the ones in the morning.