"I do a lot of scouting, and have all the stands and blinds along travel and escape routes deer use. But I try to be aware of where local groups are hunting on private property around the timbers I have hunting rights to, and use those groups to drive deer to my clients."

Hughes noted that he knows of a group in one location that always spends first shotgun season in woods to the south of timber that he leases, and of another that traditionally hunts to the north of his lease on the next weekend, during the second shotgun season. "So what happens is that the guys to the south move deer past my clients during the early shotgun season, and then the guys to the north move them back south past my clients during the second season," he explained, chuckling. "There's so much hunting pressure in Iowa during the two shotgun seasons that a guy really doesn't have to put on a drive. You can pretty much set up in a stand and other people will do all the walking for you."

Karam's group of family and friends who traditionally hunt shotgun season together also acknowledge the influence of other groups of hunters. "We sort of plan our drives to keep the deer in areas we have permission to hunt," he said. "We'll run our drives so that it's easier for deer to move into the next timber we plan to hunt, rather than take off cross-country into a timber across the mile that we don't have permission to hunt."

TAKE A STAND ON SHOTGUN HUNTING
Shotgun hunting from either a stand or a blind gets a thumbs-up from both Karam and Hughes. According to the former, a few bowhunter's tricks can help shotgunners in stands to tag big bucks.

"You don't have to go overboard with scent control," he observed, "but you need to be aware of it. When you're putting on a drive and deer are moving fast to escape, they don't seem to have time to use their noses as much. But if you're in a stand trying to get deer that are sneaking away from other drives, or just trying to get a buck as he's moving between bedding and feeding areas, they're going to be really sensitive to scent."

Karam goes low-tech with his scent-control efforts, washing his regular hunting clothes in baking soda to neutralize human odors. Then, just before a hunt, he rubs his gear against grass and soil. "I try to make it so any odors in my clothing, on my boots, or on my hands are natural odors," he explained.

Whether he's hunting from a stand or positioning blockers ahead of a drive, Karam pays close attention to wind direction. "I want to have the wind in my face when I'm in the stand, or if I'm blocking for a drive," he said. "And I try to get into the stand, or move into the spot where I'm going to block, with the wind in my face, so that my scent won't blow into the timber and spook deer I want to hunt."

Most of Hughes' clients are bowhunters, but a few prefer to power their projectiles with gunpowder. His preference is for clients to use muzzleloaders rather than shotguns when hunting from his stands. "They tend to be more selective and careful with their shots when they only have the one shot from a muzzleloader, compared to three or four with a shotgun," he said.

But Hughes does have tips to aid in making stands and blinds more productive for shotgunners. "First: You have to plan on being in the stand or blind all day," he said. "It takes patience to get a good deer. A lot of shotgunners are used to hunting till noon and then quitting, because everybody gets tired from walking. But you're missing half a day of hunting if you climb out of your stand at noon.

"Second: Scent control is key -- and not just while you're in the stand. You've got to pay attention to the path you use to get to and from the stand, and be careful about grabbing tree branches or touching things that will leave a scent trail."

According to Hughes, blockers in deer drives should adhere to the same protocols observed by hunters using stands. They should control their scent as much as possible, and position themselves so that residual scents won't alert deer moving ahead of the drive.