Driven Hunts

Driven Hunts - Action-Packed Hunting

Driven hunts are perhaps the most intense hunting- and wildlife experience you can imagine. A line of beaters push the game in front of them towards a chain of waiting hunters, and in this way you can be relatively certain of getting a chance of shooting game a number of times each day. While it is possible to shoot at some game species, you must be satisfied with the pleasure of just seeing some of the other species. For example to see a herd of majestic red stag in full flight through the forest, that can also be felt through the forest floor, is a really impressive sight! 

Driven Hunting’s Many Game Species

When an area of forest is driven in such a thorough manner, it is natural for many different game species to be flushed out. Wild boar are without doubt at the heart of driven hunting, but on most driven hunts it is also possible to see fallow deer, red deer, roe deer, fox, pheasant, snipe/woodcock, ducks, hare and perhaps mouflon and sika stag all depending on what the individual district can offer.

Hunting “Moving Game”

Driven hunts, in which the game is driven forward, come in many forms. The actual driven hunts we are most familiar with are from Poland, Hungary and Romania, while Croatia, Turkey and Spain also have begun to make their presence felt. Shoulder to shoulder, the line of beaters and their many dogs, walk through the undergrowth, driving the game directly toward the chain of hunters. This can really bring out large numbers of game, and the levels of excitement is almost without precedence, when you begin to hear the shouts of the beaters and the barking of their dogs far in the distance and then gradually get louder and louder, and the shots begin to ring out.
In countries such as Finland, Sweden and Germany, a small driven hunt is more common than traditional driven hunts. Here chains of beaters walking side by side are not commonly used, often a relatively small number of beaters will, with the help of their dogs, who follow the scent of game and set them in motion, slowly moving them toward the line of hunters. These small driven hunts also offer a fantastic hunting experience, but you should not expect the same speed and results that a well organised driven hunt in Poland or Hungary will produce. Quite simply these driven hunts are in a class of their own.  

Quick Shooting

On both small driven and driven hunts you are almost always shooting at game in motion. This poses some quite different demands on your shooting skills than those you use when lying in wait when your quarry is often standing still. Therefore the results achieved by an individual hunters on driven hunts will very much depend on how good they are at making the most of the shooting chances that arise. We warmly recommend that you visit a hunting simulator a number of times before your departure, especially if you will be taking part in a standard driven hunt, when animals will be coming at you at full speed. As with all other aspects of hunting your preparations for your driven hunt will have a great influence on the result.