Distance on the ground?

[3Feathers]

Going to hunt from the ground this season.Want to take a whitetail from the ground with my longbow.For you ground hunters what is your comfort zone for a shot?Been practicing out to 15yrds standing,kneeling sitting.

[rastaman]

Good luck! 15 yards would be about right..are you gonna use natural ground blinds, a ghillie suit, or what? Inside 15 yards is tough to draw on a whitetail unless they are going away from you or you are in a blind. It is quite a rush of adrenaline regardless!

[david janssen]

I only hunt out of my pop-up blinds and have taken a couple of does at less than ten yds.Talk about a rush.When you take one from the ground,you may never get in a tree again.Good luck and have fun.

[Bldtrailer]

I 2nd the deer at or near 10 yrds and I had a fawn stick it's head in the popups window

[ron w]

I try to be ready to shoot out to 20 or maybe just a bit more, 12-18 is my sweet spot!

18 to 30

[rolltidehunter]

I will shoot out to 25-30 just depends on if I'm in the zone or not. I will set up for a 10-15 yard shot though. I rarely shoot farther than 20

[JamesKerr]

I have never shot at a game animal at over 25 yards. That doesn't mean if the shot felt right I wouldn't take it. I say if you feel comfortable shooting out to 20 yards that needs to be your max hunting range.

[calgarychef]

The further you can shoot accuratly the more your chances increase and they really get good past 20 yards.  My furthest shot was 30 yards on a largish animal.  I'd rather shoot at about 18 yards if I had a choice.

[Andrew Downs]

In Australia we mostly spot and stalk.
I've never used a tree stand.
I prefer to take a shot at 25 metres or less.

[joe skipp]

A good 20-25 yds off any major runs or scrapes you find. Have 2 different ambush locations...need to play the wind. Make sure you have enough cover behind you and just enough in front to allow for a clean shot.

[Bjorn]

The part to focus on is not the shooting it is the stalking. Worry about the wind, your boots, dry leaves, when to move and when not to. When to bring up your bow; and never eyeball!! You won't succeed every time and you should not expect to; animals play this game 24/7!

[Mojostick]

I set build all my natural ground blinds from 10-14 paces off a well used trail, with 12 paces being average.

If in an area with heavy bowhunting pressure with super spooky deer, you'll need a lot more cover around and behind you than you probably think. I think you'll find your "shooting window" you create will be big at first and eventually you'll find that a much smaller "window" with lots of surrounding cover so you can draw back at that range is where you end up.

Best of luck! I love hunting natural ground blinds so much that I'll never get in a tree again.

[wooddamon1]

Close is good, but it can be hard to draw under 20 unless the deers eyes are hidden somehow, or you're backed into thick stuff. I like natural blinds for mobility and make sure the cover behind me is sufficient to mask slow movement. I'll build a few during season and spruce 'em up every year if I see deer there.

After a few seasons of doing this, I have quite a few spots to hit and most are for 20-25 shots, if the deer walk where they're supposed to...

[JCJ]

You guy's are a lot better shots than I am.

I have killed my last five deer out of natural ground blinds. My longest shot was maybe 15 yards.

I killed my buck last year tucked into a brush fencerow. He was around 5 yards when I shot him. I was wearing khaki pants and a plaid wool shirt.

I am not comfortable taking a shot much beyond 15 yards so I have let lot's of deer walk by which is still very exciting.