Stand vs ground setup

[TaterHill Archer]

This may have been covered many times before.  Sorry if this is too much of a repeat.

Kind of a multiple part question.  I've hunted with a rifle all my life from stands. Usually tall ones.  I've hunted with compounds out of stands.  I've hunted with trad bows out of stands.  I prefer to hunt from ground setups.

Now to the questions.  What do you prefer and why?  Anyone that switched from compound to trad did you find a change in your hunting preference of stand over groud or vise versa?  What do you see as the biggest downside to both?

[Tajue17]

its funny I only like a treestand for allowing me "sometimes" to see deer coming from a distance and gives me time to get ready but for actual shooting I prefer to shoot from the ground and feel I'm more effective maybe because of years and years of shooting 3D's or its a bigger target I'm not sure.

I think with compound because of sights the tree stand with big openings and nothing in the way is the majority,,,, Trad folks want just enough foliage in the way for a close shot a treestand that's lower,,,,, trad people want to be as close as possible compounds don't think that way for them its 20yd or 30yds where the pins are set at and so on.

here locally my favorite ground spot if it has to be natural is inside a holly tree with its low branches that fan out and away from the trunk slightly trimmed to get the arrow through but its the natural ground blind to me its perfect,, otherwise anywhere on the ground that s the beauty of the ground...... a treestand and more so a climber at this point you need to find the right tree and then maybe some cutting to get up it, its more work but you can move a bit more where on the ground you have to be still and alert a deer can just turn up at 10yds looking right over you.

I prefer the ground but sometimes it won't work I need to be in a tree,, the deer and the terrain dictate this I guess, if I have a longer bow 66-70 I rather be on the ground too because I can shoot from a tree but I have hit the bottom limb on things setting up for a shop and spooked deer in the past.  

what I've been doing the last few times out is finding a tree that has bushes around it and using a climber to get up around 6-8' and using the tops of those bushes/small pine trees as a ground blind so when I stand up my bow is just over them ,there is almost no trimming that low on the tree and the shot angle is almost as good as being on the ground and I can see further.

I used to be a treestand guy, until I was forced to the ground by the terrain of my hunting area.

I like ground blinds and I much prefer the shot from the ground. Yes, the view is better from up in the trees, but I just like shooting from a platform level with the animal better.

That being said, I will set a stand however the situation dictates. If I think I have a better chance to make things work from up in the tree, that is what I will do.

Bisch

[LA Trapper]

Tater,

Maybe Joe Skipp or Bamboo, Mike Robin, will weigh in on this topic or search some of Joe's posts.  He has some hard and fast rules he uses and is very successful.

He also at times flies by the seat of his pants!

Joe is a character, just a few minutes into a call with him and you will pick that up. Great guy.

He and Mike have modified the Torgues seat into a fold up for ease in carry and reduced weight.  Mike drills waffle holes in the seat to reduce weight.

There are a lot of good ground hunters on this site.  Search the old posts and you will find a wealth of knowledge.

Good luck.

[Slickhead]

next year its ground only
I like see deer come in from my stand, but been picked off more in a tree than on the ground.

Get on the ground.Make a blind or get a commercial.
Myself Im making one from brush (its free)
Im starting this project as soon as the season is over and the snow is over.
Im also planting a small food plot right in front of it:)

[damascusdave]

I am purely a ground hunter these days for the simple reason that is what I like to do...you will never get any better at hunting on the ground by sitting in a tree...there is no feeling like getting close to an animal on its own terms even if you do not have an ethical shot (fifteen yards from both a mule deer and and a whitetail, with no shot since they both spotted me first, in 2013, the last time I hunted much)...and hunting animals like moose and elk with a call almost demand you be on the ground...stand hunting and still hunting/stalking both require many of the same skills...I did shoot a bear from a treestand in 2012 but I mostly did that for the hide and skull, perfectly legal in Alberta

DDave

[overbo]

As Bisch said above.

I think w/ the introduction of tree stands for archery hunting, a lot of people have this mindset, to hunt w/ a bow you must hunt from a tree stand. Not true and can be the least effective way to hunt certain terrains.

[sheepdogreno]

When I first took up hunting I used a gun from the ground. When I started using a compound I started hunting out of a stand...I dunno why I switched. I had a near 20ft fall from a climber 2 yrs ago and now rarely climb in a stand. If I do I'm locked in and only 10 ft up. This past season I maybe did two sits in a stand and the rest brushed in on the ground. Killed biggest deer of my life this year from the ground with my recurve at 16yds after giving up the wheel bow fully. It was an out of body experience to be that close eye level with a deer of that magnitude and then to pull off the shot doesn't get much better. I'm guessing I'll ditch the stands all together in 2015 deer season. My heart always pounds no matter what size the deer from a stand,but nearly leaps out of my chest on the ground! When that stops,I'll stop hunting....

[mangonboat]

I have done both for eastern whitetails since trees were legal, and I climbed trees to good shootable perches  on forks, etc, for years before I ever used a treestand. My favorite is sitting or kneeling over a low stool in FRONT of a multi-trunk tree, especially if there is some brush on either side to further break up the profile. Scouting an area to look for likely spots for a blind is entirely different if you're not looking up into the trees. I improvise most of my ground blinds when I get to the chosen spot, as that allows for last minute decisions based on wind direction and thermals, and obliterate them when I leave.

[Michael Arnette]

I'm figity! I like to be able to move around, check my phone, catch up on work ect and stretch in a treestand or have kids with me.