treestands,groundblinds and stalking

[sticks&stringz]

alright guys, this is my first year traditional bowhunting and im curious of what methods people use the most for getting tags filled.what style do you use the most often, groundblinds,tree stands or still hunting/spot and stalk hunting?

[Pine]

I prefer to stay on the ground .
I seem to see more deer and when I get a shot opportunity , the kill zone is bigger .

[bunyan]

I'm a terrestrial predator, not an arborial one! I've got enough to worry about without getting excited when a deer walks by and stepping off a platform 15 feet in the air! That plus the benefit of simply walking to the other side of a game trail when the wind shifts and the in your face excitement of measuring the distance to an animal in feet, not yards keeps my feet on the ground!

[dbd870]

I voted stand but there are spots I hunt where ground works as well.

[oldrubline]

have enjoyed my hunting more than ever since coming down out of the trees...plus getting that eye-level action is way more exciting to me...like going from being an observer at a zoo on a plateform vs  climbing right down there among them. I would probably kill more with stand...but if filling the freezer was the issue I'd be blasting them with a rifle. I'm in it for the hunt and ain't no bigger thrill than being on the level with a backwoods buck.

Dan

[8upbowhunter]

I voted tree stand because thats how I've always hunted but will do some hunting from the ground this year. Will make a couple of ground blinds to hunt from but I may do some stalk hunts too.

[Shadowhnter]

I hate these kind of questions. ...lol!    It seems like im being boxed in, having to choose one option. I use all these tactics regularly, and the very spot I hunt dictates the necessity for each method.

Your question though, says which is the most used method THAT FILLS TAGS...... hence, I had to vote tree stand. It is by far the best method to fill the tags with a bow for me. Still hunting or ground hunting, a person has lots of close range encounters, that do not end in a shot opportunity. Its easier to get busted before a shot can happen too. I still love ground hunting though, and do it a lot. Ive filled numerous tags from the ground, so im no ground hunting snob. Ive been fortunate enough, to harvest 5 deer at 3 yards and more at what would be considered close range..... The fact is, if the area permits its use, a tree stand, done correctly,  gives a better chance of filling your tag. I will also say, I dont go 20ft up a tree to do it, most of my stands are 12 ft, and rarely go over 15ft. Ive had a few stands at 10ft, and was very effective for the very brushy situation. A shot from the ground would have taken a lot more work, and been way more invasive and risky in dealing with sensitive deer as I was. For me, its imperative to use all available methods.

[Sam McMichael]

I most often hunt from an elevated stand, but am now hunting almost as often from a ground blind. As I get older, I am just less steady on a ladder stand.

[Car54]

Mostly tripod.

[PeteA]

I'm a ground dweller for all the reasons mentioned. Mobility, angle and size of kill zone, feeling more comfortable on the ground in my older age, less stuff to drag around. I also set up in naturals blinds or quick brush piles set to in the off season.

[kadbow]

Depends on what I am hunting. I use em all.

[MnFn]

I do hunt from the ground as well.  At my age climbing up to hang on stands is probably not the best idea.  Although actually putting them up is more of a problem.

I bought a few ladder stands and feel comfortable using them. I am taking a couple of hang-on stands bear hunting this fall, but a ground blind would be ok in the right situation.

[monterey]

I've hunted a bit from the trees but while it is workable out west, being on the ground allows more flexibility.  Besides, my ODO rolls over to 70 In two weeks so I'm staying on the ground.    

Your poll might be skewed towards tree hunting since it is so popular among whitetail hunters East of the Rockies.

[T Lail]

I have harvested animals all three ways, but as I get older (late 50's now) I tend to stay on the ground....move slooooooow and make sure that ground blind blends in well.....  

[Stump73]

I mostly treestand hunt but I also ground blind and if given the opportunity I would stalk.

[Ken Taylor]

Like most of the guys here, I hunt different methods.

Of the three methods mentioned, I mostly hunt from natural ground blinds, and spot and stalk, and still hunt probably almost equally.

I rarely hunt from tree stands these days mostly because I haven't hunted whitetails in a while and that's the only animal I hunt from tree stands.

Where I live, moose and caribou are hunted more conveniently from the ground and I like hunting bears from natural ground blinds.