Tips for hunting from the ground.....

[Sharptop]

I'm prompted to pose this question after the recent tree stand fall thread. It is something I suspect has been discussed a lot before. I may have even posted one myself. But I am more and more drawn to ground hunting as it fits in with the simplicity and beauty of traditional bow hunting. So can we have thread which gives different folk's  outlooks on how ground hunting is best done? If there is a simple link for that, thank you, but I would love to hear folk's developing methods and ideas about hunting from the ground. I have a good Mellinium ground seat and another Tree hammock stand that I like as well as some nice Ghille type suits. How do you deal with the wind, etc? Thanks and I hope to learn something. One of the states I hunt in allows baiting so whatever you have to comment about that would be appreciated also.

[ron w]

Keep the wind in your face, keep your movement to the minimum and when you do move do it in slow motion. Practice from what ever seat you use, and practice uncomfortable shots because those will be most common. Most important.........have fun!!

[KodaChuck]

Determine heavily used deer trails and sit downwind. Keep it simple. Use the biggest trees as a background and trees with 2 or 3 trunks are superb ambush spots. Some of these trees will allow a shot between the trunks. Don't move. Use a small stool if that works for you. Kick away all the leaves around your ambush spot so you can work around the tree if necessary. I enjoy thick brush areas with a few machete shooting lanes. The thick brush is both a blessing and a curse but the challenge is movement and I find I can get away with more movement in the brush. Expect to have only 3 or 4 shooting lanes upwind. Draw when the deer moves behind a tree and be ready to shoot on the deer's next step from behind the tree. The worst situation is when the deer walks directly towards your position. Consider a leafy suit. Had 4 different deer within 8 yards this morning. Sometimes they get too close but I find that this method is the most intense bow hunting for me and the close encounters are always memorable.

[Friend]

My hunting is soley from the ground.

Ten setups this yea...as one needs to go well be beyond the extra mile to consistantly have deer in ideal position. Have spent years developing effective ground setups and target 10 to 15 yards shots range with some latitude.

Have passed on 13 totally separate buck shot opportunities this season from 5 to 14 yards. Have had nearly 22 bucks that were from 5 to 14 yards. Likekely passed on 70 shot opportunities  in total p last season.

If a deer even looks at the ground setup, then I know I haven't done enough.

[monk]

So friend HOW do you do it? What are the guidelines you use to achieve your desired perfection?

[Friend]

Will require considerable writing


Call me at 270.399 0944, if you desire.

[Stumpkiller]

Originally posted by ron w:
Keep the wind in your face, keep your movement to the minimum and when you do move do it in slow motion. Practice from what ever seat you use, and practice uncomfortable shots because those will be most common. Most important.........have fun!!

Can't improve on that.

Don't rule out still-hunting.  I find it the most difficult but most rewarding.

Keep the wind ahead of you.  You can't move too slow.  A step and wait while watching.  Look for bits of deer.  A leg, an ear, the line of the shoulders.  If you see a whole deer they've probably already made you.  

From a Torge's style ground level tree seat practice shooting from odd positions.

Ground blinds?  I defer to General Patton:

"Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man."  

I use them for firearms but not bows.

[TIM B]

I'm a big fan of ground blinds.  I've went to the extremes on using T posts w fence wire to make log type contraptions and I've also used sections of concrete wire to make them.  Cedar bows can be weaved in and last a couple seasons- also logs etc can be piled up.  Once ya get a bunch of these going it just takes a little to maintain them
Tim

[Keefer]

Something I look for when scouting is any trees that were blown over near a well used trail. I then look to see if I can get behind the trunk with the root ball to my back or side. I then will brush up with dead fall or whatever is already down and try to block my blind spots . I use a Huntmore 360 stool and sit with my bow laying across my lap with my left side at my shooting window so to speak. All I need to do then is just raise my bow very slowly and pivot very little for a shot.
 I have had really good success being undetected as deer walk by in what little bit of time I get to actually hunt.
 I have three little girls to tend to and work seems to always get busy during hunting time but I do get maybe a few days a year out.
 I plan to stay as long as wife let's me and we have some coverage on our girls.
 Play the wind and I always bathed with unscented soap,keep cloths in a big tub with pine ,ceder,bay leaves and those earth sent dryer sheets sprayed with earth scent. It gets in my wool clothing and when I open the tub I can get a wiff of the ground scent . I use whatever is in the area I hunt as far as pine trees,bay leaves etc.
 I have had deer with in 5 to 10 yards and undetected at times even when the wind has moved on several hunts.
 Try not to let your dog,smokers,perfumes get anywhere near your treated cloths and after I wash them I dry them outside and spray Earth cover scent on them just before they are good and dry.

[Doc Nock]

Keef,

Lots of folks laugh at the extent of preparations you use that I also employ... but you get one chance at a pressured deer where there are so many hunters and people.

I go so far as to dress where I hunt. I don't wear my hunting clothes or boots to travel and pick up odors.

As for "Hunting into the wind"... on the tiny parcels I've had access to, you hunt where you can and use what you can to avoid detection...

[mangonboat]

I agree with all of above. I am a minimalist..I select my spot each time out rather than go to a blind already made, clear out leaves from the ground and almost always sit on a T seat in front of a tree ,preferably a tree with multiple trunks. I like a T seat because I can quickly and silently slide it around to sit astride it like a bicycle seat while my knees are on the ground and I can twist as needed. My selection depends on wind, climate, food and water availability, moon phase,etc, and understanding thermals.

[highlow]

Friend. Sounds as if you are the "ground hunter extraordinaire". How about giving us some insight into your methods in installments. One tip at a time so it won't cut into your other responsibilities. It would keep this thread nice and fresh. I would call you but I hate talking on the phone.

[ChuckC]

Do a bit more than you do in the tree.  You do not need a solid 4 foot high blind, just enough stuff to break you up.  you invariably need just a bit more room than you thought.  Play the wind, always.  Try to arrange to have a few things out front to eclipse the deer's vision for that draw.  While at it, having something that moves or arranges the deer for that shot.  An example is a fallen tree or some carefully pre-arranged brush piles.  Heck, even  some heavy twine tied as a three or four strand "fence".

Then try to move the least amount possible.  See about investing in a good ghillie style suit.  Right off the bat I would cut off the bow arm (of the ghillie, not yours) at the elbow.   Trim the chest heavily and get ready to see things.
Good luck.
CHuckC

[Brianlocal3]

High low
If for no other reason to say hello, I would call "Friend" , he is an amazing person! I haven't spoken with him much lately as life has pulled me away from archery and hunting but I still lurk, but Scott is one of those people who are blessing to get to know.

[RedShaft]

You need to have plenty of cover behind you

Don't move. You have to keep really really still. This is the biggest one of all! Why most fail

When you set up. Set up so when you see the animal it's far enough away to get ready. Reaching for you bow or getting it into position ruined more ground hunts for more guys than probably anything.

Leafy type clothing really helps.

Don't call to deer. They will be looking for you. Big mistake on the ground. When bucks are crazy and humping does you get get away with this. Sometimes...

Two different pattern clothing helps. Your legs are leaves and your upper body is tree trunk or branches

Really try and wait till they can't see to draw. Or looking away. Let them walk past you. Set up for it.

If your hunting public land. It's best to give in and just hunt from a treestand. That's my 2 cents!

Me and my wife have shot all of our deer on the ground.   My wife's thing is to stare down at her left shoe when a deer is close and not look at the deer until she shoots.   The other night I called in a deer.  It stopped with a large tree blocking my view of the front half.  I decided that anything with that big of a butt, horns or no horns is a trophy.  At 25 yards, I failed. I peeked around to see what it was.  A large flat nosed doe.  What she saw was one dumb ass that peeked around a tree at her.   She was a smart old girl, she kept that big tree directly between me and her and simply raised her tail and walked away.   Shot timing when ground hunting is critical.  Sometimes slow can work better, but most of the time knowing when you have a shot that is clear and has the right angles and simply getting on with it and making the shot works best.  Actually, my shot tempo with a longbow is about a smooth "one thousand one" tempo from beginning of draw to release.  If a shot can be made slow it can also be made at that smooth 'onethousandone' tempo.  For the most part a deer that is staring at me is not a target.   A deer can pick up on the tiniest motions in a stare down.  You may think that the bow is not moving, but a deer will see the tiniest movement when it is staring at you and a waving bow is a quick give away.   If the thermals shift on you, you will have to shift with them.  I had a small buck last year snort and get all up about something it smelled.  I thought at the time it couldn't be me the wind was in my favor.  After it left I lit my pipe.  The smoke went up the hill away from where the deer was, then I saw it not lifting, but it turned and headed down the ravine towards where the deer was standing.  Evening thermals can be tricky wandering devils.

[RedShaft]

Originally posted by KodaChuck:
Determine heavily used deer trails and sit downwind. Keep it simple. Use the biggest trees as a background and trees with 2 or 3 trunks are superb ambush spots. Some of these trees will allow a shot between the trunks. Don't move. Use a small stool if that works for you. Kick away all the leaves around your ambush spot so you can work around the tree if necessary. I enjoy thick brush areas with a few machete shooting lanes. The thick brush is both a blessing and a curse but the challenge is movement and I find I can get away with more movement in the brush. Expect to have only 3 or 4 shooting lanes upwind. Draw when the deer moves behind a tree and be ready to shoot on the deer's next step from behind the tree. The worst situation is when the deer walks directly towards your position. Consider a leafy suit. Had 4 different deer within 8 yards this morning. Sometimes they get too close but I find that this method is the most intense bow hunting for me and the close encounters are always memorable.

Listen to this guy too. He got it down.

[highlow]

But Pavan. How does she know when to shoot if she doesn't look at the deer? Seems like she couldn't do one without doing the other.

[George Vernon]

Large trees, brush of blow downs behind you are important to break up your 'human' outline.  I'm  much more concerned with what is behind me than in front.  If you play the wind and don't move until you have a shot opportunity, you don't need that much stuff in front of you.  I'll take a shot under two conditions.  The favorite is the deer moving away at a quartering angle.  With eyes mounted on the sides of their heads, deer have about a 270% field of view.  Broad side shots are tough due to this field of view unless the head is behind a tree or thick brush.  This is the other possible shot condition.

Yes, you're right.  I pass on a lot of deer, but I consider any close encounter on the ground a success, and a lasting memory.

[Sharptop]

Thank all of you for your suggestions. I am getting excited about hunting in KY in a week or so and I will try and incorporate some of these ideas into the hunts. One of the coolest things about hunting with a longbow is that I feel better about harvesting a doe than I do a 10 pt with a rifle. Lots of good ideas here, please keep them coming.