Ground hunting

[nek4me]

[jonsimoneau]

I’ve gotta admit that when hunting whitetails I much prefer to be in a pre-scouted (in Feb/March) detailed and brushed in elevated position. However there is not much better than taking a deer fair and square with a real bow from the ground. I like a ghillie suit. Also if you can find one, I like the old strap on tree seat kind of deals when in my ghillie. I put it high enough off the ground so that I’m kind of half sitting/half standing. Replace the shorter strap on it with one that you can put around a tree larger than yourself. I’ve noticed that the deer seem to not react to me when in this position as much as they do when I’m just in my ghillie sitting on a stool. Also I prefer to shoot standing up and this makes it much easier to slowly melt into shooting position. I recently watched Barry Wensel’s new video like 100 times. In it he is wearing a custom made ghillie that is absolutely outstanding. I’ll probably see him at the P.B.S. Banquet and will ask him about it. I want one for sure!

Around here basswood trees tend to grow in clusters.  Add a tree seat and a Bush in a Bag and keep the wind in your face, it is not so tough to get deer.  I have shot dozens of deer all from the ground, some still hunting, a few spot and stalk and the rest from available natural cover or from tree clusters, using a camo  on occasion.   My wife prefers blows downs and cedar shrub clusters from her Huntmor.    A pocket on a corn field edge is good as well,  on public land with corn fields.  No one has yet to figure out how to crowd me off of a corn field with a string of tree stands, which happens on every funnel or obvious trail in our public woods around here.    Some guys are putting up a half a dozen stands, get six guys doing that and the area is full.  Some places the stands end up being in shooting range of each other.   Then add the roving squirrel hunters with 22s and it is a real zoo.   Open crop and brushy area make one appreciate the wide open spaces, soon or later the deer do as well.

[TGbow]

Since 1975 I've hunted 90% or more on the ground.
Used the old Baker stands some in the 70s.
Had a Summit but sold it 10 yrs or so ago because I hardly ever used it.
Got a hankerin to get a hang on stand this past season for an in n out setup...not for me..too many straps.
Then bought a climber but gave both away.
I realized that I have always liked the idea of treestands but the bottom line is I don't like foolin with a bunch of stuff.
I like the simplicity of hunting on the ground.
If I hunted private land it might be different, then I could have preset stands.

I find it is not hard to hide from deer on the ground and it is more adaptable IMO.
Just have to learn when to draw and when not to draw.
Plus, it's a lot warmer on the ground.

[wayne rollinson]

I like being on the move stalking into known areas, not hard to get close to deer or boar just use the wind correctly and know the ground, I still do you elevated stands but I like the thrill of the stalk, regards Wayne ps a clip of training for steadyness with the hound, she has a good nose so if i can't see through cover she lets me know if there's anything there
 http://flic.kr/p/24W13E8

[two4hooking]

Freedom.  Not being "chained" to a safety harness, a specific location, or the hassle of stands, ladders, sticks, etc.    

Simplicity.

[Zradix]

got tired of putting up tree stands.

[PECO]

I am not comfortable on a tiny platform 20+ feet in the air. I'm cheap and a quality stand is $$$$. I like to make natural blinds on the ground. It doesn't take much, and I like to still hunt. My ASAT 3D suit is all I need.

A few years ago i put up a ladder stand in a little 50 yard long drainage slip with trees in the middle of a switch grass field.  I was hoping that would prevent others from doing the same.  What I got was other people using it.  In Iowa the law is if someone is in your stand, you cannot kick them out.   I didn't, but I watched the deer go on the wrong side of the ladder stand, the fellow could not shoot that direction.   I had no intention of sitting on it, I used the head of the ditch as a natural blind when was I hunting the ditch.  In recent years I shot two deer with my Berry Morningstar there, but The ladder stand only gets used when one of the locals wants ladder stand practice in my backyard and then only two segments of the ladder.   Ladder stands attract compound hunters.

[Friend]

Have seven ground sets completed and hunt ready for this season. Completing two more will have me in fine shape.

[GreyGoose]

More interesting as as rule, and I feel confined of I'm very long on a stand.

I almost never pee on on my boots when I hunt on the ground.  When I had a Sabor climber it was like the toes of my boots had bull's eyes on them, I never missed.

[Saltydog]

Admittedly, there is something special about sitting in an elevated stand. I did it exclusively for over 25 yrs.

One day about a dozen years ago, while on my way into my lock-on, I saw just a part of a deer heading my way. I dropped down to my knees and after 5 minutes, a descent buck emerged from the thicket about 10 yds. After a couple more steps he  presented an 8 yd. broadside shot.

Later that day I was excitedly sharing the details of the hunt with my father. After I finished he looked and me and said, "If you remember, I taught you to still-hunt even before you could buy a license."

Since that day, the majority of my deer hunting hours have been from the ground, and my feet have not left the ground in 5 years, for the same reasons as everyone who has posted before me.

If success is an important enjoyment factor of you hunting, then ground hunting is probably not for you. But like the old saying; "The harder you work to earn something, the greater the reward of accomplishment."

[mcgroundstalker]

Every answer to your question has been right on target... Almost nothing left for me to add, so I'll keep it simple...

If you wish to "kill a deer" use a tree stand...

If you want to "hunt a deer" stay on the ground...

... mike ...

PS... You are gonna need to be at the top of your game this way, but then, re-read all the above posts.

[bear mike]

I hunt from both a treestand and natural ground blinds where a treestand is not an option. I love both but when your on the ground and sometimes within mere feet of an animal that is as good as it gets

[Keefer]

Main reason for me is due to back surgery and since I have a Huntmore 360 seat I came to the point I have had some close encounters with deer and being eye level I have come to love ground hunting.
  I also try my best to search for blow downs near funnels and trails and use them to my advantage best I can.
  I have found staying close to a root ball of a tree that fell really helps me a lot and having back cover with some front cover to help block me.
  Paid off this past year with the biggest buck I ever taken on ground and he came in at 7 yards but my shot was at 12 yards when he stood broadside to present the shot.
  It was a moment I'll cherish forever even "If" I didn't get the buck and being so close to him but the Lord heard my prayer and I am ever so grateful!    

[BUCKY]

Keefer, i ve been playing with my hunters seat from big jim and i leaned it against a root ball. Cant wait to try it this fall!

[twitchstick]

Because thats how I learned to hunt. Everyone in my family and everyone I hunted with hunted from the ground. I thought that was a east coast thing. I do use treestands now in some situations.

[ChuckC]

I have hunted a long time and have done it almost any way you can think of. I really like ground hunting and with a ghillie suit.  I can learn the critters habits, refine my presentation and have shots of less than ten yards, sometimes as close as five. It is way different than being in a tree.  ha... I also don't mind being able to nap when I feel like it.

You can get by with less gear. Sneak in at the last moment without the need to let the area settle down.  You can do many many things, including standing in water to catch them as they cross a narrow passage, sit in the marsh here, as Pavan pointed out, there are no trees, and everybody and even most deer, now look up in the trees for hunters.

If the wind moves,I can too, very quickly and quietly.  I also have less invested in terms of time setting up, so if the hunt goes sour because wind shifts, I don't mind bailing to hunt another day.

I don't tend to fall very far if I fall asleep.  I see so many neat things.  I don't have to carry near as much gear.  Is that enough ?

Don't for a minute think it cannot be done.

[Friend]

Ground sets can be far more productive than 75% of the stands set.

Scouting, strategy and willingness to put the demanding prep work can big dividends.

I was medically restricted to the ground in 2007. My ground game was weak as I could only manage a couple of shot opportunities a season. The ground hunting game has significantly evolved. I have already put in over 50 hours prepping for next season.

No exageration required and no boasting...merely the actuals...Last season...Passed on over 200 separate solid shot opportunities out of 79 hunts...47 were bucks....three bucks were lower level P&Y class with the largest just under 140...average distance was 14 yards...longest considered were 3 bucks at 20 yards.

One of my trad lease guys and hunting partner, last season, is one the premier bowhunters in the nation. He is the only individual to have 7 deer featured in North American Whitetail. He was consistantly requesting to hunt my personal ground sets. I was honored since my knowldege of overall deer hunting wouldn't fill a thimble in comparison.

Note: My hunting property is not commercial

The reward can be great.