Transition from tree to ground..

[anchorman]

Well as knees are getting worse thinking about landing on the ground on my own terms. Am thinking about getting me a "ghillie" suit..so far from what I've seen asat leafy suit or Rancho safari long coat seems to be the most talked about anyone use or know how they. Compare to each other? Would like to hear ..thanks.

[WVFarrier]

I use an ASAT Vanish suit....works amazingly well

[Don Stokes]

I hunt about half the time on the ground, and only use ladder stands to get up. I wear one of those net suits with strips of camo sewed on. I can slip it on over whatever I'm wearing and be ready to hunt. It's excellent camo. I can get away with a little more movement; great for stalking on a breezy day. Off the rack at WalMart or some such.

[pavan]

A couple thousand acres of public land here will find hunters on the ground that thought they were going to be up.  I have been working with the game warden locating illegal stands.  dozens of illegal stands.  I sometime use a Big Jim 'bush in a bag' when I know that I will be sitting fairly exposed on my Huntmor chair.   I had a fork horn get a little close,  I wanted him to move along, but I didn't want him to make a big scene, so I poked him with my bow.  Don't ever do that, what a fuss he made. 

[Slickhead]

I got a inexpensive leafy suit.
I think the best advise is use what you are comfortable wearing.
Some suits hang on brush a lot and your fighting brush more than hunting.

Hunting from the ground is way cool (did I say "way cool"?)

couple key points is
1. stay in the shadows
2. watch the wind
3. draw the bow when there are NO eyes in your direction

Ive been amazed at how close deer have gotten to me on the ground.
Im also a big fan of a bee smoker to smoke your clothes and self prior to the hunt.

[J. Cook]

I've noticed I've  hunted the ground more and more in recent years for a variety of reasons.  But during this learning curve I've had a few "learning experiences" that continue to shape how I hunt from the ground.  Some of the things that jump out at me that I now focus on:
1. The cover immediately behind you is more important than a little bit of cover in front of you.
2. I hate the "leafy wear" style clothing - here in the south in early season I spend more time untangling myself from brush than I do hunting....no thanks.
3. I prefer to use large tree trunks to set up against / next too.
4. As mentioned above - shade is your friend when on the ground.
5. You have to be on red alert all the time, especially with your movements compared to a tree stand.  I've been busted quite a few times when I thought no deer where around, vs. being in a tree where you have some cushion until they are good and close (typically).
6. I feel safe at all times on the ground...which results in more naps and probably more deer spooked by my snoring, "springing" awake after nearly falling off my seat, or just missing deer that walk by while I'm asleep.  LOL   

[Eric Krewson]

I have a Rancho Safari long coat and hat. I find it is too hot to wear during most of our bow season here in N Alabama and Southern TN. Any weather above 60 degrees with turn the suit into a sauna.

[Howitser]

J Cook
Got busted one time sittin in the low fork of a big ol tree.....a snort startled me, opened me eyes and was looking strait up at a blue bird sky with beauty clouds......musta been sleepin with my head flopped all the way back n I imagine I was snoring like a locomotive.  Great tips from ya and thanks for the candid admissions....funny

[Don Stokes]

Hunting from the ground adds a whole new dimension, if you've always used stands. I use nippers pre-season to clear a few sneak trails through my property, which helps with the possible hangups of a leafy suit. I also carry the nippers when I'm not on a trail, to quietly clear something from my path if necessary, or to clear a sitting spot. I stalk my way from place to place, and wait a while in good spots. It's a combination of stalking and sitting. For me it's more satisfying to take one on the ground than 10 from a tree.

[Hummer3T]

If you are going from Tree to Ground due to knees, dont forget to buy a good stool.  I found over the year just sit in front of something dark, move slow and no gillie needed (so no bow string issues getting caught in suit)

[pavan]

Tree trunks in groups and clusters of tree trunks are the best, basswood trees tend to cluster here, perfect trees for tree stands and strap on tree seats, but terrible for stools that sit on the ground.  Like the painter Bob Ross use to say 'don't forget to give your trees foots, they need something to stand on', lots of trees have big foots.  A Nifty Seat can often get closer than a stool, but with a nice combo of larger trunks can be nothing but angled foots where the spike or stool need to be.  After doing the stand searches my hip hurts, I don't think that I would want a very low stool today, I am sure sore knees don't like low stools either.  A strap on tree seat can be set up higher, that is why I like the Huntmor better than the small cheaper folding stools, it is taller.  With my Grizzly tree seat I need to add a small cushion for my tender tushy and a piece of old leather belt use for a pad to against a trunk to level the seat sometimes.  I should have stated in my first post that I rarely use any camouflage, mostly for turkey hunting.  It takes very little camo if there is cover like cedar shrubs, tree clusters and standing corn to hunt from.

[YosemiteSam]

Might go without saying but if you're sitting on the ground, practice shooting while seated on the ground.  Anything but the shortest bows will require an aggressive cant to keep the lower limb from smacking the ground.  I developed a secondary anchor point and dual gap (windage & elevation gaps) that works for me.  Haven't yet taken any shots at deer but I did use that system to get my turkey last spring.  From the ground, no blind, leafy suit, tree behind me & a few branches in front.

I like sitting on steep hills when I can.  The hill itself becomes a bit of a backdrop to break up my silhouette if I lay flat.  Sometimes I just carve out a nook for my foam pad (half of a cheapo foam stadium pad that I stuff into my pack) with my boot, use my backpack as a back/head rest, lay the bow on my lap, arrow nocked and I'm good for a few hours of sitting.  Often, I get the elevated position of a tree stand without the risk of falling or the burden of the extra gear.  But that's more a function of the rugged terrain I'm usually in -- flat areas are the exception and roads are far away.

[YosemiteSam]

Im also a big fan of a bee smoker to smoke your clothes and self prior to the hunt.

I've used my smoker on my clothing for the previous 2 years.  But the mosquitoes have been so bad that I find myself covered in insect repellent, defeating the point of using the smoker.  I'm planning to head out this evening to a place in the foothills where mosquitoes might be light.  Maybe I'll give it another try.

[pavan]

Sam, I don't have trouble using 66" and 68" longbows for hunting even from my Nifty seat.  The only times when I use more than my natural cant is when there is obstructions for the bottom limb and when shooting up a steep hill while sitting.  About half of the deer I have taken while standing and about half sitting, with a few that I was sitting butt to the dirt and using a smaller tree as a back rest, not one from a tree stand, although i have spent time in tree stands.  I shoot Hill style as taught by John Schulz, an individuals shooting style does need to be taken into consideration with any hunting setup and needs to be accommodated before the deer shows up.

[johnnyk71]

ASAT leafy suit is awesome. been using one for many, many years. had many an animal, including turkeys, look right at me and pay no attention at all.

[pavan]

Shot timing from the ground.  Everyone has opinions on it.  Everything from raise the bow first to go into super slow mo draw to wait until their head is behind a tree.  For me, shoot with hard intent.  My normal under 30 yard shot tempo is a smooth one second from draw to release, I do not shoot when a deer is looking at me directly.  I tried the slow thing and have gotten caught mid stride too often, shooting quicker works better for me.

[Lakerat007]

Personally I would rather be one stick high in a tree then on the ground. I just can't get comfy and have had a hard time getting bow clearance. Sometimes I don't even take a stick just set the stand a couple feet off the ground.

[jbpharmd]

I own both the rancho safari full ghillie suit and an ASAT leafy suit. I have tried multiple ways to stop string interference while wearing the rancho ghillie and I cannot do it. That’s why I bought an ASAT leafy suit. So for bow hunting I use the ASAT. String clearance is not a problem with it.

The other big difference is that the rancho ghillie is hot! I can wear the ASAT in the middle of summer down here in South Louisiana and it doesn’t bother me much but the Rancho ghillie is uncomfortable for me over about 70 degrees. So I use the rancho ghillie for gun hunting from November through April and the ASAT for everything else.

If I could only have one it would be the ASAT leafy suit. Lighter weight, more versatile, better string clearance.


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[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

I learned a lot of lessons last fall, hunting from the ground. ASAT leafy suit was a HUGE help for me. I still found that getting drawn was incredibly hard unless I had brush in front, and behind me. But I didn't know enough about setting up for quartering away shots, so that had something to do with it.

[Don Stokes]

Dean Torges was a ground hunter. He would set up with a simple tree seat he made, and turn his back to where he expected the deer to come from, to get a quartering away shot after they passed him.