Its all winding down and time for a Friendly debate

[Thumper Dunker]

I realy do not deer hunt. Sitting in a tree calling varmits is kinda a waste of time.Your only there for ten to tweenty min utes any way.I would fall out of a tree stand. I realy like stalking . Lots of spot and scare.

[Rufus]

Simple for my hunting ground. For those not familiar with mesquite trees, definitely not good for tree stands with 1 1/2 to 2'' thorns everywhere. Nor is sagebrush good to climb. But both offer excellent cover for the hunter and deer love to eat sagebrush. Coyotes like to eat the mesquite beans in late summer also. So it's on the ground for me.
 Did I mention that crawling through the cactus and dodging rattlesnake make for an interesting stalk sometimes       I enjoy it much however!

[larry]

If you can spot and stalk a south GA Mature buck your talents are being wasted...you should be a Navy Seal

Gotta love that one      

[Covey]

I prefer the ground over treesatnd hunting any day. The comfort and ease of hunting on the ground greatly out number that of a treestand. (IMO)!  I believe I've had more chances from a treestand in the past but getting close on the ground is where it's at for me. The wind betrays me alot and I've been busted more times than I care to remember...but when it all comes together, there's nothing better!

Jason

[BowHunterGA]

Originally posted by RC:
This is a hard to answer question due to Tradgangers being scattered all over the place and hunting different critters.A deer in the south east thats been shot at for 4 months is tuff no matter how you go about it.
   

I'll second that RC! On two of the WMA's I hunt on a lot the deer are almost conditioned to look up. I have even resorted to tactics of putting "scarecrows" in stands before in advance of the season. They will look up at you more often than not, have them "conditioned" to see something in the stand seemed to help. Also moving around a lot with a climber and hunting higher helped also.

All that said I am still looking for a deer from the ground with a bow. It is my ultimate goal for the 2012 season.

[Running Buck]

I have been lucky enough to take a number of deer from the ground and even more from a tree stand. I haven't found a tactic that I would call easy, every deer you get you work for. Hunting public land in N.J. a tree stand works better only because you can wave other hunters off before they walk through your area!

[CaliCreole]

I love sitting in a stand, unfortunately I have to fly half way across the country to do so, most of my hunting is done from the ground, and it is difficult here not a whole lot of cover wind changes constantly and usually dry and HOT during archery only.

[lpcjon2]

Originally posted by Running Buck:
I have been lucky enough to take a number of deer from the ground and even more from a tree stand. I haven't found a tactic that I would call easy, every deer you get you work for. Hunting public land in N.J. a tree stand works better only because you can wave other hunters off before they walk through your area!

And he's not joking either.   :eek:

[centaur]

Hunting from the ground is much more fun in my opinion, although it probably is not as productive as climbing a tree. I enjoy the freedom that ground hunting affords, and I am impatient enough that a few hours in a tree becomes boring to me, unless there is a non stop parade of animals to watch. To those who spend all day in a tree, I say enjoy it, but that is not my cup of tea. Although spot and stalking virtually guarantees sights of white tails bounding away, or elk crashing through the lodgepoles, it is still a lot more fun than making like a bird and perching in a tree for hours.
That being said, you will still see me climbing a tree from time to time, because it can be very productive.

[Rustic]

Last year I had a close call with my climber and at 56 I decided I was too old for climbing trees. This year I used natural vegetation for my ground blind and "really" like the freedom of an easy set up. I plan on staying with this set up.

[Steve H.]

You are ALL WRONG!  The best color of nock IS BLUE!!!

[ron w]

Originally posted by JDinPA:
 

Originally posted by ron w:
A lot has to do with game numbers. I see on average 2-3 deer a year. That's from the ground or a trees stand. So to say one way is easier than the other when there are not many to start with.....I guess it's tough either way. I like being on the ground as I feel it makes me more able to adapt to changing winds and such. I believe if game numbers were higher it would make it easier to maybe pattern animals and maybe put a tree stand to good use....it's just not that way around here!

Wow. I would have to find a new place to hunt. I would go crazy with only seeing a few deer a year. [/b]

What can I say...I live where I live  

[Pointer]

I build my blinds in the same place I'd hanga a stand...not much difference in skill there I don't think. I did manage to do some still hunting this past season...got to within 50yds of a couple of does before they ambled off. It was a rush picking them out of the brush with my binoculars before they saw me...1st time I can say I had the drop on them....just too much ground to cover and not enough cover for those last 20 yds I needed before I could shoot...my skills there definitely need improving

[lpcjon2]

TTT

[Night Wing]

Since I'm afraid of height, you won't find me in one of those climbing tree stands. It's a natural man made or commercial pop up ground blind for me.

[kennyb]

Great topic! I have been hunting from the trees for nearly 40 years and have had my best luck with this tactic. Just recently (2 yrs.) have I been hunting from the ground and I really enjoy it, but it is extremely more difficult to go undetected! One time I barely moved two fingers to regrip and they spotted that and were gone! I will continue to hone my skills on the ground. Also, I will use both tactics for hunting the wily whitetail! Thanks.

Kenny    

[Littlejake]

For me and hunting whitetails I only have 2 words TREE STANDS...

[wc kid]

SnS is harder no doubt. I try to hunt muture animals and it aint easy in a tree either. Id say almost impossible on the ground, but some dudes make it look easy.

[stagetek]

I hunt mostly deer in WI. for me tree stands are the way to go. I'm very comfortable in them, and think they offer many advantages. I have tried some mid-day stalks thru standing corn, fun on windy day's.

[awbowman]

I hunt in central Louisiana and mostly hunt out of treestands as dictated by the terrain.  Like RC said, if you can spot and stalk deer where I hunt, you should by on Seal Team 6! lol

I have hunted in ground blinds and find it more difficult, but only because it seems that our whitetails are very suspicious of them.  I don’t consider them a hindrance with wind as I always hunt the wind. Hunting on the ground with no blind is another story all by itself.

In terms of getting off a shot in an elevated treestand, it increases as the year goes by due to the absence of leaves to breakup a hunter’s outline.  To draw on a deer that has been hounded for four months from a bare tree IS A CHORE!