How many of you hunt on the ground?

[Bill Turner]

When I started hunting on public land I was forced to spend more time on the ground. Just hike to far from the roads to carry in my preferred ladder type stands. Do your homework and ground hunting can be very rewarding. Good luck.

[bansheewins]

Eminart, I am there with you.  Grown up compound in a tree forever.  Went trad last year (first accomplishment).  I had a hard time doing it but after shooting my first deer with it, sold the compounds.  No turning back now.  My goal is to be able to shoot a deer from the ground but scared to try it.  I love the visibility you have in a tree.  I guess I have to just try it this year.

For me the most important thing for getting meat when hunting on the ground is the speed and timing of my shot. For myself, the opportunities to take that long get set, aim and hold for for a half a moon phase don't happen very often. Also, it seems that it is easier to get a clean shot off at a walking deer than a standing and staring at you deer. More often than not, I lose the chance for a shot when that old eye ball to eye ball staring contest with a mature deer happens. I copied my wife's technique, bow on the leg, stare at the boots, when it is time to shoot, the head turns as the bow comes up, a half second hold and the arrow is gone. Total time for her is about 2 seconds, for me, a little over one second.

[steadman]

95% of the time from the ground. But I don't mind the treestand, especially over an elk wallow or pond. I tried treestands for antelope a couple times too, just to mix it up.

[BOHO]

most of the time I climb a tree or use a ladder stand. I hunt from a loc on occasionally. I rarely hunt from the ground. Real tough to do in MS where the deer are pressured so bad. I like to eat deer meat so usually I hunt from above.

[Bill Carlsen]

To answer the question about how successful ground hunting can be all depends on how well you know your area and deer movement. I have found that taking a portable seat/back pack works really well when hunting mast crops like acorns and especially beech nuts, which are short lived and get cleaned  up quickly. A fresh feeding spot is easy to identify and a quick set up can be as simple as sitting against the base of a tree with the correct wind. Last year I found a wild apple that had apples and deer sign and  it was in a small clearing with a growth of dense blueberries on the down wind side. I knew how the deer worked that area in general and simply cut out a place to sit in the blueberries. The berry bushes were so think that I was invisible from the direction the deer usually came from  and would be able to see me only when they were in a shooting lane and I got a nice doe the day before Thanksgiving. Hunting from the ground you  must be alert to wind, feed patterns and be very still which means being very comfortable and quiet.

[WRV]

Me

[Covey]

Originally posted by Jerry Jeffer:
Ground only.

 

Cool Pic! Love to see ground hunting picture's.

Jason

[Shakes.602]

Ground Dweller  here too! Mainly because with the bum knee I cant climb anyway. Which is just as well!  :eek:   Dont need the knee to go out  :eek:   on my way down, I could end up in a Big Pile at the Bottom of said Tree,  REALLY FAST!!  Say.... Crash and Burn?        

[kpete]

I have hunted on the ground stalking, still-hunting and ground blind hunting.  When in Indiana I killed two bucks from ground blinds in standing corn.  With the farmer's permission I made crude blinds by bending the stalks above the ear over and then also trimming shooting lanes to the edge of the woodlots.   Tree stands were tough because the edges of the tree lots were so brushy it was hard to find a good tree out far enough or to trim enough to be able to shoot from the larger timber deeper in the woods.
Blinds in the corn also made it easier to make the wind work.  Very effective.

[twitchstick]

I hunt 98% on the ground. I have only taken one animal from a treestand.

[tomcat8910]

I hunt on the ground and in treestands. It all depends on the situation that presents itself to me and how best I can accomplish my goal of taken the animal I'm after.

[Terry Green]

Both...but more on the ground that's for sure.

[3Feathers]

Going to give it my best this fall.

[joe skipp]

Is there any other way to bowhunt whitetails?    

It's a rush...close encounters...being mobile...putting your still hunting skills to the test...finding that big buck track in the snow and taking up the trail until you ease in close enough to close the deal....

I will say it requires more detail to your natural ambush locations, matching your camo to the terrain your hunting and paying more attention to the early morning and evening thermals.

When the pre rut or rut hits...there is no better place to be. Using extreme calling methods and covering a lot of ground. Just ask the other 2 members of the Tri State Terrors....Bamboo and Southpawshooter the results we've had on the ground.

[Hoyt]

I use to do what we called still hunting (moving real slow with frequent stops) from the ground...been about 45 yrs. ago. Killed deer and hogs with my recurve doing it. However, once I got my hands on a homemade loc-on and a pair of pole climbers I took to the trees and been up there ever since.

I'm going to do a little hunting from the ground this season. I know some good spots with blow downs to get in that have real good trails going right by them.