Tips and tricks for the ground hunter.

[Ground Hunter]

Get a good seat - GFA has what you need.  If you are not comfortable you will wiggle around.  Then you may as well stay home.

[wooddamon1]

I'm always finding trails and building natural blinds when I'm in the woods. The best part about ground hunting (besides safety) is the mobility factor. My favorite and often most productive days are when I find a trail away from other hunters and set up downwind in a blowdown or a quick stick blind under a White Pine.

I've done this numerous times and had bucks and does come sniffing my scents placed near the trail within a few minutes. Very cool stuff...

[BOWMARKS]

I have to hunt from an ATV due to parapalegia,and have had some luck.

1.As little movement as possable!
2.Good back ground camo!
3.Find some good trails,I have 4 intersecting!!!
4.Do a lot of practicing from the seat and blind you will use!
5.At first it seems a lost cause if your used to sitting in trees, PATIENCE,PATIENCE,PATIENCE!!!!

[LA Trapper]

pavan, you ain't right...."just like my next door neighbor"   LOL!!!!!!!

That was funny.  Any pictures?

[Roadkill]

A fighting hole is a great way to see critters.  It is not eye to eye, it is the opportunity to see feet coming to you without those all seeing eyes.  While in the service we would dig in and I was amazed at what came by.
Glasses reflect light if not careful.
Shadows work, sunlight, while warm on cold. Days, doesn't

[Roy Steele]

I started totally ground hunting in 05. But have forthe last 40 years on and off when I could'nt get in a tree. Now I would'nt have it any other way.
  I've made a ghillie in 1980 the store bought ones had just hit the market and were way to heavy. Mines 2 pounds and I use it every hunt. I don't care much for pop ups.
  There's one simple thing to do when ground hunting. I set up all my ground sites like this. For gobblers and bucks. I set up where they must go by me. 2 Reasons 1 They know if safer behind where they just came from. So there attentions foused away from you. 2 This makes drawing so much easer exspecialy on gobblers that can see way father towards there back.
  This is the only way I set up for ground shots.

[Roy Steele]

Remember if you can see them they can see you.

[jsweka]

Originally posted by FerretWYO:
 

Originally posted by Bjorn:
 You want cover behind you-don't worry so much about cover in front.

The best advice you can get is right there. [/b]

Yep.
When I'm hunting from the ground, the ideal situation is if I can find a patch of thick grapevines on the downwind side of a well used trail, rub line, scrape, etc.

[Covey]

The one thing I've never figured out is playing the wind. If I played the wind around here...I would never even sit down. I'm pretty limited on places to hunt and the place I do have is very hilly. It is really hard to find a consistant wind and flat ground is hard to find in these parts. Anybody have any tips on this? I try to control my scent as best I can but I probably get winded more than I know.

Jason

[SEMO_HUNTER]

I do alot of hunting from the ground and actually took my first coyote and first turkey with a recurve from the ground. Killed the turkey last fall at eye level from about 12 steps while the other 12 or so hens fed. My secret at this spot was by being almost "below" them. A small over hang right at the edge of a sloping ridge cap over looking the river where I live just happened to have a tree as wide as my shoulders close enough to hang my portable tree seat on. Then I added a bit of brush in front so any approaching game could only see me from about my shoulders up with the rest of my body hidden behind the overhang. I was basically watching staight up the hill at eye level with turkey and deer, but they didn't pay me anymore attention than if I were a stump or rock............until I wacked one that is, then they were looking for me everytime there after.

I also make several natural ground blinds using cedar boughs to brush my blinds in. I make a triangle around 3 nice size trees {in the area I want to hunt} by using wire, rope, or even small saplings cut from the area and fasten them about chest height. Then hang the cedar boughs upside down like a "V" so the green part hangs down and conceals me behind it.
 
***I try not to use nails or screws in the trees because those will hurt future log value many years down the road and I hunt mostly on my neighbor's ground.***

To finish it off I add camo burlap or camo material behind the cedar boughs all the way around the inside so the critters can't see through it.
It's very effective and I've got them scattered here and there through my stomping grounds just like you would have semi permanent tree stands.
I'm actually working on a new one right now for the upcoming spring turkey season. I'll get some pics and post them here so you can see exactly what I'm describing.

I love the ground game cause it puts critters right in my face and is much more exciting hunting them that way versus the overhead view. I also hunt from tree stands, but enjoy the ground view much more and it's safer.      

[woodslinger]

I have hunted from the ground with my bow for over 20 years and absolutely love it. There is all ready a bunch of great advice all ready given. I will hit the big three that I try to live by. For hunting from a ground blind I follow these three rules

1. be comfortable if you aren't you will fidget and move and get busted.

2. I use natural cover whenever possible and don't do a lot of trimming or building. Like all ready stated cover behind is more important then cover in front.

3. I always set up so that when the animal is in my shooting lane he has all ready moved past me and is quartering away. Just like Roy Steele said.

These three things helped me to be successfull from the ground.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Here's some pics of my "V" style natural ground blind I just finished today. This one will be permanent. It's only about 300 yards from my house over on my neighbor's property where I've killed deer, turkey, and coyotes on this hillside. I can leave my deck, walk to this blind and be hunting in less than 10 min. I've heard turkey gobbling on this hillside regularly during the spring season.

I've made quite a few of these blinds and some are fairly complicated like this one which I made in about 4 hours. Then some are very simple that I have thrown together on the fly in less than 10 minutes from surrounding cover with only some para cord and a pair of limb pruners.

Here's the critter's view when they come down the old logging road off the top of the hill.

 

If there is no background cover, just add some. Those are 2 cedar tops I cut out of our yard and wired them to a small oak tree behind the blind, which is directly behind my back when I draw my bow.

 

View of the inside. I added a small board crosswise over the top rail/saplings as a shelf to set my call on when a turkey comes, and also for my video camera and small tripod. I've gotten 1 kill on video so far by myself this way.

 

View from the blind looking up the hill/logging road where the deer and turkey come from 80% of the time.

 

 

[wooddamon1]

Good looking blind there...

[3Feathers]

nice setup.

[lpcjon2]

TTT

[bobman]

I just sit up against a tree bigger than me, in the shade on a comfortable cushion, no blind building for me IMO that stands out unless you do it a long time in advance.

ASAT camo and practice shooting from a seated position with my bow canted parallel to the ground.  Its a lot different way to shoot. I have killed a lot of whitetails and passed many more doing this simple technique.

[BowHunterGA]

I prefer to use natural blinds. I may spruce these up if needed during the off season. One of my absolute favorites is hunting in stands of river cane. I have had deer (and coyotes) look right at me from 10 yards away and pay me no attention whatsoever. As has been said, cover behind you is just as, if not more, important that what is in front of you. Also try using the shadows to your advantage when you can.

Movement is critical, when you do move you have to be slow and methodical. Avoid eye contact with the animal and of course play the wind.

[DennyK]

What I spent time doing this past weekend was sprucing up my ground blinds with the branches from an artificial Christmas tree. A hand full of zip ties and the end result is a very natural looking ground blind. If you don't have such a tree laying around the basement you can probably get a pick up load at your local thrift center for a very reasonable price.

[SKITCH]

Great stuff guys. Thanks again!!

[joe skipp]

Here in the Northeast, my favorite camouflage since 1986...ASAT. Also Brown Predator, Brown Woodland or Desert Camo. You need to blend in with the surroundings.