Trying to get it done on ground TOUGH!!!!

[J. Holden]

I'll be there with you this year.  Good hunting!

- Jeremy  

[wooddamon1]

Good luck, I'm also trying again this year.

[joe skipp]

It's the only way to bowhunt. Quiet clothing, wind in your face, the animal slowly walks by offering a quartering away shot at maybe...15 yds. He has no idea your there...arrow slices through, short blood trail....keep your tree stands....LOL

[Fletcher]

Plan your shot for when they get a little past you.  You can also put out some scent to get them to stop and divert their attention away.  I find some dilute vanilla and anise mix to work well.

[dan d]

Originally posted by moleman:
Best thing i ever done was come down out of the tress. It has simplified my hunts and made my hunts more enjoyable due to less gear to carry in and out, and is a huge RUSH!.
Stick with it, youlle get it done!
Good luck!
Paul

Well said, I too have decided I'm getting too old to fall out of a tree.

[BDann]

I'll be trying again this year as well.  It's such a rush getting close on the ground that I have a hard time going up in a tree any more.

[dagwood64]

Paul [/qb][/QUOTE]Well said, I too have decided I'm getting too old to fall out of a tree. [/QB][/QUOTE]

It's not the fall I am afraid of, it's the sudden stop that scares me.    

I have been hunting on the ground since I gave up my wheels. Had some close calls, but still no kills. I guess that is why it's called hunting not killing.

[joe skipp]

Been on the ground since 1975...after a fall from a tree using the original Baker tree stand. Learned how to hunt from the ground after making many mistakes. Knowing how to use all available cover when sitting or still hunting, wind, masking scents and good quiet camo and a firm believer in ASAT camo.

I really believe that all these years of ground hunting has made me a much better hunter and learning how to use everything around me to my advantage.

[nineworlds9]

Ground is where its at!  Hunting not assassination LOL.  Once I started encountering game at shooting distances the tree stand went bye bye.  Spot and stalk/ still hunting all the way!!!  Woohoo!

[Hopewell Tom]

You guys make me want to try the ground now. Have thought about it(mostly when struggling to set up a tree stand) and now will give it a shot(as it were...)
I'll still have a few trees set up, but when conditions seem right I'll slip around and see how it goes. Wait a minute - I'll set up a couple of ground blinds!

[truckfarmer]

I learned to hunt out west and don't think I ever even knew anyone who hunted from a stand out there. Now that I've moved east of the Rockies, sitting in a tree stand seems to be what a lot of hunters prefer to do. If nothing else I think my fear of heights will make me a ground hunter for life.

[r-man]

I have taken well ever 200 deer from ground and tree, each hunt is differant, I sit on ground , I walk, and climb trees, the terrain decides along with the single animals habits and trails, I prefer ground, but the bucks bad desisions and paths he chooses decides my actions, some of the deer only give us one chance to stick um, If I get sloppy or try to rush the stalk it well fail. Most shots for me on the ground are 5-30ft.

   Randy  

   My favorite thing is popping them while there bedded, thats the real challange.

[darin putman]

Well they say you learn from your mistakes so maybe this will be the year, it is very apparent that I ain't going hungry just a little humbled. I didn't update this last year but had lot's of close calls, can get the draw and release down now but have a problem with shooting high at ten yards and less at live animals. But being the hard headed rascal that I am I think this will be the year, just gotta aim a little lower that's all. I don't get overly excited to the point of loosing it but I also don't practice the close shot like I should. Was shooting the other day and stepped up to about 10 and wouldn't you know it HIGH. I hunt some thick places so shots will be close. Gonna start practicing that close 5-10 yard gimme shot for most untill it's a gimme to me. Got to October 15, looking forward to the hunt.

[LONGSTYKES]

Hunting and stalking from the ground. Is a lot of fun. Bear at 3yds will get your heart a pumping. Enjoy

[Sam McMichael]

If you are getting close, you certainly have the basic process under control. It will always be difficult to draw and shoot at close range simply because it involves movement. Yet, it will happen.  I am very impressed that you can stalk close.

I hunt from the ground a fair amount, but I sit in brush blinds, simply because I clump around like a horse. I have been reading and trying to copy stalking techniques from both hunting and military writers since the 1960's, but it is just not something I am good at.

If you are getting this close this often, your next level of proficiency will be "expert". Keep it up!

[Liquid Courage]

I am in my "single shot" arrow practice days now. I shoot one arrow at a time spaced out at a 3-D target, trying to mimic that single hunting shot. I have never hunted from trees so the biggest problem on the ground for me is movement and draw. I have countered some of this by practicing holding full draw for as long as possible. I also practice snap shooting. Both have been effective depending on the situation. I have stalked up on deer from the time I was a young boy. Walking "with the wind" and keeping the wind hitting your face are two of the most important. I was scouting this past week and it was not windy so much harder to move quietly. A deer snorted at me, I grunted at her she moved towards me. Would have been an easy kill during the season. Squirrels are useful as well for me. If I am moving and they still are moving as well then I know that I have not triggered the "alarm" in the woods yet. I am always using wind, sound, scanning technique, and other critters moving to my advantage. The other thing about ground hunting/scouting is all the neat things you end up seeing. Last year I watched a pair of gray foxes chasing each other around a spring area. Could not remember the regulations on them, but I assumed they were in season,  but I just watched them. Cool little critters.

[Bjorn]

Getting that first pickle out of the jar can be a challenge. Stay with it if you keep getting close then it is just a matter of time and opportunity.

[jonsimoneau]

For whitetails, I am certainly not much of a ground hunter.  Mostly because I prefer to be in a tree stand but I did learn a few things last season while doing more ground hunting that really made all the difference in the world.  For one, as opposed to using 3 legged stool, I would rather have a seat that you strap on to the tree.  I put mine up high enough so that I am kind of half sitting, half standing.  Picture the front swivel seat in a bass boat.  The reason is this gives me a little better visibility, and it also allows me to shoot standing up which I prefer. Also it helps if I need to shift position a little.  I wear a ghillie suit too and I am convinced that deer do not notice your profile as much if you are in a ghillie suit and are standing up with legs together with your back up to a tree.  They often do notice me if I am sitting on a stool looking like a blob.
  Also, I found that dark face paint helps a lot.  I buy the cheap stuff that little kids use for Halloween. I COMPLETELY cover my face with it, leaving no white exposed skin at all.  Including my eyelids ears and lips.  I don't like to wear gloves while bowhunting in the early season so I also completely cover my hands with this stuff.  When I am done I have zero exposed skin.  I wear the excellent ghillie suit that Marc Anthony designed and I DO wear the hood.  I think this really helps.
    Even doing all of this, I prefer to have a pre-built groundblind made of natural materials but I killed my deer last year without doing so.  I just carry some twine in my pocket and some ratchet pruners. Tie the twine around  few trees above the waist but below the shoulders. Cut some natural vegetation and hang it on the twine.
   Getting drawn is the hardest part, and this again goes back to why I prefer the strap on seat in the half standing half sitting position.  When the deer comes, it takes very little movement to be completely standing.  This again gives me a narrow profile with the tree behind me for background cover. My Ghillie suit is made of mesh so before the deer gets to me I can stick the bottom bow limb in one of the holes in the mesh on the inside of my left leg.  This way I have the bow up and nearly ready.  While the deer is walking it is a matter of raising the bow up just a little more while drawing at the same time just before he steps in my lane.  This is exactly how my hunt played out last year and I shot him from about 8 yards.  He never had a clue I was there.  
    Again, I have taken few deer from the ground...but that is mostly due to the fact that I rarely hunt from the ground.  A lot of the little tips I just shared came from my buddy who has killed the majority of his bucks on the ground with his recurve.  These are things he taught me and they do work.  On one fine weekend in November he killed 2 P&Y bucks in 3 days using these tactics. Both shots for him were under 10 yards!

[ChuckC]

Check out the Rancho Safari (and other) ghillie suits, especially the ones without all the yarn strings.  I have so much fun with mine and have had deer and turkey almost step on me.   As you said, they CAN get too close.
ChuckC

[darin putman]

Sam nothing impressing about the way I stalk, But I'm working on it. Mostly use blowdowns, brush or hammock seat on tree. My entire setup is based on mobility now, bought a couple of treestands last year and tried sitting, but sold them here in the classifieds after only a couple of sits. Remember when I wouldn't think of hunting any other way, back when I use to kill deer (haha). But a lot has changed since then. I have to admit I really enjoy heading out without the stand strapped across my back and a simple selfbow of my own making in my hand. But miss dragging something back every now and then.