Success rate from the ground ( A Question for the Ground Hunters)

[23feetupandhappy]

For starters I know we all have a different idea on how success is defined when we are in the woods so I don't want to get into a debate on how you define success.
So my question revolves around and is driven by the need to "Make Meat" for the lack of better terms.

I'd like to know from the guys who consistently hunt from ground, either exclusively or if it's shared with a different style of hunting, what your "success rate" is OR how many deer do you shoot a year while hunting off the ground?

I'm a treestand guy but have been drawn to the
 "Ground Game" but am wandering when one really wants to "get it done" what do you go to?  Like you have your go to Bow when you need to be able to rely on productivity, what's your go to style of hunting when it's time to make meat?

Like I said, I like my treestands, I love to See and Watch wildlife while out hunting and I feel like I have a leg up on critters when I'm above them. Iv hunted out of treestands for over 20 years with a bow and up till 2 weeks ago never really tried hunting off the ground.  I hunted 3 nights in a row and was rewarded with a small doe on the third night.
It was a blast and I was able to bring home the bacon so it was great      

On average I shoot 2 deer a year with my bow.
This year, one from the ground and one from the stand so far.    

I usually shoot 3-4 deer per year. I have shot 2 does this season, both from a ground blind. Most of them are from an enclosed ground blind at less than 15yds. I like the view from a treestand a lot more, but I like the shot angle from the ground a lot more.

I will let the terrain and conditions tell me how to set up most of the time (ground or tree). That being said, I mostly look for good places for the ground set up first.

Bisch

[Cavscout9753]

This is my first year exclusively on the ground and guys like Bisch are my role models. Haha. So far this year it would of been 2 doe, 1 or 2 coons, and a coyote had I been better at shooting. (Well the coons I gave a pass and the coyote was trotting to quick to bother). But the point is as long as you do your part you'll see plenty of animals. Do I "see more" from a stand? Yeah, but an animal 75-100 yards away doesn't do anything for me anyway. I could try to call it closer, but on the ground I call regardless so what will come to it will come to it. In a stand I am a spectator until the time comes to participate. On the ground I am a participant the whole time. I build small brush blinds, use a ghillie, move slowly and rarely, and look with my ears before my eyes. Tree stands are great, and you'll probably get more with them as they are forgiving to human error. But the ground is exciting. I hunt only to hunt, if I were relying on deer to feed my family I would much rather prefer a tree stand and a scopes rifle than the ground and a long bow. Everyone is different as is each environment. All I try to tell people is that it IS doable. And it IS fun! It just takes the same commitment that it took for you to be proficient with a stick bow.

[tracker12]

I probably average 6 or 7 deer a year in Maryland and some years as many as 10.  I started using a ground blind (Double Bull) pretty seriously three years ago.  I have had just as many opportunities from the ground as I did in the tree. Kill rate for me has been the same.   I do have to admit that the view from the tree is much better and you will see more wildlife.  I do the like the shot angle from the ground.

[centaur]

I shoot a couple of deer a year. I did shoot a buck from a treestand a couple of years ago, but the majority of the deer I have taken have been from the ground. In the west, hunting critters like elk is almost totally from the ground, although it has been a long time since I shot one.
I agree with Cavscout that hunting on the ground is exciting, but that treestands are probably more efficient if you are out to kill something. If killing was our primary  motivation, we would be shooting centerfire rifles rather than longbows. Years ago, I did use rifles, but gravitated to a simpler way to enjoy my outdoor experience, that being recurves and finally, longbows.
I am impatient by nature, and sitting in a tree gets pretty boring pretty quick unless I am seeing animals, but if I am on the ground, the next step can bring a siting or even an opportunity at an animal, and I am much more in tune with my surroundings when I am on terra firma. Ground hunting makes me constantly evalutate my skills as a woodsman; I enjoy the challenge immensely.

[fnshtr]

I shoot 3 or 4 deer each year with 2 each year coming from a tree stand. There is an advantage of being above them, in my opinion, but much more exciting from the ground. I've only taken one deer from a ground blind, a doe, this year. All other deer from the ground is while stalking or still-hunting.

I lost count of bow killed deer around 50.

[ChuckC]

I think you need to study the game field and get better at picking spots to be routinely successful on the ground,  Once you achieve that, killing deer depends on how many you want.  I have been ground hunting more and more and shooting them very close.  Last year I let half a dozen deer walk by me that were easy shots.  Almost too close.   I killed a doe at about 6 paces earlier this season, and went out last night and missed a reasonable buck at maybe 15 yards (didn't see the 2" tree right in front of him till I smacked it good).

I have, but don't use portable blinds (except for turkey), having gravitated to using my Ghillie suit a lot.

Ground hunting has its own issues, but they are by no means less effective if properly planned and executed.
CHuckC

[ron w]

I just like the ground, not because I'm rewarded with game all the time [we all know my kill rate] but because I am comfortable there. I had a tree stand and used it some, a lone Wolf climber. I also have hunted from ladder stands some. I just fell more at ease on the ground. As far as my day coming soon.....the jury is still out on that  

[sweeney3]

I got four on the ground last year, all via spot and stalk.  The year before I got three on the ground (S&S and brush blind), the year before that I got two or three on the ground.  I don't recall exactly which.  This year I've had a lot around but not got any yet.  But it's early still.

[maxwell]

As I get older I find the ground much more enjoyable, flexible when hunting.  I have decided in my old age a fall from a tree stand is not going to do me in.

[vermonster13]

Every deer I've taken has been from on the ground and most with no blind, just good camo. They don't make many treestands that will support guys my size except for double ladder stands so it was kind of necessary to learn to succeed on the ground. We're only allowed 3 deer a year here so my number is only in the 80s.

[23feetupandhappy]

quote:Originally posted by ron w:
I just like the ground, not because I'm rewarded with game all the time [we all know my kill rate] but because I am comfortable there. I had a tree stand and used it some, a lone Wolf climber. I also have hunted from ladder stands some. I just fell more at ease on the ground. As far as my day coming soon.....the jury is still out on that        

[23feetupandhappy]

Originally posted by vermonster13:
Every deer I've taken has been from on the ground and most with no blind, just good camo. They don't make many treestands that will support guys my size except for double ladder stands so it was kind of necessary to learn to succeed on the ground. We're only allowed 3 deer a year here so my number is only in the 80s.

Only in the 80s    

Nice work  

[23feetupandhappy]

This is exactly what I was looking for guys  

[**DONOTDELETE**]

If you are in an area heavily populated with deer, and can map their movements to and from bedding  and feeding areas, i'd have to say waiting in ambush spots are definitely going to be more successful. I think the difficulty factor in a tree, a ground blind, or just using good camo depends a lot on how spooky your game are and how much they've been hunted too. Some deer are tree smart and are watching for movement above as much as on the ground, and those deer are going to be tough to get no matter what your approach is with a bow.

Spot and stalk hunting is a blast, It tests your stealth skills to the max...but you get busted a lot. Hunting smaller wood lots with more hunters per square mile, i'd say that if ya want to make meat, find a place to park it, and take a stand where you are least likely to get busted.

[23feetupandhappy]

TTT

Originally posted by Cavscout9753:
This is my first year exclusively on the ground and guys like Bisch are my role models. Haha.

I'm humbled, but if you are hunting from natural ground blinds and using a ghille suit, you got me beat hands down!!!

I do hunt from the ground a LOT, but it is almost always from a permanent enclosed blind. I do some pig hunting on the ground, up close a personal, with no blind though!

Bisch

[Diamond Paul]

I've never killed a deer with a bow from the ground, although that's what I'm working at this year.  I mostly rifle hunt from the ground, though, and have had several deer within five yards while simply sitting against big trees and being still.  The last deer I shot almost walked on top of me, then turned around at the last second and walked away to get some more acorns.  He never knew I was there, and I had no blind or screening in front of me at all, just the big pine I was leaning against.

[Altiman94]

For you ground pounders - what is your most successful method?  Ghillie, natural ground blind, permanent blind, pop up?

I also am wondering what your draw back percentage is?  Say you have a deer in range, what % of the time are you able to actually draw on the deer without being picked off?

I've taken a few deer off the ground as a youngster with a bow - in the days my ole man would drop me off and wouldn't let me hunt in a tree stand yet.  Also, a few areas I can think of where being in a tree just isn't possible.

For those of us who only get a couple shot opportunities a year - I wonder how many times it's reasonable to expect to be drawn back on a deer w/o being busted (assuming careful movements)?

[ChuckC]

As I said earlier, if you stick with it, you start developing spots.  A good spot can be found and made, where there is deer traffic (you only need one to come by), where the deer will come by close, and where the deer has some obstructions to be used to eclipse their vision while you draw.

I use a minimal blind site with a ghillie suit. BY minimal, I don't just sit next to a tree, but I am not hidden, just blending.
ChuckC