ground hunting?

[daniel reynolds]

This is opening weekend in bama and I hunted on the ground all weekend and I'm consumed with trying to kill one on the ground.And I know somebody has got to have some great  advice ,tips,stories,pics on doing it the hard way.

[frassettor]

Ive had close calls, but never shot one on the ground. I have shot at one at 3 yards and missed, Yeh thats right 3 yards!!!! I try to keep blended in with my backround. Have good cover behind you as well, and cover up that brite face, I use burndt cork, Good luck, Im sure there will be alot of fellow tradgangers here in a bit that can give you alot more  advise then I can.

[frassettor]

Oh 1 more thing, Keep the wind in your favor!

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

On the main menu, scroll down to "Topic Archives" in the "Hunting" topic, click on that, and there's a huge thread devoted to ground hunting. Lots of good info in there!

Cam

[Aeronut]

Several times I have been busted by an unseen deer and had them blow loudly.  I figured I have nothing to lose so I started blowing back at them.  I have had bucks come into sight to check things out and when they turn and run I will blow again while moving to cover.  I have had a few come within bow range by doing this but haven't had a clear shot yet.  It makes them wonder if they actually saw a people or another deer.

Dennis

[Matty]

I had a little buck walk by me at 30 yards last night and i was standing right out in the open, he was following a doe of course, I was tempted to take the shot, Would have been my first trad kill but it just didnt seem perfect, all the better because I saw 7 more bucks this morning, Nice ones too.. Anyway back to the point....DONT MOVE, I deer are small and the conceal themselves....SO WELL, I know when I'm still hunting I AWAYS seem to spook them, They are just way keener than we humans.  And Of course, Wind in your favor is huge,,,

[SuperK]

Have the wind in your favor, a brush pile or something behind you to break up your outline, camo from head to toe, a comfortable seat of some kind and I use an Apache Pyramid Blind in front of you so you can move into shooting position and IT CAN BE DONE!  I got one the other day at 10 steps!  Not a large deer, but boy was my heart about to beat outta my chest.  Whew, that was exciting!  Stick with it Daniel.

[gatorgar]

I hunt in old faded wranglers and my work boots.  Wear a long sleeve, camo shirt and face camo.  I've had deer within feet of me before the wind betrayed me.  I set my "blinds" with light brush infront of me, shoulder height, and heavy brush behind me to break up my outline.  Just keep still and if an unseen deer blows, and you know the wind did not get you, stay completly still.  After a couple of minutes they will lose interest and continue with whatever they were doing.  Last year I took a nice little 8 point with my hawkins muzzleloader at just under 5 feet.  He never smelled me, but knew something was wrong.  He was stomping his foot and blowing right behind me and I just froze.  After about 5 minutes he came around and I was able to raise that muzzleloader and pull the trigger with him none the wiser...Point of the story is, stay completely still and cover you face and anybody part that you move alot.  Maybe this year I can do the same thing with my longbow.

[laddy]

I have spent alot of time in tree stands, but i've never killed a deer from one.  All 34 were from the ground. either stalking or sitting with my back to a tree.

[hoebow]

Ground hunting is awesome. I had a mentor that would jump deer and run after them as hard as he could if he could keep them in sight he would wait for them to stop and look back. He then would snap shoot them. I have seen him do it with muzzleloader and longbow. he is up in age now and doesn't do it anymore. He is the most mountain man I have ever seen. The point of the story is hunting from the ground is totally cool and keep it up.