Who is going to hunt on the ground this fall?Not putting up stands this year.I want to take a whitetail on the ground real bad.going to do my best.............
Tim brother that is a very nice goal!
Good luck
F-Manny
Been thinking about it. Just not comfortable wearing my harness anymore. Thinking of either ground blinds or gilli suit, not sure which.
Jim Pyles
Yep, I'll be hunting on the ground as usual. Learned to hunt spot and stalk with a rifle when I was growing up. Never had the inclination or patience to switch to treestands when I began hunting with a bow.
Good luck in your quest to harvest a whitetail from the ground. You can do it! :thumbsup:
I'm a ground hunter. Success is 10x sweeter when accomplished on the ground. This is a GREAT goal for anyone.
i do it 50% of the time every year. you need to really hide good. very important to not STICK out.. they will pick you rite out. and also move very slow and never any fast movements. keep thick heavy cover behind you. and make your set up very comfortable. if you are constantly fidgeting, your going to get spotted. also playing the wind is more important. nice thing is, if wind shifts so can you quickly and quietly. practice from your knee's and have your face camo up well. fist thing they usually look at. you will feel very vulnerable and exposed on the ground but stick with it and dont give up. its really fun during the rut.
I'll not be in the trees this year. I'll be in my MarcAnthony Ghillie hugging the ground.
I'm hunting the ground this year as usual, got a few natural blinds made in areas I've seen deer in.
2 more weeks!
In a normal year we hunt moose, black bears, and caribou... (our local critters) which I always hunt from the ground.
Although the vast majority of my hunting takes place in the north bush country where I live, I do hunt whitetails but I must travel a considerable distance to do so.
They are the only thing that I hunt from a tree stand, and even then, not all the time... so to me, hunting from a tree stand is a change from the norm and therefore an enjoyable variance.
A few of my spots, i think are better being hunted from the ground.
I will be about 50-50
I will be on the ground, too. I mostly hunt alone, and in some relatively remote areas. Aside from not wanting to lug a stand a mile or two into the woods, I really don't want to deal with the risk that comes with using a tree stand. I've had some good friends seriously injured in falls.
Besides, I like being mobile. If the wind changes, I can move quickly and quietly.
I'll be grounded, which is OK, I have a damaged peripheral nerve in my left lower leg that is giving me fits, and screwing up my balance. I will climb an apple tree or two, but ground hunting is the way I'll mostly be doing it this year. And looking foreward to it. Good luck everybody!
Waldrop pack seat....ground blinds, and going to be mobile if I have to. Hope to have a better year......
I'm too old & fat to be climbing trees! Much more fun on the ground anyhow.
On the ground again for me. Definately enjoy it better than in a tree.
Most of the time on the ground. Picked up a Rivers Edge ladder that is very portable (about 30 lbs) so I use that now and then but I don't set it up until I have a spot I am very confident in. (Actually, I set it up in a stand of oaks this morning. ;-)
Ground all the way for me. Has been for year.
I'm on the ground 50% of the time. RedShaft is right on with his observations. Good luck and have fun!
I will be there!
On the ground again as always any more.
My goal is the same as yours. Made a ghillie suit this summer and plan on being grounded all season long. My compounder friends think I'm crazy, but I want to do it my way. Good luck to you!
I plan on hunting a couple spots from the ground this season. Most likely in the afternoons when I want to just ease in and hunt the edge of a soybean field behind my house.
Saw this one back there yesterday about dark and this is the only picture I could get. He dropped over the hill and I didn't want to spook him trying for another.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/Iflytrout/DEER/P10006112.jpg)
This will be my second season ground hunting, I learned a few things last year and have improved my setups for this year.
I'm getting to old to be falling out of trees !
Dan
Will be splitting my time from tree to ground now I have a ghillie suit. Once it snows I'm on the ground for the rest of the season.
I plan on doing about half my hunting this year from the ground and the other half from the stand.
I'm going to give it an honest effort this year. In the past I've tried a day or two on the ground and then I'd give up on it and go back to the tree tops. I didn't sell my climber, YET, but I think this will be the year that I stick it out.
Great goal! My success from the ground has not been as productive as from a tree, but my seasons have become more enjoyable and less work than dragging tree stands around.
I have found that the freedom of ground hunting way is way more enjoyable than being stuck in a tree !
I have never used a climber, always a permanent mount or ladder stand the last 20 years. With that said, I would set up my ladder & leave it in the same spot all season (I hunt my own private property) if the wind was not in my favor I was in trouble, if I didn't pick a good location I again was in trouble. I guess I could of set up 20 stands for every situation, but it is way cheaper & easier (no dragging stands around banging & clanging thru the woods) to hunt the ground.
I'm free to hunt every inch of my woods now, I have even tried stalking last year (wasn't successful, but sure was fun) as previously I wouldn't get out of that tree for nothing !
I have found better spots in my woods as I am free to hunt in the thick brush where a tree stand wouldn't work the best due to small trees & visibility.
Just saying, I love the freedom of being stand free ! I have been in a tree stand for over 30 years (so I know what it means to be like a dog tied to a tree ! ) I didn't know the freedom & other opportunities I was missing.
Plus, like I said above, I'm getting too old to be falling out of trees !
Dan
100% on the ground for me. I have a climber but treestands aren't for me!
I am going to hunt some from the ground this year. Just built a natural blind today.
Ditto Ron W, Waldrop PAC seat, home made ghillie and a natural blind Oct 1. I'm ready boys!
forever
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f196/jjeffer/New07J.jpg)
I hunted out of the ground blind today and am doing so fairly frequently now. In the past I hunted from tree stands almost 100% of the time, but Father Time is beginning to suggest that I don't climb trees so much any more.
I too plan on hunting from the ground this year.I did last year, unsuccessful if you look at my freezer.I used a pignut hickory self bow and like I said unsuccessful by many counts, but there was this one stalk across a field with very little vegetation , the wind was in my face, didn't think I had a chance at first narrowed the gap from about 120 yds down to about 22yds nice public land buck, unable to finish the deal but that was before my crooked stic and a lot more practice, this year I,m ready!!!Oh yeah did I mention I got my great shooting crooked stic longbow off this site on a trade for my last treestand, just maybe was meant to be, but I still got my shoes. We'll see!!!! Good luck 3Feathers look forward to some pics.
I have tree stands all over my property in east Texas, and I never sit in them in bow season.The leaves don't fall till end of november. You go ten feet up a tree and you can't see anything in those thickets where deer like to travel. I will always bow hunt on the ground. I use a ground blind and I have one of those 3D leaf suits. I can get real close but you gotta be real still. We have Gas wells on our land and there is alot of human activity and scent all the time. So scent is not much of an issue the deer never spook even when they smell you.
Have a camo umbrella and a pacseat. Ready to GO!!! :goldtooth:
I'll be ground pounding. Already have 11 days looking for Rocky Mt. ghosts sometimes known as elk, but I'm giving them a break next week to do some whitetail ground hunting.
Hunted on the ground last season and connected with one. Plan on hunting the ground only this year.
Really is alot of fun being down at their level.
I have always hunted from treestands almost exclusively but when the conditions are right this year, I'm gonna do a little slipping around on the ground. Just after a rain when the wind is gusty and things like that when the deer arent gonna move anyway.
Been doing it for years.
I like it.
Easier to take young kids too.
I sold all of my lock-on stands last year. Enjoyed the last half of season on the ground. Going to try the whole year on the ground this year.
I kept my climber just in case it doesn't work out.
Rob
This is my (?) year from the ground and the last one was the most exciting year of hunting ever.
Why?
I gave up getting into a blind.
The only thing I want between me and what I'm hunting is ...air!
Toughest and the most fun I've ever had.
God bless,Mudd
What is everyone sitting on?
Going to use the waldrop packseat,been shooting from it almost every day now.
Rob W,when I don't have my folding seat I carry a 2'x2' rubber pad strapped to my Catquiver. When I want to wander and find a place I want to hunt the rubber mat works great for sitting or kneeking on.
I now hunt exclusively from the ground. I've given away or sold most my old stands.
On top of the ground being more versatile and comfortable, I know 2 people who fell and really hurt themselves. To add to it, my hunting buddy is a cop who has been on numberous 9-11 calls involving either treestand fatalities from family members calling or wheelchair for life bound falls. Needless to say, he won't climb a tree anymore either.
Killing deer from the ground is easy and offers a much better broadside angle at the vitals, if "double lung" is your kinda thing. There's no reason for me to get into a treestand anymore.
Rob W ,This yr. im gonna try a Dean Torges tree seat, read lots of good reviews, and its about as simple as it gets, and believe me, im all about simple anymore. :archer2:
I have used a Torges seat a bunch over the years. I really need to build a few more.
Last year I used the knee pads from Rancho Safari. I like shooting from that position but sometimes I just want to relax a bit.
Rob
Also the Torges seat. Lightweight, cheap and easy. Wow, that kind of also could be said about hunting from the ground. Not too sure about the easy part but we'll see how it goes.
It's just as "easy" as hunting from a tree, as long as you setup enough natural cover around yourself.
I hunt in one of the top bowhunter pressured counties in the nation. Our deer are SPOOKY. But if you brush yourself in really well and set up at the intersection of 2 main trails, you'll have constant action.
While you can sit pretty naked/open in some area's, other area's of heavy pressure dictate that you need to camo/brush your location so that even a human st 15 years couldn't make you out.
When you do that, you just have to play the wind as you must and shoot straight. Easy. LOL
I bowhunted from a treestand for the first time in several years on an August bear hunt and it reinforced all the reasons I like hunting from the ground. First off, you have room for all the crap we always seem to bring with us and, second, if the wind isn't right you just pack up shop and move somewhere else - easily! Besides, I LOVE the challenge of going eye-to-eye with whitetails. Wear a ghillie, have the wind on your nose and you are invisible.
As far as chairs go, I don't think you can beat the Huntmore for durability, comfort, and being quiet. I just got the new, smaller model that Scott came out with and so far I have been happy with it. It's 1.5 lbs lighter than the original and the size is scaled down but it seems to be just as comfortable. I killed a turkey out of it this past Sunday so I guess it's a keeper!
Darren
Ground hunting is super thrilling. I bring a pruning shears to get some openings in the thick stuff. You can make some good location decisions based on wind that you can't with your prehung tree stand.
I will be on the ground primarily, though I am maintaining a couple of stands that are pleasant and not to high. I like to be able to move around a bit more!
I hunt strictly from the ground for two reasons. First, I do not own a tree stand nor have I ever owned a tree stand and second because I enjoy being at their level.
I use a cheap camp seat or just sit on a log or my knees.
Last year I was hunting with a disc injury and dislocated ribs. I had a good enough eight pointer come in from the wrong side while sitting on my Nifty seat which had the peg stuck in dry sand. When I turned to shoot, I think due to my stiff condition, my feet came off the ground and I fell flat on my back. I remember thinking,"This seat is higher off the ground than I thought." as I fell. I have two segments of a ladder stand up this year as a claim stake more than anything. We will see if I sit in my Huntmore most of the time, I may sit on the stand on more confident days when the wind is just right. But the problem with stands is that a lot of the time the wind is wrong for them and somewhere on the ground in that area would be better. The last time I put up a ladder stand, only a couple of times had the right conditions to sit in it. I ground hunted all around it to match the conditions. Too many times stand sitters sit on their stands no matter what and in doing so, disrupt their prized pattern.
I have always hunted from a tree stand but the last few years I like ground hunting more and more.
We have a lot of leaf cover still on the trees usually into middle to late October, I can actually see more from the ground.
Plus as I get older I really don't care for the postage stamp sized hang on stands I use to use. I have a couple of Ol man climbers I still will use some but the ground is appealing to me more and more.
I have been shooting out of this seat in the yard and I think it is going to be a winner.
http://thehammockseat.com/forms/FanaticOutdoors/FanaticOutdoors.php
Used my Waldrop Pac-Seat for the first time today during early bear season, natural ground blind...things look good so far from the ground this year!
Ground hunting is and always has been for me. I like it much better and I hate heights.
Last year my brother and I hunted traditionally for the first time ever. We both killed bucks from the ground but what a humbling experience compared to a compound in a tree. This year I've declared my first longbow only season, no training wheels :) last year my brother killed his biggest buck ever with longbow on the ground, it was a huge 8! I killed my smallest spike from the ground lol but it started something beautiful. Hunting from the ground I find the correct wind to be my most important factor. I utterly amazed toI hunt on the ground and have deer go by at 5yds and never know a thing, never thought it possible :)
I was going to hunt from a tree, but you guys have encouraged me to hunt from the ground. I shot my first deer from the ground 30 years ago, it was a blast!
I've always hunted from stands, do you guys ever get lost when stalking? It sounds interesting compared to sitting in a stand, but I've gotten turned around walking to stands before, keep in mind I'm a Florida boy and travel to PA to hunt so I'm not really that familiar with the woods up there, but I'd be worried about being so focused on walking slow, being quiet, paying attention to other sounds and watching for deer I'd get lost in there.
Just read my cyber name... Only time I'd hunt from a tree stand is for bear over bait... The rest is on the ground baby!
... mike ...
BigBucks, carry a nice little GPS unit--I use the Garmin Legend. Mark the locaiton of your truck, stick it in your pocket and let it keep track of your bread crumb trail. You can follow it back or just have the GPS take you back more directly. I too am directionally challenged.
I've thought about that David, but wondered if they would work where I hunt. There is absolutely no cell phone coverage up there so I wasn't sure if the GPS would work, but then again they work off of Satelites so they should work. I may have to invest in one and give stalking a try.
All ground this year rancho ghillie or ASAT 3d if I cant keep the string off the rancho with more trimming, niff t seat or kneeling down for me!
i will be in trees most of the time but i will hunt off the ground
Both for me this year. Plan on using M.Anthony ghillie jacket a good bit.
Just got a tour of some land and permission to hunt. In the middle of a clearing that served as a hub for several major trails was a large, nasty, tangled brush pile. It is maybe the best natural blind I have ever seen. I'm looking forward to giving it a sit or two this fall in my leafy wear. Should be exciting if nothing else.
QuoteOriginally posted by 3Feathers:
Who is going to hunt on the ground this fall?Not putting up stands this year.I want to take a whitetail on the ground real bad.going to do my best.............
Hi 3 Feathers,
I will be 100% this year with Trad Gear. I have no choice because I sold all my climbing gear.
Good luck sir...
never have been able to go up, vertically challenged. If I put on a thick pair of socks I start sweating, ground all the way for me. Terra Firma baby. Gets real interesting if a sow bear gets close, but, can't do it any other way.
Always Terra-Firma for this Man! :scared: Besides, The Older I get, the Longer it Hurts :rolleyes: , so why subject Myself to the Chance of a Bad "Crash & Burn" :laughing:
I have used treestands the last 15 years or so and every time I wish I was 20 yards another direction. This year it's all on the ground for me. It's the way I started out and I shot a lot of deer this way back in the day. I am 42 now and these last couple years of taking my 9yr old son on successful ground hunts (with me looking over his shoulder) has sparked my interest in it again, just last Monday we had 2 does and a small 8point all at less then 15yds while we were sitting next to a log, at one point I could have touched the smallest doe by just reaching over the log. Come November I hope to have a 150+ do the same thing :D
SHAKES.602-----THE older I get the longer it hurts. Aint that the truth ! lol.
In some areas, ground is the best way and in a few spots, it is the ONLY way. It is a bit different, but it is very effective. Don't think you are being hindered. Learn to do it right and you will find out how effective it can be.
ChuckC