Due to a fall about 10 yrs ago I only have the use of o0ne of my lungs so I made the choice to not hunt out of trees. As I was sitting out yesrtday in my guillie(sp?) suit for our opening day I got to thinking and wondering how many others might have restricted themselves to just hunting off the ground. I bet as a gruop if we got to compsring styles/methods/tricks used someone might glean out some nuggets new to us we thought were worth trying.
At this point I've only been successful in a blind or just sitting without a blind. I must not have done a very good job in my few attempts to still(slow walk) hunt or spot and stalk. There is a definite need for improvement here. I hope some of you ground-only hunters will share your experience with me. Thanks in advance!!
God bless,Mudd
PS I sure felt like a newbie yesterday after having to not hunt or shoot for over a yaer due to my not so good idea to get a motorcycle(I got to own it for 8 hrs and ride with for 20 minutes before being run over by a lady talking on a cell phone traveling at a high rate of speed(above 70mph). I however was only moving some where between 40 to 50 mph. I am blessed !!!!!! Thank God!!!
I hit the wrong button and posted before proofing please forgive the spelling errors and typos.
God bless,Mudd
Mudd, I also only hunt from the ground, had to jump from my stand once as 3 trespassers opened up on me with slugs from about 100 yds, then I fell off a 47' scaffold onto concrete and walked away without a scratch, so I figure I've used up all my falling luck already, but the motorcycle thing... You are a lucky man!!!
Glad you're still with us Mudd, sounds like things could have been worse. I only hunt off the ground. I just got tired of hauling a stand around. I usually don't enter the woods until just barely daylight. I play the wind and ease along, just trying to blend in with the rest of the creatures that are just waking up. I will usually set up at a likely spot with my little folding seat for an hour or so. then ease along to another likely spot and try again. I use a face mask, and gloves, moving as slowly, and quietly as I can. I'm usually hunting squirrels as well as deer. and if neither are co-operating the occasional stump. Overall I would probably kill more deer if I hunted out of a tree stand. But I enjoy just being out and about.
For some reason this year I have the urge to hunt from the ground. So, I'll let you know how that goes when season starts.
Sure glad you're still with us after all the bad luck. I gave up riding a couple years ago when my Son wanted to buy one. I like my jeep,,, put the top down, take off the doors and I have the same fun. Air bags and seat belts,,, wish those were in some tree stands!
I'm a ground hunter as well. That's partly because I'm too cheap to buy a decent tree stand and partly because I find myself carrying too much stuff as it is.
I have plenty of tree stands around the property, but I only hunt from the ground.
Once you have a close encounter of the ground kind, it's hard to get back up the tree.
Enjoy your hunts.
Hey Mudd, Glad you are around to keep hunting. I've been ground only for about 10 years now. Like mentioned above, once you gat a deer in close on the ground... wow. I have been hunting the past several days after work. I don't get to the woods until 8:30am. The other day I did a stalk since I had a nice 5-10 mph wind in my face. i walked up within 8 yards of a nice buck. Too bad it's doe first in that zone. As for ground blinds, you don't need much to hide you. Make sure you have plenty room to draw your bow. Hunt the wind when you can. Most of my spots have crazy wind that changes all the time. Good luck to ya.
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f196/jjeffer/ledgetrailblind.jpg)
I usually hunt from the trees, but last year I had some good luck from the ground, so it'll be a mix from here on out.
Mike
I like to hunt from the ground because of the chnllenge, and also because it's more exciting. You are matching wits with the deer at closer quarters. You won't get as many deer, but if you hunt properly, you will have close encounters.
I have had deer walk to within six feet and not know they were in danger. I've also had deer to come up from behind and approach within 10 feet before going ballistic.
i hunt the ground alot because i only have so many treestands. last year i got one at seven yards off the ground so i am going to do quite a bit this year
I bought a ghillie this year to hunt form the ground. My new lease does not have any tree stands and only a few pop ups. So I have decided to ground hunt off a stool. Should be a blast.
Being tied to tress and tree stands is like a ball and chain. The ground is more fun.
I hunt from the ground because these are the only trees around here.
(http://216.165.194.66/archive/members/pole2.jpg)
:biglaugh: Now that's funny right there Zilla!!
Personally, I am going to hunt from a treestand until we lose some of the vegetation that's so thick where I hunt. Otherwise it's very hard to see anything coming or, as is the case much of the time, going. Once the leaves come off, she's on the ground for the most part for me. Cheers, Matt
Glad you are up and kicking Roy! Hunting from the ground is great. Something about being eye to eye with the game you're hunting that makes it super cool.
I hunt the heavy cover where any shot will be very close. Sometimes I'll still hunt along a deer trail then hold for a while. Using a wind feather and a pair of compact binos helps too. Been at it this way for eight years and had many close encounters. Would not bowhunt any other way.
... mike ...
PS... Ain't got a deer yet :banghead: but who cares?
Local fella had a tie strap on a climbing stick fail this weekend.He broke his neck in two places.Me,I also hunt on the ground. Leland
Dang, glad you're okay Mudd(mostly okay, that is).
I hunt from the ground as well. Mostly because I'm tall & heavy & when I hit the ground it hurts more these days... :D
Mudd, glad you are ok from your motorcycle accident. I also gave up treestand hunting when I moved away from my hometown and now hunt public land. It is the most addicting thing on earth...except maybe for coffee. Which I am out of so I'm going to make a cup. Again, glad you are ok!
See what the situation dictates most of the time. Dont spend alot of money on stand and stand stuff so I do spend alot of time on the ground. Made kills both ways, like the ground on all dayers as I can slip from spt to spot.
J
Hey Mudd
Nice to hear your still kicking. I hunt from the ground because my wife said I had to. I had the heart valve replacement in 95 and the doctor said a bad fall could do me in. I have been on the ground since. I use the pop-up's and the stool type stands and have really enjoyed it.
I've never really been much of a tree hugger. Done it some, too restless to stay perched long.
The Gille helps a lot. I've had good success without it, but it does a real good job fooling deer into giving you a second chance sometimes.
In my neck of the woods you can't really still hunt in it. There's just way too much multi- flora rose to snag it on. I have to carry it to the site of the ambush and put it on there.
The news this morning had a story about a guy who hit some Amiish in a buggy yesterday.(North east Missouri). Killed two and injured some others. He was yakkin' on a cell phone, not paying attention. Glad your OK.
Hey Mudd!
We were just putting up stands and stuff on Saturday. (My brother, my daughter Emily, and me)
My brother put up 2 portables. Emily and I made a nice ground blind.
Hey Mudd,
How them hounds running? Ready to trade them in on some bunny chasers yet. Nice running weather last few days. Glad your still around after all that.
Geno
Last year I only hunted twice from a tree stand, this year I don't plan to even take it out of the garage. I hunt using natural cover plus either my ghillie suit or ASAT leafy suit. Maybe I'm just getting old and lazy but hunting from the ground has taken alot of the work out of hunting and replaced it with the enjoyment of hunting....plus I get to hunt all the places the tree stand guys don't even look at.
I'm 30 years old and have never owned a tree stand. I've hunted out of them a time or two and figure I've got enough to worry about without falling out of a stand, I'm too cheap to blow the money on one, and too lazy to lug one clanking through the woods. Especially if I've got a deer and bow to lug out! I also enjoy the thrill of being eye level with the critters! I had two does within 15 yards of me last thrusday. Unfortunately, the season didn't open till saturday! I'm gonna start making a guillie suit for the cooler weather later on in the season, but for now I enjoy using a small folding stool with a sling on it. Its one of the ones with a storage bag underneath so I can carry everything I need conveniently. Many reccomend making sure you have a backdrop to blend into, which is good advice. I prefer making sure I have a decent sized tree to sit behind and conceal my draw. If its one that forks about three feet up even better to spy from. Practice shooting from your seat or kneeling and thats my basics. G Fred Asbell's book is good reading on the subject. Go get em!
Flesner hit the nail on the head for me, I can hunt out of one but I am always wanting to be on the move. Got to see what is out there so I hunt my way through it. Just to darn restless.
It is a good way to hunt and I keep one hang on and one climber, will use them in my go to areas for kills but I dont like to over hunt an area so I jump from spot to spot and I refuse to carry a climber around. I have a lone wolf that is the lightest easiest to use climber I have ever owned but still it gets lut somewhere and stays there for weeks. I dont like to go in and try to set up a stand to hunt out of the same day.
Long post sorry,
J
My balance gets worse every year.(I'm 68) I finally started hunting 100% on the ground.)Only use natural blinds and cover.
Well, I bought a Baker stand in the late 60s, and a couple years of falling out of that noisy bastard broke me of climbing!
I have a Lone Wolf sit and climb that I will use, if I havn't killed a deer when all the ground cover is gone. It is my least favorite way to hunt.
Great responses...keep them coming. I may pick up enough pointers to improve my odds. Thanks for all the kind words. I do like being around.
I started a project and I believe its gonna work. I have cut some concrete wire into panels 18 inches wide and tie wrapped them together. They fold and unfold neatly even with camo cloth tied to it. I've cut the bottom so as to leave wire spikes. I started with 3 panels and am expanding it to 5. The weight is not much and folded its easy to carry. I made a strap to pack it with. As soon as thsi heat wave passes I'll let you know how well it works.
God bless,Mudd
I'm hunting on the ground this year too. One spot near a funnel deep in the woods, I'm not interested in taking a climber in with me. The other is just off a service/utility road with high weeds on either side. I saw huge buck tracks this weekend thet follow the road and there are no trees close.
I'll be hiding in the weeds and waiting for the deer that made the biggest tracks I have ever seen. And I mmean huge tracks!! I'll sleep there if I have to and you can't sleep safely in a tree stand.
-Charlie
I purchased an apache pyramid blind this year to hunt some from the ground. Its so light and sets up so quick that I have used it already more than my "standard" climbing stand. It is a different ballgame though. Hunting from the ground has its own set of "rules". I seems to me that you have to pay even more attention to the "details" than you do from the trees. If you think a deer can't spot movement with the best of'em, get on the ground and find out! It sure is more comforable and safer too.
Ground for me. Nothing at all like what happened to Mudd, but I fell out of the back of a truck (stationary) once and got six stitches in my head-heights and I don't mix.
RonP
My light weight, very portable ground blind worked great. Unfortunately Missouri has a large portion of the state un a 4 point on one side rule. I had a illegal dear at about 16 yds. I was able to get up get around on him without a problem. Wll the while knowing I couldn't take the shot. I wonder if it would have made any difference if he had been legal...lol
God bless,Mudd
shot alot of deer off the ground just get behind a big oak and make sure you kick the leave out all the way around the tree so you can slip around the tree if you have to and shoot straight good luck
been hunting more off the ground... I have 2 new ground spots.. Going to use one of them in the morning on Saturday.
Being a retired tree worker I just like to be 20' up a tree, IMO. Seems like when I'm on the ground I'm always trying to get to someplace else. Keep the safety belt on and you have nothing to fear.
Mudd,
I mix and match my hunting styles, sometimes depending on conditions and enjoy it all. I guess I have been more successful in a treestand, but really enjoy the rush of ground hunting. A spot and stalk on wild game while using trad gear is the ultimate IMO. Like the guys here have said, keep the wind in your face as best you can, walk a little, look a lot, and dont forget to occationally check your backtrail. And I ride a Harley, with all the phoneaddicts out there driving, I feel safer in a tree!
Brent
Just to reafirm why I enjoy hunting from the ground-Yesterday afternoon I'm sitting against a forked tree with a log leaning diagonally in the crotch of the tree. A red fox comes trotting along, comes right up to the tree and sticks his nose under the log before he realizes I was there! He was three feet away and I could have rapped him on the nose with my broadhead. Suffice it to say he took off out of there in a hurry! I saw more deer while driving home than I did all afternoon, but it was still a fantastic hunt!
I'm becoming more of a ground hunter. Partly because since I moved to the mountains I don't like hauling a stand on my back as much as I did. Also my screw-in steps are old and I haven't found a suitable, quiet, light replacement for them yet (LW sticks are on my list) and I HATE climbers. I have taken deer and turkey with a bow while stalking on the ground and it's a blast. I picked up a ghillie suit this year and I may just be hunting the ground more and more. Seems simpler and more fun.
I just realized that I had given the impression that my fall was from a tree(it wasn't) sorry for misleading you folks. The fall still caused my breathing problem and the thought of having a second fall from above ground level just might be the second straw on the camels' back and since he's already gone down once...why tempt it????
Thanks for all the great replies... keep them coming.
God bless,Mudd
"Man shouldn't get higher than corn or lower than taters!"
Well I'm a-skeered of heights so I'm pretty much stuck on the ground. Where I bowhunt is pretty big bush and I've found it difficult to find areas that generate a lot of deer activity - so I tend to move more.
20 ft up or more for me if I can find the right tree. Usually a climber as well. I will sit on the ground as well if the situation dictates it. With shot gun I hardly ever use a tree stand. Alot of times the ground offers better break up than the tree. Either way I play the wind the whole time & will move locations if it changes. Just the way I do it. Mike
Hi Mudd,
I hunt quite a bit from the ground and I have good luck using a little one leg folding seat called a Niftee-Seat. It has adjustable heights, and attaches easily to the belt or fanny pack walking in. I find I can sit low and comfortable for a long time with it. It weighs next to nothing and is sturdy.
Love when they come in to 10yds or so!
Bill
Mudd,
I also am a ground hunter, and have been for years. Nothing like having a deer 5 ft from you at eye level, and not know you are there. I use a wood T seat hand made, and sit up against any large tree that I can find. Be sure you set up with the wind in your face, and limit your movements. Good luck!!