Ground hunting

[John146]

Leveraction,
You got some great tips from Rob, Roger and Bowhunter GA for sure. As you can see from Rob's pictures especially, you do not have to be encased in cover to kill deer from the ground but like Roger said you have to know when to move to shoot but the more cover the better. You will still get busted and learn from every time that happens.

Think of ground hunting as a separate skill set - it requires attention to things that are particular to ground hunting exclusively. As you can see from Bowhunter GA, in his first year he took 2 deer. That is phenomenal for the first year but proof it can be done early in the ground hunting journey.

I will add this one thing that may apply where you hunt. I committed to ground hunting 2 years ago and it was my last year on a particular lease in MS. We had food plots and I noticed how during late afternoon the woods surrounding the plots wood get real dark while there was still plenty light on the plots. I sat on the edge of a plot about 10 yards back in the trees and near sundown shot a buck that walked onto the plot 15 yards from me as he passed me quartering away. As he exited the plot my arrow fell out the other side and I knew he would not go far. I stepped out of the trees onto the plot where I shot him and looked back at where I was sitting and I could barely see my stool. Had the affect of a ground blind with the black fabric it was so dark back in the woods and yet plenty legal shooting light left. It was the shadow affect that Roger mentioned but more pronounced. I had 2 more shots that year on plots hunting that way. Hope this helps and good luck to you this season.

[Jerry Jeffer]

On the ground all the time.



Doe at 36 yards


grey fox 8 yrds


Porcupine 25 yrds head shot.

[bearsfeet]

All the animals I have taken have been on the ground, spot and stalk or still hunting all shots have been within 30 yards most around 15-20. This is my only harvest pic

[Fleatrap1]

I love hunting from the ground.  Here in Illinois tree-stands are the normal way to go.  I like the feeling of being one-on-one and eye level with the deer.  There is no doubt you see more deer and have better shot options from a tree.  I been VERY close to deer on the ground, at times so close that drawing my bow would have blown my cover!  It's tougher but I enjoy it.

[Jerry Jeffer]

Bearsfeet, that is a great photo. Nice buck. Looks like nice rainforest.

[Knawbone]

Whether or not I hunt from the ground is dictated by the circumstances at hand, but I do pref. to hunt from the ground when I can. If the ground is quiet I like to still hunt mixed with long stops in places I can blend in. Iv' killed more Deer from tree stands, but the last two years have been good from the ground. With one buck I snuck up on from 70 yrds, and shot him at 22 yrds by crawling on my hands and knees. Took me 45 min. to close the distance in open woods. He would browes and lay down, then brows and lay down.Finally as he was browsing I shot him threw the heart and recovered him 35 yrds later.

   The buck last year came up a scrape line shortly after I had walked it's length. As I came to the last scrape, Two does trotted out of sight 90 degrees from the scrape line. I stood  and waited in front of a large pine tree. 10 min. later Mr. Buck walked right up the scrape line and past me at a mere 4 ft. away. When he hit the does trail he put his nose to the ground and started following their trail. As he did so he gave me a perfect quartering away shot, and I blew an arrow threw him at 7 yrds.


 The last two years have been unbelievable. Two of the best hunts Iv' ever had in 40 yrs: Not because of the size of the Bucks, but because of the size of the hunt. Nothing more rewarding than tagging them from the ground!  

Good thread!

[elkhunter45]

Last year was the first one that I only hunted from the ground and did not wear any commercial camo. I missed two does. Does that count? LOL I did have a spike at 12 yards that was oblivious to my presence. I practice drew on him and he would have been in trouble if not for the 3 point rule in Arkansas.

[Duncan]

I'm also on the ground all the time. Very nice set ups and pics. BowhunterGa, what kind of blind seat is that?

[Bowwild]

Wow Rob, those pictures with the rock in the background look just like the land around Patoka Lake where I used to be the manager and bowhunt! Back in 1985-1989.

[Josh Perdue]

Great thread

One year i was comitted to shoot a deer from a climber tree stand. Because of that tree stand I filled all of my tags. I shot every deer sneaking to or from my tree stand. Usually, I just find  or make a gap on the edge of a corn field and park my butt in my Huntmor. This year I am adding a Ghillie poncho with every hunt, there are a couple of big boys in our woods, the tree stand boys educate them very quickly and I expect the big boys will respond accordingly, as in, they will be in areas where the tree stands are not.  They are already have their stands hung with cameras and are checking thier cameras everyday, telling the two big boys where not to go.  Head for the brush with a comfortable chair and some good natural cover, and use a Ghillie to fill in the gap that you plan to sit in. If turkeys cannot see those Ghillie ponchos, you know they work.

[Fattony77]

I'm also all ground, all the time. A big part of why is because this fat guy and trees/heights don't mix    I still kinda suck at hunting, so I haven't killed anything yet, but I've had 'em close enough I coulda stabbed 'em with my arrow! I learn something every time, so I know it'll happen soon enough.

[don kauss]

I just built a ground blind, and ghillied it out...I mostly did it because last year I took my daughter (8) up into a double tree stand, and it was not pleasant (ever-watchful of her and all that)...Now my son (4) wants to go too, so I went ahead and built a very roomy octagonal blind, then riddled it with Christmas tree branches and burlap...you can make it out in this photo...
I have to say, I am excited to see how it goes in this thing!

[Mudd]

Hunt any area, even an open field.

Both style blinds from the front and back.









God bless,Mudd

[pukwana]

I went to strictly ground hunting two years ago and got this fellow last year at 10 yards.  Its a rush and I'll never climb a tree again

[LimbLover]

Rob you hunt a lot of the same setups I do. I love to sit on ridges. Sometimes just like that.

Often times I use what I can find. This was posed while stumping - but stuff like this.

[TGbow]

Great photos guys!!

Nothing  wrong with a treestand, but I'm 100% on the ground. Sold all my treestands about 6 or 7 years ago. I started out in 1975 hunting from the ground here in south Alabama. As treestands got popular I hunted out of them occasionally and eventually bought a couple  but still I hunted 80% of the time on the ground.
So I finally sold my stands because all the deer I killed was from the ground anyway.
Never have liked heights or felt comfortable in a treestand.
The ground is so much more comfortable and warmer too..lol

[TGbow]

Great photos guys!!

Nothing  wrong with a treestand, but I'm 100% on the ground. Sold all my treestands about 6 or 7 years ago. I started out in 1975 hunting from the ground here in south Alabama. As treestands got popular I hunted out of them occasionally and eventually bought a couple  but still I hunted 80% of the time on the ground.
So I finally sold my stands because all the deer I killed was from the ground anyway.
Never have liked heights or felt comfortable in a treestand.
The ground is so much more comfortable and warmer too..lol

[reddogge]

After killing dozens of deer from the air I killed this very large doe from a ground blind, my first on the ground.

 
 

View from the blind, a pine bough blind. I shot the doe straight away 17 yards and I missed a VERY nice 8 point buck at dark in a snow storm to the left at 12 yards.

 

This is the blind. I've since passed up several shots at smaller bucks, does and fawns, all within ranges. I've also been busted in this blind so many times it isn't funny. Mostly from updraft air currents in the morning and deer coming from behind me. Once they bust me it's all over for the morning.

 

[Kingsnake]

My most rewarding hunts when hunting with training wheels were those where I hunted from the ground...and had nothing to do with the size of the animal or his headgear.

I had what was perhaps one of my most exciting hunts ever last weekend, even though the only thing I shot was a maple.

Not quite ready to sell my climber, but thinkin' it over....

Kingsnake