Why do you ground hunt for Whitetails?

[TrueNorth]

Cause fat guys don't fly!

[Izzy]

Ive never been a fan of heights and am less so as the years go by. None the less I am more confidant from a tree for the most part. Ive shot a few from the ground and will do more ground hunting  than ever this fall. I shot  this one from  25 yards+ this past fall and not sure that I could have pulled it off from a confining tree stand.    

[Nantahala Nut]

I just can't be bothered to lug a tree stand out with me. I don't use a blind anymore because I noticed it tends to tie me down at times that I should relocate.  
My dad and the men that taught me to hunt never used a stand either. Like many have said, the up close and personal thrill of ground hunting just can't be beat.  My hands still shake a little when a legal deer comes by and I would not have it any other way.

Give it a try and see how it does for you

[Hoyt]

When I don't have time to get in a tree.

[Whitetail Addict]

I hunt deer almost exclusively from the ground, for the reasons some of you have already stated. I hunt from brush blinds a lot, but I enjoy still hunting too.

I love the rush of having them close, and at eye level, and I don't like the steep angled shots offered from tree stands a lot of the time, though this can be evened out some by keeping stands lower. when I'm on the ground, and do things right, It's in one side, and out the other, which usually makes for a much nicer blood trail.

I hunt areas around home, that other people hunt too, and I've had several tree stands stolen in the past. There's nothing like getting to your stand with high hopes, to find your stand gone.

I guess the main reason I hunt from the ground, like I said above, is for that up close and personal, eye to eye excitement. Getting them close, waiting for that perfect shot, and then trying to draw without being seen. That's what does it for me.

Bob

[Tall Paul]

I guess it's the mobility factor. I've got one of Big Jim's Hunter seats, and you can kinda of still-hunt with it. Sometimes when I'm scouting in deer season, I want to sit for a little bit and see what happens. With the Hunter seat, you can set up in about 2 seconds, and be still and quiet immediately.

[BUCKY]

Tall Paul that's exactly how I'm going to use it.

[Paul/KS]

Originally posted by TrueNorth:
Cause fat guys don't fly!

  What he said.
Don't like heights, never have never will...   :rolleyes:

[Sam McMichael]

I still hunt mostly from elevated stands but am moving more towards ground hunting. As I get older, I am just less stable on ladders.

[Whitetail Addict]

Originally posted by Izzy:
Ive never been a fan of heights and am less so as the years go by. None the less I am more confidant from a tree for the most part. Ive shot a few from the ground and will do more ground hunting  than ever this fall. I shot  this one from  25 yards+ this past fall and not sure that I could have pulled it off from a confining tree stand.        

Nice buck Izzy.     I meant to comment on your pic in my last post, but forgot to.

Bob

[Cavscout9753]

I hunt on post (Ft Benning) and the areas open for hunting change every day so the options are 1) Climber stand, which is a hassle to me and ruins my ability to stalk in and out, 2) hang on stand, which you either need to hang several in different areas or only hunt when that area is open, 3) ground blinds, but the same limits as a stand since it will spook critters the first few days its set out, or 4) ground bush blinds. A pair of pruning shears allow me to stalk around whatever area I want and look for natural cover in a good location. Then I tuck into the cover and trim small limbs to corral myself in and break up my silhouette. After a few months/seasons of hunting youll actually have several bush blinds in various spots to return to depending on weather, availability, time available, etc. In well hunted areas deer are as likely to scan the tree tops as they are the ground for danger and careful attention to the wind and slow movements will have you in close encouters that will get your blood pumping. It takes work. You will flub it a dozen times. But if you learn with each hunt, and dicipline yourself, you will wonder why you ever bothered with climbing up into the trees to begin with.

[stagetek]

I hunt whitetails on the ground only if it's raining, very cold and/or very windy. Otherwise, I'm in a tree.

When I sit in a tree stand, there is always a period where the wind is wrong.  When I hunt on the ground, I can adjust to the situation.  I find that cedars are my friend, so I hunt turkeys and deer near them whenever possible. On public land around here, the areas that have lots of tree stands, after the start of the season, have fewer deer.  That is because hunters hunt their treestands, no matter what the wind is doing and they do not start hunting until they are sitting. When I hunt on the ground, I take a few warm up shots when leaving my vehicle, and then the hunt begins.  I shot a lot of deer because of my climber tree stand that I left in at its location every year.  I shot those deer either sneaking to or sneaking from that tree stand, not one from the tree stand. I decided that the ground was better for me, but the stand did give me a comfortable place to sit before I began my sneaking back to my van.

[joe skipp]

1. Afraid of heights
2. Took a bad fall back in '75 from an original Baker stand
3. Plenty of natural cover to use, more mobil, especially when the deer are chasing.
4. I love shooting them when we are eyeball to eyeball and they don't know I'm there.

[BUCKY]

Joe you Jerry and Bamboo are my insperation lol

[Butch Speer]

I don't get in the trees anymore. I weigh too much and at my age I don't bounce as well as i used to! Besides that, its fun.

[Hud]

Because it is hunting that I enjoy, not sitting. I do enough sitting when working and driving. Secondly, it is more challenging and interesting. I have had numerous close encounters with animals while hunting on foot, some funny, some surprising and all thrilling.

[Jerry Jeffer]

I fall asleep a lot.

Originally posted by centaur:
I like being eye to eye with deer, and I love the challenge of stalking, be it deer, turkeys, or whatever. For me, hunting from the ground is much more satisfying, even if I blow some stalks.

This is the way I started back in the late 60s.  My most memorable kill was a 45 min stalk on a fat spike.

Had great success from trees when it became legal in Michigan but always missed the challenge.  

I am a ground hunter at heart...  

[Bowwild]

I still love the trees for the elevated-enhanced concealment and the view.  I'll be in em until I can't and I suppose when that day comes I won't be able to draw my bows anyway.

I did hunt from a ground blind in Texas once about 9 years ago. The only time I hunted in TX. It was more a hog hunt but it was January and I had doe tags. Killed a doe and a hog that same sit.  I'll have to say it was a thrill to have these animals just 15 yards out from the ground. I was very confident of the shot with no angle to consider.   I have many good spots for ground blinds  where I hunt (cedar clumps) but in most of them there are nice trees nearby as well.