# ground hunting



## shawn dooley (Jul 28, 2010)

anyone ground hunt i want to start any  adavice  on what to do  .  do i need to make ground blinds  or what    thanks for your help    shawn


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## Slasher (Jul 28, 2010)

Not to sound rash... But move really really slow!!!

Back cover is paramount (think big trees) Front cover is helpful... Like being able to see the deer coming but use the tree as a shield as they move into range and allow a little more movement...

Oh I like the shady areas on the edges...


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## dpoole (Jul 29, 2010)

with one of thes new pop up blinds it  works fine. Useing natural cover hide as much as possible and leave only a small opening to shoot through. and be ready when they cross the opening.


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## PAPALAPIN (Jul 29, 2010)

Climbing into trees to hunt is relatively new in the whole skeem of things.

In the early formative days of modern bowhunting, it was all from the ground.

I doubt that Fred Bear of Ben Pearson ever got into a tree.


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## LanceColeman (Jul 29, 2010)

I believe ground hunters should share their success rate per season as they offer this advice.

Because other than one?? I don't know many of them that kill as many as those from trees do.

And Carter could kill deer if you wrapped him in hot pink bubble wrap and rolled him in to the woods.

It is truly a very romantic notion. As in the same an very high and difficult challenge to master. If the challenge is what you seek?? You look in the right direction. If a full freezer is what you seek?? You need your feet off the ground.


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## bobman (Jul 29, 2010)

I hunt them just like turkeys full camo back against a big tree and sit motionless, wait till they get their head behind a tree when walking and draw. How many times have you been turkey hunting and had a deer walk right up to you.

Practice shooting a lot in that sitting position.. back against a tree, bow paralell to the ground.

I've killed 50-60 of them from the ground maybe more over the years could of killed a lot more.

I like it because its comfortable but you can get away with a lot more in a tree, I've killed more from a tree I suppose.


the only time I can walk up on them is if its raining or windy other than that its a waste of time but fun to try

I've been killing deer since the mid 60s with a recurve so that number has been over along time.

Tree stands weren't even invented until I was in my twenties.


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## robert carter (Jul 29, 2010)

Most people don`t kill deer from the ground because they already think they can`t.Which puts them in the unsuccesful bracket already because they have beat themselves. Lance makes my head swell a bit but I do kill critters from the ground because if I see the opportunity I give it my all.As Slasher said back cover is a must as well as camo on the hands and face.Most people set up to close for ground hunting. If your a good shot out to 20 yards I would set up for that if possible. the farther away the easier it gets. It is more exciting than hunting in a tree no doubt. I`ve never killed a deer from a pop up blind but they should work. 
  I`m willing to bet if Ben Pearson and Fred Bear had access to some of the quality tree stands available today they would have hunted from trees a bit.I usually kill at least one a year from the ground. Not so much from ground blinds but from seeing them while slip hunting and managing to get close enough for a shot. Brother John usually kills half his every year from the ground. But he hunts from the ground more than a tree 2 to 1. One of the biggest heart beat making deer kills I`ve made was from the ground on a rutted down doeaholic buck.Brother John and I were trailing a pig he had shot earlier and lost blood. We had spread out to look for him and I heard something in a slew. I slipped to the edge and this buck was on the way. I shot him at 18 yards as he came past a big water oak.RC



This one last year with an Apex longbow 7 yards




  I got a ghillie suit and a light wt. leafy suit and I plan on a whole lot more "set ups" for ground hunting this year.While Turkey hunting I had a doe come by at 15 yards and look through me this past spring while calling a Turkey. I had on the leafy suit and I killed a Turkey this year with it  that I missed first and it allowed me a second shot so fooling the eyes may be a bit easier for me this year but from the ground...THERE IS NO FOOLING THE NOSE!!RC


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## MoonPie (Jul 29, 2010)

shawn dooley said:


> anyone ground hunt i want to start any  adavice  on what to do  .  do i need to make ground blinds  or what    thanks for your help    shawn



Shawn, I posted this on another thread, but it's purdy much to the point.  I hunt public land and usually get about four shots a season, and gives me average of one deer. Course I also gun hunt Nat. forest land which gives me another couple.  I'd much rather bow hunt... ground gun huntin can be skeery!  

http://forum.gon.com/showpost.php?p=5156497&postcount=6


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## missalot (Jul 29, 2010)

last year was my first time in a tree stand in a long time.i use to use the camo net at walmart ,find a good spot with some cover ,i just poked a hole in the top 2 corners and tied some string to trees ,and then cut out a 2x2 hole,i then got some camo burlap and put up behind me ,i missed a total of 6 deer in one year ,kept shooting high.PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, SHOOTING IN A SEATED POSITION,i then got a pop up blind with them shoot through windows,thats the ticket ,i have hunted in shorts and flip flops.i use to hunt about 100 yards front my house,i just open the front window and crack the sides to sneak a peek every once in a while ,i have had deer 5 yards in front of me.its a thrill getting that close ,you can hear them chewing on clover ,but they can also hear your heart beating out of your chest.shot my first deer 2 years ago out of a ground blind 41# blackcreek banshee  goldtip 3555 and a sharp stos 2 blade broadhead at 18 yards through the net complete pass through.man im getting excited ...come on october 15 woooohooooo!!!!!!


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## MoonPie (Jul 29, 2010)

robert carter said:


> Most people don`t kill deer from the ground because they already think they can`t.Which puts them in the unsuccesful bracket already because they have beat themselves.  I`ve never killed a deer from a pop up blind but they should work.
> I slipped to the edge and this buck was on the way. I shot him at 18 yards as he came past a big water oak.RC



RC.  Good Job!!!!!!!  Appreciate the post


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## LanceColeman (Jul 29, 2010)

robert carter said:


> fooling the eyes may be a bit easier for me this year but from the ground...THERE IS NO FOOLING THE NOSE!!RC



Allow me to introduce you to a couple terms brother.

NORTH GEORGIA MOUNTAINS

and

THERMAL SHIFTS

There is no such thing as a dedicated wind direction in the mts.


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## Dennis (Jul 29, 2010)

A few years ago i killed a couple from the ground with a leafy suit. So if i can do it anybody can. I used a big tree to get behind when i saw them comming across a power line and i just waited for them to come close.They were young deer but it sure was fun and i plan on doing more of it this year.


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## shawn dooley (Jul 29, 2010)

the pop up blind  is kinda cool do they make one tall enouf for my long bow


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## Slasher (Jul 29, 2010)

LanceColeman said:


> I believe ground hunters should share their success rate per season as they offer this advice.
> 
> Because other than one?? I don't know many of them that kill as many as those from trees do.
> 
> .



Okay Lance... I have taken one each in 2007 and 2008 when I hunted Public land... Now they crossed me up on limiting Joe Kurz to only two weeks and I only made it once and that was before the acorns were dropping in my honey holes, so no luck on that one hunt last year.... I have taken a total of 7 in the last 8 years if we count bow and one shot with a rifle at 18 yds... I lost a couple more in my early trad days with aa very poor arrow set-up... I may be no Robert Carter, but then I don't think I get to hunt as much as he does either... But I am learning... 

Is a tree stand better? Usually yes!!! I usually hunt from the ground when I am semi-scouting hunting or early season on public land where I don't want to tote 30# in 3/4 of a mile and then climb a tree... I figure I usually make enough noise and sweat enough to alert every deer within the hunting area... Now I usually only get to hunt public land 4-5 times a season so I would say about 20-25%.. But I use a ghillie or leafy suit about half the time... 

When I say be still, I am almost sleeping against the tree and just trying to move my eyes... then my head slowly...

You know the three things that the human eye picks up on are color contrast and movement... Avoiding those by using shade, camo, (or a earth tone plaid), and slow movement are the 3 pillars of getting a shot on the ground!

Another thing I do is try to snip the limbs I need to snip and clear the leaves slowly when I first get in place...

Is OTG as effective as in the stand... Uhhh No!!! But it isn't as difficult as some make it out to be either...

YMMV


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## LanceColeman (Jul 29, 2010)

Slasher said:


> You know the three things that the human eye picks up on are color contrast and movement... Avoiding those by using shade, camo, (or a earth tone plaid), and slow movement are the 3 pillars of getting a shot on the ground!
> 
> 
> YMMV



Ya aint huntin humans slash!! and deer can't see them colors.

Lemme see..... we aint gonna count guns. I love to killem off the ground with my ol smoke pole and a roundball. we just gonna stay strictly tradbow. I went and checked journals...

Off the ground= 17

From a tree stand= 111

"other"= 4

Now of those 17 off the ground?? 10 of em came from Arkansas when I was stationed there. In a thicket behind the run way where a low spot in a chainlink fence allowed them easier access than jumpin it to get in to the base. Best shot option and wind set up was behind a great big stump. You just sat there and watched the perimeter road. they walked right up the road and turned and the spot in the fence.

Never ever ever ever ever waste time searching for the perfect tree.no such thing. there's the tree that offers you the best shot, and the comfortable looking one with less work over there......... just pick the one that gives you the best shot option... and if no tree is available?? then look at other ways. If itsa good place to hunt?? I look for a tree, if there's no tree?? I'll still hunt it. But don't think for one second I'm not going to back track trails a bit and try and find a good tree to go up.

PIGS?? Man I don't even count pigs shot from a treestand as kills. Pigs are Gods gift to the bowhunter...... they DESIGNED to be hunted off the ground.


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## Slasher (Jul 30, 2010)

I hear your point and I know your point... Tree stands work better than on the ground and ground blinds fall into the middle... Deer don't see no color, but them deer see movement better than most folks do... It is a plain simple concept i knew you'd relate too!!!

But if we extrapolated statistically, I would probably see that the fact that 98% of hunters don't hunt from the ground at all... and most who claim too are still hunting, and that my friend is a skill set that very few can lay claim to here in GA... Ga doesn't allow for much quiet movement... So if we counted the trips to the stand am and pm and divided by the number of kills from each.. I think that it would be much closer than you imagine... Why because most folks don't even bother trying... Then you get RC to skew them numbers so far in favor of OTG...   Way to Go RC!!!

Your point is a valid one... if trees work better than ground hunting... Why hunt from the ground? Well usually when I do it is because my but is heading out on an evening hunt that I probably wouldn't hunt if I felt I needed to take a stand... 

Other reasons to hunt from the ground- when there isn't really a place or it is a place recently found and I don't have a place to put a climber in or I don't want to disturb it enough to go in place a stand and do the necessary trimming...

Public land especially when still feeling your way around a place... ground hunting allows one to be more mobile and pic a better spot, rather  than picking a tree that I am trying to make work... 

What is important and what I feel being able to hunt on the ground offers is this... A good set-up is better no matter if it is on the ground or in a stand... 

Anyone who has ever been able to draw on an animal on the ground has been busted enough and battered emotionally by the school of hard knocks that they realize a few quintessential truths about hunting on the ground... 

-You don't get away with as much... 
-You must pay attention to detail... 
-Shots longer than 20 yds are usually impossible because of vegetation... 
- a good set-up otg is equal to a mediocre in a tree

Whitetails are animals with great senses and it is not easy to get within stickbow range on the ground... But they are really just very wary souped up billy goats when it comes down to it... They are curious, they trust their noses over their eyes, so being in a down wind setup is more critical than all else...

But if you can get into a position and learn to move slowly, their eyes are not half as good as their noses... Killing a deer on the ground is really pretty simple... Get quietly into a place downwind of where they want to be.... Draw when they aren't looking... Put it through the lungs, and you'll be eating back straps...


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## LanceColeman (Jul 30, 2010)

Wouldn't you?? I mean we've all been there....." what was that?? I thought i saw something move.... but there's nothing there..... must have been the wind."

I smell a skunk!! don't see him but there's no doubt he's right here somewhere because I smell him!" 

Whitetail usually do not travel alone unless it's bucks in rut. that normally means more than one set of eyes. in bow range, getting to full draw.. on the ground........ in front of those eyes...... that aint easy.


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## MoonPie (Jul 30, 2010)

LanceColeman said:


> on the ground........ in front of those eyes...... that aint easy.



nuthins easy, then it gits harder 



shawn dooley said:


> the pop up blind  is kinda cool do they make one tall enouf for my long bow



waste a money, unless ya want to leave it set up in place for  a few days, at least .


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## LanceColeman (Jul 30, 2010)

inclined to agree with you moonpie. Wife has a pop up... it was placed in a real good spot...... she never saw anything.

the following season it was set up a month before muzzle loader opened and not bowhunted at all... a month later she started seeing deer....... killed two.... saw ntohing else....

last season we kept the blind out of the area and just went in and sat down around brush piles or big trees..... plenty deer sighted, plenty deer killed. 

IMO blinds have to be brushed in immensely, and they also limit your vision


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## Slasher (Jul 30, 2010)

The question of this thread was:


shawn dooley said:


> anyone ground hunt i want to start any  adavice  on what to do  .  do i need to make ground blinds  or what    thanks for your help    shawn



Hunting from the ground is more limiting than trees, But just trying to share the few things I have learned_(I am still learning, but having some success...) _about dropping the string on a deer with my feet or knees on the ground....



robert carter said:


> Most people don`t kill deer from the ground because they already think they can`t.Which puts them in the unsuccesful bracket already because they have beat themselves.RC



I think RC is right on the money here!!! 


The simplicity of walking around carrying less than 5lbs of hunting gear and a bottle of water made hunting fun again... 

The is a fine balance of challenge and success... If you don't have success, you begin to listen to everyone who says you need the latest greatest compound to kill a deer. or go to guns..

If you limit yourself you may not hunt as far from the road or even load up the truck for an hour to hour and half hunt...


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## robert carter (Jul 30, 2010)

Heres a thought. Carry hardly any weight like Slasher said. Just what you need and mainly no stand. Go Twice or three times as far in where no one else goes and double your ground hunting chances hunting unmolested deer. I`m gonna hunt a good bit of the late season on the ground mainly because I will not need a thermacell for skeeters. I`ll be able to set up on Hot acorns and we`ll se how it goes. Most places will be at least a mile in.

  I killed three deer last year from a loc on that was less than 10 ` tall to the seat. I had to watch deer on several hunts go by at 18-20 yards because of the limbs in the trees. If I had been on the ground I could have probably shot at them all.

  Until a feller kills some deer on the ground he will not have confidence in it....and probably will go hunt a tree climbing spot thats not half as hot as a place not suited for climbing.I`ve done it many times. About a half dozen half hearted stalks on deer while walking that resulted in kills made be realize it ain`t hard. I started trying to do it on purpose and heck I killed some more. Have I been busted drawing the bow ..you bet...have I missed ..right again..been winded ..yes. All these same things happened to me in a tree...YES.

  If you want an enjoyable hunt that is not impossible with a whole lot less set up hassle ground hunting is it.I can see a year coming that all my treestands will be for sale.As Slasher said...packing 5 pounds of gear and going hunting is...well...FUN.RC


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## Dennis (Jul 30, 2010)

I started using a torges tree seat that you can make and it seemed to work real well with your back to a tree and it does not weight much. Kinda nice to have something to set on if you find a hot spot.


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## bam_bam (Jul 30, 2010)

Never killed one on the ground with a bow but I missed 3 last year and I can say without a doubt it is a rush to have a deer 10 yards and eye level with you looking at you. makes you feel like a predator (which I am bad at...LOL)


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## dm/wolfskin (Jul 30, 2010)

I've killed 3 deer on the ground with my long bow. One in a Double bull blind and my first traditional deer kill from a make shaft blind from just piling limbs on top of each other. The other I was just slow walking. Also killed 4 on the ground with the wheel bow. When the ground is wet or a slow drizzle, I like to be on the ground. Walking in a creek is another good way to ground hunt. 
 Here's what I did when I first started hunting with a 68" long bow. I'd cut a bunch of saplings and make a several tripods and connect it with another sapling to the top of each tripod. I used Baling twine to tie the tripods together. I had a small machete for cutting down stuff. I would then fill it in with limbs leaving opening to shoot though. One thing about cutting limbs when the leaves are green, they seem to stay on there after the frost hit. I've even had deer eating off my blind while sitting in it. You can build you a blind by just the dead limbs and stuff on the ground too. Up close and personal.  This doe was out of a DB blind that I set up that afternoon and brush in. While cutting plants down to use to brush in, this timber rattler got in my way. Mike


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## robert carter (Jul 30, 2010)

Good deal Mike. I bought a small bag of "ties" that work good for making blinds . I`m gonna be a bit more "ground" bound this year. I`m also gonna build a lot of blinds in the Turkey woods in Febuary . I know where several "roosts" are and I`m gonna make blinds on all sides of them so no matter which way they fly down I can get on`m.RC


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## Slasher (Jul 30, 2010)

*I hardly ever carry a camera with me when i hunt*







But I had one with me this day, as I had a line on a decent buck... but couldn't resist this one OTG at 5-6 yds..

This was a young one, that once the arrow blew through just jumped and looked back at the arrow buried into the lil slope behind it... then went back sniffed it and even licked the nock... Walked about 15 yds and was able to get another arrow on the string and almost got the mama to... but this one fell about 15 yds closer to the crabapple tree... and mama froze and never gave me the shot I needed!!!

Unfortunately, I have only had one shot at a shooter buck OTG...(Joe Kurz and my club was trophy only).. But It is okay... These eat just fine...


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## fflintlock (Jul 31, 2010)

I had a big ole buck walk right up to me within 5 yards, he was looking up in the trees for bowhunters heheheeeeeeeeeeee


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## MoonPie (Jul 31, 2010)

Slasher said:


> The simplicity of walking around carrying less than 5lbs of hunting gear and a bottle of water made hunting fun again...
> 
> The is a fine balance of challenge and success... If you don't have success, you begin to listen to everyone who says you need the latest greatest compound to kill a deer[/COLOR]. or go to guns..



Listen to Slasher! I'm old, poor, and slow. The bow's old. My camo's old. 5lbs is pure fun! All deer huntin is deer huntin, but Dude,,, THIS IS DEER HUNTIN. 

Don't get wound up into the latest and greatest. Your money is what they want, not your success as a hunter.


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