mauser06

anybody bow hunt from the ground for whitetails?? i plan on buying a stand but how neccasary are they to bow hunting? i take deer from the ground rifle hunting all the time...but i dont have to draw back or anything...i think it would be difficult unless in a blind...and i dont want to carry a blind 2 miles to my spot and set it up in the dark...i rather carry a 20lb treestand and climb a tree in the dark...anybody ground hunt? any succsess?

kodiakhuntmaster

I've made it work a few times. Just take a folding chair and sit 20 yards from a trail. Set up behind bushes to make a kind of natural blind. And sit very very very still. Practice from sitting positions too. It works fine. Deer smell you more from the ground too.

"Hey ya'll, watch this"

Deleted User

[Deleted by Admins]

keeper of the strings

I hunt from the ground quite a bit during the early season. There are some advantages and some disadvantages. I find early in the season I can get away with it a little easier because of better cover and the deer aren't as spooky.
Advantages are, wider kill zone to shoot at, if a deer is sighted you may be able to sneek in on it, you don't have to hunt the same spot every time you go out, and its safer.
Disadvantages would be, easier for deer to find you, scent, when a group of deer come in but you don't want to shoot one of them because your waiting for the big one, it's very hard to have them stay around very long with out them finding you. And once they find you they'll make a big stink and then your chances of having the big one come around are slim.
I've killed a quite a few deer from the ground, but I get busted by them alot more when hunting this way. Not every time, but more from the ground than I do when I am in my tree stand.

The spirit of the woods is like an old good friend

Tazman

mauser I got my first bowkill from the ground, I have hunted from the ground for years and from stands also, I like the ground though.

There are several things that are crucial hunting from the ground #1 is the wind, when on the ground if a deer is, or gets downwind of you, you are BUSTED!

#2 is if you can find it is a large tree in front of you, this allows you to move and draw undetected, the secret is the second you spot the deer, freeze, wait until it puts its head down and then step directly to the tree, with the bow down on the side of the tree you will be shooting from, if the deers view is blocked entirely at this point you can draw and aim into your shooting lane, when the deer enters it, release. The nice thing about this if the deer decides not to enter the shooting lane in a timely manner, the tree will be bloccking his view of you, you can let down without getting busted and draw as he enters the lane.

#3 You should have multiple shooting lanes, but enough cover to at a minimum break up your profile and cover behind you to prevent you being silhouetted.

To me the biggest advantage to shooting from the ground is 90% of the time you will always be able to stand and draw exactly like you practice, unlike a tree stand where unless the deer is staight ahead of you, you will have to turn your torso to take the shot.

You need to practice shooting on one knee also, once you master shooting from one knee you will find you are more accurate than standing.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

tobyn

in reading the reply and if you read my last messge to other question that doe was taken and the other coming into the corn in a 5'pod stand to get me above the corn....i believe with out a doubt.
cover your face more the anything dont make eye contact...keep your movements slow....pick the right camo mix it.
where i hunt cornfields and cattails mossyoak dosen't cut it.
point being i put that pod couple of corn rows in and basicly sit on top of the corn stalks...there is nothing to break up myself but the sky....and it has worked every year. as a thought, spook a few and learn from the mistakes. thanks tobyn

Shaggy2

Scent control is very, very difficult. Regardless of what you do this is tuff to not get scented. With that said I hunt from the ground 50 percent of the time. When you get a deer at 5 yards, that is a huge rush.

I am not a big fan of heights so I have had to master ground hunting.

many times I will have deer come to about twenty yards but will not come any closer. They can get real nervous even if they don't see or smell you, they know something is wrong.

The other challenge is being able to draw and shoot going undetected. If only one deer comes in it is easier draw. If you have multiples it can be tough. I have had instances early this year when I had 7-8 deer around. It seemed like one of them was always looking in my direction tring to find the my slightest movement that would give me away.

bigdog02

these guys know what they are talking about.
After hunting gun seasons for so long and because of college and high school not being able to hunt as much archery as I wanted, this was my first year at a lot of hunting in early archery season, and I have one word.......frustrating, but I did learn a lot from this season which I will use next year.
Hunting from the ground with a bow is a whole new ball game. Like has been said before, the wind is a very big part, but even if the wind is in your favor, one slightly off movement and your morning can be shot. One thing you will have to amke sure you can do from the ground is pull your bow back smoothly and in a fluid motion, not as herky jerky as i did this season and spook a couple of deer, lol
Natural cover is a great idea, whatevert you can do, whether it be piling up limbs, sitting in deadfalls, etc. but just make sure you have enough room to pull your bow back and enough space to get an arrow through.
Most of the other info has been covered in here, lol slow movements, the wind, early season scouting, patience.

Jennings Buckmaster Bow
.50 Cal Thompson Center Renegade

3bigbucks

I never hunt in a tree stand. WHat i do is buy 24 bales of hay and make a big square stack them 3 high and sit in the middle. THe deer do not smell u because the scent the bales give off and they never see me either. Ive had deer at 4 and 5 feet away and never saw me or smelt me.

Budbowhunter

I hunt from the ground also. Mainly from over grown fencerows. The early season is the best time to do this. After the foilage has fallen off the trees and brush, it can be next to impossible to draw and go undetected. But if you do your scouting well before the opening of archery season and know where the trails are, you can score well ground hunting. I do take a folding chair with me and a pair of gardening shears. I find the trail I want to hunt and look for a cedar tree on the downwind side. I slide under the limbs and set up my chair with my back against it so that I have to look over my left shoulder down the trail to see the deer coming at me. (It helps if you know what direction they will be traveling down the trail) Then I use the shears to cut off just enough branches to make a shooting lane. I use the cutoffs by setting them up to help hide me. And the added scent of freshly cut cedar helps hide my scent. Your biggest problems are the wind and movement. Always hunt with the wind in your favor. And when you pratice, pratice sitting absolutely still for 2 or 3 minutes at a time. It's a lot harder than you think. OH! And when you get your bow. Don't get it with too much poundage. Because you may have to sit with it at full draw for a long time. Get it set so you can hold it at full draw with ease. I hope this helps. Good Luck. Sorry this was so long.

KEEP IT LEGAL. KEEP IT SAFE. OR WE MAY NOT GET TO KEEP IT AT ALL.