Ground hunting

[BUCKY]

Simple question for some of you, why do you ground hunt?

[Tom]

Mobility,close encounters,over all fun. Less concerned with kills these days but will given the shot I want. Hunted trees for decades but two new hips later I am playing the ground game. Last two deer wandered by at 12 and 8 yards-their mistake. Thrilling to say the least. Ghillie and good background with wind in face=fun beyond words.

There are a lot of deer where there are no trees and no tree stand hunters to deal with.

[BUCKY]

paven that's why I want to try ground hunting. there are a lot of woodlots with small trees. I bought the hunters seat from big jim.

[monterey]

Originally posted by BUCKY:
Simple question for some of you, why do you ground hunt?

Well, in my case, all the deer and elk I've seen have been on the ground.  

But, seriously, I'm not a patient person and I feel trapped sitting in a tree.  Plus, I'm to old to be climbing trees.

If I'm in a ground blind it's just easier to stay committed to the spot.

Probably seems a bit strange, but that's the way it is.

[degabe]

If I fall asleep in my ground blind it doesn't hurt when I hit the ground.

[Friend]

Was medically restricted to the ground in 2008.

Initially struggled to manage a few shot opportunities throughout a season. Getting close on a regular basis has significantly evolved. Passed on 47 solid shot opportunities on bucks out 79 hunts this passed season. The average shot opportunity distance was 14 yards as I only considered 3 opportunities at 20 yards.

Ground hunting, for me, requires much more invovlement as I have come to enthusiastically embrace it.

I have already put in over 40 hrs of prep time since last season in order to complete over 85% of my prep work by the end of March.

[JNewton]

I hunt from the ground because:

1. I like it. I like the simplicity of it. I like the mobility aspect of it; can move when necessary. I only have about $15 into a light, quiet little rotating stool to sit on when the woods are too noisy.  
 
2. I fall asleep really easy, so I probably shouldn't hunt from a tree. Heck, I have to be careful with the cheap little rotating stool on the ground!!    

3. Can't afford all the stuff for tree stand huntin', and don't really wanna pack it all around the woods anyways....    :D

[silenthunter85]

I look at the ground game as a way to learn more about my hunting areas. I will still sit trees when I'm in a real good pinch point, but slowly roaming has helped me learn so much more about deer. I also second the comment about diving into areas deer are that don't have trees near by. Shot my biggest buck to date at 8yds on the ground. It's just flat out fun.

[Stumpkiller]

I set myself a task several years back that I would take a buck whitetail by stalking with a recurve & wood arrows.  It took five years but I did it.  

Still the most prized hunt in my memory.

I sit in a treestand now for dawn & dusk but in between I still-hunt.  That has paid off more than a few times.  

No question the stand puts me in better range and position, but the ground is more rewarding.  Like jazz music, if you don't get it I can't explain.

[kevsuperg]

Mainly because I like to move and explore.
At the age of 53 it's harder to climb trees and hard to sit for hours on end.
At one time I was all about treestand hunting but again as I get older.....

[Sam McMichael]

I still spend a lot of time in elevated stands, but am far less steady than I used to be. Therefore, I am spending a lot more time on the ground. It can be just as effective as hunting from the trees, but you sure have to know how to sit still! Its fun, though.

Isn't it odd that we automatically tend to climb trees to hunt deer but naturally sit on the ground while hunting turkeys? A turkey notices movement extremely well.

when you want to get close, REALLY CLOSE! its the only way to go,   close enough to see the horizontal pupil in their eyes is pretty close.   :eek:   then you know you picked the right spot and hidden well.

[Yooper-traveler]

1. I hunt in some swampy, pine/cedar areas. Swirling winds and visibility make ground hunting my go-to way to hunt.

2.  Safety.  My son in 15.  I have safety lines from the ground up on my stands, but "I" feel better knowing he can't fall out of a tree if he's on the ground.

3. Mobility.  Sometime's the tree stands can be a touch more of a pain to move.

[two4hooking]

Because on the ground you are a hunter, a participant....  In the trees you are a watcher / observer.

There is not that connection you get from the ground.

[ron w]

two4hooking.........well put...  

[YosemiteSam]

I have issues with commitment.

One day this past November, I used a strap on grizzly tree seat to a tree with about an 8 inch wide trunk.  I had a cedar to my left and no cover in front of me.  I had my white glassed Sunset.  A total of 18 deer walked across the picked corn field with in 20 yards of me.  For about 15 to 20 minutes I had 11 deer hanging out within 20 yards.  A yearling and a fawn less than 10 feet.  There was a large bodied buck with weird heavy stubby antlers chasing a doe around.  I drew on it twice and let down because the arrow flight would get too close to other deer.  I thought to myself, 'I cannot eat antlers', the big doe that was at the time about 25 yards did not have any fawns hanging close.  As I turned and began my draw a fawn ran over to her. I held and thought about it, let down. A pass through would put the fawn in jeopardy.  The deer all ignored me.  When a fawn came around behind me and got so close I could hear it chewing its cud, then I heard a gentle sniff, it was close enough to touch it.  The little bugger snorted ran a circle around the cedar tree and ran, snorting across the corn field and all of the other deer followed it.  Hunting deer on the ground is not as difficult as some think.

[3arrows]

Shot first one in 69 still can't get over it,must have been to close.

[varmint101]

It's a lot of fun!  It's something else as well when they walk in close and you're looking up at them!