curious of who hunts from the ground with no blind (or maybe just a little natural stuff added at time of set up) Just curious of advantages/disadvantages.

Having cover in front of your feet is helpful. I have to move my legs for comfort every now and then. Sitting with a tree at your back so you don't get silhouetted is also important.

Making yourself as comfortable as possible helps you keep still. The Hammockseat is pretty great for that

First thing I do is clear the leaves and twigs from where I am standing or sitting

Advantage? More fun. Being out in nature instead of a stuffy tent. You can change locations.

Disadvantages? Obvious

I like natural blinds but don't get to hunt that way a lot. For a natural blind I have come to believe the most important aspect is background for your silhouette. As far as hunting without blinds at all.....I have never been any good at it....too big and clumsy. Others like George can comment on still hunting and stalking. Regards

I will agree with JSD that it is way more fun on the ground and is a bigger rush during encounters. Regards

I always hunt on the ground, don't own a manmade blind, and almost never sit for any length of time in a natural blind, blowdown, creek or wash, unless the spot, sign, and timing is just too much to resist when I find it.

I do use terrain and natural features to my advantage when possible, but not to just sit. I like to be more proactive and seek opportunities at any legal game animal... more like a hungry, roving natural predator... or hunter/gatherer, since I'm always on the lookout for wild edibles too. I like working toward those kind of skills. Advantage? I do more, see more, learn more, don't get bored, get opportunities at a bigger variety of game. Disadvantage, I suppose I kill less deer, so some would see that as a disadvantage... I don't.

Spend hours sitting in a blind? No way. I'd miss out on to much.

Never in a blind...always from the ground with a bit of stuff in front or still hunting.

I like to find a blown down tree...half the work is done.

Another spot...

In the photo above trail was to the left...I sit with my left shoulder towards it.

Three legged stool weighs nothing and easy to carry...I shoot sitting down.

Another spot...trail below where I am sitting... in a small depression.

Just a few extra bits of spruce in front breaks your outline. Kick all the leaves and debris away from your feet in a big circle so you don't make noise.

Fred Asbell wrote a great book on this subject

Stalking and Still hunting(A ground hunters bible)

Well worth the read!

Ground hunting for me bd

Been on the ground now for decades and don't need any store- bought blinds. For one thing they are too confining and limit vision...and hearing. Plenty of duff in the woods to fashion a crude blind that will be natural to the area. We already have n advantage of weapons and intellect so the more level the field, the more you get from it. Just my opinion of course.

Went to ground almost ten years now, never viewed it as a handicap. Really just the opposite, I think it helps me see more game. I wear a brushy suit, hunt with binos religiously, and carry a small folding stool and a small pair of pruning shears. I start hunting at the truck, don't stop until I get back, and may only move a hundred yards or so in a morning. If I find a spot that's showing lots of food sources or sign I can have an adequate natural blind built in 2-3 minutes pretty quietly.

If you want an easy lower body cover, 3D camo cloth and a few garden stakes is nice. Particularly for Turkey

What Jeff Durnell said!

I started ground hunting like that about a decade ago and I actually see just as many deer (and maybe more) than I did sitting in trees. The difference is getting a shot off. MANY times I have deer within spitting range that I have to let pass because I don't have the shot. That's OK though. Letting them walk away unaware of me is second only to having a shot and killing one. I also use a ghillie.

Here's a couple of older threads on this that pretty well cover it all.....

http://leatherwall.bowsite.com/tf/lw/thread2.cfm? forum=23&threadid=241973&category=

http://leatherwall.bowsite.com/tf/lw/thread2.cfm? forum=23&threadid=103728&category=

Article in last Compton's magazine suggested standing away from a tree (3 feet). Better vision and shooting position. Recommends a bow holder that hangs from your belt.

tree stand is more productive but the ground and natural cover can be the most exciting and rewarding. there has been several times deer have came with in five feet of me. not always a shot but it is the ultimate filling.

The closest shot I've made on our skittish Pa whitetails was on a lone mature doe, 3-4 yards away. I was stillhunting along an old logging road when I saw her, eased to the ground as she approached until I was on my knees and then folded up, torso on my lap, bow horizontal. She kept coming, and coming, then turned perfectly broadside... was sooo close, feeding, big brown eyes, eyelashes, whiskers, could hear her chewing... both of us, in the open on the logging road. Pick a spot dummy! It felt like she was standing over me looking right at me as I drew. Osage selfbow 'Lucky'. Very intimate. Exciting. As real as anything gets. I'd have it like that every time if I could.

This buck was taken from a standing position while beside a rather large shellbark hickory. The distance was nine steps, or about seven and a half yards. I've taken my last eight deer while hunting from the ground, all well within twenty yards....about a deer every third year on average. No slur against tree stands, I'm just too damn clumsy to be in a tree nowadays. Killed many from a TSS stand back in the 70's and early 80's.

some good points and tips Thanks

This is one of mine, it doesn't look like must from the outside but its so dark inside that you can't see into it.

But as you can see you have lots of room and plenty of shooting space on the inside.

I can't find a pic but you also have clear shooting to the left.

I was hunting whitetails in Michigan a few years ago on the wife's family farm. I was tucked into a fields edge and it started to rain. I decided to move farther back to a pop up blind in the next field. As I approached the blind, I decided to hit the dark timber instead as it was not raining very hard. I got in the timber, leaned against a tree, thought "this is a good spot". And here comes a buck. I had an arrow ready, drew as his head was behind a tree, made the "mehh" sound, he stopped and I sent the arrow. It was an honest "a little back" hit, but got both lungs, he went a few hundred yards, left a good blood trail. Young, large bodied deer, defective antlers. I will take the ground any day over a treestand or popup blind. I always fill my tag in Michigan, from the ground, only once from the pop up blind, gave it away don't even use it anymore. Meat first, bone to hang on the wall last.

GLF, that reminds me of one I had several years ago. Regards

Nobody has mentioned calling. Why?

Yep works good huh.

I've called deer in and killed them, rattled them in too. But I'd rather not. It gets them looking for me and puts them on high alert. I'd rather they were relaxed and thought they were alone.

Did a little ground hunting on the way home from work today and snuck up on these guys.

Chanterelles.

Sometimes they're as big as your thumb, sometimes they're real trophies... but they all eat good.

I've only killed nine deer from the ground, but all using natural materials. Best one I had as in the top of a big blow- down. A really great feeling went you beat them on their turf.

A length of camo mesh (like duck hunters use) and some zip ties weighs little and gives you options.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/hunting/waterfowl-boating-blinds/waterfowl-blinds-concealment|/pc/104791680/c/104786280/sc/104680980/avery-die-cut-nylap-ft/2543715.uts

Hunted with rifle and muzzleloader from ground blinds. This will be my 2nd season hunting from the ground mostly used portable lock on stands and climbing type for archery seasons in the past. Going to try out my gillie suit from Big Jims bow company this season. My set ups look similar to Kodiaktd's against a single or cluster of trees and brushed in all around it.

Ground for me as well. I usually back into some Cedar trees or what evers handy, or a few rows back in the corn. Ive found, at least for me, back cover is far more important than in front, with shadows being one of my best forms of concealment. Playing the wind is also largely overlooked when hunting from the ground. Your stand might be in an ideal location for an ambush, but if the wind is against you....all is for not.

Chanterelles huh? Wasn't that the name of a 60's Motown women's group? ;-)

Ground & ghille suit...LOTS of fun. I killed my best whitetail at 8 yards with natural cover.

The "Shirelles"...."Will You Love Me Tomorow"....great song.

That is a great song.

Done butchering. They're sorta osage colored. Trying to think of a name for a snakey osage bow that incorporates it some way. They gotta be the best smelling thing I've ever brought home. My wife described the smell as fruity/floral.

I have had trees or bush behind me and a Ghost Blind in front. Love it. But my ex-BF took it back with him...dang it (it was his though). So I guess I will have to buy my own now if I still want to shoot with it. The main drawback...it is cumbersome and too big to carry a long way. I think I will just try making my own natural blind.

Marsha

Yeah read the old mans book he'll tell ya about hunting out of trees

I mostly still hunt, but sometimes I hunt with my Huntmor chair. It's fun because if you get it perfectly balanced you spin that sucker around real fast like you were on ball bearinged bar stool, but I only do that when I get bored.

Dont know about other areas but down here the deer seem to look up as much or more than they look around on the ground

I find its easier to get hid on the ground generally, but a treestand thats well hid is a god setup.

In addition to keeping it quiet underfoot, when you scuff away all of the leaves it releases a lot of 'disturbed soil" scent in the air...which really seems to make deer curious, and may help bring them in closer. Better still, it helps cover the hunter's scent.

Not much for decent trees where I hunt... and those that are, usually not where you want them. Did lots of off the ground before we had a blind. Use one for turkeys now, never shot a deer out of one. Breaking up outline is the key, esp. behind you... and don't move when they are looking your way. I don't see why a tree would be any more productive... especially if there isnt a safe one where you need it. Took my first deer ever from inside a tree pile I made a hole in. Took a really nice one from a bench I dug into the side of a hill and brushed in with dead limbs. Shot a big fat doe once just sitting in a big stand of ditch weed in front of a plum thicket near a stock dam.. had used a machete to hack out two shooting lanes in a "V" in front of me. Another good one is to figure out where they come into the cornfield at and sit a few rows in... get a shot before they vanish into the corn.

A side note George...........Carole King wrote that great song! (amongst many others).

Woods Walker, I hope she had rights to that song, it's been recorded by a lot of artist. I like her version with James Taylor singing harmony.

If you are going to do a lot of ground hunting from a natural blind, you can get a Cabelas ghillie boonie hat to breake up the head/shoulder outline. I use one that I added some 3D blind material to which breaks up my outline.

Oh man Jeff Durnell. Those are making me want breakfast now :-) JF

"If you are going to do a lot of ground hunting from a natural blind, you can get a Cabelas ghillie boonie hat to breake up the head/shoulder outline. I use one that I added some 3D blind material to which breaks up my outline."

Agree 100%. The head/shoulder outline is something deer pick out right away. If you have the head/shoulders broken up and you kneel down they may very well not "see" you at all.

well I roam a lot of ground,,,,,, I like that walkstool that Pididdly showed, I am going to get one, heck they only weigth under 2 lbs......

I know a guy, who shoots a compound, travels with small pack and nothing more than a foam pad to kneel on,,,, the guy is so deadly its scary,,,,,,,

he has a trick, that he showed me, that will try this fall myself.......

we also build a lot of natural blinds, in the spring, based on our scouting ability.......

I have now a DB T2, and another Primos blind, but they are still not for being mobile, used in rain and snow in late season....

my average shot is about 15 yards......... there have been some masters at this,,,,,, although he has been discredited by some, one of the best ground hunters, that I know, was Mitch Rompola, this guy, just used a plastic bag to kneel on....... he was in another world........

the video that Marc Anthony shoots, with his guile suit, is also very good, and again another controversy, but the topic is hunting from the ground, and that guy is a master,,,,,,,,,,

I also am very scent conscious, go thru strict regimes with my equipment and clothing, use cedar and hemlock oils, of my own, and also use carbon synergy, since it is activated with water, which can be found in the field.......

I am also prepared to stay overnight, if need be,,,, if you shoot a deer, where I hunt, you have to recover it that day, or the wolves will get it, so a night in the woods, on a nice fall day, should be in the plans, if you recover late

Now this is a great thread. I really enjoyed reading everyone's posts.

"he has a trick, that he showed me, that will try this fall myself......." C'mon razorhead, spill the beans! Mitch Rompola sure killed some big ones, eh? I shot a small buck with my longbow while sitting in the water in the middle of a pothole. Deer never expect someone to be in there. He was at 4 yards and I could see his eyelashes when I shot him.

okay my friend, last fall, during late season, used on his bow, the ultimate deer decoy,,,, he hung it next to him, and sat behind it,,,,,, when deer were in the area, they fixed on it, but were relaxed

anyway, you could shoot right thru it, which he did,,,,, fits both recurves and of course compounds

so I bought one,,,, I will let you know, if its a gimmick or something worthwhile....

mgerard, one of my best spots, but has since went dead, was where deer crossed over a beaver pond,,,,, no spots to set up, I put a chair, in the stream, by a dead fall,,,,, missed with the bow, got one with the gun,,, never knew I was there

Thanks for the insight. Post a pic if you get around to it please. Sounds intriguing. I think sitting in water brings some challenges but also some rewards.

I do and have for years, not exclusively, depends upon the situation. Much safer and much easier to maneuver to shoot. I don't like commercial blinds. I own one but it's never been used except to try in my back yard. I prefer natural 'hides' like old blow downs, rocks, whatever is available. Need to watch the wind a bit more but that's usually not a problem.

I agree with crookedstix comment about scraped up earth with the leaves removed.

Deer find it intriguing...maybe because they scrape away leaves to get at acorns or to make a scrape.

I also believe it helps mask scent, as does woodsmoke.

A few years ago, I was almost run over by a doe that was being chased by a nice buck. She jumped a stream I was along and turned at the last minute from a distance I could have touched her with my hand. He saw me and stopped. After a couple of seconds he jumped the stream farther down from me. My shot was way low under him. I wish I would have seen a picture of my smile after that. Even though I missed, it was the second best bow hunting experience I had, the first being a 9 pt I got hunting on the ground from a distance of seven yards. Was close to a nice buck this year too. I love it on the ground!

While I like the ghillie suit, it's impossible to move in, in my favorite river bottom spot. Thickest, gnarliest, chunk of thorns I've ever seen.

I always carry some 550 cord, camo bungee cords, and medium sized black office type spring clips. Youd be surprised how much natural foilage etc you can build up around you and hold in place with those simple items nybubba

Thats how I hunt exclusivly and I find some exellent 'blinds'. Natural hidey spots, near trees, roots, in weeds, etc. Going up to H2Oville again right now. Day three, hunt 4. Hope 4 is the charm. Report L8R.

advantages- hunt with wind-able to move fast-spot and stalk disadvantages- leaving scent trail-getting shot lots more but keeping it short

Ground only. My wife hunts with me now and I set up a tent blind for her when it's cold. Otherwise, she is in a brush blind. I do cuts around her trying to push a deer past her and my granddaughter. This is the first year that she has hunted a lot with me. Took almost 50 years to get her in the woods but worth it.

Report, deer aplenty in the area, but someones fresh tracks were in the spot I was intending to hunt. So Ill try again tomorrow.

Read the sign, play the wind invest in a Rancho Safari Long Coat and a Double Bull seat..... Excellent !!!!!! Not nearly as successful as a tree stand but great adventure !!!

Shortly after this photo I had a doe straight on in front of me about thirty yards. I was standing in a crouched position in front of the stool. She could not pick me out. Big tree behind me breaking up my outline. I split time between trees and ground now, but ground gets more time each passing year.

This is my 2nd year totally ground hunting, I just find a bush or some brush around a tree big enough to hang my seat on with good back cover and little front cover. Amazing how close they will get, my only problem is you need to be ready to take a shot the first chance you get cause it don't take em long bust when they figure there's more than shrubbery sitting there. Have had quite a few walk by and not even notice me also. It is a fun thing to do if you don't mind be humbled now and again.

I have ground hunted since 2007, I have a double bull blind that I bought in 2007 when I had a knee injury. It's great for reading and goofing off until something wanders by but I don't care for it, although I can see where it might be fun in a year or so when some young grandsons get a little older. I still hunt either exclusively or in between suitable cover or hides that I either run up on or have previously prepared.

Getting alot of action,but so far only one shot. Its fun and the adrnalin rush is as good as it gets. There are so many deer in the area I am hunting it looks like a cattle yard. Had two bucks come in on me at this watch within 5 min of each other. A 6 pt through here...

And a forkie through here, but that is where I came through to get on stand and he didnt like the smell of my footprints in the snow. Watched him sniff around in that spot for a few minutes. No shot offered at 25 yds. There was a huge fresh scrape about 15 feet from him.

This one.

This is the lane they have to walk through if they go by. Neither one did but they started toward it before sensing danger.

I tried a store bought blind a few years ago, let it set out a month before season, brushed it in a little, deer still seemed nervous around it.

I think whitetail deer know what does and doesn't belong in their normal range. I think a pop up blind is as obvious to a deer in his enviroment as it would be to you setting in your front yard.

Frustrating posting from phone and getting sideways pics, sorry.

Ghilly suit and natural ground branches etc. to build blinds. I like Oak branches as the leaves stay on forever, as well as pine and cedar. Like Rick said Ghilly suits not good walking in thick cover. Joel

I found a spot under some old apple orchard trees and big old white pines that was the site of someone's Double Bull blind. It was a heavy duty canvas blind with multiple openings to shoot from, and placed in another heavily used area by deer, but no one was in it all weekend. It is on a privately owned Fish and Game Club land that butts up against State game land. I had the place to myself all weekend (except for one guy's fresh tracks along the edge of another private property that I was planning on checking out the last evening). I could have used that blind all weekend. But I thought, I don't like the looks of this thing, don't like the fact that it is some commercial commodity, and I'd rather find a natural spot and use that. As it was, I saw plenty of deer, a couple bucks, and although I didn't get shot at one, nothing guarantees I'd have gotten one from that blind either. Besides, it wasn't mine. But the point is, I would rather use something natural already there. And when I did, I saw deer.

This is the first 'blind' I found last weekend. It was a pit formed by an uprooted tree, on a sidehill overlooking a huge berry patch that contained alot of tracks and beds. Several sets of large tracks led down into it off the hilltop state land above, probably heading into areas where many doe were feeding. I was a tad late to this root pit so I only stayed there a half hour, calling. Nothing showed so I went down into the bottoms where I got into the heavily used area. I scattered deer all over the place. Once I held up in another natural blind spot, I started seeing deer.

The first root pit. I'll be baaaaaack...

Another spot, with a view. All around that beaver pond is thickets just full of deer sign...scrapes, rubs, beds, and trails all throughout. This place needs some serious herd thinning. This is the last week of regular bow season before the gunners run them into an adrenalin froth though, so I'm going back one or two evenings after work. Was foggy and dank, bone chilling cold this morning. Wish I could have gone.

This is right on the edge of the state land, not far from the Double Bull blind. Lots of tracks coming from the bedding areas in there down into the old apple orchards feeding araea. Great places in there to hide and wait. Lots of brushy cover and hidin' spots. Hope this picture posts upright.

Buck tracks imo...

State land behind this wall. Its primitive up there. All alone, weird owls shrieking and hooting at dusk, fisher tracks in the pines, and a buttload of grouse tracks in the snow that I subsequently flushed walking through there. Couldn't have been any more remore and primordial if I was in the intermountain or Pacific Northwest.

Hey Roger, here I am facing the 'right' way. Another rootwad opportunistic blind.

This is my 5 year hunting just on the ground, I have been lucky to connect each year with a harvest. I do not use any type of blind or material, just what nature has provided. Though I still believe you cannot beat the view from a treestand, I do feel added advantage's from hunting on the ground. First, by using natural blinds, the game are already use to them, as long as play the wind no issue's. Two, the ability to have a better angle on shot placement to me is a benefit. Third, this to me is the biggest, the ability to move or shift. Three times, I have had game browsing and by using woodsmanship, ability to close the distance and harvest, instead of just watching game pass out of range from a stand. To me, this is more of a connection with the hunt. Yes, it is and can be harder, but that is the point, the become more in tune with nature. It is not for everyone, like stalking. But, when it does come together, the feeling for me is more satisfying.

Here is where I was standing when I called in the forkie. 20 minutes after I got there with continuous bleating, he came in from the left, behind that thick hemlock and stood in an opening broadside at 12 yds. I shot, but hit a twig that I didn't see hanging in front of the heart area. If not for that I'd have surely brought him home I believe.

I don't use a blind. I hide in tall grass and woods edges but never actually build a blind.

Joe

Joe, you mean like this? ;^)

I like cedars, they block wind, smell nice, have low branches that spread nice, they are considered to be an invasive species. My wife used three cedars to shoot three deer in three years. A perfect blind. My deer last year was extra dumb luck, I was changing sitting locations and we crossed paths, no blind, no tree, nothing, just me and the young buck.

One other theory, I am sure that someone else has presented, is plant life and scent control. We all know that wind moves like water through the terrain and woods. The theory is that a great many of the "green" vegetation, blocks/masks human scent as it moves through. It stands to reason that many of the scent "product spray" is made with plant material that absorbs or help mask human scent, so the same plants will work in natural world. Hence, why a deer can "pick" one off in December from scent, that would not in October. Without a doubt, if your scent get's blown to a deer they will flee. But I see this as an added bonus for hunting on the ground.

I like a good brush blind and I dont spare the brush when I make them, but I've killed deer sitting on logs with my back against a tree, or just standing agaisnt them. I'll generally stick something up in front of me if there's something handy, but other times I don't. Gun season opens here Saturday and I like to move around and hunt differen't escape routes and I'll sit, or stand in relatively open woods at times to take advantage of deer being moved by the gun hunters. As long as I have some back cover, I'm happy.

I went over behind the house to the area where that last rootwad pic was taken for the last hour of light tonight. There are large hemlocks that line the rise of hardwoods along the swampy circumferance. Their branches hang down forming a canopy and provide cover and openings to shoot through. I found a large hemlock trunk to stand next to with good zones to shoot through and began bleating. I was only 50 feet from the rootwad. I called for half hour. Finally, as it was getting to be last light I heard a stick break in the direction he came form last time. I kept bleating and I heard footsteps. He emerged and I saw a ghostly black form of a large dark deer body 25 yds away, broadside. He paused for 30 secs., then took a step or two forward. His head and neck was obscured by a fat tree, but his shoulders back were in my line of fire. But there was a problem. It was now too dark in that black hemlock woods to see for a clear shot. If only 10 minutes prior, I'd have been able to see bim clearly for a great shot. I didnt want to chance it so I never drew back. I bleated a few,more times but he just walked off in the other direction unaware of me, fortunately. I never spooked him. His body is large for a forkie if its the same deer. Probably is, so I may get a shot at him yet. Fun short hunt to say the least. To me, its the reason I ground hunt, for the rush.

I have zero interest in hunting from a tent or treestand. Have I been silhouetted? sure. Have I been winded? you betcha. I try to use natural cover, and position myself with some kind of obstacle to my back so that nothing sneaks up behind me. Sometimes a even wear a blind...

Cool. I bought one last spring but haven't tried it yet. Never too late tho. May go for it tomorrow. You look pretty,concealed out there in the open.

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