Success from the ground

[SD_Bowhunter]

I think being open to hunting on the ground in farm country can be a game changer. Most of the best bedding I have found in farm country (I hunt South Dakota) is where there a few trees big enough for a stand and even if there are trees they are not where you need to be set up to kill. Another benefit that I have found is the ability to hunt more than two beds per day (morning and evening sit). There are several areas where I have found bedding that is dispersed over several hundred acres of fairly open terrain with pockets of trees, small willows or cattail. In the afternoon I will go on a slow ground hunting in the areas and slowly work my way from one potential bedding location to the next based on the wind. Having scouted these areas and knowing where the beds are allows me to get to glassing points and observe the potential bedding and then make a move if I can see the deer or if I cant slowly stalk my way into bow range. Since bedding in farm country seems to be a bit more sporadic I feel it optimizes my time afield in the fall when I am only out for the weekend.

[deer365]

This thread has been a great read. It's taken me all day to get thru it but has been well worth it. I plan to really implement ground hunting into my setups this year. I just bought a leafy suit and a turkey stool and have been practicing shooting off of it in the backyard. I plan to carry it on sits where I'm going in blind or more less scouting my way in. But I also plan on really trying to target areas that have very few climbable trees and focus lots of my scouting efforts there. I feel that the less trees an area holds the less hunters it will hold

[Lockdown]

This thread has been a great read. It's taken me all day to get thru it but has been well worth it. I plan to really implement ground hunting into my setups this year. I just bought a leafy suit and a turkey stool and have been practicing shooting off of it in the backyard. I plan to carry it on sits where I'm going in blind or more less scouting my way in. But I also plan on really trying to target areas that have very few climbable trees and focus lots of my scouting efforts there. I feel that the less trees an area holds the less hunters it will hold

I have a couple parcels that rarely get bowhunted by other people because they’re treeless and open. If you look through my journal, I found a nice bedding area on an island this spring. The closest tree big enough for a stand is probably 1/3 mile away, and there aren’t hardly any thickets in that area either. It’s either wet cattails or CRP/brome grass. It wouldn’t surprise me if it doesn’t get touched during gun season either. I’m sure it looks like nothing to most hunters...

[deer365]

Spots like that can be a hidden gem. I'm looking so forward to doing some ground hunting this year. It's going to be my go to for going in blind for sure.

[jnwalsh]

Last season I was after a decent buck in my area that was hopping in between a few different small woodlots in SE WI. These woodlots are probably between 10-20 acres in size, surrounded on all sides by wide open crop fields. Due to the wet spring/summer, the particular woodlot i targeted was surrounded by a light cover crop of winter wheat that was planted to minimize erosion, meaning the wheat was never harvested or tilled under in the fall.

The buck i was after would bed in a SW corner of the woodlot facing the winter wheat field to the west and main access lane used by farm equipment. Usually with an east wind at his back so he could smell the woodlot behind him. Really difficult to get anywhere near the woodlot without alerting the deer due to the amount of open field you need to cover to get to the woodlot. An east wind is rare in this area during the fall, so i waited a week or more for the right wind before going in.



Attached is a basic outline of what I was working with. The red star is the general area where the buck would bed. My plan was to crouch and slowly approach the woodlot through the winter wheat field from the NW over a few hours. There was some dead scrub brush about 60 yards off the woodlot in the winter wheat field. The buck would usually travel NE at last light. I figured if i could get to this scrub brush, it was enough to conceal me if the buck were to get up and head NW that evening.

My plan worked better than i thought. I had deer up and moving around in the woodlot and into the winter wheat field later in the evening, but the buck never showed.

[Zephyrus]

Great thread!
I only ground hunt, and this has been an amazing read with fantastic testimonials and descriptions of ground setups.
Bumping so I can find it again!!

[Burningbootleather]

I started ground hunting a lot when I made the realization that I had “luck” walking up on deer while making all kinds of noise scouting. I have a very unorthodox method for ground hunting in the rut. John Sloan is a big influence to my style of ground hunting. I decided to listen to him when he said “run at a deer if it sees you. Many times it will circle down wind and still in range wondering what the heck you are” and he was right. Especially if you stomp like a deer, grunt, rustle the leaves like you’re scraping, etc.

I walked up on a doe walking out of a swamp yesterday. It was thick.. she saw my movement. Sprinted about five yards and I “maaaaa’d” like a fawn. She didn’t move. A mom and her baby shortly walked right up to me. Saw me at 10 yards. Ran to 20 and just curiously looked at me until casually walking away.

I haven’t killed a deer from a deer stand since 2013 but will start stand hunting again this year. I’ve encountered plenty of mature bucks from the ground.. many I likely wouldn’t have seen from a fixed position in a stand. The biggest kill being a 158” 10 point

[wolverinebuckman]

I walked up on a doe walking out of a swamp yesterday. It was thick.. she saw my movement. Sprinted about five yards and I “maaaaa’d” like a fawn. She didn’t move. A mom and her baby shortly walked right up to me. Saw me at 10 yards. Ran to 20 and just curiously looked at me until casually walking away.

This reminds me of a hunt I had one night in the tall marsh grasses of southeast Michigan. It was the yellowish type switchgrass that grows about 3 ft tall. I could see bedding all over in the area, and so I pulled out a little stool I made and leaned up against a gnarly little tree. A doe came in to within 10 to 15 ft, was startled when she seen me, but still only went out to maybe 25 yards and stared back. There were several times I could have shot her, if that's what I'd wanted. I can only imagine how exciting that is with a big buck!

[Billdogge]

I'm thinking of doing more ground bow hunting this year. Anyone else thinking of doing the same?

[burtle]

sorry if this is a little long winded.

So far I have been strictly a ground hunter. Partially because I don't own a treestand, mostly because I enjoy the super close encounters. Last season was my fist bow season(though several gun seasons) and I decided to build a ghillie suit. I could write an entire thread on ghillie suits but I'll spare you. I'm not a big buck killer(yet) like some of the guys on here, but I have had some great encounters while wearing the ghillie and I recommend making one. I've yet to see an off the shelf ghillie that holds up to the amount of abuse I put mine through or looks as good, or can be tailored/repaired to fit my situation/needs(plus it was cheap, as long as you have the time to put into making one).

A lot of my setups were blind sits last year as I was hunting new public and decided to get back into hunting late in the year, so my success was limited. With the ghillie I do not feel the need to construct a ground blind and in fact avoid doing so because I've seen many deer avoid them as well. Sitting next to a bit of brush or even against a tree has done plenty to conceal me. The biggest benefit for me in ground hunting is the ability to be mobile and be aggressive. I will not hesitate to move if I get bumped by another hunter or stalk down a deer that may be out of range if I have terrain/wind that is in my favor. These two options would take much more time if I had to climb out of a tree to do so.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you are in the thick stuff on the ground, the shots will often be quick and you will have to be able to make a shot through small holes in the brush. I practice in the off season by obscuring my target with brush, making several 2-5'' holes between branches. I practice putting arrows through these holes in the brush out to 40 yards standing, sitting, kneeling, and in every variation of bent over/leaning/uncomfortable position. I don't use a seat or stool, just move any branches or leaves from where I am sitting so that if I need to reposition for a shot I can do so quietly. If you haven't hunted from the ground I highly recommend giving it a try, it's loads of fun.

How did you make your suit? Can you post pictures of it? Where did you get the material ? I have bought two different suit and they were both garbage. Every sticker bush and other smaller limbs would get stuck in the suits as I walked and I'm sure deer could here me from 400 yards away. I'd like to make one i just don't know where to start.

[Lockdown]

Should have added my ground kill from last season. If anyone has any ground kills, post em!



With some luck i’ll add another tomorrow

[Lockdown]

I'm thinking of doing more ground bow hunting this year. Anyone else thinking of doing the same?

Always!

Marshbuster was already in on a big one from the ground this year. And Dhd killed a doe from the ground last night.

People need to leave their stand at home and get in on the fun!

[A5BLASTER]

I'm thinking of doing more ground bow hunting this year. Anyone else thinking of doing the same?

I do some every year during the gun season and our second breeding phase. Great time in my area to get super aggressive, I'm talking super load aggressive grunts, snort wesse's wearing out a rattle bag. Basically moving almost non stop making it sound like 2 monsters are trying to take over a area.

I pack my 12 inch ar grendel when I do this, makes for some up close and personal encounters.

[MichiganMike]

Heres a guy I came across a while back on YouTube about Ground hunting. Very unique approach and has some pretty cool ground kill footage. Let me know what you guys think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Rw9XYIFnU

[burtle]

Heres a guy I came across a while back on YouTube about Ground hunting. Very unique approach and has some pretty cool ground kill footage. Let me know what you guys think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Rw9XYIFnU

That’s a good video. My problem is sitting on the ground long term it’s so uncomfortable. I might grab a cushion this year and try that.