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The Official Ground Hunting Thread

I've killed 2 does in the past week from the ground still hunting/scouting with my 300 win mag, first one I was just behind a tree, second one I was standing on a ridge checking out a fresh scrape when they came up the side of the ridge, both times I was wearing my sniper ghillie hood it's called. First kills still hunting but usually by this time of the year I do alot of ground hunting cause I get bored just sitting in a tree.
 
I took this guy off the ground on Halloween. I fully intended to be in my saddle in a tree that was already set up but after getting to the woods in the morning the wind flipped opposite so I did a ground assault. After a few rattles and grunts he came in quartered towards me and started getting twitchy. Not my favorite shot but I put it thru the chest and out the ribs, went 50 yds. 3rd nice buck from the ground. Twice as exciting I think.
That is a stud!
 
Not my biggest buck but by far the longest brows Ive gotten. Now way of truly aging him without teeth samples but sadly body wise he looked young once I walked up to him, of course on hoof he looked GIANT! Hopefully he got some genes out before I met him
I feel like deer look bigger on the hoof when you're hunting on the ground too. My first archery deer from the ground I shot I thought was a big doe only to find a little button buck at the end of my blood trail. I thought someone had switched my deer out.
 
I got my gun buck from the ground in fairly open hardwoods on opening morning of gun season..We do have terrain here in upstate NY though,that helps. He had the biggest rack,decent mass but not crazy. His body to me didnt match his antlers,but maybe the body was well proportioned and looked smaller because of that? It is damn tricky to age a deer by looks only. The rack said 3.5 years old all day.
I will have to buy a scale for next season,that will tell me if it was big or not. My archery buck seemed just as big as this one but was a fork horn.
Congrats on a great kill!
 
I use the Millenium M300 tree seat. Hangs on the base of the tree pretty much like a climbing stick does and flips out. is very comfortable and stable if done right. A little awkward to carry with the supplied strap but i replaced that with an old padded sling and carry it on one shoulder. Great for gun hunting. I shot a deer yesterday morning out of it on a State Park reduction hunt.
 
I made the mistake of forgetting my turkey chair. They are a game changer for ground hunting. Gets just off the ground just enough, has a good back rest, and is low enough to the ground to hide your profile. Nutter is 100% right, you get picked a lot more often or they freeze you.
Hopefully has a good back rest. Don't have much gear as I'm just starting out and I went on my first trip couple weeks ago. My buddy had a pop-up blind and a small turkey hunting chair that he kindly let me use and man, that was rough for the first few hours. He was looking for a tree stand he knew was nearby but it was dark of course so I set that up. About an hr after daylight I had to pee something fierce so I went away from the blind and after peeing I went back to my blind to find I was setup in the blind about 20 yards from the stand. Ended up sitting in the stand the rest of the day. No luck personally but was a great first trip.
 
Killed all my deer from the ground.

Couple of things:

Hunting from the ground is hard for "trophy" hunters. You see a deer you better shoot that deer, because they are going to bust you one way or another.

This year I shot an 8 pt straight through the brisket on the ground, right as he was getting nervous and ready to bound away. Then his big brother jumped out from behind some thick stuff and ran away!

A cedar tree or some other soft wood tree is deadly. The shadows and over head cover break up your outline better than just about anything else.

Deer will bust you coming in from the side...if you hear a noise don't go ripping your head around to move. Usually on the right wind if their behind you they are down wind and are going to freak out anyways.

Most of the times I have been busted it was because I moved and they were on the side of me or behind me. Best to have your best cover behind you.

Deer will bust you a lot no matter the camo, cover or hiding spot. It's like they can hear your heart beating! Actually I think that when they are like 10 ft away they can just smell that good no matter the wind direction.

It's actually quite freeing, I've got a 2lb chair and a 2lb tripod for my crossbow and I can hunt just about anywhere my heart desires. It's the ultimate in portable hunting. Plus whatever I don't like i can just move 10' over.

It's very hard with kids, wife, or in experienced hunters. They can't sit still and don't remember to look with their eyes before they move any part of their body.
 
I'm looking at picking up one of these hammock seats. My brother has the original one. They have since updated it. Can't be any more uncomfortable than a tripod stool after a few hours. I picked up a crossbow specifically for ground hunting this season. I know it can be done with a compound but it's not easy. I'm really just trying to simplify things and enjoy the hunt and worry less about gear. Another thing that i've looked at is a leafy suit top to pack in just throw on over whatever layers underneath.

 
I run a leafy suit. I built my own ghille, but it's just to cumbersome. If you want to ambush deer you need to be able to see things out of the corners of your eyes and with a ghille suit you need to much material on the side of your house to break up your shoulder outline. It might work better if you want to stalk a deer that you have spotted (Untamed style)

I tried one of the ghost blinds, but I think that every one is using them wrong. If a deer comes in and is between say 10-2 or 9-3 you will see it. It's just your natural eye placement and our tendencies to pick out movement very well. Where deer bust you on the ground, is coming in from your back or side and you get caught with a little move (let's be honest your picking your head up from looking at your phone).

If you ran the ghost blind from back so that the opening is in front of you, I think your better off.

I like a tripod stool for packability, bit I like to have good feet on it, so that it doesn't sink into soft ground. Something with a backrest is nice too if you plan on sitting for a while.

The tripod is nice because your crossbow or gun is right at the ready and a lot less movement when you see an animal.

This last year I really got a kick out of going into places I had never been (but was familiar with that public land peice) in the dark in the morning. I got on a lot of deer doing this. It is kind Intimidating at first, but after a while knowing that you have the ability to go into a piece in the dark and get on deer is an awesome confidence booster.

Note: This fell apart in Ohio with the goddman green briar! Haha. Its also really difficult with a wife or kids. They don't like thrashing around in the dark much. LOL. But hey my 9 year old son can navigate a public peice he's never been on, in the dark with onx and a compass. That's worth something right there.
 
I've killed several deer at a creek that had about a six foot bank on one side and leveled out to a flat at the bottom of a big draw on the other side that had a little trickle of a stream in the middle of it. I dug a seat in the bank and a small hole for my feet. I sat in the open and the deer would come out of the gulley or from the west into the flat and I was completely exposed with the bank behind me. It felt really weird to have deer that close, some within 12 yards and not seeing me. I would wait until they were past me for a quartering away shot before drawing. I took several nice does and 2 good bucks in that spot and one buck was while wearing orange with the 12 gauge. I watched a lot of deer from there without once being busted.
 
Never hunted from the ground before. How does uneven terrain play into picking a spot to sit? Do you want to be on high ground or bottom of the ravine. I understand you need to play the wind, but what's a good plan when its hill country?
 
I got a deer this last fall sitting on a downed tree at the upper ridge of a creek bottom. I was low enough on the hill that I wasn’t skylined, but other than that this are was pretty open with a few skinny trees breaking up the areas between the larger ones. The deer came down the opposite side and got to about 25 yards, didn’t know I was there till he had a copper slug passing through his body.
 
Black contractor trash bag folds up to nothing and besides keeping ur butt off the wet ground it has lots of other uses out in the woods also. I always have 1 with me in case I feel I need to sit on the ground...99% of the time the ground is moist where I'm hunting. I've killed 1 off the ground, hit 1 but never recovered, and whiffed on 1 deer + 1 hog. My success rate is lower from the ground vs elevated in a tree but it's more exciting off the ground IMO.
 
The one buck I got this year was walking back out to the truck as I came out of a creek bed. He was 20 yds and didnt see me. I didnt see any deer from the saddle that day.
 
It's getting colder and the wind howling around your backside in a saddle can bring some cold, miserable hunts so I decided to resurrect this thread.

I enjoy hunting from the ground and do so on most of my hunts. The saddle is fine hanging low with feet on the ground but there are definitely more useful, packable and comfortable options.

The Waldrop Pac Seat is comfortable and useful but can break the bank. A bucket is useful but uncomfortable. There are a myriad of hunting blind chairs that are useful too but clunky to carry.

Hammock chairs have been discussed on here in the past but I've never used one until the past couple of hunts. They are incredibly comfortable!! They pack down to about the size of an aerosol spray can and only weigh a couple pounds. I bought a cheapo off Amazon for around $36 and changed out the plastic buckle in the back with a more durable option. I liked the Amazon one so much I ended up buying one from Fanatic Outdoors called "Low Down Hunting Seat." I haven't received it yet but it looks more durable and functional than the Amazon option and I have nothing bad to say about the Amazon one besides the cheap buckle attachment.

I have zero affiliation with these companies and chairs, I just like to share with others when things work. The hammock chairs might give ya a couple other options when you want to pack deep, go light and be ultra comfortable.

The Waldrop is probably the most versatile but I'd say the hammock chair is the most comfortable for me when a tree or fence post is available to attach it to.
 
It's getting colder and the wind howling around your backside in a saddle can bring some cold, miserable hunts so I decided to resurrect this thread.

I enjoy hunting from the ground and do so on most of my hunts. The saddle is fine hanging low with feet on the ground but there are definitely more useful, packable and comfortable options.

The Waldrop Pac Seat is comfortable and useful but can break the bank. A bucket is useful but uncomfortable. There are a myriad of hunting blind chairs that are useful too but clunky to carry.

Hammock chairs have been discussed on here in the past but I've never used one until the past couple of hunts. They are incredibly comfortable!! They pack down to about the size of an aerosol spray can and only weigh a couple pounds. I bought a cheapo off Amazon for around $36 and changed out the plastic buckle in the back with a more durable option. I liked the Amazon one so much I ended up buying one from Fanatic Outdoors called "Low Down Hunting Seat." I haven't received it yet but it looks more durable and functional than the Amazon option and I have nothing bad to say about the Amazon one besides the cheap buckle attachment.

I have zero affiliation with these companies and chairs, I just like to share with others when things work. The hammock chairs might give ya a couple other options when you want to pack deep, go light and be ultra comfortable.

The Waldrop is probably the most versatile but I'd say the hammock chair is the most comfortable for me when a tree or fence post is available to attach it to.

So I been pondering this… maybe the saddle isn’t as comfortable on the ground as a hammock chair but would you rather hide behind the tree than sit in front of it? (Apparently not)
 
So I been pondering this… maybe the saddle isn’t as comfortable on the ground as a hammock chair but would you rather hide behind the tree than sit in front of it? (Apparently not)
I prefer the least amount of obstructions in front of me on the ground but I set up with back cover usually covering my whole outline. Most of my ground set ups resemble a tunnel with one side of the "tunnel" my chair and the other side the trail or field edge I expect the deer to step into. Setting up with the sun at your back seems to help too (try to face west in the morning and east at night or sit in a shadow). I usually set up on a trail/field edge and will have a clear unobstructed shooting lane in at least one area.
Stillness equals comfort and that's probably the biggest caveat of ground hunting. I had a nice buck come by last night at 25 yds and I was in full blaze orange with my either sex tags filled :neutral:.
 
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I love ground hunting as well. Been doing a lot of it this year. I prefer hard cover of some sort off to my left side. I’m trying to set up so everything passes from left to right. Either side works, but being a righty, I prefer the left. I want at least one side of me no matter what to be super low percentage as far as anything approaching from that direction. Harder cover gives me something to get behind to ready for a shot……tree, thicker foliage, doesn’t matter. It’s about being able to make a quick adjustment as a shot develops.

Personally, I prefer cover in most all directions. I want a view, but I also want to be hidden and not have to feel like a statue.
 
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