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The Official Ground Hunting Thread

Welp. It's after season wrapup but I finally got around to solving the problem I've had the past 2 years when sitting on the ground... where do I put my phone? Not generally on the phone when I'm out in the woods. However, I do feel the need to check whenever the thing buzzes because it could be Mama needing a realtime answer or it could be the hunting buddy I'm out in the woods with communicating that a group of does is heading my way. When the phone is inside a muff, pants pocket, or breast pocket I have to dig it out and that involves a lot of movement. When it's locked in the chair mount I fixed up, it is directly in the way if I needed to pivot in the chair for an off-side shot with a bow. So I fashioned up the bungee strap below as a way of making the phone readily accessible but not in the way. Now I can glance down at it when a buzz comes in and figure out whether it's necessary to respond or not all without having to move at all. I can also pivot in the chair for that off-side shot or even drop from the chair to my knees without the phone falling on the ground.
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I went back out after the thaw yesterday and made a big loop in the swamp. Several roads I tried were blocked by downed trees. I finally found a good spot to park and start out. I found several rub and scrape lines I did not know about so that area will be thoroughly tromped down next month when I start my 2024 intensive scouting. I ended up hunting a spot off the ground in the Packseat that covered a very tight pinch point that consisted of a hillside trail with a pine thicket to one side and a big blown down treetop to the other.

Anything that uses that trail will have to come through that one spot. I set up in freestanding mode amongst the blowdown. The wind was right and also any thermals coming down of the hill late evening were cooperating too. I had on Scentlok as well, so I felt pretty confident. The distance from my location to the trail was about 7 or 8 yards. Yes, if anything came down the trail they would be in my lap. Luckily, with this setup, I should be able to hear or see them approach beforehand and get ready. I was hunting again with the Northern Mist longbow and Douglas fir arrows.

About 4:40 I saw two black hogs come down the hillside from the pine thicket and hit the trail. Unfortunately, they went East and headed away from me. That was all the excitement for the evening. The rain is moving in today with temps rising so I hopefully will be back out pretty soon. I have until the end of the month to chase these deer.
 

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Anyone have any tips on placing and setting ground blind? Got one so wife can come hunting and we’re gonna put it on my in-law small private tract.
 
Put it out well ahead of when you plan to hunt, stake it down really well so it doesn't blow away, and brush it in with natural vegetation. Try to tuck it back so it does not just stand out. Then check it for red wasps and snakes before you take your wife in it.

The few I used to put out I would also go out and spray the ground inside well ahead of time with permethrin. Clean out the interior down to bare dirt. Early season tent blinds can be red bug condos in the South.
 
Well, another fun ground hunt today. I took the longbow and Packseat and headed out. I donned the hip waders today and managed to get past some of the sloughs that were impassible two days ago. I went all told about 1.2 miles deep before I soft bumped two doe. I did my usual routine of turkey calling and scratching to throw them off and then set up quickly in the hopes they would return. This was around 2 pm. I realized somewhere along the sit that I had forgotten to bring along either of my main flashlights for the walk out. Over a mile back and having to cross sloughs that nearly overtop waders did not sound like such a good plan with the tiny backup light I keep in the Packseat's fanny pack so I decided that at 4:30 I would start slip hunting my way out.

This worked out pretty well as I made a big loop headed back toward the truck with the wind in my face. A couple of hundred yards from the road I started to see really fresh hog sign. Smoking hot, to the point I really slowed down and stalked the last distance out. As I exited the woods onto a narrow field, I caught sight of the piggies. They were out in the stubble field. I eased out and started my stalk. I got to within 40 yards and I could feel the wind on the back of my neck. Dangit! They took off. I went up and started snorting in an effort to coax them back. One stayed just inside the brush and grunted and snapped back at me. That was fun.

I then left the field and started walking the logging road back to the truck. Along the way, not 200 yards for the truck I bumped two big pigs out of the ditch. They looked like 30 gallon drums. Big hogs! I think we surprised each other. I had the wind in my favor this time and so after easing up onto a dirt ledge above the lane I readied the bow and made some aggressive grunts and squeals. One big one circled around and I could hear him in the weeds, but he just would not come out. Light was fading quickly now so I stopped messing with the pigs and eased back to the truck.

What a fun day. Man, I really want to get a good hog with my longbow. I felt like I was Robert Carter for a minute there.
 

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Ave Maria pass on the last morning of season. I only had about an hour to hunt and I initially thought he was part of a trio of does, but he was with two buttons and when he came in, I kinda just got the tickle. That “shoot eem” tickle. I like venison and though I’d resigned myself to 3YO bucks or better, that tickle came over me so hard that I got surging buck fever from this 1.5YO. So I shot him.
I actually made a low shot at first, looked like heart but down by a couple inches (or so I thought). Came back after 4 hours and lots of chores, he was still alive with two broken front legs, leaking all over the woods, and (I found out later) had a small gash in the outer muscle of his heart. So I left him for another 4 hours and took care of more honeydo, then went back out a half hour before sunset to the gps tag where I last saw him. I circled around and told my neighbor “he should be within 30 yds to your right” and before I could look that way or finish my sentence, my neighbor said “there he is” and he was maybe ten steps away. He stood-ish up, couldn’t get his bearings, and I prepped to shoot him when he passed to my left but he didn’t stop until he crashed about 40 yds away into a dry creek bed. I stalked maybe 20 yds and he freaked, stumbled again, so my neighbor flanked him from a wider path and got to my 12:00 on the opposite creek bank, effectively pinning the buck between us at 20/20 yds. I got to where I could see him laying and trying to make his legs work, distracted by my neighbor who was now just outside my downrange, and the buck turned just enough for me to loose a second bolt through both lungs and out the base of his neck. He died 3 minutes later and I gutted him fresh.
I’m stoked on him. Not the quality placement I thought the initial shot and blood trail indicated, that deer lived for 8+ hours and 200 yds with two broken legs, a hole in his brisket, and a gash in the wall of his heart. I am forever thankful that I was able to get a second shot in him and that almost 100% of the meat is salvageable. I also thought he was a spike but it turns out he was a dink-8 with two broken points lol. I think I’ll name him “The Big 8”…My oldest daughter wants to put his skull on her dresser. Totally cool. As always, I recovered him while wearing the @Jefferson10940 special under my plaid.

Oh, and fun fact: this was my first season tagging out. Bucket list item checked. 44E9BC40-B432-407F-A61D-93F162E662E9.jpeg7CD02A94-1376-414F-8EC7-9389C3C5E0BD.jpeg75B3C33A-359F-4CDD-8672-9FDCA0E253EA.jpeg
 
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DelaWhere_Arrow said:
Ave Maria pass on the last morning of season. I only had about an hour to hunt and I initially thought he was part of a trio of does, but he was with two buttons and when he came in, I kinda just got the tickle. That “shoot eem” tickle. I like venison and though I’d resigned myself to 3YO bucks or better, that tickle came over me so hard that I got surging buck fever from this 1.5YO. So I shot him.
I actually made a low shot at first, looked like heart but down by a couple inches (or so I thought). Came back after 4 hours and lots of chores, he was still alive with two broken front legs, leaking all over the woods, and (I found out later) had a small gash in the outer muscle of his heart. So I left him for another 4 hours and took care of more honeydo, then went back out a half hour before sunset to the gps tag where I last saw him. I circled around and told my neighbor “he should be within 30 yds to your right” and before I could look that way or finish my sentence, my neighbor said “there he is” and he was maybe ten steps away. He stood-ish up, couldn’t get his bearings, and I prepped to shoot him when he passed to my left but he didn’t stop until he crashed about 40 yds away into a dry creek bed. I stalked maybe 20 yds and he freaked, stumbled again, so my neighbor flanked him from a wider path and got to my 12:00 on the opposite creek bank, effectively pinning the buck between us at 20/20 yds. I got to where I could see him laying and trying to make his legs work, distracted by my neighbor who was now just outside my downrange, and the buck turned just enough for me to loose a second bolt through both lungs and out the base of his neck. He died 3 minutes later and I gutted him fresh.
I’m stoked on him. Not the quality placement I thought the initial shot and blood trail indicated, that deer lived for 8+ hours and 200 yds with two broken legs, a hole in his brisket, and a gash in the wall of his heart. I am forever thankful that I was able to get a second shot in him and that almost 100% of the meat is salvageable. I also thought he was a spike but it turns out he was a dink-8 with two broken points lol. I think I’ll name him “The Big 8”…My oldest daughter wants to put his skull on her dresser. Totally cool. As always, I recovered him while wearing the @Jefferson10940 special under my plaid.

Oh, and fun fact: this was my first season tagging out. Bucket list item checked. View attachment 99486View attachment 99487View attachment 99489
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Congrats. Great story! Nice buck!
 
Iron_llama said:
Mammals are both heartbreakingly fragile, and impressively durable. Heck of a story.
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The blood was so red, and it was freaking everywhere.
TBH I think I much prefer shooting deer from an elevated position. I like seeing them at eye level, but I like having an exit wound that’s lower than the entry, and I feel like the closer ranges are more forgiving (10-20 yds) from a tree because the arrow is dropping more than it’s arcing. I feel like I can aim lower on the animal from elevation, whereas my personal experience is that I have to aim like it’s a 3D target from the ground.
I dunno if the physics gel, that’s just my Dollar Tree PhD thesis.
I’m eternally impressed by the resilience of deer, and I’ll say it over and over: these Ohio deer are built differently. They’re all brick sh**houses, every last one of them. This buck weighed about 160-180# on the hoof, as much as I weigh, and I could not have taken any part of a 1.5” Grim Reaper at 325fps and made it more than a step before I was toast. I was just hoping he would hang out in that one bed until I could relieve him of the coyote-driven nightmare that was just a few hours into his future. He lost so much blood, there was almost 0 in his body cavity when I gutted him. Even the second shot only made him cough a little bit, and he died from loss of breath more than loss of blood.
 
bigcat93 said:
Anyone ever see this before?

www.tatonka.com

Backpack with seat - Petri Chair - Tatonka

Petri Chair from Tatonka • Backpack with integrated stool • 35 liters volume • For hiking, festivals, fishing etc.
www.tatonka.com www.tatonka.com
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I've seen several hiking/camping companies producing a backpack seat like that. Poor man's Packseat. Might not be a bad idea if you can live with the solid color.
 
katiesmom said:
I've seen several hiking/camping companies producing a backpack seat like that. Poor man's Packseat. Might not be a bad idea if you can live with the solid color.
Click to expand...

I have one made by Gigatent(?) I think. It is camo with a thicker, cooler type compartment. No back though.

I'm still finding it hard to beat a nice folding seat with a back. I use a tripod version like a Double Bull. Straps to my pack just fine.
 
Sam Switalski said:
For all my ground hunters keep your eyes peeled for our new ground seat! The Stolek (polish for stool/chair)

Next level comfort and packability!

Coming in the next 6ish weeks

Theamsteelguy.com
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Jump over to the vendor section and give us some details
 
Sam Switalski said:
For all my ground hunters keep your eyes peeled for our new ground seat! The Stolek (polish for stool/chair)

Next level comfort and packability!

Coming in the next 6ish weeks

Theamsteelguy.com
Click to expand...
It requires a tree, as in does not have legs, is that correct?
 

The Stolek Mobile Ground Chair (TM)

Hello everyone, This thread was requested about our new mobile ground chair called the Stolek! We just filmed a little video on how everything works and will post asap! Meanwhile I figured I could post some pictures and info. Dimensions •Width: 20” •Height (when packed): 18” •Attachment...
saddlehunter.com
 
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