How?

[deerhunter10]

How would I go about bow hunting off the ground? What would be some things I need to do? My budget won't allow me to buy a treestand and Mom and Dad's budget wont let them buy me one either so this year I'll be bow hunting off the ground. Do this hurt my chances of getting a deer? Any advice would be appreciated.

[HeviShot]

Re: How?

Play the wind.I'm going to hunt one spot fom the ground myself.Minimize your movement.Make yourself a good blind Wear Realtree camo and you should be ok.Ive had several deer within feet of me on the ground.

[bulldawg]

Re: How?

When I first started hunting with a bow, I would go scouting, and look for trees that were easy to climb. I would just climb up, and set myself down on a big limb. Or, I would work it so I could strattle a limb, or stand on a limb, and lean back on another one. Sometimes this was a bit uncomfortable, but you can shift your weight here and there, if you do it slowly and deliberately. I never owned a treestand until about 15 years ago. And I've been bowhunting since '72.

[iabow]

Re: How?

Like it was said keep movement low and slow, get good cover around you to break up your outline(garden pruners work good to snip some brances and place them around you, deadfalls are great to hide in), get comfortable(you'll move less). When they come in be aware of all the deer not just the one you want and pick the time to draw carefully. That has been when I have been busted. You can diffently git r done on the ground, it's a different kind of rush being eye to eye, have fun.

[HarvDog]

Re: How?

[ QUOTE ]

Play the wind.I'm going to hunt one spot fom the ground myself.Minimize your movement.Make yourself a good blind Wear Realtree camo and you should be ok.Ive had several deer within feet of me on the ground.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think Realtree camo is the key!

[Guest kyhunter1]

Re: How?

I hunt with 4 cousins and an uncle, my uncle is the only one who doesnt hunt from a treestand but yet kills the biggest buck between us all, just about every year. You can even make yourself a ground blind very cheap and maybe even priceless. Just take some old feed sacks spray paint em' and attach some cut out limbs to it once set up around a tree. As mentioned clear your seat of leaves and debris, you can also take a chair or milk crate to sit as well. Keep the wind in your favor, and try to get up on a hill above where the deer are expected to come from (if possible) that way your scent is above the deers noses and your movement is out of the deers line of sight. Hunting from the ground has its limitations, but a little bit of common sense and innovative thinking and you'll be draggin em' home.

[BowJoe]

Re: How?

Check out some of the clearance blinds at walmart or look at bizrate.com to find some of the cheapest blinds from Ameristep. Nice and for a low price too. I think a couple of mowed yards or favors for neighbors would easily cover around 50 bucks for a blind. Stay clean and scent free. Sneak in and out of your stand just like you are hunting, because that's part of it. Be patient and if you do get a blind or make one, blend in to your surroundings. Leave some brush or weeds in front of you but out of shooting lanes. Be ready for a close shot and stay calm. Keep the noise even lower since the deer are a lot closer than in a treestand. Good luck and Have fun!!!

[BowtechTurkeyHunter]

Re: How?

Hunt the wind and hunt the funnels GL its makes it tougher but not impossible a lot of ppl on these Tv shows are getting on the ground I see now.

[horst]

Re: How?

I hunt from the ground all the time with both bow and guns.Its more exciting than sitting in a tree IMO and leaves you a lot more flexible.You can hunt spots other guys wont and relocate if neccassary without messing around with a treestand.

You really have to watch the wind closely at ground level.You cant move around a lot.Visibility is often very limited and deer can sneak within a few yards of you without your knowing it so you have to be ready all the time for a shot.Camo becomes more important, last year I had to buy a cornstalk camo, and some Max 4 to blend in better when the deer started acting suspicous of the big dark blob in the grass

I dont use a blind for the most part, and dont even carry a stool or anything to sit on.I like to keep as low to the ground as possible.I bought a bowholder that sticks in the ground, all you have to do is pick the bow up and your ready to shoot.I take all the arrows outta my quiver when i get set up, ive had them catch on grass and cornstalks to many times and spook the deer not to.

i hunt field edges, preferably standing corn or something with tall grass around it for the most part.just get in a few yards and bust the tops off the corn or bend the grass down in front of me.You wanna leave enough to hide you but keep it short enough to shoot over or through.Dont break a farmers corn off, i hunt a lotta foodplots but if your on private ground tie the stalks back or something so you dont upset the landowner.I could go on and on but Im gonna quit now, good luck, you wont find anything much more exciting than shooting a deer at eye level from 5 yrds away

[Rhino]

Re: How?

In my younger days I'd choose a spot to hunt from the ground, build a natural blind and hunt. I've killed a lot of deer bowhunting at eye level with deer long before commercial blinds were around.

Things that will make it easier are:

1) A stool or fold out chair (camo or OD)

2) Limb pruners

3) limb saw (folding hand saw)

4) A role of electrical tape.

With these few items you can build and shape any natural blind to your preference. I simply clear out a small spot of all leaves, etc. so I have a clean dirt bottom for silence. Leave any natural foliage growing around the spot alone for added, growing cover. Then go away from the spot for the blind and cut leafy limbs, etc. to provide cover for the blind. Then using the natural growing foliage around the spot chosen for the blind place the limbs, etc. around the blind. Use the electrical tape to attach any pices together that you need to in order to help sturdy them up. Choose your shooting holes during the assembly process and trim around them as needed after your blind is put together. Make sure your entrance spot is off to the side and brushed up so when deer look at your blind they won't silhouette you against that opening.

Here's what one of my finished products looked like last year after it was a week old. The natural cover around the spot I chose is still growing but the leaves on my cut branches have turned brown. Remember, they all look a little different.

Outside view: The shooting holes are a lot smaller that they appear from the outside due to the difference between live and cut brush.

Inside view: With the blind a week old I did cut a few new branches that day for additional cover around the windows.

Later that same afternoon I took this picture of these 4 gobblers that were feeding out in the field. They eventually got within 20 yards of the blind and never busted me. I put the camera a little closer to the window for this pic.

I did see quite a few deer later that day and actually had 2 does walk within a few feet of the blind but I was holding out for the buck that dropped the shed antler I found in front of this spot last spring. I never saw him and right before I went to Iowa, I decided to kill some does at this location. 2 does were killed within 25 yards from this blind.

[horst]

Re: How?

[ QUOTE ]

4) A role of electrical tape.

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Thanks Rhino, Id of never thought about that for blinding things together, good idea though