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Hunting from the ground

buckbuster217

*Supporting Member*
3,136
85
Byesville, Ohio
I was wondering if anyone has any experience with bowhunting from the ground? I will have my stands hung up but I am not sure if at the beginning of season I will be quite able to climb up into them yet. I have acouple of ground blinds to put out too but I was wondering if anybody had some tricks or tips to give me about hunting from the ground without a blind. Looking at a ghillie suit, don't know if that will help but I am open TOO any suggestions anybody has.
 

Diane

*Supporting Member*
4,715
66
Newark
I hunt with a ghillie suit and love it!

I do on occasion hunt from a blind, but you lose some legal shooting time due to the blind making things appear darker than they are. I really don't care for blinds anymore. I like my wide open view with the ghillie.

I use a crossbow, so you might need to adjust your position if you don't use one, but I like to take a turkey seat and then position myself up against a tree for my back. Other wise I can't take sitting there for a few hours! I think being up against the tree also helps with breaking up your outline.

I've watched many does look my way, then simply go back to their business and I have only been busted out one time while using my ghillie suit. I simply love it.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I killed my first deer ever off the ground with a bow at the ripe old age of 18. There was a group of does coming out in the same corner of an old berry field and I used an old stump as a basis for a makeshift ground blind to take advantage of their routine. IMO the most important thing is concealing your movement with back cover. Having cover in front of you is a no brainer, but when you move without anything behind you, it really exaggerates the movement. Ground blinds are the perfect answer to ground hunting, but a good ghillie suit, slow movement, and plenty of natural cover you can get the job done also. If I am building a natural blind, I start by finding great back cover and working my way forward.

One tip I can suggest is a quality seat that swivels. I use a silicone lubricant to make sure my seat is quiet. Last year I found one at Wal-Mart with a high back that makes a perfect ground blind seat. It is comfortable and I can easily swivel side to side to scan my surroundings, or to get in position for a shot. IMO, being comfortable on the ground is more important than being in the air because I can't get away with as much fidgeting to get comfortable. Also having a bucket to sit things on cuts down on movement leaning down to grab things.
 

cotty16

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
Killed my first wall hanger, and second biggest buck to date, with a bow when I was 17 from the ground. In fact it was my first buck and first bow kill. Lucky? Yep, but it was a very memorable hunt.

I was standing along a woodland and he was all rutted up. No real prep was put into the hunt. I was Johnny on the spot.

However, a natural ground blind is something that is much better than a pop up blind in my opinion. Also, be comfortable! You don't want an uncomfortable sitting arrangement that makes for squirming in your seat.
 
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Diane

*Supporting Member*
4,715
66
Newark
Diane, ya got any pics of you being all Ghillie'ed up ?? I like being up a tree, but nothing beats having 'em walk right by when using my Ghost Blind. I just wish it were the right deer walking by.

No I don't, sorry. I wear a mesh face mask (though I might change to face paint as that mask was always twisting around) and my suit looks like leaves blowing in the wind.

I looked at the Ghost Blinds at the deer/turkey expo and liked them. Just too much money right now!
 

Mike

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
15,840
223
Up Nort
I use a ghillie too.
 
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"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,739
274
North Carolina
If you have any hillsides on property you hunt those make great elevated blinds, killed my fare share of deer from elevated blinds.... I carve out a seat with back rest in the hillside and its as comfortable as any stand out there....
 

buckbuster217

*Supporting Member*
3,136
85
Byesville, Ohio
Thanks for all the tips folks, definitely will help a lot. I am actually looking forward to hunting like this, it will definitely be a whole new way of hunting for me. I'm gonna order a ghillie suit tomorrow , get it hung out and put the scent smoker to it when it gets here!
 

Mike

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
15,840
223
Up Nort
I bought a few strands of fall fabric leaves from Michaels and then zip tied them and strands of burlap to the mesh netting.
 

Outdoorsfellar

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
Hey Mike & Diane, tell us your experiences using the ghillie suits. Do you feel like you really blend in all the more .... ( which pretty much could be considered an obvious fact ). I'm sure we'd like to hear your thoughts.
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
15,973
135
Thanks for all the tips folks, definitely will help a lot. I am actually looking forward to hunting like this, it will definitely be a whole new way of hunting for me. I'm gonna order a ghillie suit tomorrow , get it hung out and put the scent smoker to it when it gets here!

All of the deer that I saw during 2 mornings of sitting during gun season this year were within 40 yards. Several presented very good shots that could have been taken with a cross bow. I was wearing orange, of course, and sitting in a $10 folding chair. Obviously patterns are different but it also wasn't like I was trying to blend myself in. If you get a few good spots and get a few dead limbs around a seat, I have no doubt that you can connect with a crossbow...and it does sound pretty damn cool!
 

Diane

*Supporting Member*
4,715
66
Newark
Hey Mike & Diane, tell us your experiences using the ghillie suits. Do you feel like you really blend in all the more .... ( which pretty much could be considered an obvious fact ). I'm sure we'd like to hear your thoughts.

2 incidents stick out in my mind.

One was this stupid stinking cat that Phil Hicks was suppose to shoot for me! Anyway, I was sitting up against a tree in my favorite spot and this despised cat (he had cost me a buck the year before) came strutting down a log that was close by. I'm watching it waiting for it to realize I'm there and he didn't. When he got pretty close, I quickly flipped my arm at him and that thing about jumped out of its skin and took off. I found it funny that he didn't know I was there and I was just having some fun with him.

Another time I was suppose to be watching a field to my left for a buck that frequented there. Except to my right came a button buck. It kept looking at me like he wasn't sure if something was there or not and kept approaching. He kept getting closer and closer to where he was making me nervous as I was afraid of getting hoofed, if he didn't back off. When he got within 15 or so feet of me I had had enough and I quickly and deliberately raised my bow at him, so he would see the movement. He did take off when I did that, but for me, that was too close for comfort. I didn't want him any closer.

I just love my suit. I'll never do tree stands again due to vertigo, and I feel like the ghillie gives me more freedom to hunt different spots. I'm not stuck in a blind and can freely go wherever I want.
 

Outdoorsfellar

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
Thanks Diane. As much as I enjoy hunting from up a tree, I'm getting to the point where lugging my climber, hassling with my safety vest & making sure I've got everything I need in my back pack to get up a tree safely is almost a turn off. ( don't anybody mention age ! ) You can see more from up above, so I dunno. There's a part of me that wants to keep things somewhat simple.