• Help Support TNDeer:

Treestand, Ground Blind or Still Hunt/ Stalk?

For those who hunt a lot from the ground, what type of set-ups are you hunting? Field edges? Big woods? I ask because where I hunt, we've done so much timbering that few places exist with a good view from the ground. Even uncut timber now has enough sunlight getting under the canopy (from adjoining cut areas) that undergrowth limits visibility from the ground. I use treestands (ladder stands) to get above the undergrowth and look down into it. For ground hunters, are specifically looking for set-ups with longer visual ranges?
 
I hunt out of an elevated box blind. Have a lot of timber and river bottom that borders my brother's property and have a couple elevated blinds setup on a couple open hayfields along his timberline.
 
During bow season and early muzzleloader, I'll use my Summit climber more often than not to get in tight on acorns or other food sources. As the season goes on, I've found that the added mobility of being on the ground comes in handy when trying to determine how their travel patterns have shifted due to changes in food source and/or hunting pressure. Plus, when that sub-20 degree weather starts creeping in on your boots during late season, it's nice to easily be able to move and get a little blood flowing.
 
BSK said:
For those who hunt a lot from the ground, what type of set-ups are you hunting? Field edges? Big woods? I ask because where I hunt, we've done so much timbering that few places exist with a good view from the ground. Even uncut timber now has enough sunlight getting under the canopy (from adjoining cut areas) that undergrowth limits visibility from the ground. I use treestands (ladder stands) to get above the undergrowth and look down into it. For ground hunters, are specifically looking for set-ups with longer visual ranges?
Click to expand...
In hill country, I've had the most success hunting hillsides, funnels, benches, etc. by positioning myself the opposite hillsides near the top where I can see down into cutover. This usually requires good glass and longer than average shots that may only present themselves for a short while. Especially effective during the rut as the activity level of the bucks increases and chasing starts. Deer just feel more comfortable moving more during the daytime in thick cover.
 
BSK said:
For those who hunt a lot from the ground, what type of set-ups are you hunting? Field edges? Big woods? I ask because where I hunt, we've done so much timbering that few places exist with a good view from the ground. Even uncut timber now has enough sunlight getting under the canopy (from adjoining cut areas) that undergrowth limits visibility from the ground. I use treestands (ladder stands) to get above the undergrowth and look down into it. For ground hunters, are specifically looking for set-ups with longer visual ranges?
Click to expand...
The few times I do hunt without a treestand are in big mature hardwoods. I'll hunt terrain features that funnel through a location and I'll either set-up on the downwind side of the ridge, or on an adjacent ridge where I have a good view of where I expect deer to move through. Big mature woods are places like South Cherokee where there is very little undergrowth outside of areas full of dog hobble and laurel thickets. This is also an area where if I come across fresh hog sign, I'll start to follow it and my deer hunt changes to a hog hunt real quick.

I also hunt this way some at LBL. But, I've really gotten to know the area I've been hunting the past few draws and I'll be hunting it out of a treestand in the future.
 
BSK said:
For those who hunt a lot from the ground, what type of set-ups are you hunting? Field edges? Big woods? I ask because where I hunt, we've done so much timbering that few places exist with a good view from the ground. Even uncut timber now has enough sunlight getting under the canopy (from adjoining cut areas) that undergrowth limits visibility from the ground. I use treestands (ladder stands) to get above the undergrowth and look down into it. For ground hunters, are specifically looking for set-ups with longer visual ranges?
Click to expand...
I hunt all public land in mid TN- lots of bean fields. there are a few that get a ton of deer traffic that don't have good climbing trees where i want to be so ill tuck up into some brush on the edge facing corners/edges where deer like to enter/exit the field. im on a simple folding stool with a bipod. there are also a couple of pinch points/funnels in the woods where i setup on the ground- again because ive confirmed deer are moving through but theres not a good climbing setup available. in those cases i actually use my tree saddle at ground level. clip into the tree so im in my saddle with the tree in my face. i can nap like a baby cradled in my saddle if im not careful. got one of my freezer does at less than 10 yards this way last season. all that to say for me it has little to do with longer visual ranges- just finding a way to be where the deer are in the event i dont find a good climbing setup.
 
When I "hunt" I like'em all. I've got ladder stands and ground blinds and building a shooting house for the upcoming season. The last couple deer I've shot I laid the rifle on the back fence and let'r eat.

Hoping I can get a bow kill this year. I get deer fever REAL bad. Damn pins jumping around so much I missed at point blank range 5 times last year.
 
Thanks for the input TnTurk, Buzzard Breath and uncle-loue. Interesting stuff. I may have to think about set-ups for shoot a parallel hillside or looking down into a thick valley.
 
Buzzard Breath said:
Like Andy, I'm mostly hunting out of a climber. I have some pre-hung stands on some private land but I'm about to take them all down for good. I do maintenance on them every year and then never hunt them. The deer just catch onto them so quick, I'd rather stay mobile. I'm 52 and train to hunt this way, so I'm going to keep doing it as long as I can.

I should also add that I'm a morning person. Getting up and getting to my spot well before light is never an issue.
Click to expand...
I'm the same type morning person. I like to be on stand an hour before sunrise.
 
Rakkin6 said:
Well I hunt public land and where I hunt it is mandatory if you carry it in with you in the morning it comes out in the evening. You can't leave stands in the woods and you can't leave ground blinds. So I use a climber all season long for this reason. Never has any luck throwing up a blind out of nowhere and the deer having a good reaction. Now turkey hunting in the rain I will throw out a blind no problem.
Click to expand...
Ever try building a natural material blind? Just using the sticks and stuff around you. That's how I started hunting from homemade blinds.
 
BSK said:
For those who hunt a lot from the ground, what type of set-ups are you hunting? Field edges? Big woods? I ask because where I hunt, we've done so much timbering that few places exist with a good view from the ground. Even uncut timber now has enough sunlight getting under the canopy (from adjoining cut areas) that undergrowth limits visibility from the ground. I use treestands (ladder stands) to get above the undergrowth and look down into it. For ground hunters, are specifically looking for set-ups with longer visual ranges?
Click to expand...
For me it's mostly open woods near thicker areas of cover and travel lanes from feeding to bedding areas.
 
I like them all. I prefer a climber but also use ladders, ground blinds and shooting houses. Shooting houses only for rainy days or snow. I love a low profile chair with one of those thick pads to sit on. I brush myself in with anything laying close by. It's comfortable and makes me mobile. I will occasionally use my climbing spikes , saddle, and rope and just hang out on a big limb if the cover is there.
 
backyardtndeer said:
Most the deer I have killed have been killed from trees stands. I have killed a few from ground blinds.
Click to expand...
Most of my deer have been killed from treestands as well. I have killed a few good ones from the ground, but it's almost always been during the rut while walking to or from a treestand. I don't like to go to sleep while hunting, I'm afraid one will slip by me. One time I got really sleepy so I got down out of my stand and walked about 30 yards away and leaned up against a tree. A few minutes later a big ole 9 point came chasing a doe past me and I got him. I wouldn't have been able to have got a shot from the treestand. Sometimes you just get lucky.
 
Specializedjon said:
When I "hunt" I like'em all. I've got ladder stands and ground blinds and building a shooting house for the upcoming season. The last couple deer I've shot I laid the rifle on the back fence and let'r eat.

Hoping I can get a bow kill this year. I get deer fever REAL bad. Damn pins jumping around so much I missed at point blank range 5 times last year.
Click to expand...
Keep at it with the bow, somehow I only missed my first 2. Both around 25 yards, I misjudged the distance and yugo over both. After that I was 4/4. 3 of those were within 12 yards from my saddle. The 4th one was stalked to about 23 yards. She was on the south side of a slope and I put the sneak on her.
 
Depends on the situation. Some places that I hunt I HAVE to use a treestand since it's so thick. Other places afford a great opportunity for ground hunting, and I do that whenever I can. I try to set up to the side of where I expect the deer to appear. Even though deer can see close to 270 degrees, I seem to be able to get away with a little bit more movement when I'm not in front of them. I like to use shadows and natural cover whenever possible, and pop up blinds actually kinda drive me batty.

Still hunting is not something that I can really do often since I mostly hunt small parcels of public
 

Latest posts

Back
Top