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Hunting on the ground

bukket

New Member
With the season approaching I wanted to see if anybody else was looking forward to hunting from the ground early on? I have a few spots in some funnels that always serve up some excitement with deer moving out of their bedding areas into corn. I just visited them and set up my seats this week. I love sitting in the tall grass and watching the deer come in close. It's amazing how deer behave when they know trouble is only a few steps away.

I'm going to try to stay out of my stands until the 3rd week of October this year. I shot my buck ont he ground last year at 20 yards and am hoping for a repeat this year.
 
I can hardly wait for Sept. 15th. I'll be hunting off the ground right where this camera was. If the wind is from the north, I'll be on the other side crouched behind the tree on the left side of the opening.

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I hunt from the ground about 50% of the time throughout the entire season I actually like to sit in standing corn and wait for the deer to work to me. The corn where where I hunt is usually the last to come out in the area as the landowner works full time and only takes a few rows out per night when he gets home. It seems like as the standing corn keeps shrinking more deer use it. It is a blast to hunt.
 
We hunt large tracts of public ground off the ground. It is amazing, we have been very successful the last 5 years doing thing. We have sold all our stands and just hunt public land now.How do you guys do it? We usually sit flat on the ground ing front of trees or brush piles or set behind trees on stools. I also love standing behind the a treee and keeping it between me and the deer.
 
I like to set off of the "main" trail in funnels. One of my spots doesn't have any large trees near it that would offer a good shot, I just take my weedeater down and carve out a circle about 1 yard in diameter in the tall grass and leave a bucket there to sit on. I sit just high enough to see over the grass and down the trail. When I see a deer coming I stand and wait for it to get into range. It's not very often that I can draw without being seen. But even when the deer knows I'm there they almost always react the same way: staring, sniffing, and stomping. More often than not a doe will bolt. Bucks tend to stand their ground if you don't advance towards them.

I've had this happen each of the last two seasons on shooter bucks. I missed the first shot both years. In '04 I was able to shoot 3 times (broken peep, didn't see it in the truck). Last year I hit a sapling on the first shot, connected on #2. The bucks reacted to the shots the same way...they jumped, spun and moved 10-20 yards before turning perfectly broadside to me and staring me down. The 2nd shot got easier because of their posture and reaction to me as an intruder, at least that's my theory. I can't wait to see if it happens again this year.
 
I really like your set-up shovelbuck. My favorite way to hunt off the ground is around cedar trees. They allow you a lot of freedom of movement and the excitement level is also high, because those deer can seemingly appear out of nowhere!
 
I haven't hunted the spot in the pic yet but.........Saturday, I had a forky come close enough that I thought about grabbing one of his antlers
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It is such a thrill to have them that close.
 
Do any of you guys use a ground blind like the double bull or any others to sit in? I was thinking of trying that this year part of the time.
 
I love to hunt on the ground, I've had some of my most exciting hunts and the ground and love the mobility of it. I use a double bull seat that works great.
 
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