Let's hear about hunting deer from the ground!

[Skychief]

Been looking at some potential spots for deer hunting from the ground this Fall.

I've killed several over the years this way and would like to hear some of your accounts, tips, etc...

Best regards, Skychief :hatsoff:

 

[Britsmoothy]

I always hunt on the ground.

No way am I good enough to shoot from an aircraft!


B

 

[FishDFly]

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[Kapow]

Is there any other way? They'll see you before you see them so when you think you're walking slowly enough, halve it.

Hunt in socks or very soft shoes with neoprene soles. Whenyou stop for a look or listen, make sure you stop next to or in cover. Amazing how easy it is to get caught out in the open.

Hold your rifle low and don't swinging it around like a cheerleader! Work the shadows and keep out of the sun where you can.

Breeze is your friend because it hides noise, keep it in your face no matter what.

If you want to stop for a break make sure it's in an ambush spot on a trail etc. Sooner or later you will be rewarded.

Any help? I've never shot anything out of a tree!! Shooting my kudu at fifty yards was the pinnacle for me. I used all of the above strategies on that stalk.

 

[19 16 6]

Also if they are up higher than you & looking down they feel better about it than you looking down on them.
O.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I have been blessed with many deer since I bought my present flintlock rifle, and ALL were shot from a ground position. I don't do tree stands...well at least I've never done them yet....

Read The Still Hunter by Theodore S. Van Dyke. Some find his writing style a bit tedious, but he teaches stealthy movement, and learning how the deer spot you and flee, and how to avoid those actions. Plus wind direction. I don't use a cover scent and I use period clothing, and I still get deer, and quite close.

I've hunted from a ground blind, in a vineyard, and in the woods.

The ground blind is a bit of hedge. It breaks up my outline. In the woods I move super slow, paying attention to the wind direction, and plan my movement from large tree to large tree, as I stop for several minutes or longer at the base of these trees to help break up my outline. Also to prevent me from making rhythmic noises.

It's my observation that it isn't a the sound of single twig breaking that bothers the deer as much as the rhythm of the sound of several steps, or they spot you because you're moving too fast.

I don't use scent block or other commercial scents, but I do ensure my outer layer of hunting clothes smell of wood smoke. I have been more successful with this than without, and it may be superstition.

If my clothing gets a bit stinky, when I get home I simply turn the hose on the clothes or soak them in a bucket. Really bad stains might get some plain, lye soap, but never anything that has a modern scent on it. then I suspend the clothing in the smoke from a wood fire after the clothes are line dried.

IF a deer creeps up on me before I can get set, I don't make eye contact with it but keep my head lowered, or if it got really close, I stare at the ground until it takes a step or two to walk away.

The closest that I've shot deer is 3 yards; the farthest is 110 yards. Most have been at about 40-60 yards. At that range they probably aren't going to spot me as long as the wind is right...but the one at 3 yards I was surprised it didn't hear my heart thumping I was so worked up. Apparently my clothing cleaning procedures work...but I'll take luck too...

Finally, ignore the experts that say deer go nocturnal after the first few days after opening day, and that they don't move in the middle of the day...., especially where it's cold or cold & damp. Deer have only one real way of keeping warm, and that's food, and the colder it is the faster they burn calories, so they have to refuel. There is only so much plant fodder they can hold, it takes time for them to gather that by eating, and it takes time for that to turn into heat, so they often move in daylight no matter what day it is in the season. Especially where there are enough hunters to crowd them a bit, as these hunters often leave at mid-day to get some lunch, AND because they've been taught deer don't move except at dusk and dawn. Well the deer froze in place when everybody arrived just before dawn and tromped around. They stayed put without feeding because the woods had a lot of odd smells, and most of the folks that arrived aren't as quiet as they need to be. Then between 11:00 - 1:00 there was this large exodus, and the deer heard that....and by about 2 p.m. the deer are pretty hungry, and it's much quieter and most of the odd smells left with the hunters who went to lunch...they start to creep around to get food, cautious, but hungry, after 12 noon for those reasons.

So..., Hunt all day; take something to nibble on, and stay put....because just after lunch time, but before the 4 p.m. rush of the other hunters coming back to get a shot at dusk, the deer will probably move...be ready

LD

 

[Patocazador]

"Some find his writing style a bit tedious"

I was given this book in the 70's. I still haven't made it past page 54. I keep falling asleep. :snore:

 

[coloradoclyde]

Haven't read that book....but I can attest to pretty much everything you said.... :thumbsup:

 

[Vaino]

When I first started to legally hunt deer in 1949, artificial, "elevated " stands were illegal and fallen down trees were to be prized for their better visibility, but these were often
"taken" very early in the AM . So....most of my "early" deer were shot from ground level and as I look back, it seems amazing how close these deer came into me.....some were 15-20 feet away when shot. I didn't use a blind nor was I in camo ....fluorescent orange had replaced the red which in borderline daylight turned a much darker color and really didn't do the job.

With the advent of legal tree stands, the deer "wised up" and circumvented the ground hunters....in fact when I began using tree stands, the deer would sometimes look up at me...which is quite un-natural. I used tree stands as an advantage because I'm mainly a "meat hunter" and realized more meat on the table.

Some of the less hunted areas of Wisconsin still offer good ground level hunting and I've done just that.....and killed just as many deer as w/ using a tree stand in the heavily hunted areas.

Whether one chooses to "ground hunt" or use a tree stand depends on how "smart" the deer are in a particular area which is determined by how heavily the area is hunted. Afterall...humans did cause deer to become nocturnal animals.

Tried to still hunt while moving slowly in heavily hunted areas, but it just moves deer to the tree stand hunters. In the remote areas of Wisconsin, I've shot many deer while moving....but many of these areas are seeing many more hunters.

Have hunted deer and elk in Colorado and have always ground hunted....mainly moving and for shorter periods, standing....but w/ the influx of more hunters, this is becoming the same situation as in Wisconsin.

Possibly "private land" w/ a limited number of hunters is conducive to ground hunting, but on heavily hunted public land, tree stands are much more productive. ....Fred

 

[ddoyle]

I am not a great deer hunter but 30 years of persistance and manical commitment has taught me one lesson that I am confident in passing along.

The most important thing about still hunting deer is a good pair of binoculars and using them to look at 100% of the ground around you EVERYTIME you stop (i.e 1-3 steps).

With bare eyeballs you can still hunt for hundreds of hours for a deer sighting (usually a bounding retreat or snort) with binoculars you will see deer.

The above holds true in any conditions the tighter the bush the less visability the more important the binos.

Even if the vis is 25 yards with the naked eyeball with binos by changing the depth of focus you will find yourself looking at deer ears/legs 100 yards away.

Try it and it will change the way you hunt and certainly the way you eat.

Free advice but It is hefty and worth it's weight in venison.

P.S
Do not wear heavy binos directly hanging on your neck. Unless you like chronic pain.

Make sure you set the focus compensator so that you are not straining one eye. Unless you like migraine headaches.

Any binos are probabley better then none. Good ones start at about 4 bills. Seems steep but they last a lifetime and if free range organic meat is worth 20-30 dollars a pound to your family larder then a quarter and some ribs from the first deer you get covers it. Plus reducing hunting hours from 100s to 10s means alot less gas, missed work time.........

Use Binos.

 

[Danny Smith]

Hunted from the ground for nearly 50 years. Killed a bunch of deer. Some near and some far. Always while sitting never while stalking. The key for me is to sit still. Movement will give you away every time.

 

[longcruise]

The whitetail deer must be one of the most difficult to still Hunt of all animals! I still Hunt successfully for mulies and elk, but not for whitetails.

Wind in your face and sun at your back! Or as close as you can get to that. You can't move too slow.

Ground blinds are good too. Remaining motionless is more important than being hidden.

 

[Vaino]

I do use binocs when still hunting, but in high hunter density areas, all you do is push the deer to the sitters. There are very few "wild" areas left in Wisconsin that don't have a lot of hunters. So when you move, your chances are quite slim that you'll kill a deer.....actually sitting in a tree stand offers the best chance of bagging some meat when other hunters are moving....Fred

 

[Stumpkiller]

My feet are on the ground when I hunt with firearms. Have been since 1980.

My butt may be on a stump or Torges seat but I'm eye-level with the deer.

When my legs get stiff or my feet cold I get up and still-hunt; moving very slowly. A few steps and then pause and listen. Then I sit for another couple hours.

I get in an hour before sunrise and get sat two hours before sunset.

 

[ddoyle]

You wont push deer if you spend the prerequisite time it takes to glass 360 degrees to a depth where you are examining 3 inch cracks in between branches 50 yards thru solid bush.

If deer are that sensitive then getting to your stand is going to push em? No? Or do you still hunt to the stand?

Deer that cannot scent you are going to eye ball you before they go skulking away. Super pressured deer especially are not going to move until they are 100% situationally aware. Bringing your eyeball eyeometers up to the level of perception as thiers means that you have a very good chance of seeing them.

Proper still hunting is absolutely exhausting and requires oodles of patience, methodical work and the use of good glass. Do it and your success will go up 10 fold.

I once hunted a cull under the direction of a fellow with alot of experience organizing deer drive hunts in super high pressure whitetail country. His instructions were "still hunt along this line and do not shoot any deer" well deer were slipping by me on both sides for an hour! They had been pushed by the hunters on the left and right. two hours later I arrived at the shooting lane to find everyone an hour into having coffee. I got a stern look and a suggestion that maybe my version of still hunting was not the same as everyone elses. The deer were being pushed and doing what they wanted to do "circle" the fact that I was there to see them had no impact on thier behavior.

For certain being in a stand on a well used trail is always a great idea no way kill deer no debate But still hunting can be super effective if you have the patience and focus.

 

[Vaino]

I noticed that you're from British Columbia...perhaps the hunter density is much less?. Don't really know if your experiences could be duplicated in the States where the deer have been educated. Have you hunted in the high hunter density areas in the States?

Still hunting in many areas in the States is nearly impossible because of too many hunters. The heavily hunted areas I've hunted aren't conducive to successful still hunting and this has been borne out by 66 years of deer hunting.

Deer and elk hunting in remote areas of Colorado for many years was very different than "crowded" deer hunting in Wisconsin...but, that's changing w/ the influx of too many hunters.

I'm stressing the point that still hunting just acts like driving deer to the sitters in much of the deer areas in the States. BC isn't comparable to the hunter density found in the States and therefore different tactics are used...mainly sitting in tree stands.

Of course I'd prefer that the situation was different, but it isn't ....so, the most successful means of shooting deer are used....and it's not still hunting.

Went ruffed grouse hunting in land bordering Canada and most of the grouse were "dumb" and a slingshot would have sufficed. Hunting these same birds in Wisconsin is much more challenging and this is due to hunter pressure. Deer aren't any different.....Fred

 

[Crewdawg445]

I always hunt from the ground, stalk slowly, listen and look often. I use squirrel season as a lead to deer season to hone my skills and get a feel for were they run and bed. I also love my method even better when dragging out a fresh harvest and the guys who spend entire paychecks on high tech stands leave empty handed. :grin:

 

[BrownBear]

...and would like to hear some of your accounts....

Here a bear,
There a bear,
Everywhere a bear bear...

 

[ddoyle]

Have you hunted in the high hunter density areas in the States?

Nope never hunted the states but grew up hunting in a province with the highest per capita hunting participation in north america and a very small whitetail population. A place where bears are truly nocturnal from pressure and the ruff grouse invest in rocket packs and electronic listening devices. The salmon have to have thier jaws wired shut to make it to the spawning grounds and where a 9 inch brook trout is an old fish.

Being from B.C just means where the average American gets to stalk big game/hunt a couple weeks a year I get to (and do) hunt big game for a 100 plus days a year. So another 66 years of lower 48 experience and you might catch up with my 40 years of great white north time :wink:

You are likely 100% correct in that the average unpracticed hunter with out binoculars probabley cannot successfully still hunt those extra smart yankee deer. My guess however is that there are at least a few US citizens who are more then capable of killing deer from the ground my guess is they are smarter, more methodical and work harder then the average hunter.

Your extra dumb canadian grouse---- were you shooting at the first of the season? Were they ruffies- spruce-duskys or blues? All grouse every where are easy pickings early in the season when they are locked in family groups. 2 weeks ago I could pick up 10 in an hour. Now it is hard work to find 10 in a day. This in areas that have not had a shotgun go off yet this year. Yes shot birds do get quicker to flush, quicker to run and more prone to hunkering but that just means if still hunting them............ you need to move slower, move quieter, move smarter and use your darn binoculars LOL.


So have you ever still hunted with glass and moved at 50-100 yards an hour for 8-12 hours? How did it differ from sitting in a stand?

 

[Vaino]

8 hrs yes...12 hrs no...because it's dark by then and illegal. Canadian ruffed grouse are different than the grouse in Wisconsin.....which are wary from day 1. It's in their genes because of the constant hunting. That's the same reason deer are now nocturnal.

I usually get my meat early on and use whatever legal means that gets the job done. Grew up in northern Minnesota south of the Canadian border during the "Great Depression" and venison was at times the only red meat available, so one had to be resourceful to say the least.

Still don't think that BC has the hunter density of many areas of Wisconsin. Last year over 600,000 hunters were in the woods in Wisconsin. By the way...what's the population of BC?.....Happy hunting.....Fred