I've taken several deer from the ground. The closest was at a distance of 7 FEET. That said, if you can have some cover even 10 or 12 feet up will do you better than ground hunting in most cases. WIND WIND WIND is the secret ingredient even more so than when in a tree. Don't feel like you have to be totally hidden with a lot of junk in front of you. Clear out the ground so you can shift your feet without making noise. Position your body so you can shoot in the widest possible arch without having to shift you body if seated. I've set up in blackberry briars, golden rods, behind an abandoned vehicle, in a ditch and in blowdowns to take deer with the bow. On one occasion I sat on a stool in a foot of water backed into some tree roots. I shot a buck at 15 yards when he crossed the creek. I've used a ground blind where there was NOTHING else to do and in some strange places. One of the most successful hunts(but without a kill) was in Ohio a couple years ago. I cut a hole back into a brush thicket no deer would come through and just had two small lanes out to the field which was 10 yards away. I could have shot any one of 4 bucks that night at under 15 yards but passed as I had seen a monster there in the AM. It was my last night in Ohio and I didn't fill my tag. He never showed. My nephew crawled in my hole a week later and got a beauty(although not my monster) at 12 yards. Do what you got to do. Watch for termals. They can be killers.