RE: anyone bow/gun hunt without blind or tree stand?
I prefer to hunt from my tree stand (you can get away with more movement, scent, etc) but I have killed a fair number of deer from the ground.
When I select a ground stand, I rake away all of the leaves immediately around me, place my chill pad / turkey seat down, brush in around my stand with some small saplings for cover (I even built a log palisade on a Wildlife Management Area), and place some cover scent around.
I then arrange any gear that I might need (grunt calls, thermos / canteen, etc) and pull out a paperback book (or a small electronic game...yatzee, tetris, DS Lite, etc) and settle in.
Both deer that I killed in 08 were from the ground.