Ground Hunting Tips?
 

I am hunting game commission lands for the first day of archery season. They don't allow tree stands and I am forced to hunt from the ground with my bow. I am setting up an open blind for protection using natural resources such as tree branches, leaves, etc. Any help on getting an advantage on the deer from the ground?

That's a start...just set up by deer highways...not ON them...intersections are best as you may have many deer at the one point...Good luck!

Carry some camo string and put it between two trees,makes it easier to make a blind.Shooting a bow sitting down will be interesting unless you are in a chair.Good luck.

I'am hunting on the ground this year as well, but when I harvested my does about 2 weeks ago I was in a tree stand and got winded at least 4 to 6 times. So hunting on the ground and your sent is a lot harder to control ! I would definitly use some kind of sent control and use it often !

Do you know if there will be a lot of other people hunting that area as well? If not, I would still hunt the area rather than sit behind one blind. One good technique I read about a few years ago and tried a couple times is to still hunt into the area, find a good spot, get on your knees then go into a rattling sequence. Wait at least 15 to 30 minutes. If you see nothing, still hunt your way to another area and repeat the sequence. While not necessary, one of those ghillie suits would provide an extra camo edge.

Obviously, if you try this and this piece of land is large and you have never been there before, make sure to bring a GPS and if not that, at least a compass. Some extra water too.

I like to use natural stuff a lot more than trying to put up a blind. I feel like a blind just sticks out. One thing I learned the hard way was to build my natural blind when you have some light. I built a few in the dark and always end up having to redo it when the sun comes up or just deal with it until after the hunt.

Still hunt.............find a promising spot and take a seat for a while - repeat as necessary.

Use the high ground whenever possible.

That's all I do unless we manage to have a ladder stand available. Sit hunt, plop down at the foot of a tree. A good tree will conceal you pretty good if one approaches from behind. I always keep a grunt around my neck if you make a misstep or snap a twig on the move stop give a couple seconds then give a couple grunts for relaxing anything. If it was loud then would sit immediately and wait 10-20. Also be careful of squirrels they are a deers ADT home security system.

It is plenty challenging, that is for sure. I like a blind made of 54" high camo burlap fastened to trees or my own 1x2 poles that have spikes in the end - I can sandwich this within a clump of evergreens and can make myself almost invisible. Another way is to build a natural blinds and finish off with some camo burlap on the inside. I have a shooting window in my blind and carry my stuff in a large landscape bucket that has a circular piece of wood on the end - the bucket turned over is my seat and does not make noise like foldup seats can. The burlap blind can also hold in a lot of your scent, but don't depend on it. You can use umbrella type (doghouse) blinds and they will conceal you and your scent, but if you do, I would set them up around noon and take an hour to brush in good and come back in an hour or two to hunt the evening - this worked for me on public land. These umbrella blinds take a lot of space and time to set up and conceal. One thing about ground hunting though - it is pretty exciting to be at the ground level with a deer only yards away!