tips on trad hunt for deer on the ground

willie1971

Senior Member
Trying to figure out and gather some tips for hunting on the ground with my recurve. do you have any pics or ideas on brushing up your hunting space? I've had it with tents and would like to go without and set up on trails and places where I know they travel and hunt the winds if possible. thanks for your input
 

Dennis

Senior Member
It's not easy but doable be sure a lot of brush or big tree is behind you. A gili suit would help. I think the shooting is better on the ground and I feel like I can make longer shots from the ground.
 

willie1971

Senior Member
thank ya. i've experimented with a bunch of seats, and have a hammock seat I plan to use. seems very comfy so far. my tent blinds seems to get ruined in the woods. they cover my movement but tired of carrying them around and replacing after bad storms.
 

Hillbilly stalker

Senior Member
A couple things that will help you. Try using leafy wear(3D camo )it doesn’t catch everything. Scout your areas ahead of time and prep the site a little. I use jute twine. It’s cheap brown string. Rope you off some areas where you can hang some brush or cedar tops. Clear out the ground inside your hide. I carry a small pair of pruning shears in my pack. It’s easy to cut out a fallen tree top or make a hide in a cornfield or cutover. Jim Hamm has an excellent book on making hides. Search the internet for “Dean Torges” tree seat, and learn to shoot off of what you pick. That’s the reason I came up with my own stool.
 

hambone76

Senior Member
Get a good leafy suit and mind the wind. Use topography, large trees, blow downs. Add some greenery for added concealment.
 

hambone76

Senior Member
I have a pretty hot creek crossing which connects two clearcuts that I’ve hunted over the years. I’m debating on making a hide down in the creek, between the banks. If not, I’ll be perched in a loc-on stand overlooking the crossing.
 

Hillbilly stalker

Senior Member
If you kill one eye level without sitting in a store bought blind...it will ruin you. A nice doe on the ground is as good as of a thrill as a 8 point from a stand. Their all smart and sharp at eye level. The ability to being mobile is a great advantage. Wind change.. Pick up and move to another side ( if you prepared a little). It's addictive trying to be a sneak.
 

Triple C

Senior Member
If you kill one eye level without sitting in a store bought blind...it will ruin you. A nice doe on the ground is as good as of a thrill as a 8 point from a stand. Their all smart and sharp at eye level. The ability to being mobile is a great advantage. Wind change.. Pick up and move to another side ( if you prepared a little). It's addictive trying to be a sneak.
Yep! Eye to eye is a whole different deal and thrilling to pull off. Back in the 90s, I killed as many, if not more deer while still hunting vs stand hunting but...that was with wheely bows. Some I shot as far as 35 yds. Trad bow where you gotta get really up close and personal is a whole different level of ground hunting.
 

Killinstuff

Senior Member
If you find a spot that forces their eyeballs to be pointing someplace and not up and looking around, you got a good kill zone. Where I grew up the deer would leave the fields just before sun up, crossing a road to an arrowhead shaped flat with two thick brushy ditches on either side. At the tip of the flat is where the two ditches met and deer had a worn path down hill to the river bottom where they spent the day. I had a spot in both ditches and would sit it depending on the breeze. Deer would come down that 20' of angle were always looking straight down hill and never saw me draw.
 

sawtooth

Senior Member
I’ve killed a few from the ground- 1) wind (as has been said) 2) what’s BEHIND you is more important than what’s in FRONT of you. 3) camo is not really necessary, but helps I guess- I wear plaid and wooL, MOVEMENT IS WHAT WILL GET YOU BUSTED. 4) if you can’t see their eyes, then they can’t see you- that’s when you draw. 5) There IS such a thing as TOO CLOSE. You don’t want them closer than 10 yards, you cant get away with anything at that distance. 6) learn to shoot while sitting down. Some people overlook that, but it’s important. Good luck.
 

Slasher

Senior Member
We have to do about 25 things right to kill a deer from the ground.... after n in succesful over a dozen times with a bow... I tell you it’s better to be lucky than good!!!
But the holy trinity is

1.) Be where the deer want be!!!
2.) Do not let them know you’re there(wind, movement, camo)
3.) mindset... first time I was so surprised, I shot at a whole deer than picking
a spot (dont Want to talk about it).... you have to be ready to get er done!!!
 
Last edited:
Top