Deer Hunting From the Ground

[U.S.ArmyRetired]

Does anyone bow or rifle hunt from the ground and are successful? I hunt public land that allows blinds and stands but the problem is there are free ranging cattle and they love to eat pop-up blinds.

For those that hunt from the ground and are successful, what are some tips? What makes it easier? What about snakes?

Thanks for any advice,
Lance

[HoustonHunter94]

I've killed a couple from the ground without a popup. There are a lot of cedars where I hunt so I just cut some limbs and basically hollowed out a little area to sit, proped some of the limbs up in front of me, sat my folding chair down and started hunting. Never had issues with snakes.

[U.S.ArmyRetired]

I've killed a couple from the ground without a popup. There are a lot of cedars where I hunt so I just cut some limbs and basically hollowed out a little area to sit, proped some of the limbs up in front of me, sat my folding chair down and started hunting. Never had issues with snakes.

Are you in a regular folding chair or a turkey chair close to the ground?

[HoustonHunter94]

Are you in a regular folding chair or a turkey chair close to the ground?

In my case I just had a folding metal chair. If I was going to do it a whole lot or hunt that way exclusively, I would invest in one with a swivel seat.

[piercebronkite]

I bow hunt from a folding chair and will find a tree or brush, something to hide my silhouette then tuck myself in with trimming and making a natural brush blind. You have to "get in" the brush/tree and not just set up in front. I usually take about 30 minutes getting the shooting lanes trimmed. If its snake infested like south texas I typically wear snake chaps.

[Chase4556]

Believe I’ve seen you say you hunt fort hood. A comfortable chair and a pair of shooting sticks is what I have used in the past and had good luck. Hunting the wind is even more important when you are on the ground.

The primos trigger stick tripod is what I’d be looking at. I’d make my chair choice based off what gives me best results with the rifle rest.

[Trumpkin]

Gonna try not to nerd out to much on this, but I do this a lot with my trad bows. It's all about the cover. You don't necessarily need thick cover, but you need it in enough layers to really smash your outline(note the orange salad boonie).

Think of it like zones, where you need some decent back cover, some close front cover, some outline breaking deadfall a few feet further out, etc. And you need a leafy suit of some type. I have had good luck with my ASAT leafy suit. As for seats, try different things to see what's comfortable for you. And still expect to get busted.

This buck took an arrow from my recurve at 17 yards from a brush blind. Took off the ASAT leafy for the photo, and tracking.


This setup did NOT work... I was expecting the deer to come off my back side and be quartering away when they hit my shooting lane. But they came in on an angle that left me silhouetted. The leafy suit kept them from totally busting out, but they were snorting and head bobbing for the last 15 minutes of daylight.


Got a shot at a spike from this ball of bear grass, and misjudged yardage cause he came in too fast and not anywhere I'd ranged.


Good luck.

Hesitant to even share this, but this is my ultimate mobile setup:
One Kifaru pack frame, some zip ties and straps to attach an XOP Vanish, a Hawk Helium stick for one sticking, a Kifaru Guide Lid, and a rock climbing harness with dump pouches for ropes. I can climb most trees, or sit places there are no trees, just depending on what the sign is saying to do.

[Lawhunter]

Sounds like you need to start eating some steak.

[Texas Grown]

I hunt both ground and trees. Sometimes only 8-10 foot off the ground in a ladder stand or tree stand. On the ground, I try to blend in with the vegetation. And make sure I have a good backdrop and front drop. Same in the tree with back and foreground cover. Take a roll of twine and pull and tie a branch back so you don't have to cut it, since cutting is illegal in some places.

[Hoss163]

If cows are messing up your pop ups drive some rebar in the ground run a couple of strains of barb wire out around them . I’ve killed 90 percent of my bucks on the ground out of pop ups .

[Hogmauler]

Killed several from the ground. I carved out a spot in a yaupon stand and it was the perfect natural blind. Shot a seven pointer out of it. Set up in a shallow ravine on a fold up stool. Had camo on and face paint. Shot a doe at 30 yards. That was my first ground kill. Hunted out of my pop up and never worried about snakes. I have bricks that I put out all the way around the bottom. No problems.

[kyleseipp]

My old man has been super successful hunting public ground all over. He carries his Chama Chair and a couple of those rubber coated wires (uses them to either tie tree branches over or even carry stuff in/out). Still play the wind and give it a whirl!

[asu-indian]

Check out The Element on YouTube or other platforms. Mostly public from the ground and . Lots of good info. Watch the 18 point public land buck from the ground. Epic!

[Duckologist]

Does anyone bow or rifle hunt from the ground and are successful? I hunt public land that allows blinds and stands but the problem is there are free ranging cattle and they love to eat pop-up blinds.



For those that hunt from the ground and are successful, what are some tips? What makes it easier? What about snakes?



Thanks for any advice,

Lance

I killed both bucks I shot on public this year from the ground with a rifle. I sit behind a tree and screw a hook in the side to rest my rifle. Then pile some brush in front of the tree

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[bullets13]

Saw a lot of deer from the ground this year. Like others said, good cover in front and behind you to break up your profile, and playing the wind are both key.