Opening morning finally arrived, and I had my ambush spot picked out well in advance due to my thorough scouting efforts. I had been watching a bachelor group of five bucks consistently using a heavily worn trail through the middle of an abandoned fence line, and I was confident our paths would cross. I turned 16 earlier in that year, which meant I was legally allowed to hunt on my own. Not only was I excited about not needing my dad to shadow me in the woods, I also wanted to prove that I knew what I was doing by arrowing a buck on my very first solo opportunity. Like most teenagers, my level of confidence exceeded reality, which is a lesson I learned the hard way on many occasions.
My dad’s only rule: I couldn’t get into a tree when hunting alone, but that didn’t seem like an inconvenience at the time, because it was 1990, and there weren’t many stands on the market. Those that were available were expensive. My setup was an upside-down, five-gallon bucket tucked behind a patch of goldenrod about 15 yards from the trail. While it wasn’t exactly high tech, it was a pretty solid approach that realistically had a chance of working.
I sat a solid three hours waiting for the bachelor group I had seen cross there so many times before. This would be my first lesson in buck dispersal and movement patterns changing once velvet is shed. I looked at my watch and saw it was 9:00 a.m. and probably time to start my walk home. Just as I started to stand, I heard the rustle of leaves. Whatever was making the noise was coming right toward me.
My heart pounded as the sound got closer, and my eyes grew as wide as pie plates when a fine 8-point buck came into view. I came to full draw, which stopped the buck broadside in his tracks when he saw movement. I had his full attention as he seemed to stare right through me. I don’t remember aiming but vividly recall my arrow slamming into the ground below the buck’s chest. He took two big leaps before sprinting away unharmed. My first solo hunt resulted in my first miss and learning a hard lesson in archery hunting, but it was also my first successful ground setup and a great experience I could learn from.
Why Hunt From the Ground?
There are many reasons ground setups can be a great option, and the first one is probably most obvious. Not every great ambush point has a suitable tree to climb. In some parts of the country, this is common. When I lived in North Dakota, there weren’t many trees in the badlands, so I had to make the most of tall vegetation and elevation changes for cover. The same is true in places like South Texas where you might find a few trees, but chances are they’re not much taller than you. Believe it or not, I even have a few spots in Pennsylvania where the best place to be doesn’t have a climbable tree in sight. The options are to adapt and use a ground setup or don’t hunt the spot at all.
Simplicity and ease of access is another good reason. Ground setups require little equipment unless you’re using a blind, and that makes getting to your spot and setting up efficient. You also don’t have to worry about steps, platforms or a safety harness.
Hunting from the ground also gives you great flexibility. I can think of many scenarios when I was helplessly watching consistent deer movement from my stand that was well out of shooting range and not wanting to go through the hassle of changing my setup. If you’re already on the ground, you can simply still-hunt your way to a better vantage point and be repositioned with little noise or fuss. I think this was articulated best in an e-mail exchange I had with new NDA Life Member Hayley Nedbalski.
“I am more inclined to pursue an opportunity, rather than to wait for one to fall in my lap,” Hayley wrote. “Ground hunting allows me to move around and therefore go where the deer are as well as to not exhaust or overhunt one particular area.”
Finally, hunting deer from the ground can be highly effective. I’ve had countless close encounters and shot opportunities from the ground over the years and on more than one occasion I had deer so close I could have grabbed them. In my experience, deer seem to react to calls more favorably when the noise is coming from the ground as well. In fact, still-hunting while simultaneously making grunt calls has achieved good results for me and it’s a great tactic to use during the early phases of the rut.
When I’m hunting from the ground I much prefer being in the open and not inside a fully enclosed, manufactured blind if at all possible. Although today’s modern see-through blinds have improved the experience, I still feel a bit isolated from my surroundings and handicapped by limited shot opportunities. I don’t mind an enclosed blind that sits atop a tower for firearms hunts, but they’ve never suited me in an archery situation. In some cases, setting up a manufactured pop-up blind is the only option for providing cover, but my favorite ground setup methods that follow are focused on more natural approaches.
In the Shadows
Aside from making sure the wind is in your face, hunting in the shadows is a close second in level of importance, particularly on a sunny day. How deer see is a complex matter, but you can learn a ton by scanning NDA’s many resources on the topic.
While deer don’t see detail as well as humans in brightly lit scenarios, they do pick up movement easily. Setting up in a location where the sun is shining on you isn’t going to make life easier, particularly when it comes time to draw a bow, raise a rifle, or even scratch an itch on your nose. Instead, I look for setups where deer will be in open light situations like a food plot or field edge while I am tucked away in the first shadows of the woods nearby. While deer see well in low light situations, looking from bright light into low light is a different story and presents unique challenges. If I can find a setup where the sun is at my back, but the wind is in my face in a high deer traffic area, I’m going to take advantage of it.
Behind Large Trees or Shrubs
Let me start by defining large tree or shrub as one that nearly conceals my body when I am positioned behind it. The common setup would include either standing behind the tree with an ability to peek around it easily or positioned on a small stool. As you’ll read below, I stumbled onto something even better than standing or using a stool, but hold that thought for now.
This method is primarily how I learned to archery hunt and improve my woodsmanship as a young hunter. I learned the value of finding acorns early in my hunting career, and the only way to get close enough for a shot on feeding deer without having a treestand was to use whatever cover was available. Although I got busted many times trying to peek around the tree or by having deer approach from the side or behind me, I got many great shot opportunities over the years. In fact, on two separate occasions I had deer close enough to me that I could have grabbed them!
If available, I prefer larger shrubs to get behind because you can cut shooting lanes through them and have a better look at deer coming your way. This helps with shot preparation and execution as trying to get around a large tree and into shooting position without getting spotted can be risky business.
Tucked Into Standing Vegetation
Why is it that some of the best ambush spots seem to be where there are no trees to get into or behind? Maybe the deer are on to something. Having encountered this many times, I finally got tired of giving up on these spots altogether and began opting for setups in nearby standing vegetation. One of my favorite setups on a farm I used to hunt in Ohio was tucking myself into goldenrod about 20 yards off intersecting trails that paralleled a small field drainage.
My plan was simple. Remain motionless and allow deer to pass by my location and then slowly stand when given a quartering away shot opportunity. This requires immense patience, and you’re not going to pull it off 100% of the time, but it sure is an exciting way to hunt. It’s imperative that you treat every sound as the possible buck of a lifetime, because a sneaking deer can be on top of you and then out of range in a matter of seconds if you’re not prepared. After the shot, be sure to use your ears to track the deer’s exit route as you likely won’t be able to see it for long, which can prove troublesome when tracking.
Using a Tree Saddle from the Ground
I wish I could take credit for conceiving this strategy intentionally, but the truth is I stumbled upon it thanks to being a little lazy. I wanted to hunt a remote area of high ground in a large swamp in Delaware that would require about a mile walk to get there. Unfortunately, I didn’t take the air temperature into consideration. If I wanted to avoid sweating heavily, I had to walk at a snail’s pace. When I finally arrived where I wanted to hunt, the wind shifted, and I had limited time to find an alternate tree to climb. I instead opted for a ground setup among a clump of small trees that provided cover while keeping the wind in my face.
I wasn’t planning to hunt from the ground, so I didn’t have a stool, and standing wasn’t a great option because it’s hard to remain still when standing for too long. Since I was already wearing my saddle, I decided to tether to one of the trees in front of me and see how it felt. I immediately came to the realization that this was a great way to hunt from the ground, and I scolded myself for not having thought of it sooner. I could easily get to three different positions for comfort and shot opportunities. I could be in a sitting position with my knees anchored to the tree in front of me. I could stand but lean back into the saddle, which is a comfortable position you can stand in for hours. I could also stand all the way up for a shot if I wanted to and could even unhook altogether to sneak to a different vantage point.
Half Blinds or Build a Blind
As mentioned above, I don’t like being in a fully enclosed blind, but I don’t mind ones that provide cover while also allowing me to fully see my surroundings. These can be either manufactured or constructed from vegetation in the area you’re hunting. The primary goal is to break up your human outline while getting a little help concealing your movement. At the same time, you don’t want to brush yourself in so tightly that you can’t move for a shot.
One of my most memorable hunts was in Ohio on a warm evening in the early season, and my primary goal was scouting from just inside the woods to better learn where deer were entering a standing soybean field. I took along a Ghost Blind – which is a pop-up screen – and a stool. I carried my bow just in case a shot presented itself. Not long into the hunt, a young buck entered the field in front of me and slowly made his way in my direction. Before I knew it, he was just 5 yards in front of my blind. To my astonishment, he continued right at me, nearly nocking over the blind before passing by on my left. I could have easily reached out and grabbed him and I have the video to prove it!
Among Equipment or Structures
Deer often ignore things they see daily, even when they’re put there by humans. I have used old buildings, a pile of pipe, an abandoned tractor, natural gas well tanks, and even train cars to conceal my presence from deer with great results. If you have this type of cover in the area you hunt, and it’s within shooting range of where you expect deer to be, take advantage of it. I recently shot a deer from behind a pile of old steel pipes that was along a field edge where deer were consistently feeding. The big doe had no clue I was there, and I was able to easily come to full draw from my knees and execute the 20-yard shot.
Camo and Other Considerations
I highly recommend a ghillie suit or other form of camouflage clothing that goes above and beyond standard outfits when it comes to breaking up the human outline. I have a First Lite Phantom Leafy Suit Top paired with a First Lite Phantom 3D Balaclava and I love them. They’re lightweight and can be crammed into your pack until you’re ready to slip them on over your regular hunting clothing. There are also several good videos on YouTube you can browse to learn how to make your own if you prefer.
Keeping the wind in your favor is paramount. As hard as it is to control being picked off by a deer’s nose from a tree stand, it’s that times 10 when you’re on the ground. Always set up with the wind in your face, and if it shifts, take advantage of being mobile and shift with it. I like to attach a feather to the bottom of my bow so I can always monitor wind direction.
Make sure you practice drawing or raising your gun once you’re satisfied with your location. This is particularly important when archery hunting as getting a shot off requires a drawing motion, and you want to be able to pull it off with minimal movement. Be sure to practice from all the positions you might find yourself in. Your first shot from a seated position shouldn’t be at a live animal. The timing of the shot is also important when you’re hunting eye-to-eye with wary whitetails. I don’t draw until a deer has moved past me or is obviously distracted by something else, such as feeding or watching other deer. Remember, a deer can still see you move when its head is lowered to the ground!
Finally, take advantage of the flexibility that hunting from the ground offers. It doesn’t make sense to sit in one spot for hours if the wind isn’t in your favor or you haven’t seen any deer movement. Don’t be afraid to be mobile. Still-hunt your way from spot to spot. You’d be surprised how many deer you can cross paths with when you learn this skill. Use ground noises to help you seal the deal, especially when calling. Pounding the ground with antlers as part of your rattling and grunting sequence is far more realistic than just banging antlers from a tree stand.
Most importantly, have fun with it. There’s nothing more exhilarating than hunting a whitetail on its level and having deer get so close you can hear their heart pumping. The best way to learn is through your own experience, but I also recommend checking out some of the great videos from The Hunting Public, or if you like old school sources like me, check out Whitetail Eye to Eye with Alan Altizer.