# Switching to ground hunting



## 1canvas (Mar 29, 2009)

As I have gotten older I have been switching to ground hunting. I have always carried in and out every hunt (I hunt public land) and it gets harder every year. I have to use a cart to take my stands in and out and that has became a real hassle and limits my options of places to set up. Now I am hunting from the ground more from either a Millennium tree seat or Chair. It is just so much easier, I make a little blind with cover or use the chair in a laid down tree.
I‘ll still use a stand but will do most of my hunting from the ground.
Anyone else move from the trees to the ground?


----------



## oldman570 (Jan 7, 2017)

1canvas said:


> As I have gotten older I have been switching to ground hunting. I have always carried in and out every hunt (I hunt public land) and it gets harder every year. I have to use a cart to take my stands in and out and that has became a real hassle and limits my options of places to set up. Now I am hunting from the ground more from either a Millennium tree seat or Chair. It is just so much easier, I make a little blind with cover or use the chair in a laid down tree.
> I‘ll still use a stand but will do most of my hunting from the ground.
> Anyone else move from the trees to the ground?


I am with you on moving to the ground. Had to have a pacemaker put in a couple years back, and getting harder for me to use a climber, or clime a stick, up the tree. The biggest buck I ever shot was done from the ground and in a tree fall down.


----------



## fast*eddie (Oct 19, 2003)

I turned 80 in September . I still like my tree stands . Yesterday ( october 28 ) i shot a 7 point buck from my 15' high ladder stand with my compound .


----------



## 1canvas (Mar 29, 2009)

fast*eddie said:


> I turned 80 in September . I still like my tree stands . Yesterday ( october 28 ) i shot a 7 point buck from my 15' high ladder stand with my compound .


👍


----------



## Iammichael6499 (Nov 3, 2021)

1canvas said:


> As I have gotten older I have been switching to ground hunting. I have always carried in and out every hunt (I hunt public land) and it gets harder every year. I have to use a cart to take my stands in and out and that has became a real hassle and limits my options of places to set up. Now I am hunting from the ground more from either a Millennium tree seat or Chair. It is just so much easier, I make a little blind with cover or use the chair in a laid down tree.
> I‘ll still use a stand but will do most of my hunting from the ground.
> Anyone else move from the trees to the ground?


I found it getting more difficult each year to tote all my gear so I starting dragging a Pelican Trek 60 sled. That made it a little easier but this last year I improved the sled by adding balloon tires (very simple design). Now I can go most anywhere, much easier, regardless of ground conditions. Mud, snow, water, etc are not a problem. The only ”no go” is thick brush. It’ll haul your gear in and your deer out. I use it mostly for walk-in waterfowl hunts.


----------



## rcd567 (Apr 14, 2004)

I have mostly moved to the ground also. The last two deer I've shot have been fron a natural blind built around the base of a tree or a tree that has fallen down. I still have a climber that I use occasionally.


----------



## Grizzly63 (Dec 16, 2021)

I am with you ,getting to old and fat to climb a tree lol! Ground is easier


----------



## ahunter55 (Aug 17, 2009)

I am 80 also & still use my 15 foot Ladders. Since I actually started bowhunting in 1956 I am no stranger to ground hunting. I've bowhuted a wide variety of biggame & many from the ground. Out west we all know Most Elk, Mule Deer & Antelope are from the ground. I've done hogs too. Anyway, I think Whitetail are the most difficult from the ground BUT if you pay attention to the wind no big deal. Only thing with ground hunting is your vision is less than from above (usually) & there will be times that Deer walks out you never knew was there or near.. If your in a commercial blind that has been out for awhile or brushed in real good you may just be surprised. I also think your scent is contained more in the blind when a commercial one.. Regardless, it can be much more comfortable & your movement wont be as critical most times. I did, when scouting a place this summer find & mark a couple natural spots for ground hunts. Down trees & piled brush near trails.. You think it's a shocker when your in a tree & one walks out you didn't see. On the ground is a heart stopper...


----------



## bgriffin (Aug 14, 2008)

Ground blinds for me as well. Gave up tree hunting. Can’t climb or carry stand in due to lung problems. I built a tower blind this past year on my property I hunt out of now. 16 feet high, 6x6 size, 8 feet ceiling, plexiglass windows with one on each side and 3 in front. Windows are 8” wide and 34 “ high, 32 inches off the floor. Insulated, carpet floor, and Buddy Heater. Airtight with Great Stuff spray foam. Camouflaged on the outside, sitting right in the edge of the woods overlooking some nice food plots. Great for me and my grandchildren to hunt out of.


----------



## draw29 (Dec 11, 2004)

72 here. Finding it is a lot harder to get my stick ladders up and put up them mellinium stands up. Never relized how heavy they were till last couple years.I had a nerve in my leg really bothering me so I set up a ground blind this year. I actually really enjoyed it and ended up getting a nice 10 pt out of it. Then my son got a buck out of it and my grandson on his very 1st hunt ever got a buck with bow out of it. I concealed this blind in a thick pine edgedge.. I had deer 1 after another walk by me 10 feet away and not pay any attention to my blind at all.Had a swivel chair in it and it was cozy and comforable. I don't know if I will be ever hunting from a tree again,after doing it the last 60 years. Got 2 more tent blinds for Christmas ,I am ready for 2022. Takes me 3 minutes to set it up..


----------



## rich ten ring (Jul 21, 2021)

1canvas said:


> As I have gotten older I have been switching to ground hunting. I have always carried in and out every hunt (I hunt public land) and it gets harder every year. I have to use a cart to take my stands in and out and that has became a real hassle and limits my options of places to set up. Now I am hunting from the ground more from either a Millennium tree seat or Chair. It is just so much easier, I make a little blind with cover or use the chair in a laid down tree.
> I‘ll still use a stand but will do most of my hunting from the ground.
> Anyone else move from the trees to the ground?





1canvas said:


> As I have gotten older I have been switching to ground hunting. I have always carried in and out every hunt (I hunt public land) and it gets harder every year. I have to use a cart to take my stands in and out and that has became a real hassle and limits my options of places to set up. Now I am hunting from the ground more from either a Millennium tree seat or Chair. It is just so much easier, I make a little blind with cover or use the chair in a laid down tree.
> I‘ll still use a stand but will do most of my hunting from the ground.
> Anyone else move from the trees to the ground?


----------



## rich ten ring (Jul 21, 2021)

I hunt with both a pop up and a tree stand it depends on the wind.


----------



## WhiteFalcon (Jun 17, 2009)

I went ground this year.


----------



## dawgtrainer (Nov 27, 2008)

Found that I've been enjoying ground blind hunting more and more lately. If I fall asleep in my chair I don't fall as far!


----------



## Ol IN Geezer (6 mo ago)

FWIW, I'm 69, I haven't hunted for about 6 years except for 2-3 times when able, more keeping tabs on the woods than "hunting". I would have shot something of interest but health issues and lack of help had me passing all in range. This year shows improvement. Something should hit the dust. At least that's "the plan" lol.

That said, I haven't been in a tree stand in......oh....16-18? years? 
A big PIA to drag them out, set them up. Half the time they get stolen.
Never been a BIG fan of them and even when using them half my deer got shot when I was on the ground.
I finally said H with it when one expensive one got stolen (chained, pad locked) and stopped buying them.

100 percent carry along folding stool, sometimes a bucket to carry "crap". Handy for heart and liver in a bag too.
I don't feel handicapped in any way. I killed several deer by getting off my butt and moving to intercept the deer's path....slowly, of course. Don't think THAT don't make the ol' ticker go into "weld" mode!

Yes, one can "see them coming" further from a tree stand but I can recall a LOT of deer that came in NOT on trails that were NOT shootable but in range because I couldn't turn enough in the stand to take the shot. On the ground, I'd have had one.

Pros and cons for each. The hunter has to just decide.

I decided and I wish I had decided the same years earlier. It did drive a few locals nuts though that I kept killing deer from the ground. LOL. I think they were the ones that were stealing my stands trying to drive me out of that woods. They are also the one's that are the reason I kept going to the woods to "keep tabs" even though I was in no condition to drag. (LONG ways from the road and a rough drag.) I had permission. They did not.
None of us can hunt that woods this year, or any other in the future. Not legally. It got sold. Posted. They still will though. I've an alternative spot....with help from a kind landowner with a 4 wheeler. God bless him. He's a preacher. Imagine that.

2 cents'
God Bless


----------



## Promisedland (7 mo ago)

Way back in the early 60’s when I was just a teenager and started bow hunting, a freind gave me his Baker Tree Stand Climber to use one time….I tried it out,and that almost put the end to my tree stand hunting….I was standing on this thing shaking like a dog s……. Razor blades…Luckily I survived that ordeal, and graduated to a better stand over time….I continue to use a climber now, fairly lite weight, and when I go in with it it stays covered at the bottom of the tree till I return, day after day….Something about tree stand hunting that I can’t get out of my blood….To each his own…


----------



## Nightlinger (Aug 7, 2020)

I'm a young buck (at least compared), and after killing a couple from the stand, I'm usually on the ground for the rest of the season, using my tiny chair next to the tree that I would have my stand in. Using the stand is a pain in the ass, especially trying to set it up in the dark.


----------



## 1canvas (Mar 29, 2009)

bgriffin said:


> Ground blinds for me as well. Gave up tree hunting. Can’t climb or carry stand in due to lung problems. I built a tower blind this past year on my property I hunt out of now. 16 feet high, 6x6 size, 8 feet ceiling, plexiglass windows with one on each side and 3 in front. Windows are 8” wide and 34 “ high, 32 inches off the floor. Insulated, carpet floor, and Buddy Heater. Airtight with Great Stuff spray foam. Camouflaged on the outside, sitting right in the edge of the woods overlooking some nice food plots. Great for me and my grandchildren to hunt out of.


That’s kind of like hunting out of a second story kitchen window.


----------



## bgriffin (Aug 14, 2008)

Yes it is, but better.


----------



## Piper06 (12 mo ago)

Spend more time on the ground then in a tree. Seems over the years I shot more deer from the ground but that's probably because that's where I spend most of my time.


----------



## Willis Hiatt (Jul 29, 2015)

I bought a Millennial hunt chair. Total game changer


----------



## Owl Creek (Oct 31, 2013)

Willis Hiatt said:


> I bought a Millennial hunt chair. Total game changer


I have been looking at these for a few years. at 55 i just had a full knee replacement 5 weeks ago but I am getting big around the belly too.
The climber was getting hard to use anyway and slow going up the tree. So I think its better/safer if I start ground hunting. I have been reading post on ground hunting and making hide's/blinds. I still need to hone some deer locating skills by using topo maps and info to cut down on unnecessary walking.


----------



## 1canvas (Mar 29, 2009)

Owl Creek said:


> I have been looking at these for a few years. at 55 i just had a full knee replacement 5 weeks ago but I am getting big around the belly too.
> The climber was getting hard to use anyway and slow going up the tree. So I think its better/safer if I start ground hunting. I have been reading post on ground hunting and making hide's/blinds. I still need to hone some deer locating skills by using topo maps and info to cut down on unnecessary walking.


I have the Millennium stool and tree, both serve a purpose. The tree seat is very lightweight and I use it for scouting around and gun season when I want a tree to my back. On the tree seat I put on a longer strap for larger trees and a small blaze orange sleeve on the strap for anyone coming from behind (I hunt public land).


----------



## Owl Creek (Oct 31, 2013)

1canvas said:


> I have the Millennium stool and tree, both serve a purpose. The tree seat is very lightweight and I use it for scouting around and gun season when I want a tree to my back. On the tree seat I put on a longer strap for larger trees and a small blaze orange sleeve on the strap for anyone coming from behind (I hunt public land).


Thanks, Maybe I will use my cabelas bucks to buy one of them. I see you post on a lot of the ground hunting stuff, and appreciate the info.


----------



## 1canvas (Mar 29, 2009)

I like hunting out of tree stands but after 45+ years carrying tree stands and gear through the wood it is really nice grabbing my stool and leaving.


----------



## luckyhook (Feb 7, 2020)

I am in the same boat as a lot of you. At 73+ yrs young been hunting out of trees for over 50 yrs and still like it but getting harder and harder to do. I gave up my climbers a few yrs ago because of the weight to lug them in and out and tried a few Ground blinds but with the heavy snows I get where I am they got collapsed so I more or less stopped trying to use them. Right now still using ladder stands but once up you are stuck with where they are .Are there any tried and proven methods to keep your blinds up in the heavy snows? What materials do you use to build ground blinds from nature? I tried a ,millenium seat but thought it was just too bulky. any other comfortable hang on seats out there? Thanks for any thoughts on these...


----------

