Ladder,Climber stand VS Ground blinds!

[Nocturnal]

Would like to get a few opinions on this,is higher always better?

[Pydpiper]

I never hunt from trees, I like to be eye level with my deer. I only use a blind when I am hunting with my wife or one of my young kids, or if I am with someone else and I am not comfortable to roam.
I think this is all about preference, sometimes I wish I was in a tree to gain the advantage of longer visibility, slightly better scent dispersion and out of a deers natural field of view. But you can not put a price tag on that feeling when a deer suddenly steps out in front of you, eye to eye, heart beating hard and scared to blink because you know it will spot you.
So many ways to hunt, so little time.

[Turtleman]

My opinion is that big bucks know when something is different in their house just like you would. A pop up blind from my experience has to be either left a while in a position or camoflauged very well , & have a very defined wind away from the deer. Ladder stands need to be high to be more effective , left over seasons so deer get used to them, another down side is other people can more easily use your stand. I like climbers or fixed stand myself and i try to get around 17 to 20 ft in the air no higher. I think you get away with more movement and scent. Just my opinion!!!

[sumner4991]

I like being on the ground . . .mainly because I'm afraid of falling, actually, I really don't like gravity once I'm removed from the ground.

Anyway, mature bucks can be taken from the ground with minimal cover. My hunting partner took a nice 10 point this year. He was sitting with his back against a fallen tree(a big tree). A doe came out first to within 15 yards, then the buck came crashing in, got to 50 yards when he shot it.

The sky seats do offer some advantages. However, with a little careful planning, a ground stand/blind is just as effective. I do like to use the natural lay of the land to get on a higher plane if possible.

If you decide to use a tree stand . . .make sure you get a very good harness and use it!

[honker]

shot my first two deer this year sitting on the ground without any blind or stand. Just made sure there was a tree or fence that is able to support my back and give me an okay rest area without being "too" uncomfortable.

i think the ground is better simply due to the fact that that movement is key for this kind of hunt. Of course, smell is also something that they are very effective with, but i believe deer have a harder time following smells from the ground vs. in the air.

[raydaughety]

OK, I going to go out on a limb here and give my opinion get it? Out on a l....ahem anyhow, I have been busted so many times in my ground blind that it ain't funny but I really learned some valuable lessons during turkey season and was successful. If you can get close enough to a turkey while on the ground, then you can certainly get close to a whitetail. ( minus the scent factor). I found that setting up in the real thick stuff just off the edge of a field or path where you expect a deer to come to and have the wind in your favor, you can increase your chances for success. Now ultimately, I prefer hunting from a portable tree climber but can't figure out how to modify one that would make it easy to pull the bottom section up using my arms as I have very little leg strength. I feel that I can see better from a climber and I am less likely to be seen or smelled. What I have posted sounds like a double standard but I think that y'all understand what I'm saying. I used to could go to a new spot, put my climber on my back and off I'd go to find that perfect tree that just felt right. A few years ago, I put my climber on the back of my atv and parked it at the base of the tree, set the climber up, moved the atv a little out of sight and nailed a buck that evening. We dog hunt some around here and while most guys are sitting around a cut over waiting for a deer to come out of it, I'd be 20' up a tree on the edge so that I could see down into the thick stuff because the deer tend to run around in circles trying to give the dogs the slip and avoiding the road. I bet That Crazyfarmer can relate to this method of hunting.

[Hi5]

Would like to get a few opinions on this,is higher always better?

If you are higher, you MAY be less likely to be spotted. It will improve the odds of your scent being less of a factor in alarming your quarry.

The disadvantage is that it increases the angle of the bolt's path. Because you are shooting down at an angle, you tend to hit high on one side and low on the opposing side. The ideal shot is low in BOTH the lungs.

[VixChix]

I like being on the ground . . .mainly because I'm afraid of falling, actually, I really don't like gravity once I'm removed from the ground.

x2 Although I've hunted from a climber, I'd rather be on the ground.

[MPSNIPER]

For archery, I prefer my 15' ladder stands. I leave them in the bush so the deer can get use to them ( although I have moved them to a "funnel spot" where deer travel and had mature bucks approach them within 12 hours without any concern). I use portable and permanent tree stands and ground blinds as well, but without a doubt my favourite is the ladder stands. I feel more comfortable getting in and out of them especially when its dark coming out of a tree: I never worry about it in the ladder stands.
-Michael.

[crazyfarmer]

Ray, thats one reason I have alot of stands up;) I dog hunt alot later in the year and they hunt dogs on the farms I bowhunt and ML hunt. 15ft up a tree helps greatly when its so thick you can see 5ft on the ground!

I personally cant stand a ground blind. Ive never had good luck with them. Unless put up 2 months before season deer always busted mine. I only use mine if the kids come out. Sure you might get lucky and get a doe or buck in full rut thats not paying attention. But from my experience deer are curious and they will bust the blinf 80% of the time, even brushed in well. Its like someone coming into your house and putting a tent up and trying to hide it with clothes in the laundry room

climbers are ok.. i use one for hunts on land I havent scouted or didnt have time to hang a stand. But you have to find a clean tree to climb, and its not easy to do so unless you have Pines and Popular to pick from. PLus I hate taking the thing into the woods and out. I have the Summit Viper which I love, but I only use the thing 1-2 times a year if that.

Ladder stands are great if you can get them into where you want them. I actaully put mine up atfter season goes out. I leave the strap a little loose for tree growth. Gives the deer plenty time to get use to them. But only do that if no one else hunts that land:-P

I myself have about 30 hang on stands up. I always take out the bottom 2 tree steps and leave somewhere along my trail to the stand to find. They can be a PITA to hang, but after 12 years of hanging them its a peiceof cake for me now.

as someone said, get a harness. I personally havent ever used one, but im getting older and less careful so Im hoping to get the hunter safety one for xmas. Plus if I fall now, i wont bounce like I would when I was 16 LOL.

as for height which I think is the main question here... 12-17ft are about the limits you need to be up. Some on TV go 25ft up, but I have no clue why. If its cover at 10ft, then thats all you need to go. As long as you are blended in thats what matters. Its nothing like looking eye to eye with a buck, but its also nothing like having one RIGHT under your stand and not knowing you are there

[wabi]

I use ladder stands, hang-on stands, a climber, and ground blinds. It all depends on the location - whatever "fits" best.
So far this year 2 deer, one from a ladder stand and one from a ground blind. One at 15 yards, and one at what I thought was 20 (from the blind) but when I recovered my arrow I found she was actually a bit closer. The arrow was stuck in the ground at about 25 yards, so she was probably close to 15 yards, too.

[hikerman]

This is my forth year hunting deer and have had success for the last two.
Have received a lot of good advice on ground hunting and some for in a tree.

For me I love ground hunting!!!
Play the wind. I don't like sitting in a blind feel boxed in although very nice if it is raining. Prefer to use natural cover, set up about 20 to 30 yards off their path. You don't have to be completely concealed. I like to have cover so they don't see me ( my outline is broken) move form the direction that they come. I have had deer stop at 20 yards away and look right at me for a minute and them move on. JUST DON"T MOVE! What a RUSH!
My second deer was a small buck 7" spiky.

Hunting from a tree is fun too. That view is great! I enjoy the swaying back and forth too. But I think you still need cover if you in hard woods. Once the snow is fallen you stick out like crazy! I have been busted a field away from my movement.
My first deer was a 10 point buck at 12 yards 15 feet up a tree. WHAT LUCK!
For either way I think there is a lot to learn and enjoy.

Paul.

[Phoenix_Tom]

I've always enjoyed still hunting but for bow/xbow I prefer to be in a treestand during the 1/2 hour before sunrise / after sunset. Years ago I started making my own portable treestands and those are great in addition to my factory made stands. I must be lazy though because I always seem to want more stands mounted in different places than I actually get around to mounting. I found a great spot to build a tree cabin. I'd like to be able to wake up and instantly be on watch!

This year I've been experimenting with ground blinds. Not the pop up tent ones but the small ones. I have one of those triple circle ones that folds into a nice little 12" round bag, and another one that has telescoping stakes and is about 8' long. The latter is much better since the height of the blind can be adjusted at each stake. Between these 2 blinds I have 360deg coverage. This combo works too. I've had several does broadside at 25 yds but no doe tag. I want one of those big pop up blinds but I'll leave that one setup for the season. My current set up is extremely portable and I can go from still huntingin the thick stuff to blind hunting in a couple of minutes.

[Hoss]

I like stalking from the ground nothing like it to me...but I do take my climber..If I find a sweet place that has many deer signs I try to pull up a tree and wait it out even if its not a good climbing tree i will climb some disconnect and move my climber around limbs and continue until i get into the sky 15-20' or cover...I really believe that the first time you hunt a virgin area is the best time to take a big buck..element of surprize..

[Grizzly Adam]

Ground blind hunting does work ... and it can work well.

The idea of hunting on the ground is to ambush unsuspecting animals ... and that, my friends, isn't so tough if you do it right ... but doing it right always involves working with the cover available.

I imagine that part of the problem many of you encounter is due to terrain that is simply too open for easy ground-blind hunting. You know what I mean if you'll think of the usual mature hardwood type scenes presented on many hunting videos. No wonder they have to hunt in trees. If you're in a hunting in a park, there's no place to hide! Just kidding, but you get my point.

Here's the short story: Ground blind hunting is VERY EFFECTIVE if it's done in thick enough cover, and if the blinds are cut out of or made from natural materials. You don't need a $300 dollar camo tent if you're in the right sort of brush ... nature has done most of the work for you.

I've killed well over 100 deer from the ground ... many with archery equipment within 15 yards. Sometimes all I've done is stand back in the brush and cut out enough to get a shot through to my kill zone.

Take a gander at these pics and you'll see what I mean. If I wanted to hunt this particular bear, and had patterned him using the same area, I'd simply cut myself a room back in the brush, get the debris off the ground (for silence), mask any gaps in my cover with natural material from the same area, and I promise you that bear, deer, hog or whatever I'm after will not see me. They might smell me, but they won't see me.





It's like shooting out of a room through a window ... that's the idea.

I could go to this very spot tomorrow, go in and hack out a 5'X5' room right behind where that bear is, put a chair in there, don some camo, take position and have April take another picture of the same spot ... and I'll bet you wouldn't see me either.

If the area doesn't provide for cutting out a room, you can take four t-posts, some wire and twine and use the surrounding vegetation to make a "bumpout" against some backdrop ... absolutely deadly. African outfitters do it all the time.

I've made ground blinds before that I've had trouble finding the next day. The guy who farms this place has bush-hogged over several of them alongside paths and field edges because he couldn't see them!

That's they key. Let nature hide you!

And remember: THE SHADOWS ARE YOUR FRIENDS! USE THEM!

Even in more open areas, it can be done ... it's just harder, and you have to be content with more open set-ups ... but the point is to break your outline and mask your movements. Open patterned camo helps a lot ... stuff like ASAT works much better than many patterns that are so trendy and popular. Ghillie suits and leafy ponchos are almost groundblinds in themselves.

Be inventive.

You can even kill game off the ground in pretty wide open situations if you just don't move around much ... or move slow as molasses when you must.

So ... if you're groundbound for any reason ... go for it.

It certainly can be done, and done well.