Ground hunting stories

[naternate]

I have some ground hunting stories but my favorite “hunting” story was when I was young and just ate up with being in the woods looking for deer. I was 12 or 13 y/o and had a friend that was just as obsessed with deer as me. We would dress in full camo with headnets and all to stalk around the woods in the summer trying to find deer. There was a landlocked piece of public behind the house that his parents rented growing up and we knew every inch. Sometimes we would climb a tree and just watch; other times we would spot them and try to stalk as close as possible. This particular evening we were just slowly walking through the woods and spotted a doe with a fawn headed our way. We laid down behind a slight knoll and poked our heads up to watch them as they worked our way. It became apparent they were going to continue on right down the trail they were on. My buddy was laying prone in the middle of it and I was just to the side. Like fawns sometimes do; all of a sudden it raced ahead of its mother and up over the knoll, stopping right between my buddy and I. I can still remember looking over at him through the legs of that fawn, both of us with a huge grin on our face under our headnets. It only lasted a few seconds because as soon as the doe crested the knoll she knew something wasn’t right and turned inside out busting out of there. We both wished we had tried to reach out and touch it but it was an amazing experience none the less

[Uncle Lou]

I have some ground hunting stories but my favorite “hunting” story was when I was young and just ate up with being in the woods looking for deer. I was 12 or 13 y/o and had a friend that was just as obsessed with deer as me. We would dress in full camo with headnets and all to stalk around the woods in the summer trying to find deer. There was a landlocked piece of public behind the house that his parents rented growing up and we knew every inch. Sometimes we would climb a tree and just watch; other times we would spot them and try to stalk as close as possible. This particular evening we were just slowly walking through the woods and spotted a doe with a fawn headed our way. We laid down behind a slight knoll and poked our heads up to watch them as they worked our way. It became apparent they were going to continue on right down the trail they were on. My buddy was laying prone in the middle of it and I was just to the side. Like fawns sometimes do; all of a sudden it raced ahead of its mother and up over the knoll, stopping right between my buddy and I. I can still remember looking over at him through the legs of that fawn, both of us with a huge grin on our face under our headnets. It only lasted a few seconds because as soon as the doe crested the knoll she knew something wasn’t right and turned inside out busting out of there. We both wished we had tried to reach out and touch it but it was an amazing experience none the less

Nate, what state are you in? Not that it matters for this particular story, but I always appreciate knowing what state people are in.

[Babscanes]

I love ground hunting a little more each season. Especially during gun season. My last two gun bucks were both killed on the ground. Both times I was just slowly making my way into the area I intended to hunt and well I never made my destination cause I tagged out on the way. One was a nice 3 Yr old chasing a doe and the other a 9pt slipping into the bedding area a little to late in the morning.

After being in a tree all bow season getting on the ground is so much fun with the gun. And in some areas you can just see better too.

Give it a go guys its a ton of fun.

[G-Patt]

Love this thread. Ground hunting is my first go to. I'll get in a tree to observe more than actually hunt. But once I'm on to some deer, I'll come up with a ground plan. One of my favorite hunts was a late October morning (Oct 28th). I was late to get up and didn't actually get into the woods until 9 a.m. The frost was high in the trees, melting and dropping like rain. The air was thick with that misty, late October morning with the sun peaking through. I was busy scouting a new area and trying to decide where to set up. I was getting frustrated since I was making a ton of noise, crashing through brush. I can hear deer snort at me. Finally, I settled on a pinch at the head of a ditch that neighbored a stand of oaks with very thick vegetation/bedding area around a pond within 40 yards or so. I discovered an active scrape at the head of the ditch under a beech tree. I found some decent cover next to large maple with a small beech growing right under it. The low branches of the beech concealed me. I finally settled in and was within 25 yards of the scrape. After 30 minutes, I hear a buck proudly tromping through the woods and went straight to that scrape. Raised my xbow, and that's all she wrote. This was after hunting for two full days straight with only one deer sighting. The sights, sounds and smell of the woods that morning and the simplicity of the hunt was something I'll never forget. I've got plenty of other ground hunting stories but that one is my favorite.

[naternate]

I have some ground hunting stories but my favorite “hunting” story was when I was young and just ate up with being in the woods looking for deer. I was 12 or 13 y/o and had a friend that was just as obsessed with deer as me. We would dress in full camo with headnets and all to stalk around the woods in the summer trying to find deer. There was a landlocked piece of public behind the house that his parents rented growing up and we knew every inch. Sometimes we would climb a tree and just watch; other times we would spot them and try to stalk as close as possible. This particular evening we were just slowly walking through the woods and spotted a doe with a fawn headed our way. We laid down behind a slight knoll and poked our heads up to watch them as they worked our way. It became apparent they were going to continue on right down the trail they were on. My buddy was laying prone in the middle of it and I was just to the side. Like fawns sometimes do; all of a sudden it raced ahead of its mother and up over the knoll, stopping right between my buddy and I. I can still remember looking over at him through the legs of that fawn, both of us with a huge grin on our face under our headnets. It only lasted a few seconds because as soon as the doe crested the knoll she knew something wasn’t right and turned inside out busting out of there. We both wished we had tried to reach out and touch it but it was an amazing experience none the less

Nate, what state are you in? Not that it matters for this particular story, but I always appreciate knowing what state people are in.

I am a Michigan boy born and raised Lou. Live in West MI now but previous to that I lived in Grand Blanc and prowled around state land in Ortonville and Holly. I ordered some Stealth Strips this year an was surprised to see then ship from over there!