Shoulder to shoulder with my dad and brothers, I nestled into the hole we had created on the base of a giant tree. Paper-thin beech leaves rattled above us. That was how I shot my first deer, and plenty of extra after that. Though I did hunt from a tree stand man occasions as an grownup, I’ve since returned to my roots. I deer hunt from the bottom; no blind or stand wanted.
Searching from the bottom appears to have misplaced recognition through the years as tree stands and ground blinds have superior far past what they as soon as had been. However looking from the bottom is just not a misplaced artwork, and it’s an choice each hunter ought to preserve of their again pocket—particularly in the event you’re seeking to enhance your woodsmanship. Positive, it’s cool to shoot a deer when you’re 20 toes up a tree. However capturing a deer from the identical degree as your quarry will definitely convey a brand new feeling of accomplishment.
First, let’s distinguish between floor looking and nonetheless looking. Floor looking usually entails posting up in a single spot, and staying put. You test the wind, discover a good disguise in a possible space, and wait there for deer to return alongside. That is how I killed my first deer. Nonetheless looking entails transferring slowly — and I imply slowly — by the woods. You cautiously take just a few steps, particularly when the wind can disguise your sound and motion, wait and watch, then repeat.
For the needs of this text, I’ll discuss with what I do as floor looking, though I hunt utilizing each of those methods. I still-hunt my strategy to a possible spot, keep there for some time, after which nonetheless hunt my method out or to a brand new spot once I determine it’s time to maneuver on. Every hunt is a bit of completely different. It relies on the time I’ve to hunt, the climate situations, my temper, whether or not I’ve got my daughter with me, and so forth.
Now, it doesn’t matter in case you are a gun hunter or a bowhunter. Floor looking is a possible method for any methodology or season. A number of years in the past, I obtained permission to bowhunt a small apple orchard in a residential space. There have been no bushes appropriate for any form of tree stand, or any spots the place a blind wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb.
So I selected to tuck myself behind some thick brush and useless tree limbs earlier than the solar got here up. The group of deer I used to be anticipating got here by on the identical time they all the time did. At one level, the most important doe appeared proper at me as I knelt with my compound at full draw, shaking as I willed myself to not let down. When the doe turned to look in the other way, I took the right quartering-away shot. This was the hunt that made me understand what I’d been lacking whereas I used to be up in a tree. On the bottom, I’m in the midst of all of it.
This was the hunt that made me understand what I’d been lacking whereas I used to be up in a tree.
Sure, stands and blinds are extremely helpful, they usually provide many benefits (comparable to excessive vantage factors and good concealment, respectively). However looking from the bottom has its benefits, too. You don’t want any further tools, which suggests looking this manner is reasonable and simple. No packing in stands or carrying chairs by the woods. No struggling to arrange a blind within the flicker of your headlamp beam. Simply seize your bow or gun and discover a spot with pure cowl. Blow downs, tree stumps, and thickets alongside deer trails all match the invoice. You’ll additionally discover that looking from the bottom can usually make it easier to entry areas you wouldn’t have the ability to simply hunt in any other case, comparable to steep, thick, or distant spots. When you’re mountain climbing into a brand new space and also you don’t need to carry a number of gear, don’t. Nonetheless hunt it as a substitute.
Since you’ll be looking on the identical degree because the deer you’re pursuing, they’ll usually have the benefit. Taking part in the wind and training scent management is vital. Don’t make any sudden actions. Transfer slowly, and if you end up on the transfer, cease usually. Many occasions, I’ve been enjoyable in opposition to a useless log or taking a break from my sluggish stroll to a spot to lean in opposition to a tree once I flip my head and see the white flicker of a tail solely yards away. You possibly can’t all the time see very far if you’re on the bottom, which is a part of the enjoyable. Usually, you’ll transition from boredom to heart-pounding pleasure in a break up second.
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Floor looking is definitely not for everybody. When you’re looking a particular buck or solely have giant areas of wide-open timber and no cowl in sight, you’re most likely higher off in a treestand or a floor blind. Like these staples, this method is one other software in your software package. However in the event you simply need to go kill a deer and be taught a bit extra concerning the habits of whitetails on their very own turf, then floor looking is likely to be the most effective factor that ever occurred to you.
This column was first revealed on Sept. 20, 2021.
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