Ground stalk vs tree stand

[Kingpuck]

So I'm new to the boards but have been reading the forums for a bit and just recently joined. Have just recently graduated from college and working hard to get that first job out of school. During this time I've been thinking more and more that hunting, specifically bow hunting is something I'd like to get into. With my love of the outdoors, backpacking, and fishing, hunting would be a nice addition. Doesn't hurt that elk and deer are so tasty! Have yet to go buy all the gear (job) but was wondering about just doing a ground stalk for deer. With deer having really good hearing would this totally be a waste or is it just not the most effective method? Maybe it depends on the areas your trying to hunt.

Hoping not to hit anyones nerves here just honestly curious about just ground stalking them. It seems deer are everywhere when I'm salmon fishing so thought it would work the same when hunting.

[Camp David]

Good question...Been bow hunting for years and been able to get a few on the ground. #1 sense deer use is smell. That's one big advantage you have in a tree stand is your sent can move above them and not be detected in a lot of conditions. If you think about stalking as a slow moving ground blind, where you put yourself in a position to intercept the deer, it will work out better. You need to see the deer, and anticipate where it will move to and let it walk through your shooting zone. You can stalk up to and shoot a deer, but your movement, noise and sent must be perfect. Most guys are successfull on this when a deer is bedded down. Deer can see about 270deg, their hearing is amazing and sense of smell is estimated to be 1000s of times better than ours; a lot of time your stalking several that are together. This of course adds to the complexity of obtaining a close shot. Fooling all of those senses is tough but very rewarding. The reason treestands work so well with deer is that you can remain motion free, you are noise free and the breeze will hopefull take your sent away from the deer. You are not invisible in a tree. I've had numerous deer spot me in a tree even when I did not move (mostly does). As a bow hunter you have to anticipate and plan drawing your bow when the deer will not see the movement. If you can see their eye(s) they can see you (move).

[BOWHUNTER45]

This is a good subject for sure ...I can remember moving out here from pennsylvania and wondering how I was going to adapt to the new hunting areas I was now living in ... I spent countless hours in tree stands when I first came out here waiting for blacktail to walk under my tree stand ..well needless to say it did not happen to often ..Finding out the hard way a blacktail is not predictable as the whitetail....plus the other problem growing up was I could never ever sit still and being bowhunters in my family my dad would always tell me ..you are not going to kill these whitetail by walking around the woods sit your butt still .. Well sorry pop I have proved ya wrong...Got my 1st whitetail at 9 yrs old and sneaking around behind our house ...we was in awe when I ran and got him....been a bowhuntin nut since ...so anyway I started using my stalkin ablilities here in washington and have done much better... always wondering whats over that next ridge has alway produced success for me ....But then I drew a special bull permit in 08 and after all the years of putting up my treestand and hanging it in my garage I would finally take it down from retirement....Must of been ment to be because I killed the biggest bull I may ever see again from that tree stand which came over 3000 miles to kill a huge I mean huge elk ...hahaha

[Alan K]

Awesome picture there Bowhunter45!!

[norsepeak]

been bow hunting for a long time, got 19 elk, and several deer with the bow and not one of them was from a treestand.  I just don't have the patience to sit in a stand for very long, I have to walk.  Once you develop you stalking skills, its very doable to kill deer and elk from the ground.  Good luck.

[dreamunelk]

The important message from these replies is both methods work!  Me I am a stalker!  I am simply a spastic in a tree stand.  Can't hold still to save my life and guaranty my kidneys will decide it is a good day to flush.  I recommended giving both a try.  Let your disposable funds be the guide    Once you get to know an are good enough you can place your stand in a location for those times when you feel like sitting.

[PolarBear]

Been bowhunting for 30 years and usually hunt deer from a treestand and elk on foot.  The areas where I hunt deer are so brush chokeb that not only can you not see 15 yards in front of you to get a shot but you cannot hunt it quietly.  Being up a tree, IMO, is much better for pressured deer because you have better scent control, you can see further and down into the brush, you are much more quiet and you have better shot clearance.

[Kingpuck]

Interesting responses. It really sounds like you have to decide on your own preference and learn to be quiet. With my complete inability to sit still in the mountains or otherwise it sounds like I'm going to have to stalk.

On the job front, I've got a phone interview coming up soon and hoping that it turns into a job. If that happens then I'll be on the hunt for a bow. Probably too late to get ready for hunting season. Maybe I'll be ready for next years season.

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful responses. Have lots to think about. I can already tell hunting is going to be a lifelong passion.

[Special T]

I think the terrain dictates how you hunt... E side probably spot and stalk for deer and elk... W side... lots of scouting... spot and call/stalk for elk and likely tree stand for deer. many place near your home will either be walk in hunting behind gates OR in a tree stand on a relatively small piece of prop.

[Bustyn]

Stalker here for sure.  21 mule deer with my bow from stalking.  O from tree stand.  But then again, I hunt the desert.  Not alot of opportunities to use a tree stand.

[Button Nubbs]

I really enjoy spot and stalk for mulies, this year for elk I'm gonna hang a stand on some thick well used trails and wait for a bull to show his face. Planning on spending a lot of boring time in the stand but that 10 seconds will be totally worth the hours of boredom.

[Kingpuck]

Oh man, the more everyone talks the more I'm itching to go buy a bow and start practicing. I can already feel my wallet getting lighter. Next thing I know I'll be buying a truck, bow, and arrows. If there was a way I'd just live out in the great outdoors and forget the city ever existed. But alas one must have money to pay for life...

[PolarBear]

About the only thing I use a treestand for are whitetails and blacktails, everything else is on the ground especially elk and muleys.

[Sneaky]

A tree stand in the right spot is going to give you a tremendous advantage over ground hunting. You just need the right spot, which can be really hard to come by.

If you're bowhunting, I would seriously consider a tree stand.

[singleshot12]

This is a good subject for sure ...I can remember moving out here from pennsylvania and wondering how I was going to adapt to the new hunting areas I was now living in ... I spent countless hours in tree stands when I first came out here waiting for blacktail to walk under my tree stand ..well needless to say it did not happen to often ..Finding out the hard way a blacktail is not predictable as the whitetail....plus the other problem growing up was I could never ever sit still and being bowhunters in my family my dad would always tell me ..you are not going to kill these whitetail by walking around the woods sit your butt still .. Well sorry pop I have proved ya wrong...Got my 1st whitetail at 9 yrs old and sneaking around behind our house ...we was in awe when I ran and got him....been a bowhuntin nut since ...so anyway I started using my stalkin ablilities here in washington and have done much better... always wondering whats over that next ridge has alway produced success for me ....But then I drew a special bull permit in 08 and after all the years of putting up my treestand and hanging it in my garage I would finally take it down from retirement....Must of been ment to be because I killed the biggest bull I may ever see again from that tree stand which came over 3000 miles to kill a huge I mean huge elk ...hahaha

Kool pic!  and what a shot on that bull to drop him in his tracks right underneath your stand.. hahaha