The secret to hunting on the ground is being ready to draw with little movement. Something as minor as not having your release snapped on your string can require just enough movement to scare your deer away.

The question is how would you manage the adrenaline rush to shoot a giant buck? The key is the ability to shoot your bow or gun with little or no thought at all. This comes with hours and hours of practice. It's not just drilling arrows into a target 20 yards away but shooting in different positions at different distances at different angles. Shooting at moving or flying targets gives you the practice necessary to create a smooth quick thoughtless shot which you might need if a big boy is standing in front of you.

A well tuned shooter barely remembers taking the shot but hits his target every time.

Still huntin is the name of the game. Can't go wrong with that. When you hunt the ground you get a more exciting hunt and in my opinion it truly tests your ability as a hunter/huntress.

I've killed lots of deer but lately I've been lots of fun bowhunting in big cornfields, stalking through them is exciting and fun. Its amazing how close they will get to you when the wind is right. I've had young deer walk up and eat corn off a plant two rows (6 foot) away from me and never realize I'm there. I've come awful close to killing good bucks in the corn, all drawn back and just one more step, but although that step has not happened yet its been enjoyable hunting and something most people don't attempt.

Thanks ckrich. wow what a deer.

hunting on the ground is the way to go

Since I do 99.99% of my huntin' on the ground, stalkin', I would have had a blind in the middle of that field to conceal my movement as I drew my bow back.

As soon as I saw this gentic giant, I would have taken a d-e-e-p breath and exhaled more than I took in.

Focus and concentration is key!

Focus on the kill zone and concentrate on pulling your bow back as to not be detected. Breathing is everything at this critical moment. A few more d-e-e-p breaths through my nostrils, will cause my body/muscles and head to be in the same place ... semi-relaxed.

It's kind of like shooting a free throw in basketball!
A consistent routine:
1.) Bounce the ball 3-times
2.) D-e-e-p breath to relax
3.) Aim at the front of the rim and release the ball with a goose-neck.

Practice for consistency!
1.) Estimate correct yardage and pull bow back
2.) Find correct pin
3.) Focus on Kill zone and slowly release
4.) Let out a Mike Iaconelli yell
5.) Don't forget the toliet paper

I practice this early in the season on does. There have been times when I got so excited, I could'nt pull my bow back, even on a slick-head!

This is where it's at. I've done the whole stand/blind thing. Just me on the ground with a recurve, crossbow, or the occasional compound is what really satisfies now. 7 and 17 yards are my magic numbers. Any closer than 7 seems impossible. Past 17 yards is long range. I have taken one buck at 7, that was the closest for anything ever. This was with a crossbow. I'm sure not having to draw helped that along. Since that one, taking deer in general has become less appealing. I pass up so many now. I'll never top that experience. A bunch more deer all seem to be right at 17 or so. I stride it out after the shot, no rangefinders for this guy. I just don't see how they fit into archery hunting.

I am not sure what kind of cover the camera man is in but for me if you put up a pop up blind a day before you hunt the deer will notice it, but if that is my property I would set one up for the deer to get used too. Now if this was state land or something, see the bushy tree thing that comes into the video at about 1:08? I will be sitting on my 5 gallon bucket right in the center of that. But thats just my setup. Staying calm to make a good shot will be tough. Lots of pressure makeing a shot on something like this.

With my bow I'm 1 for 2 from the ground, last year shooting a decent buck at 20yds. Very exciting. This year i missed a basket rack after a stalk. Shot right over his back. Was not confident on the yardage. Even though i guessed it correctly at 25 yds, the uncertainty probably was the cause of my high miss. Will be doing more bow hunting from the ground this coming year for sure. With a rifle i'm ALWAYS on the ground and have shot a few within bow range.

Practice during the off season is key. For any deer at this distance you must draw early and hold for an extended period. The longer you can hold you bow at full draw the better when on the ground. Another thing I do is to never look the deer in the eye. Once I determine that I want to shoot I begin focusing on the kill zone. Deer like people seem to have that spidey sence when they are being stared at so I keep my eyes down and not directed at their head. This helps with buck fever also. Hunt hard and Live long.

poopy pants that what they would be calling me after seeing that buck at ground leave, that buck almost looked stickbow close, awsome buck to see in the wild even if you didn't get a shot at it

Walt,
Some people call that hunting over bait. LOL.

That's one knarly horned buck, it'd be great to be a groundblind watching him walk in. I enjoy hunting light rain as it seems to bring he deer in closer. Before ground blinds became available I'd just set with my back against a tree as if turkey hunting and have had onebuck walk up and smell my boots before turning inside out and disapearing and another pass within arms reach never knowing I was there. It's hard to draw when the bucks eyes are on you the whole time he's coming in and exiting. My best ground blinds have since been just brushed in, dont get me wrong I still have and use several pop ups, but it seams natural cover seems to get em closer.

Hunting on the ground is the only way my 2 boys[7 and 14 years old] and I bowhunt here in Iowa. No minimum age or draw weight here. They both shot their first deer from homemade pitblinds on the edge of standing corn, [ my favorite bait] at very close range. On ground level it is much easier to get a double lung, and good penatration, than the bad angles from being elevated. With lower poundage, the cut on contact muzzy phantoms work great. If you have a shot at a buck acting like the one on the video, especially from the ground, you better be aiming for a low, slightly forward heart shot, because he is going to jump the string, no matter how fast you think your bow is.

Easier said than done but don't stare at the rack. Look at the body and wait for the best broadside shot and your target location.

Are you kidding,I froze up just watching the video , but I did get a nice buck a few years ago from the ground at 18 yards. Cool as he**.

What a beautiful buck.

I don't usually get overly excited on most any game (including fish) - pretty much mechanical to me. Same way in sports - never really celebrate even a well-earned point or win. I just smile and continue with business. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy it immensely. Just never been that outwardly emotional.

What I have to remind myself is to breathe before I gasp for air - I tend to hold my breath when an animal comes in so that I can hear and not be heard.

I've hunted on the ground a lot and really appreciate the excitement of bagging a whitetail at close range with a bow.The buck in the picture is very impressive.

I do about 50% of my deer hunting off of the ground. In that situation I would of had my, Double Bull Dark Horse ground blind set up. With it's blackout inside and me probably wearing all black it would of been a little easier for me to conceal my adrenaline inside of the blind with that big bruiser in front of me!!