There are few things that deliver the adrenaline rush of having a monster whitetail within a suitable harvest range. We spend months preparing for that one opportunity at a trophy buck. Hunting whitetail deer in this modern era allows the average hunter to tap into tremendous advancements in technology and tactics. We have trail cameras and scent clothes and also a few gadgets that we really haven’t found a use for yet. If one has the money, then the other has just the trick to make you a better, more successful hunter. Let’s face it, we are in the age of technology and we can either gear up and tap in or resort back to what has always worked in the past.

Being a fan of things that work, Adam McCallister wasn’t ready just yet to integrate his hunting styles and techniques. There are allot of do’s and don’ts that have been expressed in the hunting world and the key factor is to take those tidbits of expertise and apply them to the area you are hunting. Adam hunts the foothills of the north Georgia mountains which translates into rolling hills, both steep and shallow. If you have ever lugged a tree stand up and down a sequence of these miniature mountains, you know it can get pretty exhausting to say the least. These situations forced Adam into a style that he has perfected and taken numerous trophy whitetail bucks with. It is a simple concept. It’s hunting in its purest form which is hunting from the ground.

Now I know what you are probably thinking. What about scent control? This is where it gets really technical. I asked Adam about this as well and his response was, “If the wind shifts, I get up and move. It’s the mobility that keeps me hunting from the ground. It is easy to devise a stalk on a buck in the distance when you’re already on the ground. It just makes more sense to me.”

Still not convinced? Being a huge fan of tree stands, I was a little skeptical as well. Adam told me that he had some pictures for me and that he wanted to show me a deer he harvested last year from one of his ground blinds.

“Check these out,” he told me.

I was intrigued to say the least after thinking of how much easier his style was verses the marathon style I have. It just seemed effortless to me, but not wanting to seem too eager, I told him, “Put them on my desk and I will take a look when I get a minute.” Who was I kidding? I couldn’t wait another second. Adam had taken a monstrous north Georgia buck with this method, and for good measure, he added more pictures of another monstrous whitetail he took the year before.

“Those are a couple of good deer, huh? Sometimes you just have to get up close and personal with them,” he said. “I found the nine pointer in late bow season and decided to give him some space, so I held off until the first cool snap in gun season.”

To give clarification to what a cool snap is in Georgia, it means that the weather is finally bearable. This gives you a low of around forty degrees and a high that gets up to the low to mid seventies.

“I decided to set up at the head of a big hollow that has several ridges and draws connecting to it. I was set up right and had the wind to my face. Daylight came and I saw a large bodied deer crossing the hollow using one of the finger ridges as a travel way. I glassed the deer and it was the one I had saw in late bow season. The buck got within a hundred yards of my position and I knew I had to take a shot before I lost sight of him. I steadied my rifle and squeezed off a round. I missed. I fired two more rounds and the buck topped the ridge and was gone. Being on the ground, I stood up immediately and sneaked up to the top of the ridge and I saw the buck walking up the other side of the big hollow I was hunting. I moved into position for another shot. This time the buck was out in the open with nothing between us. I fired a final shot and the buck went down. If I would have been in a tree, I wouldn’t have been able to get that last shot off.”

I sat and I listened to the story and then the second story that followed with similar results, minus the anxiety and misses. The wheels started to turn as I remembered several instances where I could have had better luck had I been hunting from the ground. Granted a ground blind isn’t the perfect set up for all situations, I do believe it can increase your odds in some. It was inevitable that this theory holds water. You know what they say; seeing is believing. It’s hard to argue with a tactic that has produced trophy bucks. I am a huge fan of taking things that work and incorporating them into the areas that I hunt. As for me, I think I have found a way to hunt that big hollow that I left alone last season.

Braden Arp