ground blinds

[gogo]

I don't have a lot of confidence using a ground blind for deer hunting.You folks that use ground blinds how do you like them, how is your success ? Also if you have to put them up each time you hunt how do the deer react to something new in the woods?

[ninepointer]

When its a crossbow in my hand, I consider myself a treestand hunter, but my last two crossbow deer came from the ground. This blind got me one last year...



and a pop-up blind got me one last week. See my "Ground Blind Buck" thread: http://www.excaliburcrossbow.com/phpBB2 ... =1&t=40791

I'm really getting confident in hunting at archery distances from the ground, particularly where the right tree just isn't there. I try to get my stands & blinds ready by Labour Day weekend or shortly after. But I would not hesitate to put in a blind now if that's what I needed.

The local deer will get accustomed to it fairly quickly I think, and roaming rutting bucks will never know that its new.

[hikerman]

I have had a pop up blind work, in the past. Had a deer walk 30y past my shooting window. Did take the shot though( was not confident at the time). Also natural blinds work also, have taken two deer that way since.

This year I bought another pop up. Some else liked it last year a little to much last year.

This year with all the rain I figure I will set it up when I need to, and take it out as well.

Try to have to out of there line of sight if posible. Harded to do than to say.

Good luck.

[deerman]

If you can brush it in that helps greatly to make you blend in with the natural cover. Also set it up outside in your yard for a couple of days before putting it in the woods as this will help get the abnormal smells off the blind before actually using it in the bush.

[Big58cal]

I don't hunt out of treestands any more, totally ground blind now. All I use are natural blinds. A friend of mine uses pop up blinds and has good success out of them though.

On the natural blinds, if you can find a tree that's fallen in the right spot, get up in there and cut you out an area and shooting lanes. The main place I hunt though, there's just a fallen log beside a tree that I am up against. I pile limbs up around it each year and will cut some smaller limbs with leaves off trees and stick in the ground around it.

Since you're at eye level, movements of any kind have to be kept to a minimum. Also, the wind is more critical with being down on the ground. Total camo is a must! But once you get down out of the trees and are eye level with the deer, it's a whole new experience! Nothing like being able to count the moisture-coated whiskers around a deer's mouth/nose! Not to mention, having to fight off any squirrels that decide to come visit you!

[bucknbill]

i really like ground blinds, and i dont think i,m missing anything most of the time..and i do enjoy the fact that i cant fall farther than the bottom of my feet

[Big58cal]

Got to looking back through my Photobucket pictures and found a few of the main little blind I hunt out of.

This was right after I had shot a doe back in '09








Getting ready to bust a little 8 pt.

[DaGriz]

Being old and not at all steady enough to sit like a buzzard in a tree , I've been hunting from ground blinds for 6 yrs. It's been great. I have seen more deer, I'm able to be comfortable, out of the weather and the deer are up close and personal. My success rate has not suffered in the least. I actual believe it has increased.
A big plus is sitting in a darn comfortable chair and not worrying about hurting my self if I fall asleep and fallout of the chair!

[wabi]

I have one at my food plot/feeder site and it stays out year-round.
I also have a 2-man ladder stand covering the feeder area.
I've killed several deer from both, and haven't noticed much difference in the success rate. The one disadvantage of the blind is that visibility is limited, but that could be an advantage in some situations. Several times I've had a deer walk in from beside the blind and I didn't know it was there until it appeared 10 or 20 yards away - no time to get nervous.
I did paint the windows of the blind black. That way they look similar open or closed. Before I painted them I did notice a couple deer get nervous when they looked at the blind from across the food plot. Like they realized "something's wrong with this picture", but couldn't pinpoint it. Since I painted the windows that hasn't happened.
I've shot deer as close as 6 or 7 yards from the blind, and had a few actually even closer.

Pic of the blind from the base of my ladder on the ladder stand -

[hikerman]

In my times of hunting I haven't seen more deer on the ground more than in the tree,... but I think that has to do with my lack of skill rather then ground blind being inferior to tree stand hunting.

A few year ago I was lucky and got permision to hunt a 25 acer forest that had field on the north and south end. I made some natural blinds.
I learnt alot in two years. More than once I had 4 deer come out around me.
Between 10 and 50 yards at the same time. To close and to far at the same time. Could not even raise up my bow.
This was a very low hunting presure area, they learnt faster than I did.

It does work, try to blend in. Move as little as posible, that is even to much. They will hone in on sound also. Play the wind easier said than done.

Good luck!

Paul.