Ground Blind Hunting
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Started hunting deer with a bow last year. Haven't tagged one yet, but have seen some and have gained some understanding of the woods I'm hunting. I'm on state(public) land and have been hunting from the ground sitting at the base of a tree or in brush sitting on the ground or on a tripod stool. Was thinking a pop up ground blind would be my next step as I am not 100% confident in a climbing stand yet, maybe in the future.. So here is my specific question. Has anyone had success hunting a pop up style blind by setting it up early am the day of the hunt. On state land I cannot setup preseason or weeks/days in advance and brush in, etc, etc. Blinds and stands are carry in and carry out daily. I know that setting it up in advance and brushing it in to allow the deer to acclimate is a higher percentage play, but...do not have that option. Looking to walk in an hour before sunrise, setup my blind, and hunt. Advice, critique, experience all appreciated, but not looking for naysayers who do not have first hand experience..looking for hard facts and evidence. I've heard some say they pop up a blind and kill deer. Others say you have to setup it up way in advance. Help! Thanks
You can set up up and kill deer, but you will have to brush it in really well. If you just stick it up, they will see it and be very leery of being close to it.
You'll have a very difficult time going into a new area, setting up any kind of blind or brush, and having an opportunity to harvest a deer. Deer will notice something is out of place and avoid it. If you intend on hunting from the ground, I recommend you go in weeks or months in advance and create a suitable brush blind from which you can hunt. The deer will become accustomed to the new piece of furniture in their living room and not be spooked.
The same could be said for a ground blind. The deer have to get used to it.
I own land and keep a ground blind set up all the time. The deer don't pay any attention to it since it is there all the time. However, I have set up a blind in the morning and killed deer that evening on several occasions. This was on the edge of a field and I put the blind in some brush along the edge and brushed it in pretty well. I was using a handgun in these instances so I didn't have to have the deer as close as with a bow. A couple were as close as 20 yards though. I set up a ground blind in the woods one time when I first got a Double Bull. I set up the blind and didn't even brush it in. Twenty minutes later a fawn had his nose almost touching the screen window. Mom was nervous and about 20 yards away. I didn't shoot.
Thanks for the feedback. Keep it coming. Pre dawn setup with a quick brush in might be my best chances right now.
I sit on a bucket in my ghillie suit and become the bush.
Have had fawns actually come up and nibble on me as I sit.
Advantage of a ghillie is the portability. Mine is anorak style. I carry it, accessories, snacks etc. in the bucket.
Anony Mouse....that's awesome. Very interesting, that's definitely using ingenuity.
Scouting the area first would be a nice advantage. That way you can have a few pre-determined spots picked out.
Maybe a couple around some feed trees, a funnel area, perimeter of a bedding area, etc....
Things to keep in mind.....pick the spot where you can stay downwind. Keep the sun at your back. Stay in shadows as long as you can. Setup with good background coverage.
If you can scout around, and keep those things in mind, you can take some lopping shears and a saw in ahead of time and setup a few spots. Even a rake to clear the ground ahead of time from leaves and stuff can make a difference.
Good luck, be flexible, and have fun.
Joey Ward , good stuff. I do have some familiarity to the area and hear you loud and clear for you spot suggestions. I think your advice to have some cut brush and areas cleaned up ahead of time is great. That way, once I get in there at 0 dark 30 I can setup and brush in easily.
You guys think that the pop up blind is worth while compared to sitting on the ground or a tripod stool? Way I figured is at least my silhouette and movement is masked much more. I've tucked away in the cover fairly confidently on a few hunts, but hard to sit completely still and not fidget or move at all... I'm sure you've all been there.
Mouse I have done the exact same thing. there is an old field about 500 yards from my house. It is grown up and there was a good deer crossin. I sat on a swivel stool and cut some branches and stuck them all up around me, leaving a shooting hole. The branches had honey suckle on them. I had a fawn eating honey suckle about a foot from my face. I had on camo and my face was painted but why the deer didn't smell me is amazing. Momma was about 10 yards away but I couldn't lift my bow to shoot becasue the fawn was just too close. Those deer were within 20 yards of me for thirty minutes. The only reason I bought my first ground blind was so I could hunt in rain and real cold weather and be comfortable. I have killed dozens of deer from quickly made blinds and tree laps.
Shuteye, your contributions to this thread are great and welcomed. So you added a blind to the mix basically for shelter from weather, which makes sense. I suppose with the blind you gain cover, so the deer don't see you movement. Pitfall to the blind seems to be its essentially a large cube that should be brushed in or left in the woods so the deer to don't spook.
Lex...I think that the deer that habituate in areas where there are a lot of humans (I live on 25A with homes along the road frontage) do not see humans as a danger per say. I have deer go between my house and neighbors to cross the street to drink from a small pond in another neighbor's yard.
When I go out back to the woodlot, I often run up against my horses to add to my scent package. I was talking about this with a friend just this morning. Before baiting and all the early deer seasons, my local herd often spent time in the same pasture as my horses..checking out feed pans, drinking from the water tank, etc.
I was able to walk with a horse and get in the middle of a group of deer...and when I let the horse return to the herd, the deer did not spook even though I was out in the open--less than 20 feet from many. I often thought their response was that I was just a horse of a different shape. I had both fawns and does sniff and lick me just standing there.
I like my ghillie as on a warm day, I can wear shorts and a tee shirt.
Mouse, What you are saying makes sense. Are the deer used to humans or not. What is their perception of the situation(sights and smells). The state land I hunt is a state park. The area I stay in is archery only hunting, so, during the season it doesn't get any pressure from gun hunters. However, with a majority of the human contact being hunters that want to fling an arrow at them, it seems as though these deer aren't too fond of humans...lol. In the off season there's barely anyone in the woods. I think my situation is a a little different from the farm setting where the deer coexist with you and your other animals for most of the calendar. I was told taking my first deer with a bow on public land would be challenging, and boy do I believe it. Fun to figure it out though.
AlexK14 get yourself a good quality swivel stool and a pair of Fiskar pruners. The expensive pruners not the cheaper ones. You can build a blind real quickly with the pruners cutting some limbs to put in front of your stool. Make sure your stool is level. You can back up to a log or tree and make sure you have room to draw your bow and have a place to shoot through. Helps if you scout ahead of time and know exactly how you want to set up with the prevailing wind in your face. If the wind is wrong when you get ready to go, don't go to that spot.
Alex, I can tell you this, the roof of a pop up has been a great asset to me on many a rainy day. Has kept me in the woods when it would have been too miserable to stay on a stool or treestand.
Too, the sides and ability to close windows on those windy cold days were/are really nice. And on those extremely cold days a Buddy Heater was a nice addition to a pop-up.
A little more to tote in, but well worth it.
And a tripod stool with a backrest is very nice.
The pop-up does allow for more movement than just sitting out there. You can drink, eat, standup and stretch, and pee without worrying too much about game catching movement.
Just some things to think about.
Some things just depend on your hunting strategy and/or how long you plan on staying in one place. And of course the weather.
Shuteye, my plan for my next hunt is starting to shape up.
1)Location - I have a few spots where I've seen deer travel. Have an idea where bedding and feeding is taking place. Also know where water is. Pick one to play the wind correctly.
2)Get in there and set down the stool with a tree/log/cover to my back.
3)Bring pruners to assist in getting a quick and easy natural blind built.
4)Sit and wait.
I appreciate everyone's input and talking it out. If anyone forgot anything or wants to add. Chime in.
Joey, all noted. Am still thinking I'll end up with a blind as just another tool in my toolbox. Since versatility is key I think that a ground hunter like myself should have the ability to put together a quick natural blind as well as the ability to setup the pop up blind. I'm sure both can be effective. The weather break is a big deal. I'm an ice fisherman also, and sometimes just the wind break will keep you out there fishing, instead of just heading back in.
Alex as I've gotten older I've hunted more off the ground and less in a tree. I have pop up blinds and think they are great for turkey and deer, especially if you can't sit still or have little ones with you.
Before I haul a pop up into public land and haul it out again I'm like Mouse and Shuteye but instead of a ghillie suit I use a 3D leafy camo suit in ASAT. I have a lot of confidence in it. I've had close encounters and the deer look at me like I'm vegetation.
The biggest killer for the bowhunter on the ground is movement. If you can sit still you can hunt from the ground without a pop up. When I use a pop up for deer I brush it in.
My experience with deer first noticing my pop up has been mixed. Using it turkey hunting, more or less in the open and not brushed in, a doe that walked by came unglued when she first saw it but the shot was available. In the woods and brushed in they haven't come unglued but only one ever came over to check me out closer. If I use a pop up blind now, most likely it will be in January, when the elements become an issue.
Good luck and enjoy your new sport of bowhunting.
I love walking the woodlot in January/February post seasons. Snow on the ground makes it easy to see patterns of travel. I make note of good places to set up for next year and put a spot of spray paint at those spots to easily locate in the fall. I can also do a little prep for the next season by moving some branches to encourage movement direction.
Lex is right about the good Fiskars. Makes a real difference. Not only can you create a blind easily, but clear shooting lanes.
I have never read articles about this tactic, but it has helped me to be able to make shots. I call it using distractants. I have found (by observation)that deer and turkeys are curious by nature. I once hung a salmon flasher on some raspberry plants in my hay field and saw both deer and turkey change direction to see what it was. I now often hang an old CD from limbs such that a deer will look at it and not noticing me drawing my bow.
Awesome stuff two feathers. For a new bowhunter like myself all these comments are adding up to strategy and confidence in that strategy. Thank you.
Distractants..wow. Never even thought of that.
Some good advice posted but I would advise that you start cultivating some private property with your spare time. Completely different ball game from public land. I would also become familiar and comfortable with a good climbing stand and your equipment. Your percentages of success if you follow all the others rules (equipment/practice/scouting etc.) will skyrocket on private property.
The Rock
Thanks Rocky, appreciate the advice.
Distractants/Attractant......Where legal, a crushed apple in the trail will make every deer stop and smell it. Gives you a good opportunity for a standing shot.
Now that I am an old man, my ground blind is pretty good size and I have a plastic box, to keep out mice, with snacks and apple juice. I also have a small table, a buddy heater and a very comfy chair. In real cold weather I sometimes stay all day. I have killed quite a few nice bucks while I was eating my lunch. I even have a small propane stove if I want to heat up something. Of course this blind in my woods and only two hundred yards from my house. I often throw out bird seed right in front of the blind and enjoy watching the birds all day. I have taken a pellet rifle to take care of pesky squirrels and they are great in the crock pot. I have killed deer with a bow with four dead squirrels laying right out in front of the blind.
The picture is my visit to the blind this morning you can't see it due to my Gator being in the way. Love my Gator for hauling out deer and I can drive 1/2 mile up the road to the butcher shop. He makes everything you can imagine from deer meat. I grew up with him and he is a great butcher. He also has a Gator and is an avid bow hunter and has killed loads of turkeys and deer. He also hunts from a ground blind.
Sweet Ride! Sounds like ground blind hunting can be done in comfort.
No matter how used deer get to a ground blind, if the wind changes, you're screwed.
I imagine if the wind changes you'd be screwed with or without a ground blind as well as in a tree stand, right??
Spike Bull, thanks for sharing. That screen looks like a good idea. I actually have some 3D camo material that I could pack up and use for a simple blind in a similar way.
With any luck, all these ideas will add up to tagged deer. Thanks!
Anyone else have some ground hunting/ground blind ideas or picks of their setup. I find that most guys sit on a stool or sit in a tree. But all these ideas I'm hearing sound viable.
That mesh material looks good.
"I imagine if the wind changes you'd be screwed with or without a ground blind as well as in a tree stand, right??"
Alex, one of the benefits of hunting off the ground w/o a pop up is mobility. When the wind changes you can move to accommodate the wind without it being a big hassle.
I use three different seats/chairs for hunting off the ground. Some stools/chairs don't work well in wet/mucky footings, the legs just sink down and in.
Yes, ground blind hunting can be done in comfort, but a lot harder to do when you have to haul everything in and out everyday on public land.
Spike, I also have some of that camo mesh and have used it from time to time. Also got mine from Wal Mart. I also carry some zip ties. They are great for attaching a mesh to a limb or securing a tag to the deer. Use them for a lot of things and real light to carry. When I am finished with them I just cut them the are so cheap. I buy a bag of a hundred.
Wow! A non political post! How refreshing
I like the cloth screen you can put up quick , or a natural brushy hide. Hate those pop up fish shacks! You can't see a damn thing that's going on in the woods except what's in front of you! Friend of my lost two deer shot out of one because he couldn't see which way they went after being hit!
Like Anony Mouse I also started hunting in a ghille suit about 10 years ago and they are awesome. In fact, I haven't sat in a tree since. I didn't plan it that way, but the ground/ghillie thing for me is the ultimate way to hunt.
I stillhunt most of the time and have simple set-ups that I sometimes use if I want to sit that are basicaly blowdowns that I trimmed out either before the season or whenever I see a good "sit" spot. I only use a fanny pack now and pruners are one of the spartan items I do carry.
The beauty of this method is that in a lot of areas deer aren't hunted from the ground much anymore and IMO aren't looking for hunters on the ground as much as they are in trees. This is confirmed whenever I do have deer close to me and have no idea of what I am. It STILL amazes me!
That, and the mobility you have to move and change with the weather/wind/sun/shade conditions is unmatched by any other hunting method. It's as close to being invisible as a human being can get.
I got this buck as I was stillhunting down a ridge that has deer trails transversing it. I had two does about run me over and would have if they hadn't skidded to a halt about 20 feet from where I was standing (I was on the trail). They looked at me and then simply walked about 20 yards down the ridge and then crossed the trail unalarmed. I backed up about 15 yards and a few minutes later this guy came along. I got down on my knees to reduce my profile and stopped and looked straight at me but wasn't alarmed and then walked into the clear and I shot him broadside. Like I said, it's amazing. They SEE you, but they look right past you.
These two incidents are NOT unusual and are in fact quite common. What is more problematic for me is that I like to stillhunt/stalk, so while I see and get close to deer quite often, getting a good shot is another matter and that's the challenge. But I don't mind, it's still a great way to hunt.
I'm sure Anony will agree!
My wife doesn't hunt but she loves to stalk deer and take pictures. She told me that if you stay down wind and don't move when they are looking you can walk right up to them. I have seen her sneak up to deer in the garden while I watched out the kitchen window. Last year she was within ten feet of a fawn. She can get within easy bow range of most deer. She swears movement is the big thing if you have the wind right. She also says you must be very quiet. I have seen deer look right at her, and then go back to eating. She doesn't own any camo.
Also I remember back in the day all the deer I killed while I was wearing blue jeans and a black and green wool shirt. The first camo I got was in a Army Surplus store. Got an Army tent for a very good price too.
Never owned a ghillie suit but always wanted one. I have a friend that wears one and does very well. On real windy days I still hunt and have very good luck.
When I treestand hunted I used to HATE real windy days. So much in fact, that there were some days when I'd get up a 3:00 AM, hear the wind roaring outside and the see treetops bending and I'd roll over and go back to sleep.
Not any more! I LOVE windy days, the windier the better. Deer don't like windy days either, and if you know your ground you will know that the potential area where the deer may be has been reduced significantly when the wind's blowing. The only problem is that when you do locate the deer, you've located ALL the deer in the area so you'd better be REAL careful how and when you move.
Windy days also help mask any movement and sound you may make. But it also does the same for the deer, so you've got to be constantly watching. The same flicker of an ear that on a still day will catch you eye at 50+ yards away will be about invisible when the vegetation is constantly moving.
DAMN! This thread makes me want to go hunting NOW!!!
Well WW, it is Oct. 5th!!!!
Many years ago (high school), I managed to get within 10ft of an ole doe out in a field and she never spooked. Had just finished putting up a stand and stepped out into a field and there she was feeding towards me.
I only moved when her head was down feeding and would freeze when she looked up. Had on camo coveralls but no face mask. She fed right past me at 10ft and kept on going, never spooking at all.
Actually just thinking about it, I shot my very first deer with a bow from that stand that very evening. Unfortunately, we never found it. Hit was perfect if I had been on the ground, but from the stand at 12 yards, I'm guessing I only hit one lung. We tracked that deer for hours into the night. Hands and knees looking for specks of blood. Some guys found it 3 days later while riding 3-wheelers. Yotes had eaten well.
Ohhh the memories!!
Wow, lots of info from everyone. This is great. Seems like there's not a lot of guys that talk about hunting on the ground. I just keep hearing tree stand, tree stand, tree stand. All this ground hunting, blind hunting, still hunting info is definitely a help. I will apply as much of this knowledge as possible to my next hunt.
I love hunting whitetails from a treestand. It's my favorite place to be.
But, I like to be adaptable. It's what keeps me out there.
:-)
I love still hunting. And--I learned how from a cat!
Time to tell the story of Muffy, the Deerhunter.
My wife brought two kittens home for my daughters who named them Muffy and Puffy. They were to be outdoors barn cats. We started out receiving gifts of mice, but occasionally were gifted by a rabbit or pheasant. We soon discovered it was Muffy that was the hunter.
One day as I walked out to the woodlot, Muffy came along with me. She was a very social cat and often slept on the backs of our horses. Anyhow, entering the woodlot, Muffy took the lead and I decided to follow her out of curiosity. Any time I made too much noise or moved too fast, she would turn her head and actually glare at me.
I'd been following her for about an hour when all of a sudden she squatted down and only the tip of her tail twitched. I stopped and looked but saw nothing. Then I caught the twitch of a deer and saw it. (Deer camo is absolutely amazing!) The deer was about 20 feet away focused on Muffy such that I was able to draw and release.
By the time that I got to the doe, Muffy was sitting on her. She sat and supervised my gutting and then lead our party back to the barn...me dragging the doe and Muffy with her tail up in the air proudly leading the parade. Obviously, it was "our" kill.
I checked the MI hunting regs. It is illegal to hunt deer with dogs in Michigan--but there is absolutely no mention of cats.
I hunted with that cat a number of times and got several more deer under her tutelage. She retired from being our "farm manager" and hunting companion, but that is another story.
That cat taught me that still hunting is not a walk in the woods, but slower than slow is best--even when turning ones head to look. Muffy was even more amazing as a house cat.
Not a cat lover but I could see where I would fall for Muffy! Very cool story Jack!
Neat story Jack...thanks for the smile.
I had a friend that lived a few miles from me that owned a big cat that liked to sneak up on deer. He lived in the woods and would watch the cat while he was sitting on his porch. He said the cat took great delight in sneaking up on deer. My friend moved to Florida, back in the woods when he retired. The day he left he stopped by my house and left a present for me with my wife. When I got home I opened it and found an electric fillet knife which I still have. I works on battery or plug in to 120. I haven't seen him in over 15 years and he didn't even give anyone his address. I know he is in a canoe some where in the swamps, hunting and fishing.
A few years ago, my wife and I were sitting in the family room when she looked out the window and saw 5 antelope in our yard bunched together and all staring in one direction. I figured a dog or one of our neighbor's was outside and they were fixed on the movement. However, looking out I could see nothing. Then I saw it. The neighbor’s cat was 20 yards from the herd and stalking the antelope! We watched for 10 minutes, until the cat got too close and the antelope bolted, heading for places unknown.
Getting ready to eat my supper tonight and took this picture out of my kitchen window. The deer love my garden cover crop, Winter oats.
