Tactics Dillema

[biorecovery]

I am hunting a great area with alot of deer sign. Most of thproperty doesn't have good trees so I believe to be successful and get where the deer are I will need to hunt out of a ground blind with my bow.
I need advice on ground blinds. I have a nice collapsible one but don't know how to use it. Do I place it a week before I hunt it and let them get used to it....it's camo but how much cover or natural brush do I need to surround it with....I just don't know much about them.
For opening day I am hunting out of a tree and its not really where I want to be but it's near the back of the property and I think the hunters coming in the first morning will push the deer towards the back. Any ground blind advice appreciated.

 

[Slayer]

well, it's been "my" experience.....

that if you were turkey hunting, you could throw the blind out and have a turkey walk right up to it.....

but since you are deer hunting..get the blind out early!!! Get it brushed in!!!...Deer do not like anything new and out of place....

I will be setting mine up this weekend and getting them brushed in real good just to have them ready for muzzle-loader week....

get to gettin!!!!!!!

oh ya...this is just my opinion......

 

[Booner Killa]

Try to brush the blind up with natural cover to hide the "black Hole" effect. I would try to do this at least a week before I hunted it.

 

[Arrow Flinger]

That is exactly my experience with ground blinds. They need to be in place for several days and brushed up good. Also, keep as many windows closed as possible so you are not silhouetted by a open window behind you.

 

[Vernon Holt]

Tactics

First off, you should already have your ground blind erected in your yard so as to minimize the odor associated with new material, or as the case may be, stored fabric or netting will develop a musty odor when folded and packed away. Always erect it in shade when possible for the simple reason that the sun will fade the camo pattern. This applies when hunting as well.

I do not necessarily agree with the concept of having to brush in a ground blind after installing it. If this is necessary, why not just decide where you would like to hunt, then build you a ground blind of local brush and limbs. The cost of the blind could then go toward the high cost of gasoline.

My early years of deer hunting were spent wearing blue jeans and an army fatigue jacket and sitting at the base of a tree. I might add that this was the common mode of hunting. Instead of the seeming odds against the hunter as one would presume today, hunters in those days enjoyed considerable success.

The secret to success in any approach to hunting is lack of movement. Movement will betray you even inside of a so called ground blind unless you close all of the flaps. This obviously would be self defeating.

If a ground blind is your thing, I say have to. I simply question the value of one if you still have to build a brush blind around it. I am saying also that the odor emanating from the blind could very well betray the hunter. If you only have one ground blind, you will find yourself limited to one choice for a place to hunt. There is always the possibility that this spot may prove unproductive. Moving a ground blind every time you would like to change location could prove to be a drag. Something to think about.

Vernon

 

[SADDADDY]

love hunting from ground blinds

I stay away from those collapsible kind, I hadn't had as much luck using one than I have had by using Natural Vegitation.
I will use as much natural cover as possible and then build a wall about 3' tall using dead tree limbs, branches and find as much Green (myrtles work really great) and stack and pile up the vegitation until I feel Comfortable enough to were I can move more freely with out a animal spotting movement.

after a few seasons all you have to do is refresh the blind with some extra sticks and branches, I had one that I built and used it for years and the deer were so use to it they actually made scarpes and rubs under the same tree I used as cover,
It was not un-common to have a deer come with in feet of my blind and never spook

 

[Beehaw]

I duck hunt flodded timber in Arkansas a lot and I have seen people take foam insulation board with a foil surface and wash the writing off of one side. I think you can do this with paint thinner. They would then build a box around the boat sides with it and to the ducks it looks just like more water, and it reflects the trees when they are lower.

I have wondered how well this would work in an area with very thick pines.

 

[Lumpkin Hunter]

I use a ground blind quite a bit and do not brush them in. I always try to set it up so that I have some sort of structure around it though. In an open pastusre I will place it next to any type schrub or tree available. In the woods I place it against a large tree, smaller pines, privit hedge or laurel. Movement is the key. Place it in any type of shaded area as someone else said. I have shot several deer from mine using a pistol and rifle. I have not bow hunted out of it much but have had many deer close enough to shoot with a bow. I also never set it up more than a day before I am going to hunt the spot, most of the time I set it up the day of the hunt.

Good luck they do work.

 

[Harvester]

Have never used a MADE ground blind before so I cant give any input about that but have had many harvests and more opportunities with a natural blind with low limbs. A few of my favorites are a Dogwood Myrtle or a Cedar.

 

[willhunt]

Ground blind tactics...

I've hunted out of mine for several years now and love it. Like most others, I put mine up early. You don't have to totally cover it with brush, just break up the outline. It helps to set up in a way so that there is already natural cover and not in the middle of a field or something like that. I usually open only two windows to keep scent and movement down. I also use a turkey facemask. Other things I've picked up through the years are to tie the blind off in a couple of directions to trees or stout branches to keep it from blowing away (a lesson learned the hard way). Also, if there's the possibility of theft, cut a slit in the bottom of the tent above the spring steel leg. Then run a locking cable around the spring a couple of times, out under the spring and lock it to the base of a nearby tree. Hope this helps, and good luck.

wh