Ground blind advice (concealing)

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DK519

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Just got permission to bow-hunt some private land this year. It is a summer camp that covers about 40 acres that have never been hunted before.

I know the area holds deer so I'm hoping to get up there before the season closes December 15th.

I have a ground blind and I'm just wondering how to best set it up. I can go up in a week or so and leave it set up until I am able to hunt in December.

Will the deer notice it and avoid it?

Is 2 months long enough for them to get used to it?
 
Dogleg said:
Two minutes might be enough. That's about how long a deer's attention span is.
Click to expand...

Good to know. I'm a serious noob and everyone I know that hunts (which isn't a lot of people due to me being the only one in my whole family and circle of friends) uses a tree stand and wouldn't even consider a ground blind.
 
I don't know specifically a lot about ground blinds. But I do know a thing or 2 about concealment. Use depth if you can. Set your blind up a little bit inside a tree line or something, so you have some undergrowth or something between you and the edge of the tree line. Or don't be afraid to add some depth, by cutting down some small trees and shrubs and sticking them in the ground in front of your blind. Obviously ensure it doesn't cut down your field of view or ability to fire from the ground blind too much.

Putting a bit of something between the blind and the target will help you get away with any movement in the blind, or if the blind moves a bit in the wind, having some thin natural cam in front of it will make it less obvious, as well as break up the big bubble looking shape of the blind.
 
A ground blind is just to hide your movement any thing works but its nice to have a place to get out of the weather .
When hunting on my motorcycle I sum times use it as a blind and kneel on one side of it and I use the seat as a bench-rest work realy good on deer
 
The ground blinds are actually way more advantageous than tree stands, tree stands let your odor drift a very long way.Still gotta be mindful of the wind.

A blind keeps it contained to a point and many have a charcoal lining, the animals regularly will walk right beside your blind.

Only downsides are when drawing a bow(due to possible space issues) and overall vision of an area.
 
There are two schools of thought on that.... an argument can be made that being 15 feet higher off the ground wouldn't let your odour drift any further than it would if you were sitting on a ridge that was 15 feet tall.... an argument can also be made that your odour doesn't reach ground level for quite a few yards when you are in a stand....

I'm of the mind that it really doesn't matter... I don't subscribe to the notion that any of the newfangled scent eliminators / blockers will keep a deer from smelling you if you don't play the wind properly... regardless if you are in a blind or a tree stand, if the deer is downwind from you it is going to smell you....
 
Ground blind:

- have a couple of blinds set in different areas so you can change tactics depending on the weather;
- use something that will mask your movement;
- use things that are cheap, easy to carry and won't break your heart if they get stolen;
- be weather and wind resistent, because you will be in there for a couple of hours at a time; and
- have enough room for you to park your gear bag, water bottle, chair and leave space to stretch your legs for comfort.

One of my happier deer hunting moments was sitting with my back against a big round bale, watching a doe and two fawns emerge from the woods. Little by little the fawns came up the grassy slope towards me. One knew something was different but couldn't decide what I was. When I said hello to it, it startled and scampered off! No special camouflage or preparations, but favourable winds and shilouette masking.
 
I have a couple of friends that swear up and down that cigarette smoke is a great scent coverup. One of them claims to have shot several deer over the years while smoking. He claims that the deer are curious about the smell and come to check it out.
I'm in the same boat about scent control, as I smoke good cigars when I'm in a stand. I also prefer natural fibres for my hunting clothes. (Army surplus wool pants and sweaters etc)
Don't worry about making mistakes. We all started as noobs. We all make mistakes. Don't worry about it and have fun.
 
This year I was in a ground blind with a lit Colt cigar when I took a nice 4x4 with my ML and the wind was blowing towards the deer.
I won't make any conclusions but makes you think about all that scent control stuff. My blind is not some scent controled device but simply left over wood and paneling from the inside of a house.

The only rational explaination is the buck was suffering from bad allergies due to the harvest dust and was too stuffed up to smell me
 
Set it up so you can view at least 3 areas to shoot from the windows. Brush it in with branches/conifer cuttings to blend in with what's around it. Cut shooting lanes. Get a black full face mask. Having said all that I shot a deer once from a blind that I set up maybe 3 hours before, although the shot was about 90M and it was last light.
 
We set up a box blind for my son the day before yesterday, to get ready for colder weather. It is only about 50 feet from his ladder stand which he used the day we set the box up. Yesterday he used the box. He saw deer and bear each day. I've set up what was to be a permanent ground blind (Garden shed in another life), dumped some oats on the ground then went to the stand and sat on the same pail. Shot a deer before dark on the same day too. They were coming out at that spot anyway, my interest was not freezing to death.

Tree stands are over-rated for gun hunters, unless you need the visibility. It might get you above the bugs for spring bear, and if you are bowhunter in tight cover it can stop your scent from pooling in your area. On the right day its a nice way to spend an evening; but there's only 2 nice days in the year. Ground blind's major advantage is a measure of protection from the weather.
 
Thanks for the input.

It will be my first time hunting deer but I'm pretty confident I have a good spot. Even if I don't see anything it should be an enjoyable camping trip. Doesn't hurt to be on a lake as well.
 
The huge advantage to a ground blind in my experience and opinion is you can't fall out of it and seriously injure yourself. I have had a few close calls over the years in tree stands and a close friend 4 yrs. ago fell 15ft. while taking one down and broke his back. Freak accident, chain broke. Paralyzed from the waist down which includes the private parts and bits. His hunting days ended with that fall.
 
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