Set up my pop up ground blind this evening. Figured I'd try something different. Hopefully the deer will be used to it by the time muzzleloader opens. Anybody else set them up a month early and hunt out of them?
Trying something different, ground blinds
- Thread starter timberjack86
- Start date
I used one last year, great vantage point since I usually hunt from high up. I always brush mine in with stuff from nearby and tuck it away best I can .
catman529
Well-Known Member
I've got one somewhere that I like to keep around just in case but I almost never hunt out of a ground blind. If I do sit on the ground it's usually at the base of a big tree or tucked back in some briars or red cedars. I like to be able to get up and reposition or move if I have to
younggun308
Well-Known Member
Should work better than it does for those guys who show up the morning of a quota hunt and plop that sucker out in the middle of a field like it's turkey season. 
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
The biggest advantage of hunting from a ground blind is the potential for scent control. If you are willing to keep the windows zipped up except for a small slit to look out of there is almost no human scent escaping for the deer to detect. I've had deer come by at 3 to 5 yards away and never smell me. The downside is you will make a little noise and movement unzipping the window getting ready for a shot.
If you are planning on hunting from one with all the windows open, there is zero advantage compared to just sitting in a folding chair on the ground (unless it's raining... they can be really nice to hunt out of during a long rain.
If you are planning on hunting from one with all the windows open, there is zero advantage compared to just sitting in a folding chair on the ground (unless it's raining... they can be really nice to hunt out of during a long rain.
I used one in a pine thicket one year, I use a climber and couldn't find a tree . Once you would get up you wouldn't be able to see anyway. I put it out a couple weeks before and brushed it in. I was hesitant to use it but I seen all kinds of deer and two different shooter bucks out of the thing. They will get used to it and pay 0 attention to it. I use one on my property with my son as he doesn't climb yet, he got his first bow kill this year out of it. I was hesitant also but trust me you will be fine. Good luck!
I can't imagine it not helping, the longer you had it out before you're actually hunting out of it.
Mines been up since end of August, 2 deer already taken out of it since season started
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
I have certain spots I like using a ground blind.... especially nice in the rain and wind....or the rare super cold morning with a little buddy heater....other advantages are they can help with scent control and they absolutely help contain movement...I don't think it's necessary but I like to add native vegetation to the blind to brush it in....it just looks better.....and within a few weeks or less the deer pay little to no attention to it.
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
The more time the local deer have time to get used to it, the better.
Just the opposite to what I would have expected, local deer will usually be spooked by a freshly placed ground blind, while local turkeys seem to totally ignore it.
If you place a ground blind to hunt soon after placement, use the smallest blind you can. The height of the blind seems to be the biggest factor as to whether the deer are spooked. I like to clip a few limbs, brush it up a bit, but the more time you spend around it, the more human scent you may be laying all around the setup, too.
Best time to set one up is right before a rain, so the rain will wash away the human scent you're laying during setup.
Also, as soon as setup, I like to spray the first 18-inches (from ground up) of the interior with permethrin. I then spray the rest of the interior, and exterior, with scent-away spray.
Just the opposite to what I would have expected, local deer will usually be spooked by a freshly placed ground blind, while local turkeys seem to totally ignore it.
If you place a ground blind to hunt soon after placement, use the smallest blind you can. The height of the blind seems to be the biggest factor as to whether the deer are spooked. I like to clip a few limbs, brush it up a bit, but the more time you spend around it, the more human scent you may be laying all around the setup, too.
Best time to set one up is right before a rain, so the rain will wash away the human scent you're laying during setup.
Also, as soon as setup, I like to spray the first 18-inches (from ground up) of the interior with permethrin. I then spray the rest of the interior, and exterior, with scent-away spray.
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
P.S. Always carefully check for wasp nests outside cold weather.
Wasps like to build nests around the interior edges, as well as the highest center point (middle interior), as well as under any chair you have left in the blind.
Wasps are more a problem with spring turkey and early fall archery,
but I've gone into blinds in December and been swarmed by wasps when the sun warmed the blind.
Wasps like to build nests around the interior edges, as well as the highest center point (middle interior), as well as under any chair you have left in the blind.
Wasps are more a problem with spring turkey and early fall archery,
but I've gone into blinds in December and been swarmed by wasps when the sun warmed the blind.
I've used one a time or two but it about drove me crazy. It's hard for me to sit "inside" something where I don't have the ability to catch movement out the corner of my eye and I hear most deer before I see them if the leaves are dry. I'll take a little piece of camo netting if anything and toss up around me if I'm in brush. Deer don't mind a blind after it's been up for a little bit.
I put one up before the season opens every year and leave it through till January. I said it in a hay field to try and catch deer crossing the open area. They don't seem hesitant about crossing the field even Crossing close to the blind. They do act suspicious though as I've watched them stop and stare for several minutes just making sure it's empty I guess! The weirdest thing is having a deer walk up and look in that has happened to me. That will definitely spook a deer.
Trapper John
Well-Known Member
There have been times on a cold, rainy morning that having a ground blind previously set up was the difference between me going hunting or staying in a warm bed. Never a bad idea to have some comfort ready. I set them up well before the season and just leave them. I also brush them up like a duck blind. Not sure if that matters but it makes me feel better.
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LY
Well-Known Member
We hunt out of them almost exclusively, dad just can't climb anymore. We set them out a few weeks ahead of time and cover with camo burlap, mostly to slow down the sun from fading them. We've also had lots of success hunting them immediately after setting them up. Getting in them right after setting them up, deer will look at them, but never spook and run off.
Me and my daughter set one up 2-3 weeks before juvy every yr. A ground blind is a great, safe way to take a kid hunting. I can set up the shooting sticks and we can move around a little and eat snacks...
I at least like to back it up to the edge of a fieldShould work better than it does for those guys who show up the morning of a quota hunt and plop that sucker out in the middle of a field like it's turkey season.
But I have had this work
Mr.Bro
Well-Known Member
Tried it once. Kinda defeats the purpose of being outside.
Ill stick to climbing while i still can.
Ill stick to climbing while i still can.
Now that I can get senior discounts I have decided to forego my climbing stand, a Sumit Viper, and try out my Ghost Blind system. If it works I will post my success. It seems like a nice package, it came with the backpack-seat, and extensions to hide my fat head a little better. I bought it last year and never used it. The promo videos seem to make it look like it works pretty darn well but time will tell. I intend to try it out Friday hunting squirrels at Yuchi.
BlackBelt
Well-Known Member
I hunt 50/50 out of tree and ground blind.
When blind hunting I use those "shoot-thru" screen panels on the windows. They keep the deer from seeing you inside the blind. The thing is while they are "shoot thru" they have deflected my arrows twice when I had really good deer in my sights. So I cut slits in them and ease the broadhead through the slits before releasing it.
No problem with rifle bullets going through them.
I always practice extreem scent control when ground hunting out of a blind. If you miss anything in your scent control regimen the deer will figure it out.
When blind hunting I use those "shoot-thru" screen panels on the windows. They keep the deer from seeing you inside the blind. The thing is while they are "shoot thru" they have deflected my arrows twice when I had really good deer in my sights. So I cut slits in them and ease the broadhead through the slits before releasing it.
No problem with rifle bullets going through them.
I always practice extreem scent control when ground hunting out of a blind. If you miss anything in your scent control regimen the deer will figure it out.
wsm
Well-Known Member
My hunting buddy and myself have had good luck when we use ground blinds .
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
Were you using mechanical broadheads?
Chickencoop96
Well-Known Member
I used to hunt out of ground blinds a lot before I had a climber tree stand. it's really nice when it's rainy, windy, and cold.
Shine a light all around the floor before you crawl in to make sure Toby No Knuckles isn't curled up waiting for you
BSK
Well-Known Member
Never used one. But I agree with others that deer quickly learn to ignore anything that does them no harm. Although we are almost exclusively ladder stand hunters, for rainy days we put up condo stands on each of our food plots. Deer freaked out the first time they saw those big, black condos. Yet within 48 hours, deer were completely ignoring them.
BlackBelt
Well-Known Member
No, only fixed blades for me.
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
When you shoot thru mesh, make sure it's as "taut" as possible, and you arrow is hitting as perpendicular as possible. What can really alter your point of impact is shooting at an angle thru the mesh, and/or into a "wad" or "wrinkled" mesh, where the resistance (minimal as it is) is more on one side of the broadhead than the other.
Another thing that can really alter the arrow's flight is if you actually hit part of the blind instead of just straight thru that mesh or window! :D
Ask me how I know!
BlackBelt
Well-Known Member
That is exactly why I cut the slits in the mesh and ease the broadhead out through the slits before hitting the release.
It has been working for me so far.
I have used one intermittently over the last few years. I have carried it out and put it up the day of on a road between two thickets. The deer have paid it little attention. Killed a buck out of it the last 3 years. I am sure if you put it out in advance and let the deer acclimate it will be better, but not had them spook the day of. Mine is also a very small blind and not one of those you can park a 4 wheeler in and still have room.
