Ground Blinds

[SavageSniper]

How many of you use ground blinds for hunting deer? I just got me a nice one built on the edge of an ancient road bed. I have about 25 to 50 yards of clearing at any angle. The rest is very thick scrub oak and mature oaks. Not a good place to put a tree stand but perfect for a blind.

 

[bswiv]

Used them on Cumberland Island while hunting hogs a bunch of times. The trees there are often so big, old live oaks and the like, that there was nothing to put a climber on. And it was easy to quickly build a blind out of a few palmetto fronds stuck in the ground.

Actually shot a few deer from them. But then the hogs are far less visual than the deer.

 

[Bitmap]

I've killed a number of deer from ground blinds. The deer will sometimes get VERY close in them. I had one that just about decided to join me one time.

As mentioned you will probably find that the visibility isn't as good as an elevated blind. Check the area around you carefully because deer can be walking along and just disappear into a low place or appear out of one suddenly.

 

[FirstFreedom]

Ground blinds rock. I use them (the commercial doghouse and outhouse style ones) more than tree stands. Highly mobile, easy to set up, etc. I've heard both theories, that (a) deer don't even notice something "different" when you put up a blind out of the blue, and (b) they definitely notice something different, and steer clear. My experience in harvesting them seems to support theory (a) for does, but likely wise old bucks would fall under theory (b), where you'd want to hide the blind in a brush pile or have it up a couple weeks before hunting.

 

[SavageSniper]

The blind is burlap with conduit for supports. It is also covered with limbs and such. My "thinkin" is that the biggest bucks (one that I have been after for 4 years) stays in the thickest stuff. The small clearing will give me a nice, but very close shot if I get one. This is one of those Legendary type deer that I am sure that all of you have in your area. I have seen him once, my wife once hunting buddy 3 or 4 times, and his Dad who lives on the property has seen him close to 40+ times. No one has seen him between Nov. and Jan though. I say he will score about 150 and that is huge for these parts.

 

[Kreyzhorse]

I've hunted deer out of a ground blind once. Set it up the day off and crawled in. I saw 4 does about 40 yards away at a pond and their eyes never left the blind. They didn't take off, but they were certainly leary of it. They eventually back tracked and left and I believe it was because of the blind. With that said, spooked over the blind, I had a shot at them if I wanted to take it.

I'm of the theory it your ground blind needs to be set up a few weeks prior to deer season.

 

[SavageSniper]

I agree, mine is up now and I have until November for it to look normal.

 

[Trapp]

I used one last year during bow season. It was one of the pop-up types. I had a doe 10yds away, never knew I was there.

I let one rip.....It did this crazy arch like a rainbow right over the deers back!!

The arrow hit the zipper..

I had set the blind up only 5 days earlier.

I just set it up again for Bow season (starting on the 13th), so it has a few days to become "normal".