What to look for - natural ground blinds

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Re: What to look for - natural ground blinds

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon Jun 26, 2017 5:53 am

I didn't re-read the thread so sorry if I'm repeating myself. It is common for me to have some lanes that require standing, and some that require kneeling in the same set up. You just have to look at the vegetation and decide the best way to cover the trails, and trim the path of least resistance. Obviously the less you trim the more natural your lanes will look.

I've talked about letting them walk past to shoot them quartering away. One thing I always try to avoid is allowing them to see me in a lane that I don't plan on shooting them from. So I often scoot around on my knees to make little adjustments to stay hidden but also be able to make the shot. That's why it's so important to clear the ground. Silent movement is absolutely necessary. Last thing you need is for them to think they hear something. If that happens you get to play statue in whatever position you happen to be in for however long they want you to! :lol: If that does happen don't give up. I've been in some stand offs over the years (with does) where I'm sure I'm screwed but they eventually decide you're not a danger and go on their merry way. Don't move and dont look them in the eyes.

If I'm in a cattail blind with standing water at my feet, I would definitely want the chair. You always need to stay low in cattails. Early season 2014 Tyler and I snuck in on some bedding and ended up kneeling in the water. It wasn't exactly warm or comfortable but there was no need to clear the ground, and the standing water made it very quiet to move around. We just stepped everything down and that was it. Just something to think about.


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Re: What to look for - natural ground blinds

Unread postby hunter_mike » Mon Jun 26, 2017 6:12 am

Makes sense. Thanks for the explanation 8-) I am going to experiment with a couple different chairs.

Yeah i have a ground holder for my bow i will try but i also wear a chest rig when i am hunting, which has a loop to hold my bow up as well.

I was also thinking of picking up a piece of 5'x20' 3d camo netting that i could possibly string up to surrounding vegetation using paracord. Wondering your thoughts on using something like that in a situation when more cover is needed or to give you a bit more ability to run and gun with less preseason work.
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Re: What to look for - natural ground blinds

Unread postby tgreeno » Mon Jun 26, 2017 11:31 am

Lockdown wrote:
tgreeno wrote:Great stuff Lockdown!

I think ground set-up are very underutilized! Especially by me. Now, I think about ground set-up much than ever before. Thanks to You & JoeRE. This spring I prepped an area I think is going to be very good. It's an overlooked spot that's very thick and filled with small saplings. They but up to a swampy area that the deer love to bed around. I jumped deer in here twice last year. I figured out I was hunting the wrong side. So there's a small hill that i'm sitting on where the exit trails converge. I'm thinking of sitting on a little chair with my back against a tree with some saplings in front of me to brake-up my outline. It will be educational!


When you say "top of a hill" will you have any issues with being skylined? Just wanted to mention it...

When you said saplings in front of you is this natural growth or stuff you'll be adding?


It's more of a "knoll", with a small bare spot where the trails converge. I'm actually sitting 20 yards off of it, at the end of a little lane I created. At the end is a small tree I'll use as a backrest. There's actually another rise behind me so the background should be good. I snipped a few saplings and left some for cover in the "lane". I feel like I'm far enough back into the saplings to break-up my outline pretty good. It's a first for me, and I'm pretty excited about the spot. Jumped a decent 10 pointer in the swampy area last year. And where I'm set-up now is the exit route he took.

Thanks for the feedback LD!
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Re: What to look for - natural ground blinds

Unread postby Horizontal Hunter » Mon Jun 26, 2017 11:50 am

Lockdown wrote:I was going to set up a JoeRE style set and lean some logs against it and shoot while sitting, but that is not a good option here due to the fact I need to watch close to 180 degrees around me. Instead I will stand/kneel behind the stump. I will hopefully spot him before he spots me, and position for a shot immediately. If he comes in from my right, I'll let him get past me and shoot around the left side of the stump and vice versa.


Nice looking sets.

I always set up sitting not kneeling or standing. I am too old, fat, and busted up to kneel or stand for any length of time. :mrgreen:



tgreeno wrote:Great stuff Lockdown!

I think ground set-up are very underutilized!


Big time. I have killed most of my deer on the ground.

Hunting on the ground is harder as everything needs to be just right. It will leave you humbled on occasion but it will speed up the learning curve and make you a better hunter I need the end.

Bob
Vegetarian: vejiˈte(ə)rēən/noun: old Indian word for lousy hunter. :o

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Re: What to look for - natural ground blinds

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:21 pm

tgreeno wrote:
Lockdown wrote:
tgreeno wrote:Great stuff Lockdown!

I think ground set-up are very underutilized! Especially by me. Now, I think about ground set-up much than ever before. Thanks to You & JoeRE. This spring I prepped an area I think is going to be very good. It's an overlooked spot that's very thick and filled with small saplings. They but up to a swampy area that the deer love to bed around. I jumped deer in here twice last year. I figured out I was hunting the wrong side. So there's a small hill that i'm sitting on where the exit trails converge. I'm thinking of sitting on a little chair with my back against a tree with some saplings in front of me to brake-up my outline. It will be educational!


When you say "top of a hill" will you have any issues with being skylined? Just wanted to mention it...

When you said saplings in front of you is this natural growth or stuff you'll be adding?


It's more of a "knoll", with a small bare spot where the trails converge. I'm actually sitting 20 yards off of it, at the end of a little lane I created. At the end is a small tree I'll use as a backrest. There's actually another rise behind me so the background should be good. I snipped a few saplings and left some for cover in the "lane". I feel like I'm far enough back into the saplings to break-up my outline pretty good. It's a first for me, and I'm pretty excited about the spot. Jumped a decent 10 pointer in the swampy area last year. And where I'm set-up now is the exit route he took.

Thanks for the feedback LD!



Not a problem. Sounds like you've got your bases covered... Interested to see how that set works out for you!
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Re: What to look for - natural ground blinds

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:44 pm

hunter_mike wrote:Makes sense. Thanks for the explanation 8-) I am going to experiment with a couple different chairs.

Yeah i have a ground holder for my bow i will try but i also wear a chest rig when i am hunting, which has a loop to hold my bow up as well.

I was also thinking of picking up a piece of 5'x20' 3d camo netting that i could possibly string up to surrounding vegetation using paracord. Wondering your thoughts on using something like that in a situation when more cover is needed or to give you a bit more ability to run and gun with less preseason work.


I think in that situation I would use the real thing vs netting. Whether they're live or dead, take branches and stick them in the ground. It's easy and works great. I like to make it thicker than I need then trim in strategic spots for lanes. You can do it the day of the hunt. Obviously the closer you are to bedding the tougher it will be to get away with the extra noise.


Especially if you are close to bedding, those bucks know what the woods look like. Adding fabric will produce a blob effect IMO. I've pulled off same day set and kill with my double bull three times (wife twice, buddy once) and all three were concerned with the blind and I had it brushed in pretty good. Mind you these bucks were 2.5 and younger... I'm betting a mature buck would have known better. Use the real thing. Nice broad leafed branches work well.
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Re: What to look for - natural ground blinds

Unread postby Lockdown » Sun Jun 10, 2018 6:52 am

Bump

This thread has come back to life now that photobucket pics work again. Will add some of my 2018 set ups when I get time.
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Re: What to look for - natural ground blinds

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Sun Jun 10, 2018 2:22 pm

I really use to enjoy hunting from the ground, but as others have mentioned when using traditional tackle it's a new set of obstacles. Not only the length of the bow but not being able to hold at full draw down at eye level.

Here's just afew things I've adapted that works for me when I hunt from the ground these days. I always have my bow stood upright facing where I'm expecting a shot. I often dig a big hole here to give myself room for my bottom limb. If using a big tree for cover, I prefer to be infront to avoid constant peaking around. When setting up my ground blind in the post season if I know I have a trail on my downwind side I block it off with dead logs and brush and force them to swing back upwind. I also put a lot of brush infront of me. Often stick cedar limbs in the ground vertical then trim me some lanes to shoot through. This is the only thing I have found thus far to consistently get off a shot with a stick bow.
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Re: What to look for - natural ground blinds

Unread postby Lockdown » Sun Jun 10, 2018 3:38 pm

These are the same pics I used in my journal. This is an island bedding situation. In the first pic, access will be through the cattails from the arrow (gun hunting tree) to the circle which is where I will hide.
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Here is a panoramic pic from inside the natural blind. Green arrows indicate known bedding. Wind will be in my face upon entry and just off the bedding on the left side. I kicked several bucks out of those beds in January. They could easily head to food the other direction. Could also stage right in front of me. I will be roughly 30 yards from the closest beds, so an early season hunt with a little wind will make entry easiest/quietest.
Image



On the opposite end of the island I'm doing nothing more than hiding in a little clump of cover. Pretty sure this set would be tough without foliage, not saying I wouldn't try it if it was my only option. Red arrow is my set, yellow arrows are known bedding. I'm about 100 yards from the closest bed.
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Pano pic from inside the blind. The bushes were kind of horse shoe shaped so I tuck right in the pocket. Circles are my shooting lanes, arrow on the right is the end of the cover which I'll be able to shoot around. Looks basically the same as the far left side. Phone wouldn't let me pan over any further.
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Here are some of the beds I'll be setting up on.
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Re: What to look for - natural ground blinds

Unread postby mheichelbech » Wed Jun 13, 2018 2:48 am

Has anyone ever looked at a HIPS blind that attached to your bow? Kind of like a an umbrella attaching to the stabilizer. Looks like you could attach vegetation to it and makes it easier to draw on a deer.
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Re: What to look for - natural ground blinds

Unread postby hunter_mike » Wed Jun 13, 2018 4:11 am

mheichelbech wrote:Has anyone ever looked at a HIPS blind that attached to your bow? Kind of like a an umbrella attaching to the stabilizer. Looks like you could attach vegetation to it and makes it easier to draw on a deer.


Dave t has some great videos of that if you find his youtube channel
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