best tips for going in blind

[DaveT1963]

My advice is to manage your expectations. If it is your first time in with no scouting then I would go in with the thought to learn as much as i can and if a buck is seen or taken that is a big bonus. Too many people set their expectation on killing a deer.... To do that without any fore knowledge is more luck then anything. Yes cyber scouting helps.... But just look at the hunting kill threads.... VERY FEW beast members, including the best of the best, kill their deer on their first sit of season..... And almost no one does it blind consistently. In fact most spend many sits on familiar ground to get it done.

Go in blind, set your expectation on learning the land and finding bedding for future hunts. If you stumble across some great hot sign.... Hunt it. But even if you don't see a buck the more you learn is a WIN.

[headgear]

Like DaveT said managing expectations is very import, think of it as an exploration hunt, you are scouting your way in and learning as you go. Be flexible, if you find hot sign you should probably setup soon, especially if you are close to possible bedding. What I generally do is pick a spot or area I think looks like great bedding from aerial photos. If you have two or three areas close by even better because if you don't find any sign at the first one move on. Sometimes you will find sign, other times it will be a bust and you setup anyway to see what happens. Sometimes I just end up scouting all night and hunting for an hour or even not hunting at all, it all depends on the situation. I have found a lot of great spots and got on some very nice bucks going in blind, it can and does work.

With that said to do this all year will be challenging because there are just so many unknowns but again temper expectations, have a ton of fun and learn and explore as much as you can. During the rut setting up in any large bedding area can be huge too. For a lot of us public land hunters the majority of the rut can take place in these bedding areas. There is the occasional cruising or mid-day buck but most of the rut action I see on public is deep in the bedding areas and going in blind can sometimes be amazing if you pick the right spots. Still I've never sealed the deal going in blind so right there you can see the huge importance of hunting a specific bed and knowing the land.

[Wetfoot]

If you have to go in blind, as mentioned, try to pick out spots on aerials that looks the most promising, then get in early (noon or so) and scout your way in to the spot looking for hot sign and set up accordingly.

Other thing you may....scratch that......WILL run into, being in MI, is other hunter's stands. Getting in early gives you the advantage of avoiding other's stands, but still be prepared for possible company once 3:00-4:00 comes around. It's just part of the game you need to adjust your tactics to.

X2
I believe Singing Bridge made the comment that we have tons of guys on the transition in Michigan. Don't be afraid to get into the secondary transitions out into the water, redbrush etc.... That should get you past most of the competition. I routinely find signs of other hunters a mile or more from the road but none 1/2 mile in if I go into the thick, nasty wet.

[Wetfoot]

My advice is to manage your expectations. If it is your first time in with no scouting then I would go in with the thought to learn as much as i can and if a buck is seen or taken that is a big bonus. Too many people set their expectation on killing a deer.... To do that without any fore knowledge is more luck then anything. Yes cyber scouting helps.... But just look at the hunting kill threads.... VERY FEW beast members, including the best of the best, kill their deer on their first sit of season..... And almost no one does it blind consistently. In fact most spend many sits on familiar ground to get it done.

Go in blind, set your expectation on learning the land and finding bedding for future hunts. If you stumble across some great hot sign.... Hunt it. But even if you don't see a buck the more you learn is a WIN.

X2. This has been my experience and it is a win! When we quit learning and enjoying the journey it's time to hang up our boots.

[tgreeno]

This thread has a section called "First time sits". You really need to read all those threads!

Actually every thread in the "all time best" thread, has nuggets of pure hunting gold!

[jkurtz]

This thread has a section called "First time sits". You really need to read all those threads!

Actually every thread in the "all time best" thread, has nuggets of pure hunting gold!

Awesome thanks man!!

[Billyjack]

My plan is to get my feet wet this year and learn as much as possible about hunting beds., I enjoy being in the deer woods and even if I don't see anything I'm good with that.. my success is not determined by what I kill on a particular hunt, it's the knowledge gained on each sit that im interested in....I want make my hunts so serious that I forget to have fun..

[Peeps22]

I think going in blind is overlooked by alot of people.

You can scout and find all of the beds you want ahead of time but if you hunt them just because there was a bed there in spring, that doesnt mean a buck is going to be using it when you're set up on it in fall. I think some of the newer guys to this type of hunting might just set up on beds thinking they are in the game but never thought to see if sign showed it was being used at THAT timeframe.

I think going in blind can somewhat teach you how to scout your way in and be on fresh, hot sign. Obviously, it needs to be close to bedding or suspected bedding for this to work.

But in the end, having prior knowledge of bedding and then as your getting into an area, decide if its worth a shot based on the sign leading to and from bedding is a guys best bet at a nice one

Keep an open mind and be persistant and you'll be ahead of alot of hunters by staying mobile and hunting new stuff instead of the same 3 stands all year.

[GoInLight]

I've had great luck going in with a stand on my back. Even before the beast, I would find thickets on an aerial and then check the topo map out for obvious funnels. Then I'd put a stand on my back and hunt/scout until I found what I was looking for. I really liked the total element of surprise. Of course knowing where the bedding is and knowing what time of year it's used is ideal. Don't think you're out of the game. Stay positive and hunt smart and you'll succeed. Also I agree with the guys saying to have realistic expectations. Just try to have fun and learn. That's what I'm going to do.

[jkurtz]

that's the plan guys!! I can't wait to see what happens this year hunting the beast style! It's gonna be a blast!

[BA-IV]

I plan on hunting all my public land places blind. I haven't been able to pin point beds or had the time for in depth scouting on the public pieces, and that's my fault. I plan on re reading this thread about a million times during the season so I don't feel so bad if all my public hunts don't go as expected.

[elk yinzer]

Cyber scout as best you can and expect the unexpected.
Don't pussyfoot around on the beaten paths, dive right in.
About every time I go in blind I encounter impenetrable rose, autumn olive, laurel, or whatever the equivalent local flora is. Just gotta fight through it and go where other guys won't.

[tgreeno]

Cyber scout as best you can and expect the unexpected.
Don't pussyfoot around on the beaten paths, dive right in.
About every time I go in blind I encounter impenetrable rose, autumn olive, laurel, or whatever the equivalent local flora is. Just gotta fight through it and go where other guys won't.

I always carry a little hand pruner. And slowly/quietly prune my way in.

[elk yinzer]

Cyber scout as best you can and expect the unexpected.
Don't pussyfoot around on the beaten paths, dive right in.
About every time I go in blind I encounter impenetrable rose, autumn olive, laurel, or whatever the equivalent local flora is. Just gotta fight through it and go where other guys won't.

I always carry a little hand pruner. And slowly/quietly prune my way in.

But then you just made a path for every Tom, Dick, and Harry. With multiflora rose, the upside of my method is that you can bloodtrail yourself back to the truck. The downside is I look like a homeless man when I dress to go hunting.

[tgreeno]

Cyber scout as best you can and expect the unexpected.
Don't pussyfoot around on the beaten paths, dive right in.
About every time I go in blind I encounter impenetrable rose, autumn olive, laurel, or whatever the equivalent local flora is. Just gotta fight through it and go where other guys won't.

I always carry a little hand pruner. And slowly/quietly prune my way in.

But then you just made a path for every Tom, Dick, and Harry. With multiflora rose, the upside of my method is that you can bloodtrail yourself back to the truck. The downside is I look like a homeless man when I dress to go hunting.

I leave it untrimmed where I break into the thick stuff. To not be obvious. Then just lightly prune enough so I can pick my way thru.

Not like some of these trails these idiots cut, that look like they used a chainsaw.