Ground Blind Hunting

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banzaiengr
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Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby banzaiengr » Tue Sep 25, 2018 5:57 am

First post other than an intro. I searched this topic and found some thoughts but it was mostly what I have already found, get them out ahead of time, brush them in, and wear black.

I apologize ahead of time for a long post but I want to give you as much info as possible.

Two years ago I fell putting up a ladder stand and severely shattered my left heel. I have so much hardware in my heel that I can now longer hunt from a stand. Even a short fall "could" put my foot into a situation where it can't be fixed. It has also slowed me down as I did a lot of damage to the joint between the heel and the talus so it's just basically bone on bone. Walking on uneven ground is tough.

I've always believed that getting as close as possible to bedding areas is the way to hunt. Sometimes this may be limited because the bedding is on other property.

But how do you only hunt a position only once, get out the blind ahead of time, and brush it in when doing this?

I hunt private land that is surrounded by public land that heavily pressured. I would not want to leave a blind on the public property or it would be stolen. I have 4 blinds and could rotate them around on the limited private property I hunt on. But to hunt close to the bedding areas I will have a limited number of areas to hunt or they are not going up ahead of time.

The only other idea I've come up with is to use natural blinds like fallen trees and such and maybe using a ghille suit. Then I wonder about the loose hanging ghille suit getting caught on things or possibly getting caught in the arrow or bow string.

Thanks in advance.


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Re: Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby Lockdown » Tue Sep 25, 2018 6:07 am

I’m an advocate of natural ground blinds. You don’t need that much cover to hide yourself. You don’t NEED a ghillie, but it would definitely help. If you’ve got the money, buy one ;)

Using a pop up near a big bucks bedroom is a tough sell. It is hard to get past the “blob” effect. I honestly feel that when you’re talking a same day set, a natural blind is WAY easier to kill from than a pop up.

I have a double bull matrix 360 and haven’t hunted out of it for years.
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Re: Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby Lockdown » Tue Sep 25, 2018 6:14 am

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=29460

Lots of ground hunting info in this thread
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Re: Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby banzaiengr » Tue Sep 25, 2018 6:14 am

Thanks
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Re: Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby E72 » Tue Sep 25, 2018 3:11 pm

Places where bucks cruise and scrape , crop field edges .If you leave them out a couple months before season and brush in , the deer will get used to it . The best way I like to use a ground blind is with a decoy starting mid October in these areas.
I do prefer natural blinds and a leafy jacket with leafy head net when setting up on fresh sign with no trees for a stand .
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Re: Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby Brandonkinchen » Tue Sep 25, 2018 4:50 pm

I like natural blinds. Most of the work is done, deer are use to it. Less weight to bring in the woods.
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Re: Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby Sailfish_WC » Tue Sep 25, 2018 5:17 pm

I’ve been having some good early season success the last two years getting close to big bucks coming out of their bedding using ground blind
It helpa knowing where they are and where they are going. This is on private land.
I don’t think they are on full alarm early season with the ground blind. They know it’s new And are aware of it, but will walk right by it without much hesitation.
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Re: Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby Rich M » Tue Sep 25, 2018 11:42 pm

I've had some success with "just" sitting on a dove stool behind a bush. Don't confuse me with the more successful guys on here, but if I can see stuff from the ground without any blind, anyone can.
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Re: Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby banzaiengr » Wed Sep 26, 2018 2:30 am

Good info gentlemen and again thanks to Lockdown for directing me to that other thread.

One thing I've noticed using ground blinds turkey hunting is that getting into them quietly is a chore. If for nothing else the zippers are noisy.

Ghille suits or leafy suits, has anyone had trouble with them getting caught up in tangles or getting caught up with your bow string?

But I like these ideas for just using what nature left out there for you. It allows you to be far more mobile and to hunt more spots and not over hunt ones where you have a stand or a blind.
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Re: Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby Lockdown » Wed Sep 26, 2018 4:34 am

banzaiengr wrote:Good info gentlemen and again thanks to Lockdown for directing me to that other thread.

One thing I've noticed using ground blinds turkey hunting is that getting into them quietly is a chore. If for nothing else the zippers are noisy.

Ghille suits or leafy suits, has anyone had trouble with them getting caught up in tangles or getting caught up with your bow string?

But I like these ideas for just using what nature left out there for you. It allows you to be far more mobile and to hunt more spots and not over hunt ones where you have a stand or a blind.


Don’t wear leafy or ghillie bottoms to your stand unless you want to bring every cocklebur and beggars lice in the county home with you. I’m speaking from experience ;)

Put them on when you get there
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Re: Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby Robert501st » Wed Sep 26, 2018 10:50 pm

Lockdown wrote:
banzaiengr wrote:Good info gentlemen and again thanks to Lockdown for directing me to that other thread.

One thing I've noticed using ground blinds turkey hunting is that getting into them quietly is a chore. If for nothing else the zippers are noisy.

Ghille suits or leafy suits, has anyone had trouble with them getting caught up in tangles or getting caught up with your bow string?

But I like these ideas for just using what nature left out there for you. It allows you to be far more mobile and to hunt more spots and not over hunt ones where you have a stand or a blind.


Don’t wear leafy or ghillie bottoms to your stand unless you want to bring every cocklebur and beggars lice in the county home with you. I’m speaking from experience ;)

Put them on when you get there


This^^^ I'll forego my bush rag ghillie pants altogether in most situations just to keep from becoming a walking cocklebur. Only time I wear them is when I’m going to be in a relatively open area. I slip the pants on when I’m in place.

I hunt a lot of suburban spots where tree stands are not feasible. Sometimes its because there are no suitable trees along the transitions or because I don’t want to attract attention from nosy people. A popup blind is the shizz for bowhunting turkeys but my success using them for deer hunting has been mediocre outside of firearms seasons. I don't set them out too much in advance even on private. I prefer to tuck them into and under cover and/or brush the out of them. Best success has been when used in conjunction with a buck decoy. Overall though I’d rather just use natural cover and wear the ghillie jacket.
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Re: Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby BowHusker » Fri Sep 28, 2018 3:56 am

I'm a pretty big fan of both natural and store bought ground blinds. Huntable tree's are sometimes as hard to locate as a buck bed in the area's I hunt.

The problem I ran across is setting up a store bought ground blinds after finding fresh sign just didn't work well. The deer didn't have time to adjust to it and everyone of them were on high alert when I tried it this way.

I know some on this site don't like the commercialization of the hunting industry and neither do I. But hands down one of the best products I've purchased is the ghost blind. It's not super cheap or light but the carrying case really helps. Set up is very quiet and the deer don't notice it if set up properly. I haven't killed anything out of it yet but it has vastly increased the amount of area's I can now hunt. Out of all the crap I've wasted money on in regards to hinting, this is by far a top 5 purchase for me. There is also a YouTube video on how to make your own.
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Re: Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby banzaiengr » Fri Sep 28, 2018 4:07 am

BowHusker wrote:I'm a pretty big fan of both natural and store bought ground blinds. Huntable tree's are sometimes as hard to locate as a buck bed in the area's I hunt.

The problem I ran across is setting up a store bought ground blinds after finding fresh sign just didn't work well. The deer didn't have time to adjust to it and everyone of them were on high alert when I tried it this way.

I know some on this site don't like the commercialization of the hunting industry and neither do I. But hands down one of the best products I've purchased is the ghost blind. It's not super cheap or light but the carrying case really helps. Set up is very quiet and the deer don't notice it if set up properly. I haven't killed anything out of it yet but it has vastly increased the amount of area's I can now hunt. Out of all the crap I've wasted money on in regards to hinting, this is by far a top 5 purchase for me. There is also a YouTube video on how to make your own.


I don't like the commercialization either but that's the way it is. I'll look into this Ghost Blind, I think I've seen them and know which one you're talking about.

Something else I've wondered about with commercial blinds is whether or not the fabric has bright'ners in it. I've washed mine with brightner free detergent but I'm not sure that would do it. I've got a smaller dome type that I bought cheap at a big box and I've wondered about it. Seems like deer notice it like it's a neon sign or something.
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Re: Ground Blind Hunting

Unread postby BowHusker » Fri Sep 28, 2018 5:35 am

https://youtu.be/sjUJyXE3jhY

Here's a link to the diy version of the ghost blind if you're interested.
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