What to look for - natural ground blinds

[justdirtyfun]

Nice tip bonecrusher.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Lockdown]

Another thing I wanted to add: Great tip about cutting branches against the trunk. But sometimes those saw cuts are noticeable. I notice them and I'm sure other hunters notice them as well. my eyes are looking for rubs and will catch a bright white circle of a fresh cut. Especially at the height you'd need to be cutting for a natural ground blind. One year I made Adobe balls, I Mixed mud and dry grass ( whatever you have close by ) and packed it onto the cut. It knocked out the glare and really camouflaged well after the mud dried. It's a quick easy fix and by the time it washes off, your deer should be dead!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Yep great idea. How long did they stay on?

I have smeared mud on the white cut marks before. Obviously it doesn't stay forever but it helps. I've been trying to think of a good permanent solution for this. Brown magic marker?? Anyone have any ideas?

This is the reason I break branches when I can. A cut mark looks like a cut mark forever... Whether it's white or eventually turns gray. A year later you can look at a broken branch and wonder if the wind did it? Maybe a deer ran past and snapped it?? It's not near as obvious as something that was sawed off.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Stanley]

Do you guys find that a ground blind is the first option? Or only option? I noticed lockdowns stuff...does not seem to be many trees around.

I go through ground blind phases. Its cheap and easy to setup. Give me a handsaw and thats all I need to setup a bullet proof blind. But its lower percentage in spot if I could be in a tree. I do hunt from them because sometimes, there are no other options. It also allows me to be really flexible.

I do get that its quieter into a ground blind.

I have killed quite few good bucks from the ground. The # 1 disadvantage of ground blinds is visibility. The # 2 disadvantage is hunter movement and getting picked off on the ground. The reason being you can't see far enough in advance so the buck gets in close and you have to make the draw. I get picked off on the ground much more than in an elevated stand. Keep in mind I don't hunt open fields, I like to be in the thick where the bucks are.

I will also add that a ground blind usually gives you less shooting angles, which means, if the buck doesn't follow the path you think he will (and they often don't) you get some hard shots or impossible shots. With ground blinds, good back cover is as important as front cover so this usually means less good shots available. I think you have heard me say this before, "the shot is the last important part of the equation in consistently killing good bucks".

So for me a ground blind is never my first option. That said, often it is the only option. So you need to be versatile in your mind set. Guys that have developed a skill on the ground, will know and understand setting up in an elevated set is the better option "for the shot", almost always. Great write up Lockdown, great topic for discussion.

[stash59]

Another thing I wanted to add: Great tip about cutting branches against the trunk. But sometimes those saw cuts are noticeable. I notice them and I'm sure other hunters notice them as well. my eyes are looking for rubs and will catch a bright white circle of a fresh cut. Especially at the height you'd need to be cutting for a natural ground blind. One year I made Adobe balls, I Mixed mud and dry grass ( whatever you have close by ) and packed it onto the cut. It knocked out the glare and really camouflaged well after the mud dried. It's a quick easy fix and by the time it washes off, your deer should be dead!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Yep great idea. How long did they stay on?

I have smeared mud on the white cut marks before. Obviously it doesn't stay forever but it helps. I've been trying to think of a good permanent solution for this. Brown magic marker?? Anyone have any ideas?

This is the reason I break branches when I can. A cut mark looks like a cut mark forever... Whether it's white or eventually turns gray. A year later you can look at a broken branch and wonder if the wind did it? Maybe a deer ran past and snapped it?? It's not near as obvious as something that was sawed off.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

I've rubbed moistened dirt on my cuts for years. Try to find the really dark stuff. If your near a marsh this should be no problem.

I always carry alot of drinking water with me. I've headed back to the truck thirsty more than once. Because I used the water to make mud for my cuts, When no natural water sources were near by. Gallon size ziplocs work great for mixing and carrying the mix up into trees.

I didn't always try to just get it to stick. Rather I just rubbed it on long enough for the cut to take some color. It was always still dark enough when I came back in the fall.

Also did the low cuts at ground level and used grass or what ever to hide them. Carried the limbs to stands of similar looking trees or brush and place them upright to look like they grew there naturally. Then died.

I believe doing this stuff is less intrusive to the deer/animals also. Yeah our odor will be left all over in the vicinity. But alot of times in the spring the deer are else where in their daily rounds. By the time they move back in the odor is washed away. And their not stumbling on limbs that weren't there before.

[Bonecrusher101]

The mud can wash off in a few rain storms, after a month or two. If you mix in grass with it definitely helps make it last longer and gives it another dimension of camo. sandier soil won't work as well as a sticky clay. It also depends on the angle/ pitch of the cut. If there is something to help hold it in place that would help too. The brown marker would help too. The mud isn't perfect but the day I was cutting I thought it was better than nothing.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[mainebowhunter]

It's a great thing to master no matter how much you use it. I just do not enjoy the hunt as much from the ground. That being said, I do a lot of hunting from the ground.

As far as the mud...I would need a lot of it too cover areas I have leveled in the spring. No secret where I am hunting that's for sure. But I am not hunting high pressure areas either. And there would be no hiding when you cut down 2" + trees.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Lockdown]

So I found an area that has peaked my interest. Bedding area is nearby, and there is a thicket that comes to a point where I can cover multiple trails. Most of this area is pretty open, and visibility is not a problem on the edge of the thicket. There is a stand tree nearby, but it is too big for the LW straps, plus climbing a tree right here might put me in the line of sight of bedded deer. For the most part visibility is the same whether I pick tree or ground.

Another factor that led me to choose the ground blind was the East trail that heads through the thicket. I can't cover that trail from the tree. I am giving up a trail that's West of the stand tree (not pictured), but that trail is out in the open and coming from other areas. The East trail comes out of the bedding I am hunting, which to me is more likely to have buck travel.


Here's an aerial:

Top is North. This isn't a crazy set up by any means regarding location. Wind is in my favor and I can cover several trails. What makes it unique is seeing the potential to make a ground blind here. Look at the picture below.


This is looking at the potential blind from the NW, looking SE. The right and left of the picture is open shootable area. In my aerial, note the pink I marked "added cover". In order for this blind to work, I need some sort of cover protecting me from approaching deer.







Finished product. I found some dead branches and hauled them in. It might not look like much now, but its all about planning ahead.

Canary grass lays flat after the frost kills it. Where does it stay standing? Wherever there's something to support it. All summer the new growth will grow up through these branches, and when fall comes and the grass dies, it will stay upright.
Keep in mind if you get there in the fall and you still need more cover, you can always snip some grass and hang it where you need it. Add another branch or two maybe, then more grass. If you're pushed up tight against buck bedding that might be tough to do, but its an option.



I added this branch. Make sure you intertwine it with the living brush to keep it upright. Shake it around and ask yourself if its going to stay in place when a severe thunderstorm and high winds hit mid summer. If you're on private you can always tie it up. Zip ties, tie wire, string, whatever. This is the NE corner of the blind, and I shoot right past it for my NE lane.





South shooting lane






I thought everything looked good, but in my NW lane (that's the potential stand tree in the background) I felt my cover was a little low yet. Easy fix. Add more branches.



A few twigs are blocking my lane



I broke them off, now I have a nice small lane with adequate cover on each side.



The key to this one is placing those branches in the spring. If nobody finds the blind this spring, they're most likely not going to. After a summer of growth it will look 100% natural. The biggest give away is the grass being cleared away where I'm standing. Once again, access is from down wind.

[Lockdown]

Lots of good stuff guys! I'm definitely going to try an hide those cuts more. To me they easily stick out and I don't like it.

Stanley your post is spot on.

Also if any of you have pics or want to show your own sets, post them.
[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Hawthorne]

I've only shot one deer from the ground with a bow. It was doe on state land in Indiana. I took a small stool and backed into a dead fall on the edge of a swamp. The doe came out of the swamp looked right thru me and turned broadside I drilled her from about 20yds. I haven't tried ground hunting in years I got sick of getting busted. Some of my new properties I've been scouting ground hunting would be the only option. I have a ghillie suit that I use for turkeys gonna have to pull it out this fall for deer. Cool thread.

[ Post made via Android ]

[JoeRE]

Do you guys find that a ground blind is the first option? Or only option? I noticed lockdowns stuff...does not seem to be many trees around.

I go through ground blind phases. Its cheap and easy to setup. Give me a handsaw and thats all I need to setup a bullet proof blind. But its lower percentage in spot if I could be in a tree. I do hunt from them because sometimes, there are no other options. It also allows me to be really flexible.

I do get that its quieter into a ground blind.

I have killed quite few good bucks from the ground. The # 1 disadvantage of ground blinds is visibility. The # 2 disadvantage is hunter movement and getting picked off on the ground. The reason being you can't see far enough in advance so the buck gets in close and you have to make the draw. I get picked off on the ground much more than in an elevated stand. Keep in mind I don't hunt open fields, I like to be in the thick where the bucks are.

I will also add that a ground blind usually gives you less shooting angles, which means, if the buck doesn't follow the path you think he will (and they often don't) you get some hard shots or impossible shots. With ground blinds, good back cover is as important as front cover so this usually means less good shots available. I think you have heard me say this before, "the shot is the last important part of the equation in consistently killing good bucks".

So for me a ground blind is never my first option. That said, often it is the only option. So you need to be versatile in your mind set. Guys that have developed a skill on the ground, will know and understand setting up in an elevated set is the better option "for the shot", almost always. Great write up Lockdown, great topic for discussion.

I agree with Stanley. I would add though with some experience and thought the advantage of being in a tree just isn't needed in some situations, that's when I pick the ground. I look at it sort of like equipment selection - there are many accessories that might help me close the deal but I leave at home because I can kill a buck without them.

Then there are the other setups where being in a tree just isn't possible or practical. One thing that pushed me toward more ground setups that I don't think I have mentioned before is here in Iowa you aren't supposed to trim anything on public land. Zero. Now I suspect most hunters look at that law as similar to a speed limit sign - 60 in a 55 mph zone isn't a big deal but 80 in a 55 is, and I can sympathize with that point of view. Anyway, my point is I like to hunt on the edge of, or in, some thick areas, and some of them had better visibility at ground level than even 8 or 10 feet up a tree. Usually these are old cut overs or the like, high stem counts where the trees are still young and short and the canopy is low. I come across other hunters' setups all the time in this sort of cover, and see where they cut dozens of trees to open shooting lanes. That kind of behavior I don't agree with at all, its changing the landscape for years to come, so I hunt from the ground as the best option. The buck I shot last November was this exact situation, and not the first time.

The one thing I did think of to add - the biggest mistake I see made by people making natural blinds is they build them too thick. Then the blind sticks out like a sore thumb to any other hunter, limit shot opportunities, and also are just more work than necessary. It takes a leap of faith I know for hunters not used to hunting from the ground but trust me break up your outline, don't silhouette yourself, that's most of what you need to do. Deer eyesight is not near as sharp as turkeys. They spot movement and unusual objects, that's it.

[jreinke]

I'm going to try ground hunting on some public this year in some spots where there's no trees.

[mainebowhunter]

Do you guys find that a ground blind is the first option? Or only option? I noticed lockdowns stuff...does not seem to be many trees around.

I go through ground blind phases. Its cheap and easy to setup. Give me a handsaw and thats all I need to setup a bullet proof blind. But its lower percentage in spot if I could be in a tree. I do hunt from them because sometimes, there are no other options. It also allows me to be really flexible.

I do get that its quieter into a ground blind.

I have killed quite few good bucks from the ground. The # 1 disadvantage of ground blinds is visibility. The # 2 disadvantage is hunter movement and getting picked off on the ground. The reason being you can't see far enough in advance so the buck gets in close and you have to make the draw. I get picked off on the ground much more than in an elevated stand. Keep in mind I don't hunt open fields, I like to be in the thick where the bucks are.

I will also add that a ground blind usually gives you less shooting angles, which means, if the buck doesn't follow the path you think he will (and they often don't) you get some hard shots or impossible shots. With ground blinds, good back cover is as important as front cover so this usually means less good shots available. I think you have heard me say this before, "the shot is the last important part of the equation in consistently killing good bucks".

So for me a ground blind is never my first option. That said, often it is the only option. So you need to be versatile in your mind set. Guys that have developed a skill on the ground, will know and understand setting up in an elevated set is the better option "for the shot", almost always. Great write up Lockdown, great topic for discussion.

I agree with Stanley. I would add though with some experience and thought the advantage of being in a tree just isn't needed in some situations, that's when I pick the ground. I look at it sort of like equipment selection - there are many accessories that might help me close the deal but I leave at home because I can kill a buck without them.

Then there are the other setups where being in a tree just isn't possible or practical. One thing that pushed me toward more ground setups that I don't think I have mentioned before is here in Iowa you aren't supposed to trim anything on public land. Zero. Now I suspect most hunters look at that law as similar to a speed limit sign - 60 in a 55 mph zone isn't a big deal but 80 in a 55 is, and I can sympathize with that point of view. Anyway, my point is I like to hunt on the edge of, or in, some thick areas, and some of them had better visibility at ground level than even 8 or 10 feet up a tree. Usually these are old cut overs or the like, high stem counts where the trees are still young and short and the canopy is low. I come across other hunters' setups all the time in this sort of cover, and see where they cut dozens of trees to open shooting lanes. That kind of behavior I don't agree with at all, its changing the landscape for years to come, so I hunt from the ground as the best option. The buck I shot last November was this exact situation, and not the first time.

The one thing I did think of to add - the biggest mistake I see made by people making natural blinds is they build them too thick. Then the blind sticks out like a sore thumb to any other hunter, limit shot opportunities, and also are just more work than necessary. It takes a leap of faith I know for hunters not used to hunting from the ground but trust me break up your outline, don't silhouette yourself, that's most of what you need to do. Deer eyesight is not near as sharp as turkeys. They spot movement and unusual objects, that's it.

Joe - Makes sense. I setup ground blinds much in same manner. Couple spots, neither ground blind or treestand would work. So last year, put in a couple tripod stands. Areas went cold, so only hunted from them 1x. But first time I have ever used a 12' tripod stand. Ground blinds, natural blinds, tripods, ladders, climbers, fixed stands...and this year, possibly a tree saddle. Have them all, use all of the for different applications. I hunt a lot of private ground here in Maine, so cutting trees in thickets to gain shooting is really the only way to hunt certain areas. Definitely takes a different approach when hunting public ground.

Lockdown -- should be a fun season to see where all of these setups end up producing. Since this is my first full year being here, great to follow and see what all of these sets end up producing.

[Jed33]

Another great post Lockdown! The lease that I'm on has been logging the trees in the past few years. Great for deer habitat, bad for stand sites, I have been studying your ground tactics and hope to apply them this year. I have cleared one set already, time constraints have limited more sets for me. Keep the ground game going guys

[Jed33]

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on a ghillie suite. For you ground hunters out there do you think they are worth it?

[exojam]

Now this is the stuff I love to see since I am always on the ground.

Thanks for taking the time to document everything.

[ Post made via iPad ]