Author Topic: Anyone here use a ground blind ? (Read 1798 times)

ironglow · « **on:** October 31, 2008, 03:16:46 PM »

i have one of those outhouse type ground blinds an would like to try it in southwestern NY. Has anyone here used a ground blind successfully in deer hunting ? If so, what is your experience ?

nodlenor · « **Reply #1 on:** November 01, 2008, 03:02:03 AM »

I've used one for the last three or four years and prefer it over the tree stands. I got a 9 pointer two years ago using it. I'm getting too old to be climbing in trees so I feel the ground blind is much safer for me. I can also take more things with me and it is much warmer.

ironglow · « **Reply #2 on:** November 01, 2008, 01:45:50 PM »

Thjanks Nodle; ..been thinking along those lines myself...

Mikey · « **Reply #3 on:** November 02, 2008, 01:24:11 PM »

Been there, done that and only gave it up for a better situation. They work well and are easy to hit from.

Make sure it is large enough for you to sit comfortably and even stand and move around. Buy or create some sort of ground cloth to keep the moisture out - dry is better. Avoid nylon hunting chairs for something that does not make noise. A sterno stove or hurricane stove will give you heat, if you need it as well as a warm meal. Whitetail cannot see through the ground blind, so all you need do is be quiet.

You also need to set it up and have it in place in advance of the season so the Whitetail get used to it being there. HTH.

ironglow · « **Reply #4 on:** November 03, 2008, 05:00:07 AM »

Thanks, Mikey...any info I can get really helps..

Glanceblamm · « **Reply #5 on:** November 03, 2008, 05:25:52 AM »

They work very well ironglow as I have used one for the last four years now. Plenty of room inside for your daypack & exta's and I even weathered out a fair thunderstorm in it once!
I like to place my chair on the diagonal in the event of a quartering crosswind as this allows me to see out all for windows. Those windows don't have to be zipped down a whole lot in order to see/shoot.
My ground blind did (just pop-up overnight) during my first late season hunt with it that required traveling...even though I had good background to breakup it's outline I was suprised that a few deer and even some Coyotes passed by without seeing it at all!

My only word of warning to you is to stand back a little when you first set one up cause the spring loaded steel within the fabric will cause the whole thing to jump up and punch you in the jaw when this is done

(been there) Breaking the thing down when the hunt is over requires some finness (on my model) cause you have to collapse it flat which is easy enough to do but then you have to twist it like a figure 8 and then try to rotate the steel back into two circular shapes that fold one on top of the other when done. This definatley takes some finness as said.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #6 on:** November 03, 2008, 06:48:15 AM »

I got one last year . Used it on 3 days . First day i set it up set in it less than an hour and a doe came with in 40 yards to feed ( no bait was used ! ) , the second time set in blind for a few hours did not see any deer , last time sat in blind for a few hours and saw several does . Will be using them this year , like them and deer seems to not care about them .
The first one ( the one i used last year) was small , got a new one that is bigger !

AtlLaw · « **Reply #7 on:** November 03, 2008, 07:44:00 AM »

The two fellers I hunt with each have one and both have killed deer while sitting in them. They are the light, portable, through it on the ground and it pops up into a tent like blind.

To much trouble for me...

But I have been known to drop one a them half umbrella's, yu know, the kind that are meant to screw into a tree over your climber, in front of a lawn chair.

I'd try one of them lounge chairs but the umbrella ain't big enough and I figger it'd be to much of an effort to sit up and shoot a deer when it walked by anyway...

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #8 on:** November 03, 2008, 07:48:14 AM »

That's like the first one i got , easy to set up but getting it back in the bag in the dark can make ya say bad words

AtlLaw · « **Reply #9 on:** November 03, 2008, 08:26:46 AM »

Quote from: SHOOTALL on November 03, 2008, 07:48:14 AM

getting it back in the bag in the dark can make ya say bad words

Hey! yur right!

I forgot all about that!

One a them boys spent a half hour trying to figure out how to fold his up and bent it every which-a-way! Then he just happened to turn/twist/pull/push sumpin right and it just folded up!

teddy12b · « **Reply #10 on:** November 03, 2008, 11:00:56 AM »

I hunted in one for the first time last year and saw a deer. This year I have two setup, one for my father in law and one for me. One thing I recommend is putting up some orange tape around you and tie it to the blind. If you're wearing orange inside a blind it doens't help that much. I acn't imagine that it'll spook the deer if you do it in little amounts. I setup my blinds last weekend so hopefully they'll be used to seeing them by the 15th.

This one really made me think. There was a perfectyl good reason why I shouldn't have put it everywhere I looked, but this was the least bad spot.

ironglow · « **Reply #11 on:** November 03, 2008, 01:24:43 PM »

Thanks guys;
Your input is valued. I have actually had the blind for over a year but am using it this year for the first time. Popping the blind out and erecting it is easy..but I found the refolding to be a challenge, but I think I have the hang of it now... Of course, I find cell phones and computers to be challenging also...sooo.

bilmac · « **Reply #12 on:** November 03, 2008, 05:29:54 PM »

Actually the engineers tape in the trees may attract deer. We were doing a survey one day and had flagged our route into the site with engineers tape. We had forgotten a tool, so I went back to the truck to retrieve it. As I was walking back down the trail there was a doe eating the flagging we had hung not 30 minutes before. We were using blue tape that day if you want to attract the most deer.

ironglow · « **Reply #13 on:** November 03, 2008, 09:56:10 PM »

You are probably onto something there Bilmac. When I bought my woods several years ago, the surveyors left some orange tape streamers hanging from some trees at one heavily travelled corner. There seemed to be no reduction of traffic from the tape streamers.
I left them there, and over the years it has been the most productive part of the woods.
Teddy; that blind looks just like mine (an Ameristep outhouse)

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #14 on:** November 04, 2008, 01:09:01 AM »

I hunted for years with a man who would wave a white rag up and down to draw deer across a field , worked for him . He said the other deer would think it was a doe running off and they would follow .

woodsdweller · « **Reply #15 on:** November 04, 2008, 05:17:08 AM »

i cut some limbs and wedged them behind the tent pole bungie things at windoe height and it gave me a solid shooting rest. just a hint.

teddy12b · « **Reply #16 on:** November 04, 2008, 06:52:31 AM »

Inside my Ameristep G10 outhouse I have a $6 gander mountain chair with armrests and a cup holder. Pretty good shooting position for a field shot.

This year I set one up for my father in law too. He recently had a knee surgery and has recovered, but this is still a much better option than climbing into a stand.

ironglow · « **Reply #17 on:** November 05, 2008, 04:02:06 AM »

Woods;
sounds like a good idea, but my "outhouse' doesn't have solid enough supports to do that, so I guess I'll use shooting stix. I'll be sitting on a couple 5 gal plastic pails (2 giving the right height). I will probably use it diagonally, sitting far back into the closed corner as I can and using the 2 farther adjacent openings as firing ports.

Shootall;
I can see where the white flag would attract a deer's attention..but being a hunter safety instructor, I could never advise any of my students to use that method. A white flag flopping has invited too many shots from goon hunters. If you hunt in a place where you are SURE nobody else will be...may be OK..but I wouldn't promote the habit.

...I may even put orange surveyor strips on mine.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #18 on:** November 05, 2008, 04:05:46 AM »

I agree about safety . Just passing on some of the things i have seen .

ironglow · « **Reply #19 on:** November 05, 2008, 04:10:31 AM »

I didn't doubt that Shootall..just figured to give others a "heads up"..

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #20 on:** November 05, 2008, 04:20:14 AM »

It was a good point ! no land is 100% safe anymore

teddy12b · « **Reply #21 on:** November 05, 2008, 05:27:17 AM »

What got me putting up orange surveyor tape is that I am not hunting on my own land. I will be on a friends property and other people will definately be there. I also didn't want these guys to overlook where I got setup so they would know what direction not to shoot and also so they wouldn't setup very close to me.

We'll see how well all that works out.

Leatherstocking · « **Reply #22 on:** November 21, 2008, 03:22:09 PM »

I bought a Hayhouse blind from Cabelas this year. Got it with the idea of hunting with my son from it. So far I love it. Fits two people comfortably. We successfully hunted ducks and geese out of it and I sat in it by myself all day on the deer opener. Didn't get anything, but that wasn't the blind's fault! It was very comfortable on that rainy, windy opener we had. I was much more comfy than my buddy who sat in a swaying tree all day! It is easy to set up and take down, once you figure out what your doing. Also, the camo pattern is awesome in the swamp areas I have had it in. From 100 yards away I have to strain to see it and I know exactly where it is!