best advice for using natural ground blinds.

[Ron LaClair]

I use to make my blinds big enough to lay down and take a nap.    

Here's my wife  (RedBird) in her blind, she was a serious hunter.

   

   

[Russ Clagett]

Great stuff here....remember to stay in the shadow..nothing points you out like the sun shining on you.

I try to make sure I am not oriented in such a way that the approaching deer are ever looking at me...and I never draw my bow or move at all until they put their heads down to feed, or turn away to look at something.

Depending on your location you may also think about digging a pit blind. Dig down so when you sit in the blind you have just enough room to shoot but you hide most of your body...

You will be close to deer who do not know you are there. It is the greatest rush ever.

Do not move until you are ready to shoot.

Consider adding a leafy suit to break up your outline and blend in with the background.

Make sure there is nothing under your feet that will make noise if you have to turn to shoot.

When you're this close everything matters. I even had my metal coffee cup coated in a camo pattern....

If you're downwind you dont need to worry about scent control.

Orient your site to the extent possible so when the deer arrive in front of you they are not facing you..or facing away from you....no shot.

There is also a tendency to end up TOO close, and now you can't shoot at all...cause holy crap...you never thought about having 4 deer in front of you at once but here they are...and you won't be able to fool all those eyes very easily...unless they're facing away.

Good luck...once you're successful hunting this way you may not ever hunt any other way again...

[VA Elite]

man I got excited just reading that Russ!

[Slickhead]

had a doe once at one yard from the tip of my broadhead.
Couldnt draw, could hardly breathe
Talk about your heart beating though.

[VA Elite]

wow

A comfy chair like a huntmor with one of those thicker round butt pads helps to keep me in the blind and not roaming around.  If it is chilly especially early mornings before sunup or later in the season a lightweight mummy sleeping bag that packs real small is good and the extra seat pad makes a nice pillow. I like to take naps in a blind too.

[Birdbow]

I've found the tendency to make the blind TOO close to the trail, scrape, etc.

[sagebrush]

I think number one is down wind. If it smells you it's all over. You are on the ground so you must be more careful of your scent than in a tree stand.I like to dig a small pit. The top of it hits me about stomach to chest high when sitting. I also make a ledge to sit on with a backrest. The only thing sticking up is my shoulders and head. I had to start doing it this way because I was hunting in sagebrush and a big mound of sagebrush doesn't look natural.