Ground Blind in Pines

[Bud B.]

I worked on a ground blind today for this fall. It's in a stand of +/- 40' Virginia pine. This +/- 3 acre pine stand is an open highway for deer. The trails cut in there are worn down to bare dirt in spots and deer bed on the edges as it transitions into open hardwoods nearby. It has some small poplar, sourwood, and sweet gum mixed in for some greenery in the fall but realitively speaking it's just tree trunks and pine needles and running cedar.

If you look at the property lines, I'm squeezed in on both east and west sides. This property is my father's land. He's fairly new to the area and we don't know the neighbors yet.

   

A larger photo can be viewed on photobucket
   http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f94/Equismith/BlindBuild.jpg  

Here is a look at the land from my cell camera and a button buck from this past fall. The blind is deeper into the pines and there are fewer scrub trees deeper in.

   

I have some good shooting windows so far in the blind but was wondering what to use to cover the lower areas of the blind. The blind is mainly deadfall propped up in a teepee type fashion with crossing timbers as well. I'm going to order some Asbell wool and wasn't sure what colors to get. I thought about chicken wire and then throw the pine needles and leaves on the chicken wire so the wire catches the leaves and needles and provides a shield.

Any suggestions?

Any photos of your blind in a similar type pine stand setting?

Thanks for any input.

Bud

[Bud B.]

Bump

No ground blind Pine hunters here??

[Biggie Hoffman]

In a treestand, I feel like background cover is most  important. In the pines on the ground I feel like front cover is.
I use 3-d type netting in front and shoot over it. Since pine needles are the predominant color, I use the brown side out.
The Waldrop seat is perfect for the pine set-ups. If you get too high, you're more in the line of sight.

I bet I walked 5 miles yesterday in two of our biggest pine thickets. Man the stuff I found was the best I've seen here. Marked 3 spots on my gps. I have a heckuva time finding my spots in the pines in the dark!

[Arwin]

I like to clip off some small live branches, they make awesome cover! Plus the smell of fresh pine is great for covering your scent.

[lpcjon2]

Terry had a great trick for ground blinds, that works great in the pines.Find two small pines that are around 5-8' apart and pull the top of the pine down and tie a piece of cord to it and then take a tent stake and tie the cord to it and bend the pine over and stake it down. do the same on the other side of you( can even do one it the back and front if the trees are there)It doesnt damage anything at all and is totals natural.I will try and find the pic he had.
this is the thread the pic is on page 2
 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=088485#000000

[Ron LaClair]

If you're wondering of what color wool to wear in the pines I think what I call Tamarack Green would be the ticket.

   

[Molson]

If you're serious about ground hunting, invest in the Waldrop Pacseat and a Bush-Na-Bag. Both items combined will provide you with the freedom to set up where you need to without leaving you exposed and you can adjust effortlessly.  

I try to set up where I have side cover to block the approach and I want to be sitting in a position where the deer are not likely to be looking my way as they approach.  I also want to have some cover between me and the deer.  I don't want to be in the first layer of cover the deer comes in contact with if at all possible.  I prefer not to create obvious cover, but to just enhance what's already there.

[Bud B.]

Thanks for the input so far. If I can get a photo of what I have I'll post up. I won't be able to get back up there until next week.

I have considered evening stand green or brown from Asbell or their ground hunter classic green. There is little green actually in the part of the stand where I want to set up. Just trunks and criss/crossing deadfall from stroms in years past. Some of the scrub sourwoods are present. A pop up blind  would draw their attention too much I think. There's a lichen colored moss on many of the trees.

I got two shots at deer last fall from a burlap ground blind right where the tree stand is now but before I built it, but each time the deer knew something was amiss. Both doe dropped well below the shots.

Please keep the input coming. I am putting alot more planning into this next season.

Thanks.

[Bud B.]

Originally posted by lpcjon2:
Terry had a great trick for ground blinds, that works great in the pines.Find two small pines that are around 5-8' apart and pull the top of the pine down and tie a piece of cord to it and then take a tent stake and tie the cord to it and bend the pine over and stake it down. do the same on the other side of you( can even do one it the back and front if the trees are there)It doesnt damage anything at all and is totals natural.I will try and find the pic he had.
this is the thread the pic is on page 2
  http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=088485#000000  

These trees are 40 footers. My hung gear would be 2000 feet away if I cut the rope accidentially with a broadhaed  

There are scrubs on the outer edges though. I will have to cut some anywy to bring in natural foliage.

[calgarychef]

I'm thinking your spots for blinds are wrong, although I'm darned if I can suggest a better place.

 I hunted a spot for three years much like the one you have and it wasn't productive.  then I put my thinking cap on and found a better spot on the same small piece (100 acres) and it turned into a great thing.

Where are they going to feed, where is the water in the pic?

 I'd take a good PTO driven mower and give the deer a really nice trail to follow on the same route they take now.  Just make it bigger and better.

[Bud B.]

I saw deer about 80% of my days out last year. With the exception of one time they always came in the way the arrows are showing. Sometimes they'd come into range. Sometimes they'd stay just out of range.

Acreage is a total of 12.

I'm in the right spot. I'm heading down to where they enter onto my side of the property line. The pines are a virtual highway for the deer. A spring fed creek begins about 50 yards from my ground blind spot. about 75 from the tree stand. They also use the S/W part of the pines as a bedding area right now. This fall who knows where they'll bed.

Getting to know the neighbors is my next big step sometime soon.