Tips for ground blind hunters

[**DONOTDELETE**]

here is some pics from my blind, they are in black & white
 
 here is where the DOE was standing.
 
 

[Terry Green]

Originally posted by Pete W:
Bow quivers full of arrows are more visible/noticable than a thin bow is.

Yeah....but I've found that when ground hunting stalking that a bow quiver full of arrows is a great blind in itself along with the bow held up in front of you.....and a fletch cover is best if you use bright fletch.

Also when stalking, if your camo is good, you can get caught in the open and still not get busted.

Good thread guys!

[Shadow Hunter]

The one thing I tend to fail at least a couple times a season is setting up to close to the trails I'm hunting. If I remember correctly Asbel
talks about this in his stalking and still hunting book as well. As exciting as it is to have a buck doe or fawn at 10 feet trying to get a shot off at anything under 10 yds is incredebly difficult. Set up at 10 to 20 yds whatever is in your comfort range and you will find it is easier.

Second is a subject that has already been touched on playing the wind and not being afraid to move if the wind switches on you. Do not continue to hunt a stand if the wind switches get up and move even if it's only acrossed the trail your watching. There been day's that I have moved 2 or more times in no more than a few hours and still seen deer, didn't get a shot but didn't spook them ether.

Lastly no matter what you do, occasionaly you will spook deer get busted or walk into them. don't sweat it, They will be back sooner or later. The last hunt I was on I had a 2 to 3 year old 4x4 come in behind me twice 1st time he stopped at about 10 ft, he backed off about 30' staying in sight of me so I could not move and then came back in to somewhere about a foot behind my head could not see him but could very clearly heard him breathing normaly just behind my head(I just about melted down for good) after a few minutes he had enough of me and wandered back down the trail with out giving me a shot. about 20 minutes later I busted out a doe and fawn by peeking around a tree and about 15yds coming in from the same direction. No more than 10 to 15 minutes later I managed to blow a shot at a forky at about 10 ft that came in on a different trail when he caught my movement while drawing. When this happened the doe and fawn were still within 40 to 50 yds of me, feeding normally after they finished a couple minutes of conitious snorting and blowing. All in all I did a few things wrong the deer did a few things right and we were both a little smarter from the encounters. Lessons learned ghille suits work if you do your part, don't peak around tree's and get ready before you see the deer especially when your only 10' off the trail.

Shadow Hunter

[T-Mac]

Great thread worth saving. I've been hunting from the ground some the last couple of years. Not scored yet, but have seen several deer and it is real exciting for sure.

[JDinPA]

Great info so far.
A trick that work sometimes...
If you are sight busted from a distance and you have a quiver arrows with white fletchings.
Drop to your knees and wave your bow back and forth a few times. The deer sometimes mistake the fletchings as a tail wag.

[SuperK]

Great info..You are so right about taking your time and not rushing the shot.  I have noticed that I have made some very poor shots while hunting from the ground.  I've been shooting too quick thinking the deer are going to see me move.  Thanks for reminding me to SLOW DOWN.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I also have string hanging from 2 branches, they are used to check the wind...

[Moengo]

Great thread; you covered alot there Mickey and covered it well. I too use my bow quiver has sort of a blind and it has paid off on occasion. For that reason i don't use bright fletching...guess i need to find a good cover.

I hunt exclusively from the ground and always made wind direction my top priority. Once I started paying just as much attention to my blind I became much more successful. At first, I always concerned myself with a backdrop...no siloette, which will get you busted everytime. There were times however when I didn't watch my outline from 90deg...straight on I was ok, but not so good at 90deg. I like to set-up in kind of a cove...no matter where the deer approaches, I do not want to be siloetted. If possible let someone sit in your blind and just check if things "look right" to you. BTW- As others have said,hunting in ground blinds or still hunting...a ghillie is hard to beat...they have sure worked for me.

[Terry Green]

Charlie...here's the best covers I've found....

   Morrison Archery

[John Nail]

If you sit, sit LOW and not on something squeaky.

Look around all the time, but move your head slowly. You must see the deer first.

Learn to draw slowly and make your bow extra quiet.

PAD the arrow rest. Even a small "tink" will spook them, and you can double that for mule deer. I use enough moleskin to make mine ugly.

You will still spook some, so don't dispair. You will learn more about deer body language in one season on the ground than a lifetime above them.

Wear quiet clothes. If you can hear it at all, they can hear it for a long way.

When possible, keep the sun at your back.

Use camo cream or a facenet. A white man's face glows like a pumpkin in the daylight.

Stay in the shadows as much as possible, and ALWAYS stop in a shadow, and in a position where you can shoot, if you're still huning.

PRACTICE those odd angle shots, shooting from your knees, squatting and sitting. And then practice some more...Good Luck!

[Moengo]

Yeah, that's what I've been looking for. I'm gonna order 2... tonite. Thanks, Terry. You think this is my ticket to gettin one of those big ole deer like you got?

[BamBooBender]

Good stuff! I'm trying my hand at ground hunting this year too, and I am at the point where I can get/have deer as close as 12yds without spooking them but still can't find an opportunity to draw on them. The spot I have been using doesn't provide much of a view to spot the deer before they get real close. On top of that the does always seem to come through in small groups. If one of them has their view of me blocked by a tree or whatever, the other/s don't and I can't move a finger that they don't notice. Their defensive tactics work really well. lol
So I was wondering is spotting the deer before they get real close an absolute necessity or is it possible to get drawn on them when they're right on top of you?

[Molson]

There really is no difference between ground and tree other than time and distance.  Think about it. If you are 20' up a tree and the deer is 10 yds away, you really have about 20 yds of distance.  10 yds on the ground is 10 yds.  Likewise, you can generally see farther from a tree, so you have more time to prepare.

That is the key... time and distance.  If you can't draw because there are too many eyes watching or the deer are too close, whether you get busted or not, you have no shot.  However, the deer didn't just drop from the sky.  They came from somewhere and are going somewhere. Use what you've learned to make adjustments that give you the advantage.

If you can make adjustments to your location or your blind that increase your time, you can decrease your distance and easily draw on deer at close range.  If you can't, you need to increase your distance which will increase your time.  If you can't do either, then look for another location.

[Moengo]

BBB,

Have you actually been busted attempting to draw? If you consistently get deer to 12 yards, you're doin somethin right. Certain blinds or set-ups, require different tactics. For, example some set-ups might be better with a little brush or some type of cover 2 or 3 feet off the ground. You'll need to be on one knee, and get real low..and draw slow using that brush to conceal your draw. Practice, practice, practice drawing and shooting like this because it will pay off one day. This is just one example of drawing from strange positions, but IMHO you need to be so familiar with creating strange shots, that it becomes second nature in order to be consistently successful hunting from the ground. In all due respect, it is much different hunting on the ground than it is 20' up a tree.

[the Ferret]

I have found that deer will easily pick up the movement of a bow being raised INTO position, but have a hard time recognizing a bow being drawn from the raised position. They just don't seem to understand the string arm going straight back away from them.(Another good reason not to be overbowed..you need to be able to slowly pull that string straight back...as Pete said earlier). When I hear deer walking thru the leaves close by I raise my bow to the shooting position where I expect them to end up. From there it takes  very little to draw the bow and shoot. If it's been raining and I can't hear them coming and they just "show up", I just have to wait until they pass behind a tree, turn or put there head down to feed to get that bow in position for the shot. Unless they are very very close, 10 yards or less do not even attempt to shoot if they are on alert and looking at you or you will not hit the spot you are aiming for. You may still hit the deer but it will be way high or back and not a good hit. Even at that distance an alert deer can drop and turn a full body length before your arrow gets there.

[cajuntec]

A little "luck" doesn't hurt either.  Here is a portion of a story I wrote about ground hunting on a Sika deer hunt recently.  I was tucked up under a wax myrtle bush, with a bit of leafy camo blind material out front to close off the entrance to my spot. To this day, I don't know why he wasn't spooked by me:

Then, right about the time when we were going to call it a morning and meet up, from my right, out pops an 8 point Whitetail at about 15 feet from my blind. He walked right up to the camo material, and put his head right to it - he was 5 feet from me!!!! The wind was blowing right across me, and right into his nose, and he didn't move at all. I could have reached up with my bow and touched him on the nose with it!!! I froze, just laying there paralyzed. The worst part - I have never taken a buck with antlers yet. Button bucks - yes. Antlered deer - no. And I have yet to take an animal with my traditional equipment. BUT... Whitetail bucks were off-limits this week to archery hunters. Only Sika cows and bulls, and Whitetail does. So all I could do is watch. He circled the outside of my blind, making a 180 degree pass on the side of it that was exposed to the open. He got to the other side and went to the waters edge for a drink. I carefully slipped my other "weapon" out of my pack - my camera phone (by the way... does anyone know how to get a picture off a Verizon LG phone so I can post it on the internet???). He walked back to my blind, and again stopped within spitting distance of me. I slowly snapped three pictures of him from beneath that tree. He never moved. As he turned to walk around the front of my blind, I decided to try something else. Moving slowly, I was on my knees, and if he had been legal to shoot, I think he would have been an easy take at less than 7 feet shooting from the ground on my knees. However, I didn't touch my bow, as I didn't want my mind to go blank and do something stupid. I was so excited, no telling what my brain might have snapped and done. LOL!!! Finally, he came back to the front of my blind, again standing about 5 feet from me. He was alert to something in the field. Finally, he snorted and took off like a shot in the opposite direction. It was then that I realized my friend Curt was in the field, and had been walking to me when he caught sight of the Whitetail.

All the best,
Glenn

[Molson]

Mickey- Excellent and right on.  Relaxed deer are what you want.  There's no getting around it.

Moengo- I suppose "no difference" is a generic statement but, is it really different?  You are attempting to avoid a deer's eyes, ears, and nose (relaxed deer) up until (and right after) your arrow has struck your spot.  It doesn't matter whether you're in a tree or on the ground.  Is it easier to do from a tree?  Sure it is, but only because you have "created" an advantage by using height as cover and that advantage allows you more choices in set up.  A Double Bull blind creates and advantage by surrounding you with 360 degrees of cover. You can create an advantage without either by using your head!

Looking at Bamboobender's situation, he has  beaten the deer's nose and beaten the deer's ears, but he has not beaten their eyes.  That is where he needs to make adjustments.  If he can't beat their eyes, he needs to move or remain content as an observer.  Some places just don't work on the ground just like some places just don't work from a tree. See the pattern?

[Terry Green]

I remember the 1st time I deer hunted on the ground with a bow.  After hunting exclusively from trees for years and years.....I felt like I had a neon sign over my head 'Here I AM"!....but I stuck with it.

I'll tell you one thing, movement at the right time is key, and at times you can get away with murder it seems, and others you wonder "what the heck did I do"?!?!?..."I only thought about moving"!!!

But as you continue to hunt, your confidence and success will GROW....and you wont feel like you are sticking out like a soar thumb!!!...You WILL start to feel more at home.

But, I'll tell ya what will bust ya more than anything in the flatter lands, and that's the wind.  That's the biggest obstacle and sometimes there's just now way to play it as it often swirls here if there's not a definite wind direction from some type of front moving in.

In the rolling hills and Mts is more predictable, but the flat lands can flat out kill ya.

Take for instance that I spent 3 weekends this May and June, and although I could have gotten many shots at 15 and 30 pound hogs, and mommas with them, I just could not get a shot at a boar to save my life.  In those 3 weekends, I got busted by the wind 8 times due to it doing a 180 if I was down wind, or a 90 if I was cross wind.  Those weekends the wind had a mind of its own and not once did I ever spook them due to movement.  All I needed most times was 10 more yards...or less, but the jig was up when I felt the coolness on the back of my neck.

Hunting hill and Mts can have this happen from time to time, but when I hunt the Cohuttas, the MTs force the wind along in certain directions.

If you have a swirling wind on your ground blind set up, just hope the animal comes in and gives ya a shot before the wind changes its mind.....or have another one you can move to.  This is why I like to use natural cover at times when I find a hot spot.  I'll watch the wind and move if it changes.  I've had as many as 4 different spots cleared of clutter on a hunt, and I managed to get a little pig once that day.

Make sure if you set up 'blindless' next to a tree that you clear out MORE clutter than you think you need, at times you will NEED more room to get way from the tree or brush or what ever.

Here's a little quick blind set up I've used before when the leaves are on still on the trees....you just need 4 tent stakes, some green parachute cord, and some hand held pruning shears, and a rock.....

Find two 8 to 10 foot saplings 10 to 12 foot apart parallel to the area you EXPECT the game to come through.  Its best if they are offset by 4-6 feet or so, but you can change that if need be by the angle you bend them.  Bend the saplings over paralleling the same area and stake them down a foot or two off the ground...one one way, and the other the other way.

Its best to have one stake at least already in the ground if not both, and the cord tied to one of them.  Drape the cord over the top end of one of the saplings under a limb and tie it off to the other stake....then do the same with the other sapling.  Make sure your stakes are driven in at a 45 degree angle for a much better hold.

Now prune out the middle and clear the ground, and clear out some of the branches  for shooting lanes.  If the saplings are offset, or your angle is good, you will also have shooting lanes on both ends...if not, just prune a little more.

If you have a thick back drop to work with then just one sapling in front will work.

[JBiorn]

And believe it or not----when approaching your blind in the early morning dark, don't try to be too quiet. Thats a dead giveaway that your a human. My uncle will actually jog in and make all sorts of noise. Works for him---maybe they figure that anything that makes that kind of racket is either another deer, or couldn't possibly be threatening.

[Terry Green]

A little crude...but I think you'll get the idea...

   

And BJiorn, I agree....I believe that if you are walking at a steady pace during the dark and don't stop that deer may or may not 'bump'...but if you bump them just keep on walking.  If you stop, they will leave outta there as they aren't sure what you are up to.....best to keep walking.

I do not enter the area I want to hunt during the dark the mornings that I bear hunt, I do not want to blow them out as they are stalkable if you see them 1st.  I will bite off a large part of the walk in, but when I get close, I'll hang back till good shooting light before I proceed to the spot I want to set up in....or 'cruise'.