consistent harvests from pop-up blinds??

[silent sniper]

Hey guys, I have a question for you guys that hunt with commercial ground blinds. I have a nice ground blind but I never use it for deer for fear it would startle the deer.  Can guys consistently harvest mature deer from a non permenant ground blind?

Now I know ground blinds work if you leave them up for weeks Or months, I am more interested in semi daily set ups.

Has anyone been able to scout a spot, stake out a blind, and hunt it within a day or two with success?

I have tree stands and a leafy ghillie suit that I use with good success. But when the snow falls and the Temps drop I would rather not be in a stand and my ghillie no longer blends in. Maybe my pop up blind can come in handy?


Just looking for options and opinions. Let me know your experiences,  thanks SS

[Nantahala Nut]

I think your ghillie will still work when snow falls.  It may not blend quite as well but will still break up your outline.  

I hunted with a guy for many years that threw a pop up blind up the day before.  He killed more deer than me.  One caveat, he was hunting with a rifle and shooting deer further than our engagement range.  During the rut you might have more luck as the bucks will be a little more "distracted"

[Jmatt1957]

I leave mine up however, during turkey season I put up and take down and have had deer come in no issues. make sure you brush it in, especially up top so you take away the hard outline of the blind

[VA Elite]

I never have killed a deer from a ground blind. most of the time it has been pop up and brush in and hunt. I either see nothing or they freak out when they see it. I sat one up 2 weeks with a camera on it. the day after they were there. the next day they were not. the. 2 days later they were back.

[tracker12]

I have killed multiple deer out of my Double Bull Blind every year for the last fours years.  And these were all from Blinds that I set up the morning of the hunt. Now these spots I hunt are the same I use every time.  In the Urban areas I hunt if I leave the blind in place someone decides they like it more than I do.  Several of the deer I have taken have been very mature bucks.

[KAZ]

The better you brush it in and avoid the black hole windows on a setup & hunt, the more success you'll have. Using the shoot through netting would be a big advantage "if" you're comfortable shooting through it... I plan for the deer to get wiggy the first time they see it if it's new and has the black holes. I just did a scout, setup and hunt successfully on a doe this past Saturday. I knew the deer would not like the windows so I setup 15 yards from a trail leading to a mock scrape. I used a good size tree as a sight blocker so the deer couldn't see the window till it was in range and hopefully too late. The doe did exactly as I thought, she cleared the tree and instantly put on the brakes & stared my direction. Only her wiggy head & neck visible! She took one more critical step and I was ready & made the shot. I'm sure the gig was about to be up for a decent shot. Usually they wig at the windows out of curiosity, turn & face, maybe do the head Bob, maybe stomp the foot to get the window to move... :-) With rifle that's no problem, but for us close range stick shooters we want calm broadside deer. If you leave the blind up, they get used to them. I'm convinced they come check it out while you're gone, even snooping in the windows. Probably hilarious to watch all the antics involved in them sorting it out. So it can be done with the right setup or the "right" uncaring deer. Otherwise much better to brush in heavily and avoid the black holes OR leave it out for them to get used to. RUT crazed bucks are another deal altogether. Sometimes you can't get their attention by hollering at them....

[johnnyk71]

don't know about same-day setup, but i put mine up and leave them. they get used to them and ignore them pretty quickly. i have always read that deer need them either completely out in the open (where they can investigate from a long distance), or completely brushed in where they don't notice them. have never tried the out-in-the-open route.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

My biggest issue with pop up blinds is that some of them flutter in the wind if they are not brushed in well enough. its that movement the critters spot first.

[Stump73]

We have brushed them in and hunted right afterward didnt spook deer if it was brushed in good.

[KentuckyTJ]

You have to brush them in so much you may as well just use the brush and get in it. Like stated, the black windows are deal killers. Use shoot through mesh if you are going to do it.

[amicus]

I love hunting out of pop ups. The best think is that a pop up conceals movement. To me that's the number one deal buster when your in the moment. I set mine up a few weeks before the season starts and try to brush in. Same day set up has not worked very well for me. Most pop ups are made of shiny or reflective material that's what usually freaks out deer. A friend of mine uses flat green spray paint to spot paint the pop up and it looks very good. It seems to work for him. Another thing that I started to do is smoke the inside of pop up with local brush, cedar or pine what ever twigs are available. It seems to help hide my scent. The deer don't freak out over the smell of smoke.

Good Luck

Gilbert

Last year there was a fellow using a decoy and a pop up blind at various places on the busiest public hunting land in Iowa.  He would set it up about 50 or 60 yards in alfalfa off the busiest gravel road in the world, which put him about 200 from the nearest cover and blowing on the loudest deer call ever made.  It was very entertaining for everyone until he set up on the tractor path that lead to the main area of the public land, and 50 yards from the parking lot like usual.   Eight guys walked around him and eight guys got cussed at as they passed by. I finally got to check out his decoy a small Mckinsey target complete with the ground stakes.   He threatened me, so I stopped and told him that he had to pick his stuff up pointed to the creek bottom brush about 150 yards from him.  Told him to set the blind in the brush and the deer target in the clearing, leave the deer call in his pickup and take a practice shot at his target while he was sitting in his blind.   When I came out that night after seeing nothing but crows and ducks, his blind was gone.   I was the first one back but I saw a little light along the creek that was heading for the bridge.  When he got to the road I stopped, Mr. crabby blind guy said, "Can you help me? I shot a deer and I don't know what to do next."  I hate giving blood trailing and field dressing lessons in the dark, but I did.

[GreyGoose]

When I set them up right (prevailing wind and light in my favor, natural local vegetation worked in, and time for deer to become accustomed to them), I am able to see deer consistently with ground blinds.  Harvesting has been tougher since abandoning the wheels, but same is true for tree stands.

[30coupe]

pavan, you are a hoot. I've got to look you up one of these days. How far are you from Spirit Lake? My youngest son lives there now, so I might actually get over that way once in awhile, although I haven't made it over there yet...too much going on here at this point.

About 80 miles.  The area that I mentioned is south of the lakes.

[30coupe]

Wow, that's still a haul for me then. When I'm at home, which is seldom this time of year, I'm still two hours from Spirit Lake... About 5 1/2 from here.

[Doug_K]

Biggest buck I've ever seen I had 50 yards from from my popup blind that I had set up an hour earlier. Didn't brush it in, but it was somewhat tucked into a tree line. This was pre-rut as well.

I've also had mature does within 10 yards unaware, which in my opinion is usually harder to do than a mature buck.

[30coupe]

I haven't killed a deer from a popup blind yet, but I've had them come in and sniff my turkey decoys, which were 10 yards from the blind, so I don't see why it wouldn't work in the fall. I tend to prefer tree stands for deer, just because I can see more, but I'm starting to use my blinds more. One is a pop-up and one is a box blind on a wagon running gear. I've had lots of deer close in front of that one, just not the one I wanted to shoot. They don't seem to pay much attention to it, but it sits there all the time. I put my pop-up up a week or so ago, but I haven't sat in it yet.

[Duncan]

Wonder if you could put out a turkey decoy for confidence during deer season.

[Mike Gerardi]

To answer your question I have not. I tried that with one of my blinds for two deer seasons. I saw very little from the blind. I can't really say how they reacted do to limited visability.  They can be very close and silent as you know. My blinds are all double bull and do not move as much in the wind.