Hunting Hole

Eliseo120 · Aug 14, 2013

I just had an idea for a kind of hunting hiding spot. My idea was that you could dig a hole a little ways into the ground to make a sort of fox hole so you could hide. You would then make a roof and then cover it in dirt and foliage to hide it. I was thinking that this could make it so your scent wouldn't be blown by the wind because it would just go over the roof, and you wouldn't have to set up a tree stand. The problem would be that there would be less visibility than in a tree stand, but you could fix that by making it in an area that doesn't have too many trees or bushes; the edge of a clearing possibly. You would also have to make sure that no animals had snuck into it while you were away.
Just curious if people would think this is a good or bad idea so please respond with some questions or comments.

marko · Aug 14, 2013

I would say if your field of view is 'down'
and you did this on private land, it has merits.
A negative might be you go in and sit in a pool of water.
You have to figure out the water issue.
You would have to make it an ambush spot over intersections of trails.
If your spot has ridges or slopes, me likee.

Eliseo120 · Aug 14, 2013

Oh I hadn't thought of the water. That's a good point.
I was thinking it would be best at the top of a hill looking down to get the best view.

dj_in_md · Aug 14, 2013

I've used a stand similar to this. It works great.

Pale Ryder · Aug 14, 2013

Use cover scents, pay attention to the wind, it's not to hard and has worked for me. Even a portable blind will work. Ideally a treestand is best, but I like to move around some days.

Biggfoot44 · Aug 15, 2013

Ok , extra points for thinking out of the box. If you realize or not appling duck blind technology to deer hunting.

Downsides - no allow on public land. Water table in some areas. Probably should be done in a known prime location , that's a lot of work to do on speculation. Not portable.

Alternatives ( non-tree ) -
Ground blind. Home made expedient g.b. equiv . Use of natural features ( downed trees , brabches , brush , rocks, etc ) to either conceal behind , or at least to break up your outline. Use of terrian features generally ( hills , ridges, saddles , draws , slopes , etc ) . Use of funnel points ( terrian or vegatation ) .woodsman ship skills generally. Stillhunting is a valuable skill to learn , even if only sometimes used.

Inigoes · Aug 15, 2013

Whatever you shoot will be sky lined.

Erno86 · Aug 15, 2013

I would think that digging a plain old open pit --- and leaving it that way --- would be much better. If you'd put a roof over it...other than cold winters --- besides animals hiding in a roofed pit --- I'd be worried about snakes, spiders, bees and bats making a home in your roofed pit. Open pits....were a favorite American Indian ground hunting blind. Sometimes you can find them in the woods. I did bow harvest a doe out of an old {at least 100 years} dug out pit on the edge of a field, on public hunting land; which are one of my favorite ground blinds too hunt out of.

marko · Aug 15, 2013

Whatever you shoot will be sky lined.

I think you'd be looking down
through the breaks in the woods,
find an opening or less dense area, looking down.
IF IT'S REALLY STEEP DOWN, YOU HAVE TO AIM LOW!

SOMDSHOOT · Aug 22, 2013

You can come dig me a hole in the frozen hard ground during the Winter Deer season... My shovel is not that bad ass.

jonnyl · Aug 22, 2013

Did anyone else think the OP came up with a really good pickup line?

byf43 · Aug 22, 2013

Eliseo120 said:
I just had an idea for a kind of hunting hiding spot. My idea was that you could dig a hole a little ways into the ground to make a sort of fox hole so you could hide. You would then make a roof and then cover it in dirt and foliage to hide it. I was thinking that this could make it so your scent wouldn't be blown by the wind because it would just go over the roof, and you wouldn't have to set up a tree stand. The problem would be that there would be less visibility than in a tree stand, but you could fix that by making it in an area that doesn't have too many trees or bushes; the edge of a clearing possibly. You would also have to make sure that no animals had snuck into it while you were away.
Just curious if people would think this is a good or bad idea so please respond with some questions or comments.

I hunted from a 'hole' just like you are describing, on the Eastern Shore, back in '83, for Canada Geese.
Although.... this 'hole' was 8 feet long, by 4 feet wide, and 5 feet deep, with 2x12 sides and a platform to stand on, and a seat made of 2x12 lumber that ran the entire length.
It was covered with a frame and had corn stalks covering it.

The ONLY thing that 'hole' was good for...... it killing geese!!!

YMMV.

SOMDSHOOT · Aug 22, 2013

byf43 said:
I hunted from a 'hole' just like you are describing, on the Eastern Shore, back in '83, for Canada Geese.
Although.... this 'hole' was 8 feet long, by 4 feet wide, and 5 feet deep, with 2x12 sides and a platform to stand on, and a seat made of 2x12 lumber that ran the entire length.
It was covered with a frame and had corn stalks covering it.

The ONLY thing that 'hole' was good for...... it killing geese!!!

YMMV.

Adding to the reason holes are only good for flying objects is because tree stands are used to get up and above a Deers natural viewing. Deer as rule do not "look up" so this is the reason why the walk literally under your stand and not even know you are there 10 feet above them. Digging a hole and getting in that in the ground is almost as bad as just standing there in front of them.

DaveP · Aug 22, 2013

byf43 said:
I hunted from a 'hole' just like you are describing, on the Eastern Shore, back in '83, for Canada Geese.
Although.... this 'hole' was 8 feet long, by 4 feet wide, and 5 feet deep, with 2x12 sides and a platform to stand on, and a seat made of 2x12 lumber that ran the entire length.
It was covered with a frame and had corn stalks covering it.

The ONLY thing that 'hole' was good for...... it killing geese!!!

YMMV.

LOL, curiously enough, around the same time, we had guys hunting geese from stands WAY up pine trees along the border of Blackwater.

Trees were swaying back and forth too much for me to let go and grab my shotgun!

SOMDSHOOT · Aug 23, 2013

DaveP said:
LOL, curiously enough, around the same time, we had guys hunting geese from stands WAY up pine trees along the border of Blackwater.

Trees were swaying back and forth too much for me to let go and grab my shotgun!

Don't laugh at that. Back in the olden days they use to have cannons / punt guns or whatever they were on platforms in tops of trees over on the Eastern Shore and could kill many Geese with one shot. That was back before the laws are as they are now.

DaveP · Aug 23, 2013

SOMDSHOOT said:
Don't laugh at that. Back in the olden days they use to have cannons / punt guns or whatever they were on platforms in tops of trees over on the Eastern Shore and could kill many Geese with one shot. That was back before the laws are as they are now.

Not laughing, 'cause it WORKED!
As far as punts, most used them mounted in the bow to put it on bunched up flocks at rest/at night. Never heard of them in trees: doesn't make much sense to me, lot of work when there are much easier and much more efficient ways

Erno86 · Aug 23, 2013

In order to catch bald eagles for feathers... American Indians would dig a pit with a thatched roof on top, so they could place a dead or live bait on top of the roof. Once the eagle alighted on the roof, the Indian would thrust his hands thru the roof, in order to try to grab the eagle's legs.
Up in the mountains...I prefer to deer hunt from the ground, so I can conceal myself better, where a pit blind becomes very advantageous. Natural pit blinds are large trees that have toppled over, leaving a root ball exposed; along with a pit. It is a good place to find Indian arrowheads. My uncle was deer hunting many years ago in Garrett County, when he crashed thru thin ice in such toppled tree pit, and went up to his waist in ice cold water. He made it out alive...but that was one hunting experience that he never forgot.

Some deer...do look up into trees, especially after getting shot at a couple of times; from hunters in trees.

Kman · Aug 23, 2013

jonnyl said:
Did anyone else think the OP came up with a really good pickup line?

Good, I'm not the only one.

When i was young, it was called cruising for chicks.

boss66tcode · Aug 23, 2013

A clever idea, but think about back stop.

marko · Aug 25, 2013

Adding to the reason holes are only good for flying objects is because tree stands are used to get up and above a Deers natural viewing. Deer as rule do not "look up" so this is the reason why the walk literally under your stand and not even know you are there 10 feet above them. Digging a hole and getting in that in the ground is almost as bad as just standing there in front of them.

Not if you add the original idea:
YOU MUST BE SHOOTING DOWNHILL. You must be on top of a ridge.
And, what deer won't smell freshly dug dirt?
Long term hole w/ water drainage and minimal upkeep = WINNER.
By the way, I whistled at a group of deer and they stopped
on a dime - for pictures.

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