I forgot how small my ground blind is

[jimbobborg]

I have one of those spiffy Ameristep Chair Blinds I picked up a few years ago when I had money. When I went dove hunting earlier this year, I didn't use the mesh on the front section of the blind, so I didn't think about how poorly long guns work with this particular blind. So I went out this evening for deer with my muzzleloader. I kept hitting the top and front of the blind with the muzzle. I will say the chair part is quite comfy, but there isn't enough room to maneuver my CVA muzzleloader or my Remington 700 without making a ton of noise. Forget about vertical bows, too. I'm going to bring my new crossbow, it's about 5" shorter than the muzzleloader, so moving around for a shot inside the blind should be doable. I really should have kept my 16" AR upper in 6.8 SPC, I can't find one now, much less afford to buy one Anyway, these are pretty nice blinds if you're hunting higher flying birds, but you need a short long gun for deer or turkey. I have the older version of this http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunt...ries/104365080.uts&WTz_l=Unknown;cat104365080

 

[wilcam47]

I had a similar 2person one...man that was crazy cramped...I did shoot a few deer out of it and wife got a couple but if you moved much it made a lot of noise...I opted for a bigger popup and one chair...gave me plenty of room...

 

[jtb81100]

I'll be honest, I'm having more fun with just a 3d suit and a bucket against a bush or tree then I ever had in a blind. Haven't been getting busted as much either, which surprises me because I'm not exactly a small guy.

 

[jpo183]

The more I hunt the more I think the 3d suit is the way to go.

 

[jimbobborg]

I fidget too much to sit out in the open, and I don't do heights so tree stands are out. Since my income is currently limited, I have to make do with what I have. I finally got a job offer this week so I start at my new job on Monday. I doubt I'll have the money to pick up another blind before the end of the year, so I'm stuck with this until then.

 

[wilcam47]

I fidget too much to sit out in the open, and I don't do heights so tree stands are out. Since my income is currently limited, I have to make do with what I have. I finally got a job offer this week so I start at my new job on Monday. I doubt I'll have the money to pick up another blind before the end of the year, so I'm stuck with this until then.

nature provides the best cover...if theres brush or pines make you a "wall" cover your silhouette or even make yourself a shelter out of branches with one opening in the back to crawl in and one with a good view of the front...cover with pine needles or brush etc...Im gonna make one of these for spring bear hunt...since I didn't have a good set-up this fall.

Cost zero...to make...

https://www.google.com/search?q=nat...uE2AXT1ICYBQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1536&bih=746

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

My ground blinds are made of simple 2x2 lumber and covered with dark twin bedsheets and burlap canvas. Lightweight and you can carry them anywhere. I despise those nylon ground blinds. Though they will keep you out of the rain they are not very practical for hunting in my opinion. My blinds are designed to be either open back or full square enclosure. See this MDS thread HERE

I have yet figured out how you Dove hunt from a ground blind.

 

[jimbobborg]

I have yet figured out how you Dove hunt from a ground blind.

Sit in the chair with a cold one in the cup holder. When the tiny gray missiles show up stand up in the front opening and let them have it. I had more doves fly over my head in this rig than the 50 other guys in the field. Of course by 1300 they were half a mile over my head but you get the picture

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

Sit in the chair with a cold one in the cup holder. When the tiny gray missiles show up stand up in the front opening and let them have it. I had more doves fly over my head in this rig than the 50 other guys in the field. Of course by 1300 they were half a mile over my head but you get the picture

I hear you Jim. I usually just set on my old black milk crate in the middle of the field and let them fly around me from 20 different directions. It's amazing how carefree Dove's are. I sit there still in the wide open and they continue to hit the ground. The Dove will fly back and forth across that wide open field all day. You don't even have to turn around to look for them. With all that whistling they give themselves away when flying.

 

[BigSteve57]

I've never used a ground blind. I always hunted by sitting still and freezing my ass off like you're supposed to!

But I saw these guys at a couple of gun shows. Their blinds are downright luxurious.

http://natureblinds.com/

Their largest at 350lbs is kind of heavy to pack in. But they do look very natural.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

I've never used a ground blind. I always hunted by sitting still and freezing my ass off like you're supposed to!

But I saw these guys at a couple of gun shows. Their blinds are downright luxurious.

http://natureblinds.com/

Their largest at 350lbs is kind of heavy to pack in. But they do look very natural.

The only location I use ground blinds is on the edges of the fields at the farm. This is for nothing more than frontal coverage so that I am not exposed while the herds make their way on to the fields in the evenings. I have shot many Deer simply setting on the edge of the field. I have shot many Deer setting at the base of Holly trees anywhere in the woods that looks desirable. Ground blinds basically do nothing but help prevent Deer sneaking up behind you. If you know your land and know the Deer routines that makes ground blinds and stands of no value at all.

I have taken guys to the farm on Deer hunting trips and they get confused when I give them a milk crate and say, "sit here and watch there" They figure out my guided service suggestion about the time right after they pull the trigger. AHH. Now I get it...

Lots of guys have this embedded thought that you must be high up in a tree and covered like an army tank to Deer hunt. Far from fact there. They just don't know how to do it any other way I assume. They freak out when you show them something different than they know.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

I've never used a ground blind. I always hunted by sitting still and freezing my ass off like you're supposed to!

But I saw these guys at a couple of gun shows. Their blinds are downright luxurious.

http://natureblinds.com/

Their largest at 350lbs is kind of heavy to pack in. But they do look very natural.

Now, as for this NatureBlind thing, I'm fine with this idea, so long as you plant it somewhere and let the Deer get use to it being there. You have to remember if you walk out in the woods and drop this thing somewhere and the Deer see it, they will avoid it because you are in their back yard and they know it doesn't belong. This is with any large scale ground blind. My ground blinds get planted in a specific location and they will set there for months or years before they ever get moved again. The Deer will walk right beside my truck parked on the edge of the field because they have seen that old gray Dodge so many times it doesn't matter where I park, they are born, raised and familiar with that "thing".

I could not tell you how many times I have left the woods and said, "I should have never left the truck... again"

 

[jimbobborg]

I parked by behind near a corn field with plenty of deer sign, nearly stepping on some deer sign on the way in. Since the moon is getting fuller, they've gone more nocturnal so I'll be leaving that area until a week after the full moon. Fortunately for me, that coincides with late archery, either sex season. This coming Saturday is opening day for rifles. I'm still deciding on which one to take.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

I parked by behind near a corn field with plenty of deer sign, nearly stepping on some deer sign on the way in. Since the moon is getting fuller, they've gone more nocturnal so I'll be leaving that area until a week after the full moon. Fortunately for me, that coincides with late archery, either sex season. This coming Saturday is opening day for rifles. I'm still deciding on which one to take.

I know the Moon thing is a theory and nothing more, but, from my experience it would be completely foolish to not hunt a hot spot due to the Moon phase. I shoot Deer on Full Moons just as well as any other time. I have never believed for one minute the theories of that Moon phase. I've taken too many Deer during those weeks to believe any part of it.

Here's another of my fine examples from October 18, 2013... I have many more on the walls.

.

 

[wilcam47]

I know the Moon thing is a theory and nothing more, but, from my experience it would be completely foolish to not hunt a hot spot due to the Moon phase. I shoot Deer on Full Moons just as well as any other time. I have never believed for one minute the theories of that Moon phase. I've taken too many Deer during those weeks to believe any part of it.

Here's another of my fine examples from October 18, 2013... I have many more on the walls.

.

hes looking at you like....WHY?? WHY? did you kill me??

 

[jimbobborg]

I know the Moon thing is a theory and nothing more, but, from my experience it would be completely foolish to not hunt a hot spot due to the Moon phase. I shoot Deer on Full Moons just as well as any other time. I have never believed for one minute the theories of that Moon phase. I've taken too many Deer during those weeks to believe any part of it.

Here's another of my fine examples from October 18, 2013... I have many more on the walls.

.

Those don't look like whitetail antlers. At least from this angle. The last buck I saw in the woods was a forkhorn. Of course it was while I was squirrel hunting, and a week before firearms season.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

Those don't look like whitetail antlers. At least from this angle. The last buck I saw in the woods was a forkhorn. Of course it was while I was squirrel hunting, and a week before firearms season.

Jim, it doesn't matter what angle you look at this, it's not going to matter, regardless what direction he's facing.

You should have heard what I said when I finally found this rascal laying in the field and picked his head up. He looked a lot better through the scope on that Muzzleloader pistol. I said, "ain't you a goofy lookin' sum'bitch", but I wasn't shocked, that's how it goes over at the farm most of the time. There's some real ding dong bucks hanging on my walls here.

I had my 8 pointer mounted a few years ago... only because he was perfect on both sides and every point was identical on the left and right. I got him mounted because he was an odd Deer compared to everything I have shot. If they don't have some screwed up malformed dysfunctional antlers at the farm, they just ain't normal to me LOL

 

[jimbobborg]

Looks like a whitetail got freaky with a reindeer.

 

[BigSteve57]

Now, as for this NatureBlind thing, I'm fine with this idea, so long as you plant it somewhere and let the Deer get use to it being there. You have to remember if you walk out in the woods and drop this thing somewhere and the Deer see it, they will avoid it because you are in their back yard and they know it doesn't belong. This is with any large scale ground blind. My ground blinds get planted in a specific location and they will set there for months or years before they ever get moved again. The Deer will walk right beside my truck parked on the edge of the field because they have seen that old gray Dodge so many times it doesn't matter where I park, they are born, raised and familiar with that "thing".

I could not tell you how many times I have left the woods and said, "I should have never left the truck... again"

I kinda posted their blind product in jest. I would probably never buy such a thing.

I (we) became successful at deer hunting by watching their habits all year when they were not being hunted and by watching what they did when they were being pursued. We saw a huge difference. What worked for us was a combination of still hunting and stand hunting. What we (my wife and I) did was try and figure out what the deer were doing on any given day. We would push, stop & wait sometimes for hours, then push again. I would push. Then she would push. We would take positions up 90 degrees apart and wait. We wouldn't want to just pick a location and just sit 100% in one place. Deer are too mobile especially when there are hunters in the woods stirring them up on day 1. Day 1 we're standing. Day 5 when we're out there alone: different story we're still hunting.

 

[jimbobborg]

Well, yesterday was not a total bust. I had set up my blind in a spot on the edge of a field. I did not see a live buck all day. However, when I was leaving, I found where they end up right before nightfall, so Saturday it's game on. It's either sex day, rifle season, so I'll be there, waiting. This will be my last Saturday there unless this new job pays me at the end of the month instead of waiting on a pay cycle.