Blinds

[USMA65]

The rage for big game hunting in the last few years is the popup blind. As much emphasis seems to be placed on blinds for deer and turkey as for waterfowl, at least for those using modern weapons. I have a vision in my mind of a ML'er torching his setup (popup) with a wayward spark. That said, what do you use.... stealth, a natural blind or a popup?

 

[vern faulkner]

I'd like to say stealth however, to be honest, it's more like "even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while". I try to find a spot with the natural background breaking up my profile. I do find that I generally gravitate to "stands" that I've used often in the past with success.

Vern

 

[nchawkeye]

Really depends upon where I'm hunting...

I love climbers as I can move fairly easily and see down into the brush...

But...Some areas are thick with hollys and you get blocked out...In this case, I either just sit with my back to a tree or take a low, folding beach chair...

I don't like pop up blinds for deer as I've seen them spook too easily when they walk up on them...They do work great for turkeys though...

 

[BrownBear]

It's been my experience with ducks and deer that anything new in their environment is quickly noticed. No first hand on turkeys, but I hear the same there too. I stalk deer, but the buds who use blinds say they put their in the field a month before the season and leave them until after. Kinda hard to justify the popups on that schedule. My duck blinds are built mid-summer and mostly remain for years. I LOVE for guys to come into my area and erect popup blinds on the day of their hunt. They don't get much shooting, but it sure makes it easier for me to attract the birds that avoid them.

Move to the next county or next state, and it will all be different of course.

 

[Supercracker]

I hate heights, so no tree stands. On the ground I tend to make little brush blinds all over whenever I'm scouting around preseason and even during. A $1 roll of jute twine can tie up a dozen blinds. I don't think blinds made from a couple of close by bushes or branches get much more than a casual second look from critters. They're used to limbs and things falling all the time.

Best of all the jute twine is totally natural and will rot of it's own accord in a couple of years. So nothing to move after the season.

 

[jamesthomas]

Now why did'nt I think of that? :idunno: You just gave me something to try this year. I have a couple of good spots where I hunt that will benefit with some jute twine and a couple of bushes. :thumbsup:

 

[Supercracker]

Now why did'nt I think of that? :idunno: You just gave me something to try this year. I have a couple of good spots where I hunt that will benefit with some jute twine and a couple of bushes. :thumbsup:

I always have a few yards wrapped around a dowel or in a ball on me. Handy for making a quick blinds, tieing legs up out of the way when gutting hanging quarters from a stick to carry out and on smaller pigs that you want to take out whole you can attach the front legs to the back legs, put your arms through and wear them like a backpack.

 

[rabjr]

I have a vision in my mind of a ML'er torching his setup (popup) with a wayward spark.

I am a paraplegic and use one of the popup blinds on the market. I use a "penthouse" size needing the room inside to move and easier use of the gun. Even then using a muzzleloader inside (getting it in position) one can be a challenge lol. But I have used them with success, taking several deer with my flintlocks. Gets a little smokey inside after the shot but never had any problems with unwanted flames starting. :haha:

 

[Bob J]

My favorite is a two-man ladder stand with shooting rail. It function best with the camo material that attaches to the the rail and to the platform, providing better concealment since deer DO look up. Used to have camo burlap, but it didn't hold up as well, basically rotted away. Not exactly a "pop-up" blind, more of an elevated blind :grin: Why two-man? I can stretch out a bit which is much more comfortable for three hour hunts :wink:

 

[Britsmoothy]

I too have used the pop ups but apply local folage to it. I am in two minds about it!!

I to have natural blinds here and there and think they are much better.

Lurking in a shadow is just as good.

B.

 

[stone knife]

I plan on using one for spring turkey next spring.

 

[jethro224]

I like to sneak hunt my way from natural blind to natural blind. Some days, especially during nice weather, I stay in one the whole day. If it's too cold to sit in one spot all day I might sit in 4 or 5 different places. The stillhunting in between warms me back up.
I have used a pop up blind a time or 2. Kinda nice when it's raining or brutal cold wind.

 

[VTdeerhunter]

Tree stands and still hunting for me depending on the weather and where I'm hunting...Bought a pop-up blind for the old man this year, he's beyond the tree stand phase of his life and this will keep him out of sight and out of the elements a little better....hope to post pictures of his success later this November :wink:

 

[S.Kenton]

I try and stay away from pop up blinds...but use them when its brutally cold out if it's gonna rain.Other than that I use a treestand or still hunt depends on what part of Ohio I am hunting that day.

 

[Silex]

Good question - makes me think about how I am going about that.

First thing is our seasons for deer are very long compared to the U.S. so usually I don't hunt a whole day. It's rather a morning or evening in the rut usually once in a while over the course of a day because the behavior is different.

I had bought a pop-up blind about 8 years ago but never used it since. Usually the areas I hunt we build tree stands and seats from locally available lumber and they last a long while. Of course you'll have to think about placing them.

The pop-up seemed a good idea for the in between or for scouting but I found an easier way for me.

I found a big ol' black umbrella used some spray paint and camo netting to it. It's pretty easy to take a long as a walking cane, it is there when it starts to rain or when you want to sit in a spot where natural cover is not so abundant. Just open it put some twigs ans stick around sit behind and you're good to go.

Silex

 

[crockett]

I use mostly tree stands but occasionally stump sit. As far as being on the ground- I have sort of tried it at. I agree about the blinds working best for turkey and all I can figure out is the issue of scent- turkeys usually don't have a good ability to scent you like a deer or bear; if the pop up isn't completely scent free maybe it is a negative on deer, bear, etc.
I have piled dead branches, etc around me to create a blind but I think it impresses me more than the deer. In all honesty nothing beats sitting still. If you stay really still I think that is better than anything else. Years ago- before Hunter Orange, and up north, I wore a wool mackinaw in red and black plaid and had deer come right in on me. A lot of folks pick a large tree to sit against. Sometimes two smaller trees very close together work better IMHO. Finally, there are some areas that produce year after year. I generally stay away and then sneak in before dawn. The first day in such a situation is always best. Although deer are supposed to move into the wind I usually set up so that the deer comes in at a cross wind- in other words if the deer continues on his path another 20-30 yards past me- he will probably scent me. This set up also gives you a broadside shot.

 

[luieb45]

Give me a 15 foot ladder stand for deer hunting, a big fat oak to sit under for spring turkey, and for waterfowl I'll choose a layout or a hand brushed in homemade blind. Hunting out of a deer stand gives you a lot more advantages than you old timers care to admit. You fail to realize that your visibility is increased greatly by being above the ground cover canopy. A deer you would have seen sitting on the ground, I would've seen probably 30 seconds earlier from a well placed deer stand. By the way I doubt a muzzleloader would set a pop up blind on fire because you're not supposed to shoot through the "shoot through" window with a firearm of any sort anyway and they're usually made of a material that doesn't seem like it'd light real easy. But those pop ups are a heck of a lot easier to set up than to tear down so usually when I set mine up I leave it for weeks because they're not that easy to take down.

 

[rabjr]

Hunting out of a deer stand gives you a lot more advantages than you old timers care to admit. You fail to realize that your visibility is increased greatly by being above the ground cover canopy.

Well then, I for one am so glad you enlightened us...

 

[jethro224]

Hunting out of a deer stand gives you a lot more advantages than you old timers care to admit.

Been there, done that.

You fail to realize that...

...there are many advantages to hunting from the ground too. After weighing the advantages, I prefer the ground.

When I started hunting deer, before you were born, I hunted exclusively from treestands. Killed plenty of deer too. Then I started switching back and forth using both treestands and ground blinds. Didn't take me long to figure out that I killed more deer from the ground and liked hunting from the ground better.

In some circumstances the treestand gives you a scent advantage. In some circumstances a treestand gives you a sight advantage. In other circumstances a ground stand gives you a sight advantage and if you learn to play the wind the scent advantage doesn't matter.
A ground stand ALWAYS offers a comfort AND a safety advantage. Also the ability to move, less wind keeps you warmer, you can take a nap and not fall off of the ground, you are closer to the deer, you don't have to build or buy or carry a ground stand,a ground stand is always wherever you want to sit whenever you want to sit there,...

Us old timers ain't so dumb. Let us know how you hunt in 20-30 years.

 

[rabjr]

...there are many advantages to hunting from the ground too. After weighing the advantages, I prefer the ground.

:shocked2: WHAT!? You mean you actually (gulp) hunt!?? :wink: