green1320

I started hunting deer this year for the first time with a crossbow. I set up some trail cams in the late summer and started getting several bucks on them. I went to this area and set up a ameristep ground blind. I had been getting deer on my cams everyday until i set the blind up. I moved the blind about 30 yrds from where it had been and brushed it in as I was told to do by another of my hunting friends. I have never hunted archery for deer or from a ground blind. My question is will these deer i was seeing come back into this area? Also is there anything else I should do to my blind to get them used to it? Also I hunted the blind four days in a row, was this too much? Can you hunt a bling area too much and if soo what time spands can be hunted? I have a back injury so I am not able to hunt from a tree stand in the air. I have a nice buck coming into this area and any help would be appriciated. I also would like to know about deer urine.....when and what type should I use. I am hunting in northwestern PA. Thanks

Michlw39

I'm not convinced it was your blind that changed the pattern. It might just have been a coincidence. was their weather changes at the time you set up your blind?

I have a similar setup (Ameristep Doghouse). I set the blind up in early September and put the blind out (brushed in pretty good behind a blow down). I had deer walking past the camera two hours after I set it up.

I also noticed there was a week in there just before the season when for whatever reason (weather, moon, don't know) I hardly saw anything on the camera.

Opening morning, the wind was wrong but I hunted anyway. Busted by a doe. Three days later: I missed a doe. She ran out of there snorting and making quite the ruckus. A few days later: I dropped a doe and saw a bunch more. We're talking 20 yards.

My point is the deer didn't bug out--even though there were two cases where I was busted the first week of the season.

I did take a couple 2-3 days off and let that spot alone after I did get busted. Don't know if that was necessary or not, but that's what I did. I can't hunt everyday, but if I could I wouldn't hesitate to use the same blind. I'd probably have a plan B (a second blind) somewhere and maybe switch off a bit, though. Again, is that necessary? I don't really know. But it's also fun to have a different landscape to look at once in a while (especially if hunting ground blinds).

Also worth noting: I took a doe on state land last year walking into a spot and setting up a blind THAT AFTERNOON.



Another factor is how much pressure there is in your area. I'm hunting a spot where I'm the only hunter around on 100 acres (and I don't think there's a lot of activity yet on the adjacent properties).

If I screw up but I'm the only one screwing up in the area...that covers a lot of it. Know what I mean?

Michlw39

...I'd also add that big, mature bucks probably aren't as forgiving when it comes to our mistakes that announce our presence. But overall it's been my experience that you don't have to put a blind out weeks early and be too hard on yourself about thinking deer will bug out and not come back.

My experience says that's not true.