1turkeykiller

I have always hunted from my climber treestand but this year I need to be in an area that does not have trees I can climb with my stand. Has any one hunted from ground level much like turkey hunting? Is it more difficult to keep your scent from being detected than from being up in a stand? Do the deer tend to notice your movement more while being at eye level with them?

coyote170

If you are in a ground blind I dont think they see
your movement as much as they would if you
were in a tree stand or tucked behind a bush etc.
I have been hunting out of an Ameristep Penthouse
ground blind for over three years now and would not
hunt any other way! The freedom of movement,etc.
makes my time in the woods a lot more enjotable!

1turkeykiller

Coyote170,
I was seriously contemplating buying an Ameristep Doghouse Blind, but then got to thinking that maybe it would scare the deer by having the wind make the blind noisy and the deer would not be used to seeing the blind and they get spooked. What have been your experiences using a blind? Do you put the blind next to some other natural brush? What is the best manner to hunt from a blind? I will be muzzleloading from it.

coyote170

1turkeykiller,
I dont type very well please bear with me being slow,I would
look at the new Roundhouse or the Penthouse,I have never
had a problem with wind flap and have never used the roof
poles until this last season,snow storms did not want it to
fall down so dont know where the wind flap got started but
mind never has!I have set up of a morning and had a doe stick
her head in the window I had fallen asleep and my hunting partner
was in a tree stand and saw her and beeped my radio and I caught
her out of the corner of my eye she backed off and stamped her foot,then moving off.The buck that was following her detoured a bit out of range but did
not seem that bothered!I try to set up next to brush,etc ant it seems to
work for me.Once in try to confine yourself to staying in until you are
ready to leave,I sit on a low folding stool and would not hunt any other
way hope you enjoy it as much as I have,good luck!!!

skeeter 7MM

Look for natural cover that affords concealment, I often pick spots that are on the low side of a ridge or in a low spot on flat land. I like to pick spots that have a few clear shooting lanes but offer good concealment and more importantly backing. Try to make sure your outline will blend into the surroundings, don' t skyline your outline. You can further this by placing branches and natural cover on the sides and back drop to help conceal small movements. I will often make or pick a spot that gives me a U shaped blind feel. This will give me backing on all dimensions and allow me to make small incremental movements without being detected. Wind direction is always important when hunting deer, even more so being at eye level, thus important to know travel routes/patterns of deer and how they relate to your locations. Try not to setup on any major or single game trials if at all possible but rather adjacent to them. Some cover scent or eliminator spray would as well help. Making a build is another option or using the pop up style if the terrain doesn' t allow you to use natural cover.

Coastie

What I have done is to use as much natural concealment as is available. Thickets along the edge of a field or near a trail make great cover. Get into them and allow the branches to drop down around you. Snip off any that are in the way of your Bow or Rifle and snip out just enough to allow a good field of view. I have also sat in a clump of weeds or corn stalks in the middle of a field keeping as low as possible, this is not usually a great way to hunt with a Bow but it can be adapted. I also carry a piece of Camo netting large enough to cover my entire body. I have set down in the open and draped the material over myself. The key to this is to stay low, Deer and Bear seem not to take as much notice of objects that are low to the ground and don' t have a particular outline or profile. Even if you move a bit, especially if it is a bit windy, they don' t pay much attention.

mauser06

ive never hunted from a treestand..this year i will hunt from one though....ive sat with big trees to my back...or a pile of olg dead trees...my favorite stand....i watched a 8pt buck walk right upto my dad and was about to step on his legs until my dad jumped towards it to stop it..it walked right up to him sniffing the air and my dads trail and everything...we arent into all that scent control stuff either.....we try to play the wind...but if we cant get a good stand with good wind we dont cry about it....we still hunt and it doesnt effect us much...we hunt funnels so other guys are spooking deer coming in and moving on trails and the deer have just about nowehre to run but right by us...so they really dont have time to smell us...it works for us....one stand produced 5 deer in 2 seasons in 3 days in about 9 hours and we seen many deer each day....we never had problems hunting from the ground....you cant see as far from the ground...but being eye to eye with a whitetail is very exciting...this year im going to be in the air just so i can see farther....i know deer are making it around us because we actually are lower then thembecause of the way the land sits.....good luck...its really not hard to hunt from the ground....

1turkeykiller

to all who replied to my message:

Did any of you guys throw up a pop up blind the same day you started hunting or did you have it set up there many days in advance so the deer would get used to seeing it? I will be hunting public land and will not have a chance to set up my blinds weeks in advance. I also was wondering from a safety standpoint if any of you put some type of blaze orange on your blind to alert other hunters in the area?

Split-Hoof

I always hunt from the ground, and I do as Coastie said....using available natural cover for concealment. I also make use of large branches, leaves and twigs to make a primitive sort of blind around myself to conceal my form. These small, natural blinds don' t seem to catch the attention of deer at all. The better it blends right in with the surrounding cover the better.

I have never used a store-bought blind before, but if you can' t have it in place a few weeks ahead of time to allow deer to get used to it, it just might catch the attention of a wary old buck and possibly get you " busted" . Mature bucks know their surroundings as well as we know our livingrooms, so if anything is out of place you can be sure it will catch his attention. If it was totally concealed within natural cover it would be better, but in that case I wouldn' t see a need for it to begin with. But that' s just me.....

cardeer

I hunt from the ground and use a manufactured ground blind at one spot. And the rest of the spots I use artificial Christmas trees and use them and natural brush. The X-mas trees you can get free from people throwing them away or very dirt cheap at fleamarkets or yardsales. They never turn brown and you are are part of a tree.I had deer walk right up and peak in.Scent ,awe fooey I smelled like a old steer already and the deer loved it. I take some of my neighbors horse manure with me in a bag. Get to the stand and open it up.