Archery from the ground

[dennishoddy]

I've killed several from the ground in pop up blinds, but they keep blowing away when these fronts come through. Not many trees in my area.

Just finished a permanent blind tonight and will get it set up tomorrow. I have a tower blind for gun/MZ.

It will be on the ground this season, maybe 5' high next year.

 

[Deer Slayer]

That will work Dennis. It should warm and comfortable.

 

[Deer Slayer]

We do something that has worked real well for hunting from the ground and that is a shipping pallet blind. Take 3-4 pallets and some T posts and arrange the pallets and wire them to the corner t post. No one will steal because it is not worth it and they will last for years. If you are going to hunt with your kids this Fall then use 8 pallets. 3 across the front, 3 in back and 1 on each side, or any configuration you want. If you are concerned about rain then you could use 4 landscape timbers for corner posts and a few 2 x 4's to build a roof and cover with sheet metal.

 

[justin_h635]

I have shot 2 elk from the ground (cows). The second time I was off a trail on the edge of a little open area (trail ran through it). Cow & calf walked the same trail coming right towards me. Cow stopped but the calf continued and passed on the trail literally a foot or less away. As I froze I could have stuck my pinky out and poked it. Anyway, eventually the cow followed, I drew back and the calf was weined.

 

[garret01]

Thanks Guys. This is encouraging. I'm on public for my first year with a bow. I set up a little brush ground blind on the edge of a trail I spotted them on last year. I just need to get some better shooting lanes cleared out so I have a better view.

 

[justin_h635]

Understand the biggest downsize to ground hunting is that you have little to no margin of error for movement and especially scent. I am a nut about scent control and none of it includes $200 pants and jackets designed to keep scent out. I take the easy route by thinking ahead and playing the wind, not filling up with gas in your hunting clothes, sitting by a campfire or over bacon grease, etc. I shower with scent control before every hunt morn or eve (when possible) and get out of my hunting clothes asap after hunting (if I am going to wear them again). Common sense type stuff is all you have to do to help with scent. It doesn't guarantee anything but I can say I have been much closer and heard a lot fewer "wheezes" than before I started worrying about my scent.

 

[Okie4570]

Understand the biggest downsize to ground hunting is that you have little to no margin of error for movement and especially scent. I am a nut about scent control and none of it includes $200 pants and jackets designed to keep scent out. I take the easy route by thinking ahead and playing the wind, not filling up with gas in your hunting clothes, sitting by a campfire or over bacon grease, etc. I shower with scent control before every hunt morn or eve (when possible) and get out of my hunting clothes asap after hunting (if I am going to wear them again). Common sense type stuff is all you have to do to help with scent. It doesn't guarantee anything but I can say I have been much closer and heard a lot fewer "wheezes" than before I started worrying about my scent.

Same here, except for I practice zero scent control when I'm sitting in the same box blind as you...................I even provide my own cover scent and yet you still complain.

 

[garret01]

I cut down some branches and native plants and stuck them in a bag with my clothes. Hope that works.

 

[Bulls eye]

I have my hunting clothes in a large plastic tote with a open box of baking soda in it. They stay in the back of my truck. I change in to them when I get to my hunting area and out of them before I get back in my truck after the hunt. On the way in I will try to find a cedar and rip of some of the branches and rub down with them and then stuff the branches in my pocket...

 

[aviator41]

Our clothes are washed with baking soda then spend time in a tub with all sorts of plants picked from the area where our blind will sit the week or two before the hunt. The blind is usually out for a couple of weeks before that and covered in native Vegetation, which is switched out as it gets crunchy.

Really,though. leaves, needles and branches from the trees that surround your hunting are are perfect for scent control as long as you take reasonable efforts to not take human scents in with you. One of the best parts about a ground blind is it's inherent ability to mask smell, when put up properly.

One can go broke buying anti-smell sprays and chemicals when just a little common sense will go a long way. I am not a fan of having to change into my hunting clothes in 'the wild' - so we keep a bottle of no-scent spray handy in the truck and give ourselves a final 'spray down' right before we start the walk to the blind. I've not found one that works better than any other, so price rules. I can tell you this method works for us. We've had white tails within feet of our blind even on the upwind side. We are totally invisible scent-wise and have the confidence to know our routine works.

I'd say you're on the right track.

If you're using a new tent-style ground blind, it needs to sit out in the year for some time to get the PVC stink off of it. a couple of good washes with water and scent-free soap will speed the process some. make sure to get the insides. If you climb into the blind and think you smell plastic, you can bet the deer will too, but from a lot farther off. It may not make them bolt, but they will be spooky (at least) around a new smell.