experience with ground blinds for archery

[shooter]

Hey folks,
    just got back into archery after 15 yrs,no interest in climbing trees anymore.Does anyone have any experience with any of the groundblinds such as the less expensive Ameristep Doghouse etc...Looking for something inexpensive,quick to setup and on the smaller side but still enough room for archery shots.
Shooter

[TomD]

I was succesful using my doghouse during last years CT Muzzleloader season. I've set it up in a half dozen different locations for Turkey, Deer, & Coyotes and had many close encounters without being busted. I'll let you know how it works for Bow season as tomorrow is opening day and I've got one of mine setup on a hot trail through a swampy area. Its also going to shower here in CT tomorrow, so if nothing else I will be dry  Its really easy to transport & setup. Its been surprisingly sturdy as it held up to significant snow. Strong wind however will definitly give it a test...

[TomD]

I seem to be struggling with scent control when bow hunting from my ground blind (and rain here in CT). With the rifle/ML, I can setup much further away from where I think the animal is going to come from and the occasional swirling wind is ok. With my bow, I've had to setup closer to the trail and therefore I've been busted more often. This is only my 3rd year of Bow hunting so I'm learning as I go.

As far as the Turkeys go, its awesome!! I've had several shots and taken one Turkey @ 17yds 

I think one of my smartest investments that helped take the Turkey was a range finder!! Before that investment, all my shots were good as far as windage goes, but by misjudging the distance I was off high or low which caused me to miss several Turkeys.

I'm gonna keep plugging away though...Playing hooky from work and going out this afternoon!!

[Leverdude]

I have a bunch of pop up blinds & have been real sucessful with them. took 7 deer & 2 turkey from one last year. 2 are doghouses & 2 are like dog houses but bigger & ones a hub style I havent used yet. I set them up a few weeks before season & leave them out from Sept to Jan with no problems. Alot of heavy wet snow will flatten them but I shoveled the snow off & it popped right back up. Thought it got styolen at first. 

Where in CT are you TomD, I'm in Fairfield county.

[GeorgiaDave]

Hello from Georgia,


    Although I have never used a commercial made blind, I have hunted from ground blinds for years. I have shot deer from them using pistols, rifles, muzzleloaders and several with a bow (both recurve and compound). I have had the best luck building them at the end of the season for use the next year, using the limbs trimmed for shooting lanes to build the main parts. I then use some of the military camo material to finish it up. I currently have about 10 blinds that I can use at any time, most of which are along the still hunting route that I make. I still hunt to a blind, hunt in it for a while, then make my way s...l...o..w...l...y... to the next. Hunting from the ground is especially effective when hunting from an elevated position does not allow you to see well because of the limbs and leaves.


    There are a few things that I have found to help blinds to be effective. Make sure that you have enough shootings lanes to actually get a shot at the deer when one does show up. Keep the ground inside free of anything that will make noise. Make certain that it is big enough to move around in to position yourself for the shot, especially when bow hunting. Also make sure that it is located in a way that makes it easy and quiet to enter. I like the store bought blinds and am sure that they would work well, but I still like the all natural ones.

   
    Good Luck !
     Dave

[JPSaxMan]

The only experience I've had bow hunting out of a blind is in my own AmeriStep Outhouse blind; quite frankly, it stinks, major. I would go with the Doghouse blind though, my friend purchased an Doghouse and it seems large enough but blinds like the Outhouse are way too small to draw in. And I'm using a 27-28" draw length at most, some guys have longer lengths. They'd be toast in one of those blinds 

So I'd say just get a bigger blind, even if it costs more, it's for a reason. My Outhouse is fine for rifle/ML hunting but for archery...forget it.

[Leverdude]

I bought an outhouse first too. Its just too small. I got tricked because the footprint is bigger than the doghouse.
I took this deer this morning out of a Hunters view lodge blind. Basically a giant doghouse 7' square & about that tall.

Tuesday evening I was sitting in my blind watching a deer behind some brush 40 yards away. I was kicking myself because I have a stand set up about 50 yards away but I decided on the blind. As lucfk would have it this deer was dancing around within 10 yards of my tree. Couldn't tell if it was a buck or not at that point but it dont matter anyway. After about an hour the deer slipped away into the woods. So Wed & Fri I sat in my stand instead of the blind & got to watch squirrels, chipmunks & birds + a couple racoons. One of the coons paid the price yesterday but thats another story. 
Anyway I went back around 5:30 this morning & crawled into my blind, sat down in my lawn chair & promptly fell asleep.  :lol:  I'm not sure of the time, maybe 7:30 or 8:00 I caughed & woke myself up. When I opened my eyes the first thing I saw was a deer in that same spot looking around. :shock:  He wandered around my stand for 1/2 hour just like Tuesday afternoon but instead of wandering off he drifted towards me.  . I picked up my bow & waited for about a month it seemed for him to get into the open. When he cleared the brush he was only 20 yards out & I was at full draw. I let him get past me & tucked a broadhead a few inches behind his near shoulder, watched the arrow find its mark & stop on the offside shoulder. He took off like a bullet running full tilt for as far as I could watch him.
So now I'm second guessing myself because of my crappy shot a couple weeks ago. I sat down & relaxed for an hour & then set out to see what I could find.
At the spot where he was standing there was blood all over & Ray Charles could have tracked him.  :lol:  I followed the blood up a rise & down a gully, across the gully & around another rise to where I lost sight of him. He was still running full tilt at that point so I crept to the top of the rise to look around & scan the ground ahead. I couldn't see him bedded down anywhere so after a few minutes I stood & he was 10 feet away. He got out of my sight & piled up right there.





These are pictures of a resiviour adjacent to my hunting spot. I'm trying to get in there but its tough because I'm not in with the right guys.  :?  I know the fellow who runs it & he's a nazi type I dont get along with real well.

[TomD]

Leverdude,

Great story. I've been skunked so far. I have deer coming down the ridge that my popup looks up at, but they take a horse trail just out of range and skirt me. I know where I need to setup, but the land owner does not want me hunting over the established horse trails...skiddish horses!! I know deer are coming down and crossing the stream that I sit by because there is fresh sign to say so, I just need to keep at it. I setup a ladder stand yesterday overlooking a small vally on the other side of the property and I can't wait to try it.

I have a 29" draw and I kneel in the middle of the blind to be able to draw unencombered.

I live in West Hartford, but I hunt a 250 acre horse farm that my brother manages in Kent.

[JPSaxMan]

Leverdude,

Maybe falling asleep while hunting isn't necessarily a bad thing then? Seems to me like the deer pop out just as you're waking up anyway 

[Leverdude]

JP,

Thats one reason I like the blinds, falling asleep aint as dangerous as in a tree stand. 

Tom,
In the doghouses I use the mesh & even at my 28" draw its a tricky thing, at full draw my broadheads just shy of touching the mesh & my elbow is against the back wall. Nowhere near as comfy as a big one but they tuck in nicely. Only wish they had 4 windows.
I just set one up in a spot my trees become known. I messed up 3 times in a row from it & educated at least 8 deer. Monday I was sitting in it & they were all around me but wouldn't come in. This is a really thick swampy area & if they dont want you to know theyre there they can get around you easy. I'll leave the blind alone for a week or two & would bet the next time I go in there they'll be milling around looking at my tree. Might even hang a dirty shirt up there as a diversionary tactic. 

If I can I like to use bigger blinds tho. I have the one in the post above & last year got a Yukon Trax commander I think its called. Kinda like a big doghouse but the mesh windows are about 3 feet round. Bout opens a whole wall. I like that one alot but its too big for this place. The doghouse tucks right into the brush.

Anyway, that little deer had 7 points. Heres a closeup.

[JPSaxMan]

Hey man, as they say, every deer with a bow is a trophy!

[nabob]

I use a Double Bull T2 blind and like it a lot. I moved up from one of those spring steel blinds because I (blushes) couldn't figure out how to get the durn thing back into its bag. Glad I made the change, though. The blind is roomy enough for 1 big guy (that would be an accurate description of me) and there is plenty of room to draw. You must shoot seated or kneeling, though. The front screen is pass through but sewn-in, so after a bunch of shots, replacing the netting is inexpensive but a pain. There are other windows to shoot out of. These have a silent window system, no velcro or zippers. They come unscreened but DB will sell you screening cut to fit and I just safety pin them on when deer hunting. Turkeys don't seem to care about the "black hole effect." The T2 is hub centric, sets up in about 10 seconds but I suggest you stake it down - it can fill up with wind and blow, otherwise. The material is cotton/polyester, water repellent and guaranteed not to "shine", no matter the sun angle. Quiet, too. No rustling noises, walls are tight. I've hunted turkeys and deer out of mine and like it.