6 Tips for Hunting Deer from Ground Blinds

Ground blinds are an excellent tool for whitetail deer hunters, especially in places that aren’t best suited for elevated blinds or treestands. Ground blinds help with scent control and provide excellent cover. They’re portable, quick to assemble, and can be used for crossbow, rifle, or bowhunting. You can purchase specific designs to accommodate your choice of equipment. Knowing where to set up your blind can help you hold a crucial advantage during hunting season. Ground blinds are also a more comfortable way to hunt, and modern ground blinds are often spacious enough for you to set up a chair and relax. Hunting revolves around waiting and observing, so comfort is vital.

Learn more about the Best Deer Hunting Times here

Choosing a blind location in a feeding area or a travel corridor can skyrocket your chances of success. Still, you’re also going to want to blend into your surroundings and consider environmental factors such as the wind. Let’s take a look at six essential things to consider when you’re ground blind hunting:

Camouflage

Don’t just throw up your blind in a strip of trees and hope for the best – carefully blend it into the area with grass, cattails, brush, or other natural vegetation. The best blinds will have cords or straps to allow for easy attachment to natural camouflage, which will help your blind to disappear. Fresh-cut bunches of grass, straw, and tree limbs can help cover the scent of your blind. Some will come with odor suppressors. Carbon odor suppressors are helpful, but there will still be smells from travel, packaging, and manufacturing that will take time to dissipate. The best way to get rid of the smell is to set it up outdoors and give it time to dissipate naturally. If you don’t have time for it to dissipate naturally, you can set it up in your backyard for a week or so to give it a head start.

Learn more about scent with our Ultimate Deer Scent Guide

Scouting

If you know where to set up, you’re already several steps ahead and have a good chance of success. But if you’re not, don’t worry; a mature deer is careful about travel and won’t do so openly. The game trails providing extra cover are the best option. You could throw up your blind anywhere, but some pre-season scouting will help you pinpoint the travel corridors that make for the best hunting spots. If you have limited time, you could consider using a trail camera to put in your legwork. Remember to scout with every new season; what worked well for you in one season may not apply to the next season.

Setting up in advance

Setting up a hunting blind is equivalent to someone building a house on your driveway and expecting you not to notice. Deer will treat new objects with suspicion. This isn’t turkey hunting. You need to set up your blind at least a few weeks before the season to allow it to become a regular part of the territory. If setting up in advance is impossible, set up somewhere that you can conceal easily. You can set the blind up in trees or natural cover if you’ve researched well.

Weather conditions

Irrespective of how much you try to cover your scent, a deer can probably still detect it. A deer’s eyes are as sharp as its nose, and they will never miss objects, movements, or people. A seasoned hunter will know to set up upwind of their prey to get around a whitetail’s sensitive nose. If you locate an active game trail being used by big game, try to locate a spot to set up your blind downwind with the sun to your rear. If the morning sun is beating down on your face, you’ll be very obvious to your prey. If you do this, you may need to set up different blinds for morning vs. evening, depending on the location of sunrise, sunset, and the prevailing winds.

You should also dress in dark colors to take advantage of the darkness. Also, wearing a face mask or camouflage face covering gives you another key benefit.

Visibility

You shouldn’t pigeonhole yourself by picking a spot with a single shooting lane and limited visibility. When you spot your catch, you won’t have time to field judge, react and get your rifle (or bow) ready before they’re off.

You should pick an area where you’ll see deer coming and going – such as a slough bottom or a valley. It’ll allow you to set up, identify the shooting lanes and ensure a good time to look at the antlers before pulling the trigger. Feeding areas are a perfect setup location, particularly during the rut. A good food plot or agriculture field with high-protein food is sure to attract deer at all times. Does are valuable in particular, as female deer coming out regularly will attract large bucks too. During rutting season, putting in the time will guarantee you get the biggest buck. Pinch points that funnel deer into smaller areas are great locations. Short trees and shrubbery mean you can’t hunt from a high position, but you can ground blind nicely in the shrubs. I like to hunt on a strip of land between two lakes.

Don’t be patterned

When you’re deer hunting, one of the crucial things you should avoid is being spotted , which is why blind placement and camo are vital. If you find a good spot where you’re eye level with deer and can observe deer movement, being spotted can ruin it. Deer will actively look for you every time they’re in the area. Deer have been known to change habits and travel movements to rely on the wind (or additional cover) to circumvent the blind – they aren’t dumb animals. It would help if you used every advantage to have deer moving around you during hunting season. Never let yourself be seen inside the blind. The riskiest time is when you’re arriving or leaving. Remember, you want to pattern the deer, but don’t let them pattern you.

Learn more about deer hunting with our Top Tips for Deer Hunting Guide

FAQs About Ground Blind Hunting

What is the best way to set up a ground blind?

The best way to set up a ground blind is by using natural materials whenever possible, such as sticks and leaves, to camouflage the blind and make it blend in with its surroundings. It should also be placed in an area where you have good visibility of the surrounding areas for hunting.

What type of camouflage should be used when hunting from a ground blind?

Camouflage material should be used that matches the environment of your hunting location such as foliage or brushy areas so that it blends in well with its surroundings. Make sure that all entrances are closed off while setting up the blind and ensure that no unnatural colors are visible from outside the blind when finished setting up.

How can you reduce your scent while hunting from a ground blind?

To reduce scent while hunting from a ground blind, avoid wearing heavily scented items like colognes or lotions near your hunting spot, and store any food away from your hunting area to prevent attracting animals you don’t want to hunt near your spot. Additionally, try burning an incense stick inside your ground blind just prior to entering it which will help mask human odors while you’re inside of it waiting for game to come into view.

What types of decoys are most effective when using a ground blind?

Decoys can be effective when used correctly when hunting from a ground blind; choose decoys based on what type of animal you’re trying to attract (e.g., ducks for waterfowl) and place them near enough but far enough away so they look realistic rather than too close together or spread out unnaturally – this will help draw game within range of view but still maintain safety distance limits required by most regulations on firearms use outdoors.

Is it better to use natural or man-made materials for constructing a ground blind?

Natural materials such as sticks, leaves, grasses etc are often better suited for making a ground blind since they tend to blend in more naturally with their environment than man-made materials do – however if using man-made materials make sure they match the surrounding environment closely & take into account things like wind direction & sun exposure so they remain hidden at all times during use.

Are there any special considerations necessary when selecting the location for setting up a ground blind?

When selecting a location for setting up a ground blind there are several factors worth considering including how much cover/concealment is available nearby (so no shadows/shapes betraying presence), access points & paths game may use (to increase chances of spotting animals), & wind direction (to minimize chances of being detected via smell). Also keep in mind weather conditions like rain etc which may compromise concealment capabilities over time if not taken into account properly when choosing location.

How important is wind direction when hunting from a ground blind?

Wind direction plays an important role when hunting from a ground blind because animals rely heavily on smell for detecting danger; therefore having strong winds coming directly towards your blind could alert them sooner or later depending upon strength & duration – so pay attention not only before entering but also throughout hunt itself changes occur frequently outdoors.

Wrapping up

There are many hunting tips to follow to increase your chance of taking home a big buck when you’re deer hunting. Just remember to follow some essential common-sense tips:

Hunting deer isn’t like hunting turkeys – deer are smart with heightened senses.
Try to stick close to a food source, watering hole, or bedding area. Failing that, try to find a travel corridor. Don’t just stick to the field edge.
Camouflage your ground blind well using the environment.

Once again, whitetail season is right around the corner. Whether you are rifle hunting or an archery enthusiast, following these tips will increase your chances of success.

Ground Blind Hunting Tips