As fall deer seasons open across the country, the first few weeks offer some of the best portable ground blind hunting opportunities. The reason is the dense early season foliage, making it easier to blend a blind into the landscape, especially in swampy areas devoid of suitable stand trees. Several setup tips can ensure your best chances for success in areas deer don’t typically encounter hunting pressure.
MASTER THE BRUSH-IN
Many a turkey hunter has walked back to their truck with a heavy spring tom in tow — after setting up a pop-up blind earlier that morning in the very center of a wide-open barren ag field. That’s not going to happen with wary mature whitetails unless you’ve got a horseshoe buried somewhere.
So when the goal is a whitetail, your best option is almost always to set your blind out weeks in advance to allow deer to get accustomed to its presence. And if you don’t have that luxury, as with most public areas, you need to hide your blind as best you can. Make no mistake, this is an art. And the better you get at it, the more success you will find.
The first step in hiding your blind is to tuck it into an area where it fits just right into the surrounding terrain.
Take your time and survey things closely. Can you tuck your blind into a large downed tree with good and high backcover? Near a huge stump or two? A large leafy bush? Maybe a tall marsh grass clump? Rest assured something will stand out as the right place. However, when inspiration hits be sure to double-check you’re not compromising location for effectively playing the wind direction during your upcoming hunt — which can be the most-critical factor.
When you’ve found the perfect spot, the next step is attaching branches and brush to the outside of the blind, which again, can be critical to fool mature bucks on same-day sets. Most blinds come with brush loops, and it’s always smart to carry some paracord or twine in your pack to help the process. Getting rid of the blind’s profile and blending it into the terrain can take some time, but the results are almost always worth it. When you step back and can hardly see your blind, you’re there.
CLEAR THE FLOOR
Some of the cool part of today’s pop-up ground blinds is their ultralight, portable nature. Which means you can pack them in and set them up most anywhere. If you use yours to run-and-gun and otherwise make frequent setup changes, a warning: Remember that once you set up, you really need to clear the inside floor area of brush and weeds that can cause game-spooking noise.
That’s why I always pack a good hand pruner. Some stomping with my boots typically takes care of the rest. Pretend that you’re making a mock scrape right there on your blind floor. You’ll thank me when the next rutty buck bird-dogs through at a strange angle, causing you to scoot quickly off your chair to your knees and get a shot from a window you didn’t expect. And because all that movement was accomplished quietly, you’ll have your best chance to fill your tag.
SHOOT-THROUGH MESH
Turkeys don’t seem to care when spotting the black hole of a pop-up blind’s open window, but most whitetails consider them danger zones. So make sure your blind windows feature shoot-through mesh, and be sure your vertical compound or crossbow is loaded with fixed-blade heads (versus mechanicals) to effectively pierce the mesh and deliver top accuracy. In my experience, shooting through mesh with fixed heads does not affect accuracy, out to at least 40 yards.
READY FOR ACTION
One final tip is to ensure your compound has some type of stand that allows you to keep an arrow loaded and keeps your bow handy for quick and easy access. Several options are available depending on your specific bow make, and universal stands are also available. Likewise, crossbow hunters should consider a packable bipod/tripod to ensure a steady, accurate shot.
