Have you had much success hunting deer from a portable ground blind?

Absolutely
Great and absolutely safe in comparison to tree stands

quote:

Originally posted by Kolo-Pan:
Have you had much success hunting deer from a portable ground blind?

They work great.

But then I get to leave them in place for days or weeks.

I have not tried just popping them up and hunting out of them right away.

I’m a Wisconsin white tail hunter and vastly prefer tree stands. Mine are the ladder type which are much safer than the kind you hang off the tree. My biggest issue with pop-up blinds is the reduced visibility. Also, I think scent control is easier if you’re 12 feet above a deer’s nose. On the other hand, you do stay dry in a pop-up if it’s raining or snowing.

I use them now. I've had too many ortho surgeries to use tree stands. The ladder spacing on tree stands have always been too far apart but when you have fused joints, like I do, it becomes a safety issue.

I set a pop up blind under red cedars and have had decent success with them.

I have had mixed luck with them. Great to stay out of the rain or snow. However I have to put them up and take them back down every time I use them....which is a pain in the ass and too much messing around in the early morning. Cannot leave them over night as if you do where I live, you will find a bear has shredded it when you sneak in the next morning.

Have you ever noticed that deer are spooked by them?

Never had an issue unless wind is bad and pop them and put them back in backpack is 30 sec deal
Of course in some places deer can get spooked because it stands out in open where there was nothing there before and yes, bears will shred them just for fun of it
Strong Wind could be another issue if it stays overnight or few days
Still, love them

Having hunted deer out of tree stands for 55 years.

I have found scent control in a pop-up to be far superior to a tree stand.

Let alone movement control.

I have experimented with moving and sound. The deer do not see you move in them and most of the time when you make a sound.

They stand there and look trying to figure out where is is coming from.

In cold weather a buddy heater and one can stray in them for hours and not get cold.

Unless it is a brand new set up the deer get use to them quickly. After a few days they could care less about them.

I am a big fan of ground blinds. Although not deer, we have killed bear the past two years using one. Also, deer and elk have came in without any issues. Animals have a tough time seeing you, as was mentioned.

I much prefer a ground blind to a tree stand.

When using them for bear.

I leave all the windows and doors open.

That way a bear can come look go inside with out ripping them up.

If closed up a bear will rip them up to have a look inside.

Used with something like Ozonics they are a great tool. One thing we have come to do 100% of the time is use a post or piece of dimensional lumber to tightly support the center hub when not in use. Micro bursts or snow will collapse the blinds if this is not done.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
When using them for bear.

I leave all the windows and doors open.

That way a bear can come look go inside with out ripping them up.

If closed up a bear will rip them up to have a look inside.

Apparently your bears are way nicer than ours. Here they tend to shred them, bite the braces/poles into pieces, drag them off into beaver ponds…even if door is open.

I just quit using them unless we are hunting an area with few bears, and we don’t have many areas without lots of bears.

Same with tree stands. You can’t leave a camo skirt, cushions or back rests, or they climb the tree and shred them. Hell even with a shooting box built with 6x6 treated stands I have had them stand up and bite them and work on them till they break it or push the whole thing over, cables, anchors and all.

I've never used them for deer but have successfully several times for archery pronghorn and black bear.
They work well!

I might have to think about them for archery deer use.

Zeke

I would love to use one here but afraid it would be destroyed by our So Dakota winds

Try Luckys Hunting Blinds. They are extremely durable, erected in seconds and come in many camo patterns.

quote:

Originally posted by hydehunter:
I would love to use one here but afraid it would be destroyed by our So Dakota winds

Wind wil do that
You’ll feel like you’re holding on to parachute

I have portable ground blinds that I put near hay rolls (big round bales) that work great. I have three tree blinds but they are only about 10 feet off the ground that I put netting in front of but they are not near as comfortable as the ground blinds. I also just bought a mini tower blind that is 6 feet tall that has a 4'x 4' blind on top of it that is really nice.

My son and I were hunting does in NE Wyoming in a rancher’s hay field. Hiked out to the spot with two folding chairs, a pop-up blind and our rifles. Wind was wrong for the rancher’s suggested spot, so moved over100 yds out into the mowed hay field. Had three deer on the ground before dark. Older long headed does, the hardest ones to fool. Yeah, they work great!

I’ve had good luck with double bull blinds. From archery white tails, to elk (I killed a 386” bull from a Double Bull Blind) to cats in Africa, I’ve used them with good success. If you keep most of the windows closed a bit, they do seem to hold scent in pretty well. A key is to blend then in with branches and brush so they don’t stand out.

I killed a nice leopard from this Double Bull on August 30

DLS

That loos great! Will have to try that for deer next fall here in Central Minnesota. Do you use any scent to go along with it?

quote:

Originally posted by Kolo-Pan:
DLS

That loos great! Will have to try that for deer next fall here in Central Minnesota. Do you use any scent to go along with it?

No scent whatsoever, as we don’t want to draw attention to the blind. However, there was a lot of scent hanging from a tree limb 47 yards from the blind, in the form of a half eaten rear leg of a buffalo!

quote:

Originally posted by DLS:

quote:

Originally posted by Kolo-Pan:
DLS

That loos great! Will have to try that for deer next fall here in Central Minnesota. Do you use any scent to go along with it?

No scent whatsoever, as we don’t want to draw attention to the blind. However, there was a lot of scent hanging from a tree limb 47 yards from the blind, in the form of a half eaten rear leg of a buffalo!

I don't think that our deer will come to that scent.