Considering setting up a ground blind near roost, climb in next morning before LST and wait for them to come down.

Anyone have any experience hunting turkeys from a ground blind?

Waste of time to use ground blind?

Ground blinds work great for turkey. They seem to not pay any attention to them at all. Most of my turkey hunting experience is on public land where you Cannot set up a blind in advance. I have had them come to a decoy in an open field in a ground blind, I had just set up a couple of hours earlier. I like using them because it hides your movement and allows you to sit in a chair.

Hunting near your roost is not a good idea. Good way to move the birds. Watch them off the roost and set-up to ambush them at a different spot.

Use a ground blind at the ambush point?

Correct. I use ground blinds all the time, especially if I'm filming. Great for those rainy days on fields too. For the most part, ground blinds don't bother turkeys at all...even in the wide open.

It's a great idea if you know their travel paths. If you don't it can be a pain to lug around if your ridge running.

Been turkey hunting twice in ground blinds, have two beards on the wall. Worked great for us.

Charlie

Ground blinds work great for turkey hunting. Especially for kids since they tend to move around a lot. Also good for bowhunting turkeys since it requires much more movement to draw back a bow as compared to a shotgun. The only negative is the time it takes set up/breakdown. I know it doesn't take THAT long, but if you decide to move you have to take it down and move it again.

So, for shotgun turkey hunting I just find a tree to lean against and use a small little 2' wall blind that folds up in the backpack. For bowhunting turkeys I use a pop-up blind. Either way it's turkey hunting so it's FUN!!!

When I go on out of state hunts, I like to set up a popup blind for cold mornings or rainy days. I leave it set-up while I'm there, just in case. The rest of the time I hunt with a turkey chair and vest so I can move around. So many places here in TX and the Midwest, you spook more birds walking around then anything. In these more mature years, I like to find a good spot in a turkey rich area and just sit and call. Patience is a benefit turkey hunting.

Anytime you can use something to mask your movement is good. And it depends on where you are hunting and time of year. Fall Turkeys tend to group up and have a certain route they follow every morning. Spring Turkeys scatter out and you have to locate Gobblers in late afternoon or before daylight. We have hunted Oklahoma upper end of Broken Bow Lake (walking ridges or driving roads calling to get a Gobbler to sound off to a lease in Coleman county). Its harder to hide yourself in Mesquite country. Up in Oklahoma typically would wear tree bark upper and brown camo lower and sit down at the base of a tree. Nothing wrong a portable net that you can carry with you especially in Mesquite country. The only time I have seen birds move their roost is when you shoot them off the roost at night. The neighboring landowners used to do that down at Gouldbusk and they would push the birds up the creek our way.

Nothing like hunting them Easterns in the hill country. Their gobbles seem so much louder then Rios in the open country.

Gman

Ground blinds have worked overtime for me, only way to go IMO, 71 yrs is too old to ridge run!

I hear ya. I used to chase these darn things all over hither and yon. In my younger years, I ambushed more than I called in. Now, I sit quietly and call them to me. Nothing like having a big old gobbler blow up and gobble right in your face.


Gman

Ground blinds are great and they will not pay attention to them.

Thanks for all the feedback. I bought a ground blind to use on a temporary basis in place of my box blind for deer hunting due to some bee issues. I was going to return it but the turkey population at my lease has been stronger than years past and it occurred to me that I could use it to get closer to the turkeys with a shotgun. I have had pretty good luck last couple of springs keeping hens around and calling Toms in to my box blind. I'm hoping the popup blind will give me more options.

I hunt the ground blinds also. I've hunted out of pop ups and brushed in blinds. My best luck has been from brush blinds or even sitting next to trees. Main thing is knowing where the travel and NEVER hunt a roost. Birds will leave.

I will sit on the ground if push comes to shove but that scenario has a lot of drawbacks where I'm planning to hunt. Everything that can bite, sting, attack or give you a rash is present. I ordered my ground blind on line to get one that has a bottom built-in.

Pop ups are great for bowhunting, but I never used them to gun hunt unless kids were involved. They work great for that too.

I like them for open field hunts, and rain/cold days. Wouldn't be the first time I've packed in a catalytic heater for a spring turkey hunt. I've had some darn cold mornings in KS early season.

Gman

+1

Use mine for both fidgety kids and bow hunting. I'm not sure I could ever draw on a thunder chicken without one and not get busted.

We do all of our turkey hunting from a popup blind with a turkey feeder full of corn out front. We rarely see nothing.

Ground blinds are great. I would highly recommend scouting more to find the biggest bird and his late evening strut zone. Not wise to bust up a roost.