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Elevated stand or ground blind? #7580918 08/15/19 08:44 PM
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I am setting up a new stand for bow season and I'm debating on how I want to do it. Elevated stand or build a good ground blind? Even a pop up. I wouldn't mind building an elevated stand if I could conceal my draw and stay behind some netting or something.


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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7580989 08/15/19 09:50 PM
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I have gone to making my own after buying one haybale blind. I have now made 2 more to give me 3 of them. I just do not put them in the same pasture with cattle. I make mine now out of 50"x16' cattle panels, lumber and cover it with black plastic or tarp. I then buy Coconut erosion mattes and cover that over to make it look like hay. I only put one small window and learned early on that I made them to big. You can see in the second photo that I closed off the opening a little more. The first pic is one I made and second is one I bought a kit of the internet. The one I made was round like a haybale but it rolled over some brush when the hurricane hit and flattened the sides a bit.
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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: stxranchman] #7581016 08/15/19 10:12 PM
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Originally Posted by stxranchman
I have gone to making my own after buying one haybale blind. I have now made 2 more to give me 3 of them. I just do not put them in the same pasture with cattle. I make mine now out of 50"x16' cattle panels, lumber and cover it with black plastic or tarp. I then buy Coconut erosion mattes and cover that over to make it look like hay. I only put one small window and learned early on that I made them to big. You can see in the second photo that I closed off the opening a little more. The first pic is one I made and second is one I bought a kit of the internet. The one I made was round like a haybale but it rolled over some brush when the hurricane hit and flattened the sides a bit.
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We used to make them similar but would put the hole on the end so we were deeper back. We made ours 6' deep. Seemed like they were darker.

I used to use the black concrete fabric but we were patching them every year. We now make them out of plywood, but same concept and paint them black then brush them in.


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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: txshntr] #7581025 08/15/19 10:19 PM
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Originally Posted by txshntr


Originally Posted by stxranchman
I have gone to making my own after buying one haybale blind. I have now made 2 more to give me 3 of them. I just do not put them in the same pasture with cattle. I make mine now out of 50"x16' cattle panels, lumber and cover it with black plastic or tarp. I then buy Coconut erosion mattes and cover that over to make it look like hay. I only put one small window and learned early on that I made them to big. You can see in the second photo that I closed off the opening a little more. The first pic is one I made and second is one I bought a kit of the internet. The one I made was round like a haybale but it rolled over some brush when the hurricane hit and flattened the sides a bit.
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[Linked Image]



We used to make them similar but would put the hole on the end so we were deeper back. We made ours 6' deep. Seemed like they were darker.

I used to use the black concrete fabric but we were patching them every year. We now make them out of plywood, but same concept and paint them black then brush them in.


Those were 5' deep and 6' long. I liked the shooting on hole on the side so I could get a better angle over a larger area. I am weeeeeeeeeee bit taller than you are. grin so I was worried about my elbow hitting on the sides if I set them up like you do. Plus I can guide a hunter out mine with a small peep hole or two.


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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: stxranchman] #7581029 08/15/19 10:21 PM
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Originally Posted by stxranchman
Originally Posted by txshntr


Originally Posted by stxranchman
I have gone to making my own after buying one haybale blind. I have now made 2 more to give me 3 of them. I just do not put them in the same pasture with cattle. I make mine now out of 50"x16' cattle panels, lumber and cover it with black plastic or tarp. I then buy Coconut erosion mattes and cover that over to make it look like hay. I only put one small window and learned early on that I made them to big. You can see in the second photo that I closed off the opening a little more. The first pic is one I made and second is one I bought a kit of the internet. The one I made was round like a haybale but it rolled over some brush when the hurricane hit and flattened the sides a bit.
[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]



We used to make them similar but would put the hole on the end so we were deeper back. We made ours 6' deep. Seemed like they were darker.

I used to use the black concrete fabric but we were patching them every year. We now make them out of plywood, but same concept and paint them black then brush them in.


Those were 5' deep and 6' long. I liked the shooting on hole on the side so I could get a better angle over a larger area. I am weeeeeeeeeee bit taller than you are. grin so I was worried about my elbow hitting on the sides if I set them up like you do. Plus I can guide a hunter out mine with a small peep hole or two.


5' would work fine but while you are a weeeeee bit taller....I am a weeeeee bit wider rofl

4' wide is enough for me to move though...plus, I draw facing the 6' side, not the 4' side trout


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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: txshntr] #7581033 08/15/19 10:24 PM
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Originally Posted by txshntr
Originally Posted by stxranchman
Originally Posted by txshntr


Originally Posted by stxranchman
I have gone to making my own after buying one haybale blind. I have now made 2 more to give me 3 of them. I just do not put them in the same pasture with cattle. I make mine now out of 50"x16' cattle panels, lumber and cover it with black plastic or tarp. I then buy Coconut erosion mattes and cover that over to make it look like hay. I only put one small window and learned early on that I made them to big. You can see in the second photo that I closed off the opening a little more. The first pic is one I made and second is one I bought a kit of the internet. The one I made was round like a haybale but it rolled over some brush when the hurricane hit and flattened the sides a bit.
[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]



We used to make them similar but would put the hole on the end so we were deeper back. We made ours 6' deep. Seemed like they were darker.

I used to use the black concrete fabric but we were patching them every year. We now make them out of plywood, but same concept and paint them black then brush them in.


Those were 5' deep and 6' long. I liked the shooting on hole on the side so I could get a better angle over a larger area. I am weeeeeeeeeee bit taller than you are. grin so I was worried about my elbow hitting on the sides if I set them up like you do. Plus I can guide a hunter out mine with a small peep hole or two.


5' would work fine but while you are a weeeeee bit taller....I am a weeeeee bit wider rofl

4' wide is enough for me to move though...plus, I draw facing the 6' side, not the 4' side trout

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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: stxranchman] #7581044 08/15/19 10:38 PM
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Originally Posted by stxranchman


rofl


For Stx


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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: txshntr] #7581058 08/15/19 11:03 PM
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Originally Posted by txshntr
Originally Posted by stxranchman


rofl


For Stx

grin


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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7581087 08/15/19 11:44 PM
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There are advantages and disadvantages with either setup. Being elevated is nice for shot angles and not having to wait on a deer to move from in front/behind of your target deer. On ground blinds you always seem to have a deer in the way. I feed extra corn around each different ground setup on my place so that I can spread the deer out for shot angles.
I like hunting out of both but prefer the ground blind now just so I can be eye level with the deer. A fully enclosed blind is nice to hide movement and help with controlling noise. It has to roomy and tall enough to maneuver for shots though. I mainly have one window only to shoot out of on my setups. I want as dark and as many shadows inside as I can get.
Some of the best bowblinds I have seen in South Texas were done with both setups. One ranch had a permanent elevated box/bow blind at several feeder locations on the ranch. They had some north and some south wind setups. They had them 25 yards from the feeders. No feed pens on this ranch. Another ranch had a short elevated box/bow blind at one end of the feeder pen. The pen was a larger rectangle and the blind at one end for the most dominant winds. IIRC he had both a north and south wind setup.
Another ranch made is own blinds out of concrete remesh, heavy grade black plastic sheeting and brown burlap. He would make a complete egg shape out of remesh that was about 5-6' tall, about 10-12' long by about 5' wide. Only one small hole on one of the narrow ends. He would put the plastic over the remesh and then put cover it with the brown burlap sheeting. They were very simple and he could nest one inside the other to haul them around or store them in the off season. He just set them up at any location he wanted. He would set them about 15-18 yards off the closest edge of an opening or ROW. He would road feed in front of the opening. He had about 20 of these blinds. He preferred ground blinds to elevated stands on his ranch.
Some ranches use 15-18' tower blinds with bow windows in each corner to hunt from. They can stand or sit to shoot out of them since they are made really big inside. Some put them close to corn feeders and others just road feed around them. The road feeding is nice so that you can hunt them blind with many different winds. They still have a corn feeder at a rifle distance, just do not run the feed times very long with a road feeder.
Here is a permanent bowblind and I took the photo from the rifle stand. This is a great southeast wind setup since the wind is blowing in from the SE corner of the blind into the thick brush behind it. It only has one vertical window in the middle of the front to shoot from.
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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7581166 08/16/19 01:54 AM
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I have had way better luck making ground blinds as natural as possible.
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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: JCB] #7581175 08/16/19 02:01 AM
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Originally Posted by JCB
I have had way better luck making ground blinds as natural as possible.
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Same here, I like building them natural if I can and usually do, at the Texas place at least. In Mississippi I usually just hunt from a climbing tree stand if I have some good trees with good cover/backdrop. I have also used sort tripods 4 to 5 feet tucked back in brush a few times that worked well


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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7581257 08/16/19 03:54 AM
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This feeder area has two ladder stands, thinking of putting in another perhaps. Maybe another ground brush blind. I made the ground blind a couple weeks ago and while the brush has browned up, the deer show no care of the ground brush blind as they have been tearing up the protein the last couple weeks.

The predominant ladder stand is just to the left of this east facing camera, and thinking of putting another blind/stand to the far left and across the field to work for a hard south wind. I believe my sons target buck approaches from the north/northwest and the ladder stand he likes would put his scent straight down wind to his approach. The new set up would be set up so a SE wind would be great, S wind would be fine, and E wind would be fine. The current brush blind would be good for N, NE, and NW winds.

Edit: the brush blind looks to be in front of the tree it is under, but in fact it is under the tree. Hinge cut some big limbs behind, used t-post and cattle panels to use as a scaffold to zip tie brush around, and shaped it to be a fallen limb in front. It has no top, but does have some protection from above by the tree and just an opening for a door.

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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7581383 08/16/19 01:26 PM
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Since I got a steal of a deal on some tripods, I am hunting up it the air this year. I have done both. THIS year, I cannot say how glad that I am that I have the tripod due to the fact everything is so tall and grown up on our place this year. Being elevated helps me see over all the grass and growth and see the deer come in better. It also helps with scent.

However, there is more exciting than being on the ground and having a deer walk within arm reach of a well constructed ground blind.... clap

Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7582022 08/17/19 02:33 AM
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When possible I prefer natural blinds with a wide field of view but enough cover to conceal small movements and drawing of the bow. However, last year I got a tripod, and for me, one of the biggest advantages of being elevated is visibility -- not only from being up higher and seeing over nearby brush, but also having fewer sight lines obstructed by the blind itself. Every time I've ever used a pop-up blind I've felt like I was at a tennis match as my head kept going from one window to the next to see what was going on around me.

Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7582531 08/17/19 11:42 PM
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I have some quad pods that get me about 6'-8' off the ground. I like them, but I feel so exposed in them. And moving or drawing is very hard. I've not been able to get a shot off on several occasions when exposed in an elevated tripod. I may do both. Build a ground blind for the predominate South wind, and my quad pod for a Northern wind.


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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7582694 08/18/19 03:34 AM
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Chad, not sure where you hunt but best quadpod type setup I have had was set back in brush (live oak) and cut a few shooting holes out. One of my best setups ever on the ground was a point of trees where there was a bulldozed path around a new tank dam, the point had a good sized post oak with careless weeds around it. Raked leaves away under the oak and some shooting holes cut through the careless weeds, Hadbucks and does within 7 yards that never knew I was there, including me sitting in a chair drawing on a few that I did not shoot and worked on the couple I did shoot.

Background is important but if you can have brush with shooting holes even better


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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7583807 08/19/19 05:02 PM
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i'll help you build a natural brush blind. way mo betta

Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: trigger time] #7583820 08/19/19 05:10 PM
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Originally Posted by trigger time
i'll help you build a natural brush blind. way mo betta


Let's do it!


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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7589768 08/26/19 02:10 PM
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A tripod that puts you 15' in the air works well. Just put the curtain on and it will help conceal you.

Drawing isnt really a prob but only do slow movements. Odds are if the deer is within 30 yards they usually dont look up.

Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: Gemlin] #7589972 08/26/19 05:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Gemlin
A tripod that puts you 15' in the air works well. Just put the curtain on and it will help conceal you.

Drawing isnt really a prob but only do slow movements. Odds are if the deer is within 30 yards they usually dont look up.


I used to think the same thing till I started archery hunting in the Hill Country. Those deer have been the worst to hunt above the ground on IME. I think because of the up and down terrain the deer look up as much as they look down ahead as they move around. Silhouetting was the biggest concern, so great front and back cover was critical. I built me some ladder stands to hunt out of and picked what I thought were really good trees with great cover(front and behind) to put them against. I was picked out to many times to count when trying to draw and kept moving the stands to find out what would work. I found out how to set them up with on the right tree so the deer did not pick me out. Where I hunt now the deer generally do not look up so my tripod setups work great. I put a cattle panel up behind me and cover it with tree/brush limbs and run a single wire across out front to hang branches off to cover up any open spots. Still getting up over 10'-12' is an issue here in the best hunting spots.


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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7590023 08/26/19 05:46 PM
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Deer at 20 or 30 yards can easily pick you out 15 feet up. you would pickup movement as well at that height and yardage in your upper periphery vision and thatis the area of vision keyed in on movement. I have been hunting from trees since the 70s and a well placed stand with good cover height works but you need that outline broken up well and you need to move slowly.


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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7592450 08/29/19 12:37 AM
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15' up always worked with me. Just move slow and the deer seemed to ignore me. Maybe you moved too fast or something

Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: Gemlin] #7592533 08/29/19 01:53 AM
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Originally Posted by Gemlin
15' up always worked with me. Just move slow and the deer seemed to ignore me. Maybe you moved too fast or something

I never attempted to draw most of the time. I would be sitting motionless or standing and they would look up, lock on to me, blow and go. Wind was from them to me but most of the time they were below me moving uphill. They were looking up as they moved uphill towards me. Once I changed my setup on the tree it worked out fine.


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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7595233 09/01/19 12:12 PM
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There are a lot of factors to consider when setting up your tree stands and how high you need to go.
If I can, I try to get up above the surrounding bushes and brush because wind currents can ruin a setup due to the swirling effect of the wind bouncing off the brush and trees around you.
I would take some crushed cattails and put them into a ziplock bag.
After I crawled up into the tree stand I would release some of the fine fibers into the air and watch as they swirled and danced around with the slightest of air currents.
You will be amazed at how those fibers will reveal how very good, or how very bad a setup you really have when you think you did everything right.
I'm too old and crippled to hunt off the ground these days so I hunt from ground blinds, mostly popups during archery, and then from permanent box stands or my truck during the regular season, but I truly miss hunting from a tree stand (off the ground) that I did most of my life.
You miss so much sitting in that dark tent with only a window to look out of, and I'll at times just sit behind a bush using a folding chair, just so I can watch the woods come to life, and watch a sunrise with a cool north breeze in my face.



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Re: Elevated stand or ground blind? [Re: ChadTRG42] #7598856 09/05/19 05:15 PM
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Yep. Up in a tripod or ladder gives me a better hunting experience. But ground blinds are effective and deadly.


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