I wish a ladder/tree stand was an option for us, we just don't have the trees for it.

Have sat a few times in pop up with little luck. My best luck has been just sitting on the ground against a tree/bush with the wind in my favor. Would love to build a good brush blind, but never seem to get around to it.

Always elevated

Tired of the cows tearing up your popup blind, or just not wanting to leave it out for an entire season to get bleached out and ruined by the elements?
This is how some guys I know that hunt in south Texas construct their semi-permanent ground blind. Just determine a preferred location for your ground blind and using three or four T posts, hollow out an area in the brush larger than the foot print of your popup blind, and using some fence wire attach it to the posts. Brush it in really well leaving holes to shoot through, and leave an entrance where your wire will be shaped like a C with entrance off to one side.
You can then set up your popup inside where you are protected from rain and cold, and you can take the popup down, or put it up and the deer won't notice anything different.
When it's hot, you can just take a stool along and use the blind without the popup if you wish to.

Best thing is a Tri-Pod, I have 5 of them to bow hunt out of. I have a pop up that I take out for a quickie hunt on a trail but tri pods give me the best results.

I finally built me a bow hunting box blind. Got it all finished this weekend. Have it sitting in the corner of a two acre food plot.

Have ground blinds, tree stands and tripods. Been hunting elevated for 55 years. Deer have no natural enemies from above. They are far less prone to spook from an elevated hunter unless they see movement. Scent if high enough stays above their noses unless a swirling breeze. For archery prefer Tree stand and or tripod For rifle I'm usually far enough away and enclosed that movement isn't an issue but sent is always a factor.

I hunted last weekend from my elevated quad pod stand. It's only about 6 feet off the ground and it's tucked nicely into some mesquite trees with limbs over me with a hill side behind me. I had some does come in and they only looked "at" me once and they were about 8-10 yards away several times. Most of the time they look under and past you. So it's working for now. I still would like to build me a good ground blind though.

I have killed deer out of ground blinds, tripods, and tree stands. BY FAR - I prefer hang on tree stands @ 30' elevation. That height is good for scent control and allows for slight movement while hunting - especially drawing back. Ideally you want to put it in a tree with plenty of cover which will give you the advantages of a concealed ground blind but also the advantage of a high elevation.

Now later in the season (cold), the appeal of a tree lessens a little for me and I do transition to ground blinds on extremely cold mornings. Also, by the time December rolls around, trees will lose alot of their cover and you may be easier to see in a tree stand.

Early season though, I think it is hard to beat seeing the sun come up from 30' high in the canopy of trees lining my food plots and feeders - that is my favorite time to hunt - early morning, early season.