Hunting without a ground blind

I am new to the site so the question I am asking if ask before forgive me for asking again. I hunt on public land only and have to walk a good distance in to hunt 2-3 miles. A treestand is out of the question and a groundblind is pretty heavy also. I hunt here in Maryland so any tips from everybody and Maryland hunters will be helpful. I have hunted for over 30 years so not new to hunting just hunted private land.

Ground blinds are heavy contraptions and cumbersome to manuver when attemtping to relocate.

as for gound cover: do your best to blend into the surroundings. if your top matches your bottoms then you may give the appearance of a tree or stump. I usually mix and match if'n I know I will be on the ground, this helps to dispell the 'human' figure or outline/blob.

When walking, try to use the brush to help break up the pattern as well, sitting next to or under a low-lying tree is good as well....
Of course you alerady know this....


Hope this helps....

If your going to walk in 3 miles, how do you plan on getting the game out? I use a game cart and wheel all my stuff in, and wheel it all out.

Welcome to the forum. If it were me, and treestands were not an option, I would opt for natural dead/brush blinds. Maybe some leafywear/ghillie suit tactics, as that would be very light to carry. During the post season you could build the natural blinds in all of your best spots, and be ready to go come next season. Keep us updated, and best of luck.

Thanks for all the replies.

I would have to suggest that a comfortable seat or chair is the most important thing, you can get away without cover if your are comfortable enough to be still, I can't sit on the bare ground without constently moving because of discomfort or pain in my back or legs, good luck bro.

I've killed 2 from the ground without a blind on public lands. Learn how to sit STILL. This means choosing spots where you think deer will pass by you and have their attention focused away as they do, so you can focus on your shooting lane and not have to turn your head when you hear something behind you at 20 yards. This is harder than you think.

Keep in mind, in Maryland, making brush blinds from deadfall and branches is considered maintaining a permanent stand, and illegal on public land.

Find natural cover features to aid you, like rocks and downed trees and bushes. As was suggested, find a quiet comfortable seat, or look into a lightweight portable blind like the doghouse. Not roomy, but I sometimes carry one for turkey hunting. It's only 25 pounds or so, and I have hiked many,many miles with that on my back.

Thanks for the reply SlowBow, I will try to find the cover I hunt at Fair Hill Natural Resource Area in Cecil County. Great hunting plenty of deer just have to walk to find them thanks again.

For guys that haul gear in with a game cart...what do you do with it when hunting? also, how hard is it to navigate downed trees, rocks, ditches. Just wondering if you are walking roads/paths the whole way in

Fairchaser,

Get it as close as you possibly can w/out making tooo much of a ruckus.

Most are foldable so stowing in some brush or laying flat is fairly easy, or if you know others are present use a treestand lock and lock it to a tree. If you have taken the time to paint it beforehand it can become invisible - even to the owner....hehehhee

hope this helps......

fairchaser wrote:For guys that haul gear in with a game cart...what do you do with it when hunting? also, how hard is it to navigate downed trees, rocks, ditches. Just wondering if you are walking roads/paths the whole way in

I wheel it in on a road/trail until I divert thru the woods and I ditch it at the road. I usually try to hide it a bit as well.

I made a goal for myself to harvest a deer from the ground this season with my longbow. So far I have taken 3 and all from the ground using natural cover. As I get more confident I am finding that there are natural "blinds" everywhere. You just have to be creative and learn to be very still. When you do move you must do so slowly and deliberately. I have taken a lot of photos of my natural blinds here are a few:








Biggest advice I can give you is to remember that what is behind you is just as, if not more, important that what you have in front of you.

Good luck!

BowhunterGA wrote:I made a goal for myself to harvest a deer from the ground this season with my longbow. So far I have taken 3 and all from the ground using natural cover. As I get more confident I am finding that there are natural "blinds" everywhere. You just have to be creative and learn to be very still. When you do move you must do so slowly and deliberately. I have taken a lot of photos of my natural blinds here are a few:








Biggest advice I can give you is to remember that what is behind you is just as, if not more, important that what you have in front of you.

Good luck!

Interested in that seat you have. Custom built or is a commercial product for purchase.

Thanks

Sure Stew,

The seat is a "Ground Hunter Seat" and it is sold by Big Jim's bow company and I think he sells it for around $45 plus shipping. I did a review of the seat at Simply Traditional and there are links there for Big Jim's site and a link directly to the seat for purchase. I am in no way affiliated with or a representative of Big Jim's. I just really like this as an option for hunting on the ground and wanted to share the info. You can find the article at:

http://www.simplytraditional.net/2012/10/03/gear-review-big-jims-ground-hunting-seat/