Strategic hunting blinds & concealment

Jack O'Conner

New member
My Dad always said that red & black plaid broke up the human outline / form so that animals couldn't "see" the hunter as a human. From my experiance and observations this is true.

We made cow silouettes from OSB panels and painted them black. Then set them about 85 yards from a stock pond near Powell, Wyoming. We sat on folding chairs painted back as well. We wore black clothes but wore orange caps. Dad and I moved around whenever we wanted to. We even stood up to shoot at times. The antelope stared at us but didn't spook. Dad said it best, " Antelope's eyes told them something was different but their brains told them that black angus cattle were present." We always filled our tags!

Dad had a junk Chevy sedan towed to his friend's grain farm in eastern Park County, Wyoming. The car was rolled into position to overlook a large field. We stuffed old clothes with newspapers and placed them in the front seat to resemble seated humans. Deer became used to these forms. On opening day, we'd toss the dummies in the back seat and take our seats with hunting carbines in hand. Many deer were taken from this weather-tight hunting blind. It was easy! TIP: remove the inside door panels and keep the roll-up window moving parts well greased.

I dug a 30 inch deep foxhole at my public land hunting spot in the Black Hills and concealed it with a plywood cover and brush. I fashioned an easily transportable "roof" from an old OD green army blanket that is placed when I'm ready to hunt. A few dead branches are added to conceal my blind. I place a comfortable folding chair in the hole. This is where crossbow is ideal because of horizontal limbs.

In summary, animals aren't as smart as humans. They're easily fooled by well planned strategies.

Please share your strategic blinds with this forum, too.

Good hunting to you.
Jack
 
How about shooting deer from on top of a tarped stack of hay bales? Does that count as a blind?

Deer on my friend's farm in Idaho would feed on hay bales in the stack, were used to seeing people around the hay bales, and would approach even if you were standing there. Didn't take much to put 2 and 2 together, so opening day 2 of us were on top of the hay bales, 2 shots, 2 bucks. The other ones just stood there and watched while we threw the bucks in the truck, like it was no big deal. Not overly smart, and their experience told them there was no danger there.
 
"Elk don't know how many feet a horse has"......(Bear Claw Cris Lapp, movie Jeremiah Johnson)

Which is true. Generally speaking, animals cannot count.

My Dad always said that red & black plaid broke up the human outline / form so that animals couldn't "see" the hunter as a human. From my experiance and observations this is true.

Actually, you could have used a lot of contrasting colors and gotten the same result. Of course, red/black plaid has been a historic tradition in the North America since back into the 1800s. With that in mind, there are hunters who wear no camo and who sit out in the open or under a tree for whom the deer don't seem to take much notice either.

In summary, animals aren't as smart as humans. They're easily fooled by well planned strategies.

And humans aren't?

No, animals are not as smart as humans but they are very good at being whatever animals they are. I think if you go back and check your history, humans are pretty darned stupid as well when people are attempting to fool them.

Check out the buck getting a snack here and tell me who is smarter.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...___US361&tbs=isch:1&ei=tdjpS_m_LYK88gbupfjfDg


Black and red plaid worked here...
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...___US361&tbs=isch:1&ei=tdjpS_m_LYK88gbupfjfDg

http://www.grandmas-attic.com/images/1809.jpg

Deer are good at being deer. We have learned to exploit their biological and evolutionary behavioral weakness through adaptive cultural behavior. Then again, deer don't accidently shoot themselves or other deer as hunters seem to do dozens of times each year.
 
Scorch said:
How about shooting deer from on top of a tarped stack of hay bales? Does that count as a blind?


I found this idea while cruising the net, might have to try it....

baleblind3.jpg


donebaleblind2.jpg
 
Not an intentional blind or decoy, but my buddy and I were hunting turkey from a couple of blinds and decided to move to another field to see if we could change our luck.

We started off, crossed the creek and headed up a pretty heavily used cow path to the top of the other hill. He was in the lead and I was right behind him. The brush was pretty heavy on either side of the trail. Once we reached a flat part of the hillside we stopped to catch our breath and stood there for a moment or two not saying a word and just looking around.

Now, we tried to be fairly quite on the way up the hill, but we weren't in full stealth mode either. Once we caught our breath, my buddy says "You ready.....", and at that point, two turkey bust out of the brush almost right at our feet and flew away. Scared the bejesus out of us. We were baffled that those damn turkey let us get so close to them. At most, they were 3 feet away from us and never moved until my buddy spoke.

We were also amazed we didn't see the damn things either but I digress......

Just a theory of course, but we figured that both of us walking together like that, slow, one in the lead and one behind, that we must have convinced those turkey we were a cow. As soon as my buddy started to speak, maybe they realized that something wasn't right and took wing.

To Jack's point, animals, while fairly smart in their own right, can be fooled just like the rest of us. Some simple camo, really something that just breaks up your outline, will work pretty well. So will sitting very still and making no sudden movements. In fact, sitting still is really the biggest key to having a good hunt, despite what the camo makers would like to have you believe.
 
not for deer at bow range

I have had bad luck w/ manmade blinds for deer at bow ranges. Unless they're brushed in and in place for a while, deer spot'em and spook in my experience. Rifle ranges for that matter, up to 75 yds on one occasion.

NOw the big shooting houses and elevated blinds are something else. Once left in place for a season or two, , does and dumb, young bucks come and go pretty freely on food plots w/ huge shooting houses on them all season.

They'll watch'em, and check up, but often still come out. I think a wise old buck knows every fixed house and stand on the club and avoids same, unless he's chasing does and goes stupid.
 
I have slid into hay bales that were in rows. Deer came right up to it, deer got ate.

A friend hunts in Burt county Nebr uses old washing machines left out and piled up.

How many deer been shot from a tractors cab I wonder? I see a lot of deer when working the fields, they pay me no mind while in the tractor.


Last buck I shot. I was leaning against a tree, he was running towards me, I stepped out he saw me and turned just a little, shot him on the run, ate him too.

Animals get used to humans, if you do the same things like mow, plant etc they seem to know you mean no harm. Gotta live out in the country tho.
 
Elk don't know how many feet a horse has".


Up on Biggs Flats in the Bob Marshall wilderness I bent over and put my bow up over my head like a rack, and my hunting partner bent over behind me and we walked within 50 yards of a young bull elk out in an open meadow. He eyed us quite curiously until his nerves got the best of him.
 
I set up 4 round bales of hay where ever I'm wanting to sit. Keeps you nice and warm in the winter. Deer will come right up to them. Doesn't matter what type of clothes you wear and gives a very solid shooting rest.
 
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