Like a lot of traditional archers, I seem to march to the beat of my own perplexingly unique drum, trotting along at a pace that leaves my friends and family simply shrugging their shoulders in bewilderment. Perhaps that’s why I love ground blinds. There is just something about being toe to toe and eye to eye with your quarry that really puts the "X" in excitement and keeps you coming back for more. In my humble opinion, ground blinds are the ultimate room with a view.
As bow hunters, we live in the elevated era. Everything seems better from a vantage point that allows us to be suspended in air. While I own and hunt from my share of tree stands as well, I have come to appreciate what a well-placed ground blind can add to the hunting experience. Indeed, there are any numbers of virtues to be had from hunting a whole lot closer to terra firma and we will examine only a few of these as we proceed.
Safety is probably the number one reason that many people prefer to hunt from the ground as opposed to a tree stand. Let’s face it, if you trip over your boots strings getting into your blind, the biggest bruise you’re likely to suffer will be on your ego and I’ve never known that to be terminal. A fall from even a 10 ft. tree stand, however, can cause serious injury or even death. This is something to consider when pondering methods to use during a hunt.
Another important strength of ground blinds is flexibility. While tree stands require trees of a certain size, ground blinds can be constructed virtually anywhere from natural materials such as branches, grasses, weeds, etc. or man made materials such a camo cloth, burlap, boards, or special blind covering materials that are then brushed-in with natural foliage. This affords bow hunters economical concealment that is both effective and capable of meeting the requirements dictated by a variety of terrains and natural topographies. In addition, blinds made with boards or other sturdy materials can be left up year round, ensuring that game animals become accustomed to seeing them in their natural surroundings.
Portability is yet another feature of ground blinds that deserves mention. When I am hunting, I always carry a piece of camo cloth that is 15 ft long and 5 ft wide with some nylon cord in my day pack. This material is used to construct a quick and easy hunting blind by tying the cloth between trees or brush in the event I discover a likely location to intercept game while in the field. In the event I want to relocate or fine-tune my hunting position, moving is as easy as untying the camo cloth, putting it back in my pack and moving to a new location.
Arrow trajectory is always an important consideration for the hunting archer. With ground blinds providing an arrow shot that is on the same level as the game hunted, steep angles into the vitals are avoided, thus creating a proportionately broader target zone. This more direct path to the animal’s heart lung region can create more vital hits and cleaner kills, which is an important consideration in bowhunting.
Despite all of these obvious advantages, however, one of my favorite reasons to use ground blinds is that not only can they be wildly productive, they can also be the ultimate room with a the view. As you can see from the photographs, while hunting from ground blinds I have had animals as close as fifteen feet away without ever knowing I was there. Now that’s the way to get your heart pumping!
The next time you go hunting, why not march to the beat of a different drum and try a ground blind. Like me, you just might find that you like hunting from a room with view.
