What is an inexpensive way of making a ground blind for turkeys this season? Ive thought of buying some camo material and tieing it around a few trees but im not sure the best material to buy and the best places to buy it from. I also thought of the idea of building a "natural" groundblind but I'd rather know what im doing before i start building one. What are your mastermind blind ideas this season? pictures would be great if possible!!! thanks
Bunny buster :archer:
I'd suggest an inexpensive pop-up blind. Allows you to change locations, goes up in minutes, and keeps you fairly dry when it's raining. You can face any direction you want by simply opening some windows and closing others.
I would go with the popup blind also. You never know where you might need to set up. And do it quickly also.
Bunny...I never tried a popup but I understand they are very effective and quick to set up.
I've always used a piece of leafy camo netting. I carry some twine and zip ties to attach it to whatever is handy. The leafy design allows me to stick branches and twigs down through the holes into the ground or to tie them to the metting itself. It does take a little time but it is very effective for deer and turkeys.
This is what I have done.
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=087090;p=1#000000
Get a gillie suit. That way you will always have your blind with you.
Jake,
Pop-up blinds work really well, especialy if you are hunting with someone; a buddie, a girlfriend, a wife (never hunt with both at the same time!) or a kid. They really help with keeping birds from seeing movement when they are close. I have yet to find a decent pop-up blind, large enough to draw a bow in, for under $100 though.
Ghillie suits are excellent if you hunt alone. You can be quick on the move and set-up in the time it takes to sit down and get comfortable to shoot. Home-mades can be inexpensive but a little time consuming to make. Buying a good one that works for archery will cost what a decent blind will. They seem to totally fool turkeys though, right up until you draw your bow. You still have to be careful there.
Home-made blinds can be cheap too. As simple as some clipped branches with new leaves layed around you (don't forget behind you, as important as some in front). A decent set of pruning shears makes it fast, quiet and easy. Any kind of camo netting or cloth would work fine. Make sure you put it up without any potential for flapping. If it flaps in the wind when birds are up close, it will bugger them. Like was suggested earlier in the thread, use string, zip ties or even trash bag twisties to secure your netting. You have to decide if you will set-up to shoot over the netting or make it tall enough (with windows) to shoot through.
A low netting that covers you when bringing your bow to draw, and a ghillie top work good together.
Like most hunting, success lies in being quiet and sitting still while your quarry is close. Trying to draw a bow with turkeys in range is tough even all sealed up in a pop-up blind. So anything that shields your movement from the birds will work.
OkKeith
QuoteOriginally posted by OkKeith:
Jake,
a girlfriend, a wife (never hunt with both at the same time!)
OkKeith
Thats funny :biglaugh:
great tips, thankyou for the comments. I am looking for a good inexpensive netting material that will be tall enough. I just recently bought a leafy suit so that should definately help as well. Any suggestions on the brand i should buy of netting or how tall i should get it? thanks
Bunny buster
Go to an army surplus store and get some of the fine camo netting Uncle Sam built for our armed forces. Works good, tough, and usually not too expensive...of course, if you don't count that you already paid for it once with your tax dollars.
When using the netting material/camo fabric for a ground blind, what do you use for holding it up? Last Fall I rigged up some camo fabric draped over some parachute cord held on by clothes pins, all held up by some old aluminum arrows I stuck in the ground. It worked OK, and one time I had six does feeding within 20 yards of me hunkered down behind it with the wind just right from them to me. But there has to be a better way to set it up quickly than stabbing arrows in the ground and clipping on the camo fabric with clothes pins. Ideas? Good question Bunny buster, thanks for bringing it up.
:confused: :help:
Jake,
If you can't come up with the army surplus stuff that JC recomended (good stuff, like he says), around here Wal-mart generally carries the Hunter's Specialties brand. It's pretty good too. It's the same stuff manufacturers put in the windows of blinds. It's not all that expensive and you get a lot.
John,
I usually set up in or around some brush or trees and string up the netting on branches. I have several small squeeze clamps that I use to keep it snug. I have a buddy that uses the steel rods that he strings hot wire with and bulldog clips to hold it up. He painted them black. They have a spade at the bottom to keep them upright. They are a little heavy, but not very expensive. Probably sturdier than your arrow shafts.
OkKeith
The Sportsman Guide used to carry some camo netting
thanks string bean i believe they still do.
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Thanks OkKeith for the ideas about the electric posts and squeeze clamps, they sound a lot better than my clothes pins and arrows.
Bunny buster, I knew some TGers would have some good ideas about your turkey ground blinds question, and I'm going to use some of these blind ideas for deer this Fall too.
:thumbsup:
yeah i figured if it can fool a turkey it can fool just about any game species. ;)
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I am setting up natural ground blinds in areas that I have learned over the past years tend to be used for strutting, or roosting. I am up to five and and have six or so more locations to build. I try to set cover in front at the height of my bow hand so the arrow has a couple of inches above the blind. I also make sure there is plenty of brush behind to a level a foot or more above my head when seated on my little stool. The one I built last year worked to perfection, so I thought I would expand my options. Takes more effort than a pop up, but I don't like the dark closed in feeling on a beautiful spring morning I get when sitting in one of them.
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I agree with the gillie suit I got mine two seasons ago takes a lil getting use to but well worth it.
I agree with the gillie suit I got mine two seasons ago takes a lil getting use to but well worth it.
go to cabelas web site and check out the Avery Fastbreak ground blind. they are cheap enough and work pretty good, come in a couple different camo patterns, used my new one again today and I now have a turkey in the fridge..
ill check that out, thanks
Well...
Have to say that I can now attest to how well the Ameristep Penthouse Blind works. Two birds in one day! Check out my "She shoots, she scores!" post.
I'm a big guy, 6'5" and 300lbs (NO FAT JOKES!). There was plenty of room for Lisa and me to sit in the blind and I was able to draw with no limb clearence problems with the blind, our chairs or her. It was $150 from Amazon with free shipping. Hard to beat that.
OkKeith
I saw that thread man nice work...Must be a pretty good blind with good moving space if both of you were in it. :)
Jake,
It is! I shoot a 60" bow and had plenty of room to shift around and make a shot. No limbs banging into anything.
Heck, I can even stand up to my full height and stretch. That's amazing compared to all the little cramped blinds we usually hunt out of. We can even both carry our bows instead of taking turns.
The way we hunt, we set-up in a good place and go in way before dark and don't come out until after shooting time is over. "Run and gun" tactics don't work well for us. It's nice to have enough room to move around and be comfortable if we plan on being in there for 15 hours.
OkKeith
ttt