ground blinds with a flintlock

[chironomidkraut]

anybody actually hunt from ground blinds with a flintlock

 

[George]

What do you mean by "ground blind"?

Spence

 

[Flint311]

I use natural settings: against a tree, behind/in a blow down, etc. If you talking a pop-up blind, I'd watch the venting of the barrel. Those are hot gasses!

 

[flintlock75]

I use natural cover when setting up in a likely spot, brush, branches etc. I would not use a popup nylon type blind with a flinter fire and flame do not mix well with nylon type fabrics.

 

[chironomidkraut]

I agree, with ya on the nylon pop ups, I love mine for bowhunting and would love to use it but for the obvious reasons I cant.
just checking to see if anybody modified one for flintlock use,

 

[Roguedog]

I use natural materials to construct a make shift blind in the field. Have no desire to carry a tent out there with me. It kind of takes away from the experience for me.

Jeff

 

[George T.]

Yes and I learned the hard way not to fire when they are looking right at you! between the pan flash and the rifle firing I think she moved 4 yards. She made my life miserable for several days by snorting and pawing at the ground while looking at the blind. Eventually I caught her looking away! This was a lesson well learned.

Geo. T.

 

[VEARL]

Don't have a flinter to hunt deer with. I do use my percussion rifle in my pop up to hunt out of. No problems with that set up so far.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Well I use a ground blind, but not a synthetic. I have a few spots in hedgerows where I can get inside and the surrounding brush breaks up my outline. A buddy does the same thing but he installed one of them umbrella blinds as he uses a flinter, but uses modern stuff with it, and doesn't want rain on his head. Thinks I'm risking too much with my cow's knee, and putting the lock under my armpit as well when it rains.

My dad this year is going to use an open top blind arrangement, as he's 82, and needs something simple that can be set up a short walk from his vehicle. Basically it's some cammo netting over several used wire stands harvested from political campaign signs posted on the roadside (from Nov 2012). That way he can sit on a nice, quiet stool, and maybe get one with his New Englander. :grin:

LD

 

[scotsman]

I've hunted out of a ground blind that I made within some clump cedars. I'm totally surrounded by cedar and the blind has been very productive. I just spray some cedar scent around me... It's much better in the mornings than at night because the cedar cavity that I'm in can get dark more quickly.

 

[crockett]

I've done a variety of ground blinds. The big thing with the ground blind is remaining still and the wind becomes more of a factor. I shot a really good buck moving cross wind in a light rain while I was sitting on the ground with a few twigs for a blind. I haven't used a pop up tent. I've used hand clippers and made a small blind from natural materials. The thing that has seemed to work the best is camo cloth stapled to some wood dowels and rolled up and carried slung over a shoulder. I use guide lines with tent pegs to help hold it up. The deer and turkey don't seem to be wary of it. They may first stare right at you for 15 minutes but after awhile they just forget about it. The solid cloth let's you move a little more without spooking game.
About a million years ago I was sitting against a tree (no blind) and had a deer coming straight in and headed towards a little bush. My plan was to cock the hammer as soon as the deer went behind the bush. That's all I did- move my thumb but darn it, the second that thumb moved I saw the feet stop and that deer just vaporized into thin air. So the cloth blind- better for me at least.

 

[roundball]

Mostly Natural ground blinds for years...then I started to use an Ameristep Doghouse blond this year to hunt on rainy days.
Shot a Doe out of it with a Flintlock yesterday, did just fine.
BTW...with the large right side window flap completely open, 90% of the vent blast / smoke went right outside as I hoped it would....also eliminates nylon in the direct path of the vent blast

 

[Swamp Buck]

Yes I have.

The first deer I got out of my pop up blind was less than 10 yards away. Darkness was approaching - the muzzle flash probably scared the 6 point as much as the patched roundball did damage.

The second deer was a little farther away but the wind blowing the smoke back into the blind along with that from the priming powder nearly choked me out. I was sitting in a fog until I unzipped the door and got out.

 

[Rifleman1776]

So far just a couple of brush kinda stacked up in front of me.
But, I plan to soon. A mountain lion has been bothering a friend and I plan to go after it.
I'll be using some burlap camoflage with small trees or whatever to hold it up. Front will be open. But, first, someone has to tell the catamount which side is the front. :shocked2:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Yep.

But truthfully - I don't know that a ground blind is any better than an exposed seat against a tree. I have had much more success with the latter; likely because you can adapt to wind conditions easily.

 

[Rifleman1776]

In this case, I know there is a mountain lion in the area and I will try to call it in. I have been told, and have read, that cats often will circle and maybe come to the wounded prey from behind. :shocked2: I'm hoping the camo screen will prevent me getting surprised unpleasantly.

 

[Spikebuck]

I don't know that a ground blind is any better than an exposed seat against a tree. I have had much more success with the latter; likely because you can adapt to wind conditions easily.

I agree. Open day of gun season in Minnesota was yesterday. I had about a dozen bucks and countless does and fawns within 40 yards of me, some within 20, and they never saw me sitting right on the ground in a "turkey" chair nestled against a rock outcropping. I even had a coyote trot right by a 20 yards and never gave me a glance. I was wearing a camo orange vest and hat.

I like the comfy turkey chair as it keeps me low and allows me to use my legs as a gun rest for steady shooting.

Around my area, deer quickly pick out the big form of a pop-up blind, even if brushed in, and don't seem to like it. They are kind of nice in inclement weather though.

I did fill an antlerless tag towards the end of the day, but that's for another post. :grin:

 

[rja72]

I usually find where two or three trees grow close together and sit in between them. I then take brush lying on the ground to fill in the open spots. That way I don't need to pack anything in and out but my stool.

The only time I have been busted was when a 4 point walked the same trail I used and almost jumped in the blind with me. Didn't get a shot on him, but I got him the next day from the same spot when he crossed in front of me 50 yds away.

 

[Patocazador]

Where I live, palm fronds cut off and stuck in the ground can provide a quick and easy ground blind that hides you well. I carry a fold-up stool that fits in my game pouch on the back of my vest.

 

[roundball]

Killed my 2nd deer yesterday with a Flintlock using my other (2nd) Ameristep Doghouse blind.
My natural blinds have been excellent over the past several years, but without question I've already experienced benefits beyond my normal natural ground blinds that will make pop-ups a permanent equipment item from now on, primarily protection from:

1) Rain...everything stays dry...no more missed hunting days because of some moderate rain.
2) Wind and cold...stay warmer...stay out hunting longer
3) Hides all movement

I had a Doe and her grown fawns walk past an open side window last week only 25 feet away...never knew I was there.

EXAMPLE - Ameristep Doghouse in place