Sleeping in your Ground Blind

[Harvest the Land]

Morning folks,

Just setup my new Barronett Big Cat 350 blind on my deck to let it air out for a few weeks. Going to spray some flex seal on the seams to make it even more waterproof. Its huge! I'm 5'9" on a good day and there's at least half a foot or more room above my head when I stand. Setup was breeze and seems super solid. Love the backwoods camo pattern too.

I got this one so both my wife and I could hunt in it because we're both new hunters and one of us (not going to say which one) is not the best at controlling our movements while sitting still and pretty sure it cost us a few times last fall. Moreover, since the blind is so big, we're planning on sleeping in it in order to maximize our time in the field (only can hunt weekends) and don't want to spook anything while walking into the spot before first light.

Have any of you slept in your ground blind and if so, how was your experience? Do you think it helped to make your hunt more successful?

Thanks for taking the time to read.

Now time for coffee!

[brian]

My only concern would be stinking up the place while sleeping. More of your scent is dispersed the longer you spend in any one location. If the wind/breeze/ thermal flips around on you during the night then your scent will be splashed everywhere and wary deer will stay out of that immediate area. If you can account for this by either distance or you know the wind direction will be reliably in your favour, then fill your boots. I have read of the tactics of a blacktail wildlife photographer and he does just this and gets some amazing photographs of big bucks.

[Harvest the Land]

Good points Brian. Ya we'll be 30-50 yards away (roughly) from where our trail cam is, and a bit up hill (not much) in pretty thick forest but the slight wind should be in our face. Never thought about the thermals going down hill over night though - will take that into consideration. Thanks for the input

[tigrr]

Some stories I read mentioned having a pee bucket and emptying it 100 yards away. Animals can smell where we relieve our selves. Cooking coffee in the morning and the smell travels for hundreds of yards.
I would camp close to where I hunt but not within 500 yards.

[hunterdon]

As I have actually done this, I can say with confidence, that's it's probably not a good idea. At least that has been my experience. A buck, especially a big buck feels most safe moving at night. As we sleep, we may think we are quiet. But were not. From turning over, moving positions, heavy breathing and of course snoring, we are definitely noisier. Couple that with usually much quieter night conditions, then those sounds we make are seemingly louder.

Add to that the extra sent we create while sleeping, as Brian correctly pointed out, you are almost guaranteed to be busted. After that, that buck will be very reluctant to approach the area anytime soon. He won't feel safe after that.

I would rather take my chances going in early, say an hour or so before daylight quiet as a mouse. No talking. If using a light, red light is best. Gives just enough light to see but won't spook game. As good as your camouflage blind may be, you will have better success if you use branches set around your blind to further blend in to the natural setting. But you are definitely thinking in the right direction. Continue on that way and in time we will be listening for your good directions.

[Ourea]

As I have actually done this, I can say with confidence, that's it's probably not a good idea. At least that has been my experience. A buck, especially a big buck feels most safe moving at night. As we sleep, we may think we are quiet. But were not. From turning over, moving positions, heavy breathing and of course snoring, we are definitely noisier. Couple that with usually much quieter night conditions, then those sounds we make are seemingly louder.

Add to that the extra sent we create while sleeping, as Brian correctly pointed out, you are almost guaranteed to be busted. After that, that buck will be very reluctant to approach the area anytime soon. He won't feel safe after that.

I would rather take my chances going in early, say an hour or so before daylight quiet as a mouse. No talking. If using a light, red light is best. Gives just enough light to see but won't spook game. As good as your camouflage blind may be, you will have better success if you use branches set around your blind to further blend in to the natural setting. But you are definitely thinking in the right direction. Continue on that way and in time we will be listening for your good directions.

Hunterdon has it dialed.

To add.....
To expedite hiking into the blind you can use trail tacs that illuminate when hit with light....just tap them into the trees.
On a couple occasions I had a hard time finding one of my blinds because I had to do a loop around due to wind direction.
What should have been a 15 min hike turned into 45

Another member commented on thermal wind.
To clarify, thermal wind is air rising at it warms (warmer air is less dense than cold)
Thermal winds are generally associated with warming air at sunrise.
Conversely, katabatic drafts usually are an evening event as air cools and sinks.

Ur scent is the number one thing u need managed when u r blind hunting.
You can fool a deers eyes, you can fool their ears, but you can't fool their nose.

[Harvest the Land]

Awesome info - thanks for the suggestions fellas! I might steer away from camping in the blind and just make sure I get there an hour or two before sunlight, and maybe choose to put the blind up in a spot that is not close to a bedding area so not to run the risk of bumping a buck returning to his bed first thing in the morning. I will definitely brush in the blind and might have to pickup a red light flashlight as well.

Thanks again - I've learned so much from so many great members on this site. Really appreciate the help!

Cheers,

[hunterdon]

I probably should mention about the kind of light to get. The very best light to purchase from the hunter's perspective is one of those strap on headlights. Hardware/sporting's stores have them .In addition to having a red light, they have a centrated narrow beam for distance viewing and a broad spectrum beam for shallower but much wider viewiIng in front of you. If there are any animals lurking in the side bushes, their eyes will light up like candles.

But the best feature is that they are compact, hands free and always shine exactly where you are looking. You will appreciate this if you shoot an animal late in the day and find the need to field dress in the dark. The light always shines exactly where you are looking and of course hands free. A friend holding a light for you, try as they may, never seem to hold that light just where you want it.

Don't buy the cheap ones. Weaker light and prone to failure. Buy the best one available. Usually in the 30 dollar range or so. Of all my most important items to bring in the bush, this item is definitely high up on the list.

Great posts Ourea. Photos and analysis. Keep em coming bud.

[high and to the right]

Sleeping in a ground blind. Yes I've done it. Imagine a couple of senior guys floating down the river in a 12 foot boat on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Not knowing exactly how long the float will take and where to camp, we threw in the ground blind (still new in the box) along with sleeping bags and air mattresses. The ground blind said - 6' high and 6'2" wide. It also said - water resistant. But --- it's sunny, warm and the river is low and just crawling along. By the time we found a possible camping spot it was just getting dark. After climbing a 5' bank to get off the river we spotted a monster Mule deer. With the moon light just taking over the fading sunset, it made the deer look even larger that it probably was. We wasted some time watching it and by the time we were ready to set up the ground blind to sleep, it was now getting very dark. We lugged our gear about 50 yards from the river and put down a tarp, set up the umbrella ground blind on top of it, pumped up the air mattresses and put them in side. While the blind said it was 6'2" wide, that was in the middle where the umbrella style opened up. At the bottom it was about 5'4" at best. It was quite comical to watch us try to get into our beds with the air mattresses pressing up the wall of the ground blind. Finally got to sleep and there's a sound outside. Then another one. Thunder. Then the sky lights up with lightening and soon the rain came down. Lots and lots of rain. We were safe in our ground blind after all it said it was water resistant. We fell asleep again to the sound of rain. Then I rolled over on the air mattress that had lost most of its air and my hand fell into water. We had set up in a small indentation and the tarp acted as a bladder to collect water. Yes, the blind had 2-3" of water on the bottom. I put on the flash light and saw lots of water dripping from the seams in the blind. It was like a gently dripping rain forest in the blind. So in the darkness we got out of the blind, moved it to another spot and put the tarp over the blind instead of under it. We poured the water out of our rifles, which were lying on the ground beside our deflated mattresses. Getting back to sleep was impossible as we were wet, our sleeping bags were wet, our clothes were wet. So we shivered in the blind until it broke day. The rain stopped, clear sky moved in and as we were taking our gear back to the boat a heard of elk in full rut moved along the hill side. Several bulls were bugling and the cows were milling around. BUT we were hunting moose and didn't have an elk tag. We did get a nice bull later that morning on our float back to the docking area. That's another story - a 12 foot boat, 2 hunters, one moose, all our gear and a river so low that we scraped on rocks and ran aground on sand bars most of the way back.

[BiG Boar]

I would never be in a spot where my wind was blowing towards where the animal should appear. Soon as that wind switches, I'm gone. Sleeping there will definitely be putting scent there as the wind switches.

[Backwoods]

I've slept in a tree stand (tree fort) over weekends, always tried my best with covering my scent, pee'd into water bottles lol, defiantly seen game, harvested a whitetail out of it, had does and fawn walking right underneath while in there, had a black bear come under one night, probably smelt something and he wanted to come check it out, reason I decided to sleep in there is because I kept spooking game hiking in there in the dark so thought I would try it, also have fell asleep in ground blinds and woke up to deer 20 yards from me feeding, so depend on your stank hahaha, scent cover, clothing hair etc, but honestly I've took a buck after a night sleeping in the stand.