Use Hunting Blinds or Stands For Success!If you want to be a successful bow hunter, we recommend building hunting blinds or setting up a tree stand in the right place. This will create less stress during your hunt and greatly increase your potential for being successful. Road hunters (those that constantly drive the roads and trails looking for a shot) and the hike and stalk hunters can and do have success, but we think that a properly located and constructed blind or stand is much more successful.Blind Or Stand--Why Use Either?
If a bow hunter scouts an area, he or she should know what the habits of the animals in the area have. That is, where they feed, where they bed, and where they get water. The hunter should also know by their scouting trips, which trails the animals use for each event and the approximate time of day that the animals will be on these trails. Once the hunter knows these things, all that is needed is to build a hunting blind or stand within shooting distance of the trail.
Get Affordable Audio On Your Site Without Monthly Fees. By using a blind or stand and being still, instead of hiking or driving constantly, the hunter is not spreading scents and sounds that will be noticed by the animals. If animals notice foreign scents and sounds in their area on any regular basis, they will change their habits and your success ratio will go down. The hunt then becomes just a roll of the dice on a chance meeting of hunter and animal. This is the best reason to scout, think, plan, and build a hunting stand or blind. The result of doing this is much less stress and being successful.Blind or Stand--What is the difference?
A hunting blind is simply something that conceals the hunter form the animals (and other hunters). It is usually considered to be placed on or in the ground. The construction could be semi-permanent or temporary depending on whether the land is private or public and depending on the local hunting regulations. It may be made of metal, wood, plastic, fiberglass, cloth, tarps, brush, or some combination. A blind is usually much larger than a stand. A blind can easily accommodate 3 or more people (ideal for spouse or children). A hunting blind may have only 1 side or partial side and use natural surroundings for the rest. It may or may not have a roof that provides protection from the sun, rain, and snow. As you can see, a hunting blind has a very broad definition. A stand is something that is above the ground. It may be pre made and just "stood" up against a tree or it may be pre made and erected so that it is "free standing" on legs. All stands should be secured by guy wires or cables to prevent wind and animal herds from causing it to fall. A stand could be just a platform built in a tree (tree stand) or if on private property, a bow hunting stand, like the hunting blind, could be more of a permanent structure. The stands on private property are more like miniature condos in that some of them are completely enclosed and have windows that open and heaters for cold weather. The bow hunting stand is not as large as the bow hunting blind. This is probably because of the weight and difficulty in erecting something that will hold several people. We have seen stands in Texas that would hold 4 people up fifteen or more feet above ground. This is a costly way to build a stand and is usually done on property that charges several hundred to several thousand dollars for a hunt. Hunting Blind Or Stand--Which To Use?
Which to use, blind or stand, is not so much a personal preference as it is a choice by necessity. Local law will be the first consideration, then whether the land is public or private, then what the land and terrain is like. A tall stand of any style in tall dense trees is almost useless unless it is on a fire break or edge of a food plot. you just will not be able to see or shoot. The tall stands are better for open areas and short brush. For a bow hunter, a tree stand on a well traveled trail, even in thick forest, would be ok provided you cleared a shooting lane or could make an almost straight down shot. For the most part, stands, especially tall ones, are better left for the rifle hunter. A hunting blind is easier to build and access than a stand. We think that blinds are safer since they can not be blown over by a storm or knocked over by animals. A blind allows you to see better in the forest because you are low enough to see under most of the tree limbs. A blind is easier to blend into the surrounding landscape and is less likely to be noticed by the animals or other hunters. We like a hunting blind made of local native material (a brush blind). This type of blind is cheap and quick to build. You can make several of these in an area and be able to change hunting locations at will. We have talked to several hunters that have had their expensive pre made stands stolen. A "brush" hunting blind is not going to be stolen, it may be used by another hunter but they will not take it home. How To Make A Brush Blind
We make our bow hunting blinds by stretching a strong string or very small rope between trees or heavy low hanging limbs. Then we cut one or more shooting lanes in the direction the animals should come from (learned from scouting trips). When cutting the brush from the shooting lanes, we are careful to trim the branches so that they can be hung on the string or rope. These cut branches provide the sides for our hunting blind and conceal our presence. We look for a place within shooting distance from a trail or water hole that has a clump of trees or a nice stand of brush to thin out for our blind. Never build a blind where there is no natural cover, the animals will notice this just as much as you would notice a new sofa in your living room or a different car in your driveway. Do These Blinds Work?
When using this type of blind and using the proper scent hiding techniques (see our page on this), we have enjoyed great success. Note the pictures below of how close animals will come. This system works so well, I have had to wave my hands to keep animals from running over me. I had a 5x5 monster elk (unfortunately in a spike unit) actually stick his nose into my hunting blind only 3 feet from my face and not be able to detect me! My wife tells the story of when a guy stripped to change into his hunting clothes only a few yards from her because she had done such a great job building her blind of brush and he did not see her. I have had to speak to hunters within 5 feet of me on two occasions to call their attention to my presence. They were quite startled and embarrassed to have put themselves in that situation. 
The bull on the left is a nice 5x4 that has broken tines just before he charged the moose at the water hole. He is less than 15 yards from me. The bull on the right is a large 6x7 coming in for a drink. He is also around 15 yards. My methods really work.
On the left he is less than 10 yards, on the right he is within 10 feet of my camera and me. Shortly after this picture, he actually took a bite of my blind and was too close to get a picture for fear he might decide to charge.
One of the fine sites below will be able to provide you with a pre made stand or the things you need to build your bow hunting blinds. Remember, all you need to make a fantastic brush blind is some strong string or small rope (green or brown is best), a saw to cut large limbs, long handled clippers, and short clippers to cut the small branches. Please do not use axes, hatchets, or machetes. We have seen far too many injuries that ruin a hunting trip from them. Be smart and be safe. In order to better server those who use our site, we have a SEARCH feature. This allows you to find information on our site if it is there. In addition, this search feature also allows you to search the entire Web to find the information you need. Just select the area that you want to explore (this site or the Web). The search engine is by Google, the best in the business. Site 1. Archery Equipment These books have earned the writer thousands of dollars. Now they are yours at no cost. Just download and enjoy complements of Archers-Friend.com.
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