Hunting out of a Blind

R

Reed Gardner

New member
Recently I built a wooden ground blind and painted over it, then I covered it in cedar branches to give it a camo look. Wondering if any of you all have had any luck hunting in a wooden blind or a pop up blind.
 
Every year folks kill coyotes out of high house blinds while deer hunting. The big problem is portability, unless you have a number of blinds it will be easy to over call an area. One possibility is bait piles out from the blind. One of our old members has a few small shed on different ranches that they place bait piles aways out in front of, their coyote count got into the hundreds at times.

Portable blinds are a pain to set up for just a short time and really aren't that much more effective than camo, stand location and keeping movement to a minimum.

Here's the big BUT. If you have confidence that your idea might work, give it try. What's the worst that could happen. If it works give a full report on your experience.

I'm always trying new things.
 
^^^^What Erich said. I have maybe 4 spots on the three ranches I hunt where box blinds might pay off because I've probably killed more coyotes from these four spots than all others on these ranches put together......but, question is, why put up a blind at these spots when sufficient cover/& sitting still is working just fine?
 
hm1996 said:
^^^^What Erich said. I have maybe 4 spots on the three ranches I hunt where box blinds might pay off because I've probably killed more coyotes from these four spots than all others on these ranches put together......but, question is, why put up a blind at these spots when sufficient cover/& sitting still is working just fine?
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Thanks. I'm aware that I could just sit on the ground instead of building this blind, but I had a barn fall down very close by, so I thought this would be a fun way to use all the excess lumber.
 
If you only have spot to hunt it might help but a blind is generally not needed. If you're moving around a lot trying to make a lot of stands it's just going to be another thing to way you down.
 
In the winter some of my hunting is in an area where there are many small properties(40-160 acres). Coyote cross many different properties nightly. I set baits in some locations and hunt out of available deer blinds(homemade structures) and my pop-ups. Some are adjacent to properties where no hunting/shooting access is possible. Typically I will call from these blinds, often before I put out any bait or later after I have shot several coyote and visits have slowed/stopped. Often it is below zero at night(without wind chill) so a heater is a necessary. Often I will sit several hours, then hear coyote a couple miles away. Calling than requires a long wait for them to travel, working their way in. I usually call when I hear activity behind the bait or right angles. It is best if the coyote cross downwind of the bait trying to locate the sound. As I can go silent and the scent of other coyote,crows and eagles,bait will divert attention away from my location. Sitting outside at night in below zero temps is a short time activity, inside a heated tent/structure affords better shooting conditions and extended sits. Extended calling/quiet periods can fool call educated coyote.
 
Unless setting a bait a blind is usually only good for one maybe 2 sets a year before your doing nothing but educating coyotes to it.
This is the type of "blind" I use if any. It was thrown together 2 days prior and provided just enough cover to lay prone and breakup my outline. Killed 2 coyotes charging at the call
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I know a guy who has a small plot of ground with one field on the place. He saw a few coyotes around that field shortly after he bought the property. He built a blind in a corner of the field. This is about 150 yards from his house. So he goes down there a couple of times a week for the entire fall/winter with a cheap caller and blasts various sounds out for an hour or so. No matter the wind, no matter he was in there two days ago and this is the third time this week he has called from there and he has been doing this for a month. He just can't kill a coyote there and won't listen when I tell him all the stuff he is doing is screwing the site up.
 
I can't speak to other areas of the country, but where I am fixed blinds and popup blinds have both worked at times so far. I hunt private land in SW PA. I have several fixed blinds, but this one on a 10 foot tower is the where I hunt most. I am there approximately every 30 days or so. Here is one of the views:

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It is not uncommon for me to hunt it two days in a row but I am not in it every day for days on end. This past year I've had coyotes called in 8 of 12 months I hunted it and there is no bait involved. If I was there more and could bait I would try that to improve my chances but so far I have been very pleased with hunting out of this blind. I firmly believe the area has resident coyotes and transient coyotes so when I kill one another fills the void. I killed a coyote out of the blind one night, came back the next night and killed another. Then I left and still saw coyotes on my game cams two days later. The land is approximately 500 acres and sits in a valley between two small mountains. It is a mix of 1/3 wooded mountains, 1/3 farmed fields, and the rest hollows and homestead buildings.

I firmly believe the blind keeps my scent contained a bit. I'm in a valley between two small mountains and the swirling winds often make it tough. I usually have very long sets since I'm limited to the private land. I've actually had coyotes run underneath the blind with me in it after sitting in the thing for over an hour. I've killed more coyotes out of the blind than in the thick woods and my time has been split pretty evenly between the two. I've had better luck in the woods when the winds are very light to non-existent. I've had coyotes run up on the caller like the MFK vids when the winds were 2mph. Maybe I'm not playing the winds right the other times but it is tough when you have a crosswind for 10 minutes and then a blast of wind in your face and then a swirl and the wind hits your back.

This guy and others have been taunting me the past few days on my game cams. That coyote is approximately 175 yards from where the blind is and 10 yards from a homestead building and I recently killed one near here on March 28th. I need to get back there ASAP. :ROFLMAO:
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I forgot to note. I did not build this for coyote hunting. I built this when my dad's health declined and he said he couldn't hunt anything anymore. It was one of the best things I ever did. It extended his hunting another 7 years and he hunted it even when he was on chemo his final days of his life.

So this blind was really built for deer and turkey hunting, but it has been a blessing for seeing so many other animals too. Bear, turkeys, coyotes, fishers, bobcats, bald eagles, hawks, etc...
 
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