Ground Blind Placement

Working on a game plan for next Saturday’s firearm opener. Son and I will be hunting the field edge of a woodlot behind our place. The edge we sit on runs north/south with a picked wheat field to the west with a nice clover cover crop. We can watch this edge from our house and the deer are out most evenings feeding. Most times I’ll set up the blind toward the south end of the woods when we have what is usually a northerly wind. Looking at the forecast there is a rain system that looks to be moving in Saturday morning with S/SE winds which would be horrible for that spot. We could move the blind to the north end but the deer typically don’t make there way that far down which is closer to the road. My question is does it make any sense to set the blind in the open field to watch the wood edge with the wind in our face, especially this close to the opener?? This not a barren field. It has the clover growing pretty thick along with random weeds and wheat stalks that were missed.

I would try moving it to the north side of the woods personally. If there is doe bedding in the field at all or in the wood lot those older bucks will use that wind to scent check that area more efficiently. You would be setup better for that. Tough call though if those deer really dont use the north side. Another option could be moving it to the north side of the trails you know are used too. Good luck!

Thanks youbetcha and good point. Setting up just north of what appears to be their main trail probably wouldn’t be a bad plan either. I’m sure no matter what, they’ll do the opposite of what I think they’ll do. Was able to watch a very nice buck through the binoculars last night feeding that edge. Excited to hopefully get the boy his first opportunity to shoot a deer this year.

My experience has been that deer in my area are getting very wise to ground blinds. They seem to have learned to look for them and they never lose their suspicion once they spot one. I’ve had ground blinds out for 2 months in the deer will still cross the field to walk on the other side rather than walk past them.

Planning a blindsight based on the wind is again very tricky. Everything depends on where the deer are coming from and where they’re going to and how reliable this direction of travel is?

Personally I would choose the location based on wherever you can get the best concealment and brush the blind in if it all possible. I think being unseen Trump’s pretty much everything that you can control.