Tips On Hunting From A Ground Blind
barronett
blinds
go big
Hunting requires patience. Often it requires sitting in one spot for hours, whether prone on a ridge glassing the mountainside, perched in a tree stand along a game trail, or huddled in a ground blind on the edge of an open field. For this Christmas Eve hunt, the “Breaking Point” crew chooses to sit in their ground blinds at the corner of an alfalfa field and weather a blizzard in the hope of harvesting a big 10-point whitetail buck. “Got good weather out here. High pressure and sunshine, so we’re optimistic that we’re gonna at least see some good bucks this weekend. Ground blinds, like the Barronett Blinds used by the Breaking Point team, are a great option in wide-open country like the farmland and prairies you’ll find in North Dakota, so here are a few tips on hunting from a ground blind.
Photo: Black Stamp Media 2019
Location, Location
Probably the most important part of hunting from any kind of stand, whether in a tree or on the ground, is choosing where to set it up. Ground blinds are essentially an easy-up with camouflage walls, so they provide a lot of mobility and are pretty simple to set up. Even so, you don’t want to just put your blind in the middle of an open field. This will look unnatural and most likely keep animals away from you. Instead, you’ll want to set your blind up against a natural feature such as a tree, tall grass, or a cluster of shrubs.
When choosing a location for your ground blind, the most effective place is going to be near some kind of an edge. In the North Dakota prairies, this will look like the edge of a corn or bean field or even along a strip of CRP. “[Dylan and I] are up on this flat that lays above this river bottom,” explains Brennen Nading from inside his Barronett blind, “Got a huge alfalfa field that we’re sitting on the corner of, and we’ve got several nice bucks on camera.”
Keep in mind when choosing your edge that you can use hunting pressure to your advantage. If there is a spot with lots of human activity, that will often push deer away into adjacent properties with less noise. If you set up along one of these spots, like the Breaking Point team did, you could find yourself in luck. Brennen Nading had a truck come up and stop next to his spot and he thought, “No deer is gonna come in here with that vehicle right there.” But the truck moved on past the next property over. “That truck wasn’t gone for 10 seconds,” recounts Nading, “before that big 10 [buck] that we’re here for came up and jumped the fence and came in.”
Photo: Black Stamp Media 2019
Get Comfortable
“We’ve got a blizzard in effect right now,” whispers Nading, “The snow started about 2 hours ago, and it’s supposed to continue for the next 20. They’re saying anywhere from 6-10 inches…” When hunting from a ground blind, you’ll be in there for a long time. And if you’re in somewhere like North Dakota, conditions can get cold and windy very quickly as they do for our team in this episode. You don’t want your hunt to get cut short, so make sure to prepare yourself for a long, cold, sit if need be. Bring a thermos with hot coffee/hot chocolate, hand warmers, and all the layers you think you may need.
If this sounds like a fun experience to you, check out the full episode below and brave the elements with the crew on The Breaking Point S6:E9.
To learn from real-life examples, watch these guys in action on The Breaking Point. Best of luck chasing on your next hunting adventure. Follow us on social for awesome hunting content, @waypointtv.hunting and be sure to tag us in your photos! #FindYourWay
