Monday, April 17, 2006
Dig A Pit Blind Now & Be Ready To Hunt
Turkey season is open, but my hunt starts with the third season, so I sit and thing about deer hunting. As I sit, a recurring thought keeps picking at the back of my mind.
It’s about that pit blind I had planned to dig last spring for the 2005 bow and firearm deer season? It really got me thinking because I have a perfect spot for a pit blind for this fall, and I suggest that bow hunters grab a shovel and ax, and get the pit dug now ... rather than later..
There is a runway that deer have used for many years on my land. It runs along a ridge before dipping down into a valley. Once the trees leaf out, and the ground is shaded, a person must know exactly where to look to find it. I’ve studied that trail for two years, and there is a heavy cover spot where two trails merge near a large uprooted tree.
A small roll in the ground 15 yards away would put the pit blind in the perfect location for a shot at a buck moving along the trail. I would be shooting dead-level straight at any buck following the runway.
Deer hunters have a common failing. We wait until the last minute to build a blind for the bow or firearm seasons, and all too often, we procrastinate until a few days before the season before doing this chose. Now is the best time to build a pit blind because the air is much cooler now than during the summer or early fall, and it would give months to become accustomed to the spot.
Blinds can be built on private property in the spring once the ground thaws and is soft enough to dig. One of the best blinds is a pit blind, and if it is properly constructed long before the season opener, deer will become used to it and won’t be intimidated by its presence.
A pit blind is much more than a hole in the ground. I’ve used them for bow and firearm hunting, and they work very well. The best ones are dug into or adjacent to a cornfield, under low overhanging limbs or butted up next to the root-wad of a fallen tree.
Dig a pit four to five feet wide at the bottom for a firearm blind and slightly larger for a bow blind. Dig the pit’s back 18-22 high for a seat (see the illustration), and the back rest area should extend up another 24-30 inches from the earthen seat. The pit’s front (facing the direction where shots will be taken) should be 36-40 inches high. Contour the back rest for personal comfort.
The key to a pit blind’s success is in its construction, placement and camouflage. Only the hunter’s head, neck and shoulders should be above the edges. The front must be slightly lower than the back to shoot comfortably.
Camouflage should be placed behind the hunter. Vegetation behind will break up the human silhouette and if a hunter places the pit blind properly where deer travel, and if the hunter sits still, such blinds are extremely effective and offer close shots.
I’ve had wonderful success hunting from well-positioned pit blinds. Once, while hunting just inside a corn field edge, I saw a buck heading my way. A doe headed into the corner of the corn field, and came my way, and it was a toss-up which animal would reach me first. I watched as the buck moseyed slowly toward me while the doe was on a collision course too.
Ten minutes later the doe reached me before the buck. She stuck her head through the corn stalks six inches from my ear, snorted, blew snot all over my head, and ran off snorting. That, I found was the only problem of positioning a pit blind in a corn field. Sadly, the buck heard the commotion and headed the other way.
A tiny bit of brush or grass can be placed in front of the blind but it must be open enough to shoot through. Sit motionless as deer approach. Locate the blind properly, enter it early and wait until all deer have left, and practice scent control. That means wearing a Scent-Lok suit, wearing rubber boots, and being scent-free while going into and out of the woods.
Now, if you feel overly ambitious, it’s time to start digging. That way the blind will be perfectly positioned long before the season opens. Just don’t go out to check it unless you are scent-free. The first time you enter the blind after it has been dug should be the first day of the bow hunting season ... if the wind is right. â??â?? The Whitetail Wizard.