Early Season Deer Tactics for Bow Hunting Deer in Ground Blinds

With the month of June now in the memory books, and July well underway, opening day is fast approaching! In a couple of months it will be time to trade in your Bermuda shorts for some Realtree Camo, and throw in your golf gloves for your Hoyt.  By now, many of us have already begun preparing for the upcoming deer hunting season. The month of July is an excellent time the get the batteries back in Bushnell trail cameras, and to bust out the Big & J to begin taking your inventory of deer on your property. This will start your hit-list, but also marks the beginning of honing your early season deer tactics.

Although the month of July is an excellent time to begin ramping up your trail camera surveys, and continuing to supplement your deer with minerals it is also an excellent time to begin knocking out the deer stand relocations, and most importantly, begin preparation of your ground blind locations.  Although the conditions may be hot and humid, working to prepare your ground blind sites during the summer months will give you a definite advantage when the deer hunting begins.  This article will discuss a couple of reasons why this summer is an excellent time to prepare your ground blind locations, and will also give you a few tips on how best to set your ground blinds in conjunction with early season deer tactics.

Trick’n them is Half the Battle

As whitetail hunters we must admit, a white-tailed deer is smart.  A deer’s keen sense of sight, smell, hearing and that unavoidable sixth sense that they seem to possess can sometimes be a real challenge for a deer hunter to overcome.  When it comes to hanging deer stands or setting ground blinds, it sometimes does not seem to matter how well you camouflage are blind or how high you hang your stand they seem to always pick you out.  Although every whitetail deer hunter will admit that lady luck always plays a part in a successful hunt, it is clear that he will be successful when it comes to whitetail deer hunting, you’ve got to trick their senses.

The reason the summer months are an excellent time to begin establishing your ground blind locations, is that it provides you with plenty of time for the deer to adjust to the disturbance. This works well in your plans for early season deer tactics.  Many deer hunters will overlook the fact that whitetail deer can usually pick out a ground blind or new deer stand right after that have been set.  While it may not exactly know what it is, they know that it’s new.  This uncertainty of danger can cause the deer to be very wary of getting too close to these areas at first.  It is always a good idea to give yourself plenty time between setting your ground blind, and your first hunt in that ground blind.  This is especially true if you plan to cut a lot of brush, and really camouflage in the ground blind.  It is very important that your ground blind looks as natural as possible and blend it in with the surrounding area. Just remember that the disturbance can take a whitetail deer a couple days to get over, and often takes human scent a few days to dissipate as well.

Now, there are many deer hunters have successfully harvested deer the same day they have set a new ground blind or new deer stand.  No one would deny that it hasn’t been done many times, and will continue to happen in the future.  The goal for early season deer tactics is to put a G5 Havoc through the ribs of a Pope & Young, so whatever works, needs to be done no matter what it is. Major take home point is that by setting ground blinds now, you put yourself in the optimal position to be successful once deer hunting season begins.

The In’s & Out’s Of Early Season Deer Tactics

The best thing about using ground blinds is simply their versatility.  From the hardwoods, to wide open crop fields, to tiny clover food plots, you can literally use a ground blind anywhere.  Today’s pop up ground blinds are lightweight easy to setup and take down, while also providing a deer hunter with a high level of comfort.  Which when you add all together spells success, especially when it comes to early season deer tactics.

Because ground blinds are incredibly versatile, many whitetail deer hunters make the mistake of not considering the entry and exit routes to and from there ground blinds prior to selecting the location.  Unfortunately this error can lead directly to tag soup.  Setting your ground blind locations during the summer months gives you plenty of opportunities to think about how you’ll enter and exit the blind during hunting season. Avoiding spooking the deer in the area, and allowing yourself to remain hidden and concealed, while the same time taking wind direction into consideration before establishing ground blind locations.  While it may seem rudimentary, it is an easy mistake to make.  When considering your entry and exit routes, look for opportunities to come in downhill.  In many cases deer hunters will establish the ground blind locations on the edge of fields, allowing them to utilize the edge of the wood line as cover.

Ground Blind Locations for Early Season Deer Hunting

Now knowing that you need to get out your ground blinds ASAP, might have you feeling rushed, don’t be! There is still a lot of planning when it comes to setting up ground blinds in the right locations for early season deer tactics. Here are 3 locations that can have you setting your sites on early season deer hunting success.

Location 1: Edge of Bean Field

When it comes to early season deer tactics, nothing beats a green lush soybean field. It is one essential focus and key ingredient for killing a buck on opening day. While placing a tree stand in a position for a shot opportunity while bow hunting deer might be hard, a ground blind allows you to skip around based of the most recent intel of the Bushnell cameras and your summer scouting.

Location 2: Small Food Plot

The second go to location for hunting according to early season deer tactics is a small food plot. If mature bucks are not coming to large agriculture fields such as the big beans field, chances are they will hold up in a small secluded clover field during the fading daylight. These are small, less than an acre in size, food plots that are usually planted in clover that can take a beating from a lot of deer but can give you great shot opportunities when bow hunting deer.

Location 3: Staging Area

Location 2, or the small food plot basically acts like a staging area. Another staging area might be considered thick undergrowth, an old field type habitat, or a stand of native grasses/forbs on the edge of a larger food source. Bucks will often hold up in these areas to assess the food source for danger, and wait for the cover of darkness to work their way out into the larger ag fields.

When it comes to early season deer tactics, ground blinds offer excellent opportunities to hunt deer, especially when bow hunting deer.  They help the comfortable and concealed and can help you hunt areas that would be difficult to hunt otherwise.  Getting a head starting on setting your ground blinds this summer will make sure you are ready to let the arrows fly come fall!If you are looking for more information on early season deer tactics, especially fine tuning your plans for bow hunting deer, and potentially killing a buck on opening day move on to the next article!