Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast, your guide
Speaker 1: to the fundamentals of better deer hunting, presented by first Light,
Speaker 1: creating proven versatile hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind.
Speaker 1: First Light, Go Farther, Stay Longer, and now your host
Speaker 1: Tony Peterson.
Speaker 2: Hey everyone, welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundation's podcast,
Speaker 2: which is brought to you by first Light. I'm your host,
Speaker 2: Tony Peterson, and today's episode is all about adding a
Speaker 2: real ground game to your white tail hunts this fall.
Speaker 2: I could probably blame this topic on doing so much
Speaker 2: work with my daughters to get them on some deer,
Speaker 2: or the fact that I have a new bee hunting
Speaker 2: buddy with me this fall who is far more comfortable
Speaker 2: in ground blind than tree stands. The truth is, a
Speaker 2: ground game just matters to whitetail hunters like a lot.
Speaker 2: I know, all the advice seems to come from saddle
Speaker 2: hunters or just mobile hunters in general these days, or well,
Speaker 2: I guess tower blind hunters too. But if you don't
Speaker 2: have a good ground game, you're just missing out. I'd
Speaker 2: say probably like thirty percent of the deer I kill
Speaker 2: end up falling for this trick, which in my humble opinion,
Speaker 2: makes it pretty valuable, so valuable in fact, that I'm
Speaker 2: going to talk about it right now. As a young
Speaker 2: little fella, there was one week a year that I
Speaker 2: could not wait for. It was the week that my
Speaker 2: family would pack up my dad's truck and haul our
Speaker 2: boat to northern Minnesota, where my mom grew up way
Speaker 2: up there in Canada South and what they used to
Speaker 2: call the Iron Range due to all the mining, although
Speaker 2: you don't hear it called that much anymore, and that
Speaker 2: region sits a pile of lakes. The glaciers really did
Speaker 2: us modern humans as solid in that region, and all
Speaker 2: those Canadian Shield lakes are chalk full of fish. While
Speaker 2: most of the residents up there seem laser focused on
Speaker 2: croppies and walleyes, I was far more focused on throwing
Speaker 2: spoons for northerns than anything else. It was the best
Speaker 2: week of the year, and not in no small reason
Speaker 2: due to the fact that we fished so dang much
Speaker 2: up there. We also stayed with my uncle Billy, who,
Speaker 2: besides my dad, was the guy who I looked up
Speaker 2: to the most when I was in grade school. Billy
Speaker 2: was a cop at a black belt in Karate a
Speaker 2: generally lovable lunatic and a dog fanatic, and he always
Speaker 2: had a male black lab. At that time, his lab
Speaker 2: was named Rebel, and while I've fallen pretty hard for
Speaker 2: some dog since then, Rebel was the first dog that
Speaker 2: I really got to know, and he was your typical
Speaker 2: bird dog who hunted everything from ducks to geese, to
Speaker 2: grouse to pheasants. He was also typical of that time
Speaker 2: because he lived in a kennel in Billy's backyard even
Speaker 2: in the winter, which in that area is no joke.
Speaker 2: Rebel just lived outside. No one even thought about it
Speaker 2: like we do now. I mean, if you lived in town,
Speaker 2: even a small town and a rural part of a
Speaker 2: not very populous state, and you left a lab outside
Speaker 2: all winter long, you'd probably get your house burned down now.
Speaker 2: But things were different then, and they were different with
Speaker 2: dogs in general. Dog training involved a lot of well
Speaker 2: pretty heavy handed lessons. Not everyone did this, and I
Speaker 2: never saw Billy lay a hand on a dog, although
Speaker 2: he did punch a guy so hard in the face
Speaker 2: during a grouse hunt that the guy flopped around on
Speaker 2: the forest floor for a while, but to be fair,
Speaker 2: that was the result of him kicking Billy's dog during
Speaker 2: a retrieve. A lot of dog trainers and dog owners
Speaker 2: did go pretty heavy handed with their dogs at that time, though.
Speaker 2: It was one way to get what they wanted out
Speaker 2: of the dogs. Now, whether that was like a heavy
Speaker 2: bolt on a string which they could swing around and
Speaker 2: whack a dog on the ass with, or a stick,
Speaker 2: or the earliest versions of e callers, which were then
Speaker 2: called just shock callers for a good reason. You know,
Speaker 2: they only had one set and that was fry them
Speaker 2: until they're nut sizzled. Now, if that seems barbaric or
Speaker 2: even short sighted, given what we know now about how
Speaker 2: to train dogs, that's not an unreasonable take. But things
Speaker 2: were different then and people didn't know then what we
Speaker 2: know now. Along the way, training techniques evolved to more positive,
Speaker 2: reward based styles, and the dogs moved from the backyard
Speaker 2: to the house. Some folks still argue that this was
Speaker 2: a bad move, but those folks are either stuck in
Speaker 2: the past, don't really like dogs to begin with, or
Speaker 2: probably are just pining for the good old days that
Speaker 2: we only remember as being really good. The greater lesson
Speaker 2: here on how we treat Fido is that there's always
Speaker 2: options there are always different ways to do things. That
Speaker 2: applies to dogs, but also to this thing we know
Speaker 2: and love called you guessed it deer hunting. He thought
Speaker 2: I was going to say gulf, didn't you? Maybe next time.
Speaker 2: When it comes to how we ambush deer, the most
Speaker 2: common methods all involved of us getting above them and
Speaker 2: crossing our fingers that they'll focus mostly on the threats
Speaker 2: at ground level. This works great if you have a
Speaker 2: way to get elevated and stay hidden and the deer
Speaker 2: aren't super conditioned to looking up for threats. The problem
Speaker 2: is there are so many spots where a good tree
Speaker 2: just doesn't exist. Now, while some folks, you know, they
Speaker 2: solve this problem with an elevated blind, a lot of
Speaker 2: people just don't have or don't want that option. This
Speaker 2: is where a ground game comes into play.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: I've touched on this subject a few times, but I
Speaker 2: really want to dive into it, you know, into what
Speaker 2: I look for and why it matters. And this goes
Speaker 2: way beyond hubstyle blinds. But I'm going to start there.
Speaker 2: But first I want to say that I mostly kind
Speaker 2: of hate hunting deer out of ground blinds. About ninety
Speaker 2: percent of my disdain for this method comes from two
Speaker 2: feelings I get when I'm in one. The first is
Speaker 2: that it's just like, weirdly one step removed from being
Speaker 2: in the woods, and I don't really know how to
Speaker 2: describe it any other way. I feel the same way
Speaker 2: when I sit in a box blind, and they both
Speaker 2: work great and more power to you if that's your jam.
Speaker 2: But for me, I always just feel this little nagging
Speaker 2: feeling like I'm missing something. But the other thing that
Speaker 2: drives me a little crazy, you know, especially sitting in
Speaker 2: a hub style blind, is that I just can't see
Speaker 2: very much in most setups. Sure, field edge blinds can
Speaker 2: give you a chance to see some deer in other critters,
Speaker 2: but a lot of blinds keep you, you know, kind
Speaker 2: of in the dark. U pun intended. Now, The plus
Speaker 2: side of the whole thing is that blinds allow you
Speaker 2: to hunt all kinds of places effectively, which is huge.
Speaker 2: I really can't overstate that if you set them up right,
Speaker 2: they also produce the kinds of shots that I personally
Speaker 2: love to take on deer. Shooting a deer from ground
Speaker 2: level is just so nice. And while it doesn't seem
Speaker 2: like much to have to not think about your downward
Speaker 2: angle like you would from a tree stand. It is
Speaker 2: a big deal. It has been my experience that's growing up.
Speaker 2: An easy shot is way easier from a tree stand
Speaker 2: than a ground blind. And believe me when I say this,
Speaker 2: I'm the kind of fellow who can screw up an
Speaker 2: easy shot with the best of them. Now I like
Speaker 2: to use small ish ground blinds for myself, you know,
Speaker 2: with the girls, I need a little more space. But
Speaker 2: if I'm heading out on a public land deer hunt somewhere,
Speaker 2: I always have at least one small blind. Usually this
Speaker 2: is sold as a two man option, which means it's
Speaker 2: really a one man option. I like small but functional.
Speaker 2: They're easier to brush in and hide, and they allow
Speaker 2: me to set up for just one shot where I
Speaker 2: expect it the most. They're also lightweight and often don't
Speaker 2: really even need to bring a chair with me. I
Speaker 2: can use a little turkey hunting stool, or sometimes just
Speaker 2: a pad to sit on a kneelon. The goal is
Speaker 2: to treat this like my mobile setups for elevated hunts. Small, lightweight,
Speaker 2: easy to move, and quiet ish to set up. Of course,
Speaker 2: a lot of you find folks can get away with
Speaker 2: a bigger option because you can set them up ahead
Speaker 2: of time, you know, and let them season. It's up
Speaker 2: to you. But the truth is, I think every white
Speaker 2: tail hunter should at least entertain this option. Now. If
Speaker 2: you think you don't need to ask yourself if you
Speaker 2: have setups everywhere you want them on the properties you hunt,
Speaker 2: do you have every fence row or waterway or water
Speaker 2: taker grassy slew fully covered? What about if you're on
Speaker 2: stand during opening week and you see that all of
Speaker 2: your bucks walk straight through the beans to feed in
Speaker 2: the middle of the field where there's just some small
Speaker 2: patches of cover. You could try to call them in,
Speaker 2: or you could go and set up right where they
Speaker 2: want to be, and you know, not a coincidentally, I
Speaker 2: guess where they don't expect you to be. The key
Speaker 2: to ground blinds is making them seem like they are
Speaker 2: truly a part of the terrain. Shadows are your friend
Speaker 2: brush them in really good? Then you think, take your
Speaker 2: time and do this part right and make sure that
Speaker 2: you have a way to get into them that is
Speaker 2: quiet and doesn't require you to touch a bunch of
Speaker 2: brush or walk where the deer will also walk. My
Speaker 2: favorite situation is where I can put a blind in
Speaker 2: an edge of something, a feel to kill plot, a meadow, something,
Speaker 2: and then I brush it in really really well on
Speaker 2: the front. Then I leave myself some access to get
Speaker 2: in the door from the cover, which means I never
Speaker 2: have to show my face in the opening or leave
Speaker 2: a single molecule of scent out there, or expect a
Speaker 2: deer to be The next biggest consideration, aside from just
Speaker 2: setting yourself up to shoot from inside the blind, is
Speaker 2: how you handle the rest of your stuff inside the blind.
Speaker 2: If you can kick out or rake out all of
Speaker 2: the leaves and debris and whatever else and leave yourself
Speaker 2: a dirt floor, do that. There's no shortcuts here. Clean
Speaker 2: it out so you can move around and stay quiet.
Speaker 2: You want to be able to set your buind down
Speaker 2: or pick your bow up or whatever without making a
Speaker 2: single sound. This is where a lot of people screw up.
Speaker 2: They think a blind is sort of like a force
Speaker 2: field that keeps deer from detecting them, But the truth
Speaker 2: is deer are real sensitive to unnatural noises that occur
Speaker 2: on the ground in close proximity to them. They don't
Speaker 2: like them from the tree either, but from a ground
Speaker 2: blind they often swing down wind if they hear something funky,
Speaker 2: and if they do, you're most likely in trouble. It's
Speaker 2: not enough to use a blind in a good spot.
Speaker 2: You really want to prep the area. This is why
Speaker 2: I like putting blinds out ahead of time. If it's
Speaker 2: at all possible, they can season out there, But that
Speaker 2: also allows you to really cut shooting lanes and access
Speaker 2: routes if you have the opportunity. Treat them just like
Speaker 2: you would a tree stand and they'll treat you pretty well.
Speaker 2: Keep as many of the windows closed as possible and
Speaker 2: keep it dark in there. Wear you're black, cover your face,
Speaker 2: or use black face paint, and remember that any movement
Speaker 2: you do that's close to the window is an invitation
Speaker 2: to get spotted, so make those movements slowly and deliberately.
Speaker 2: Remember also that blinds work best when the sun is
Speaker 2: blazing away, because that keeps you tucked deep into shadowland.
Speaker 2: The lower the light, or the more even the light
Speaker 2: is like on cloudy days, the more they are likely
Speaker 2: to see you. Of course, you also have the option
Speaker 2: for a natural blind. This is something I love to
Speaker 2: hunt from because I feel like I'm really hunting. I
Speaker 2: also kill deer almost every season this way. It just works,
Speaker 2: and I think it works because it's pretty easy to
Speaker 2: hide yourself in a spot that just allows for the
Speaker 2: element of surprise. There are a few mistakes people make
Speaker 2: on this front, and a big one that I often
Speaker 2: see on public land is bringing a share out look.
Speaker 2: If you're going to sit on the ground, you have
Speaker 2: to accept the fact that you're going to be somewhat uncomfortable.
Speaker 2: If you sit on a chair, especially like a full
Speaker 2: camp chair, you're going to put yourself at eye level
Speaker 2: of the deer. That's going to be trouble. Almost every time,
Speaker 2: sit on the ground and use the cover if you
Speaker 2: can find it. I like to sit behind a big
Speaker 2: tree and brush myself in really well. The goal is
Speaker 2: to have the tree on my front and kind of
Speaker 2: left side. Since I'm a right handed shooter, I can
Speaker 2: lean into it to hide, I can draw behind it,
Speaker 2: and then I can lean out slightly to shoot around it.
Speaker 2: Not every spot works this way, but this is a
Speaker 2: simple strategy that has put a lot of venison in
Speaker 2: my freezer. Plus you can find this in so many
Speaker 2: different places. But you can also tuck into dead falls
Speaker 2: or sometimes just hide behind a barbed ware fence. This
Speaker 2: is how I killed a public land buck last year
Speaker 2: in North Dakota. And if I showed you that setup
Speaker 2: where I killed that ten pointer, you probably wouldn't believe it.
Speaker 2: The whole area was super sparse, just full of little saplings,
Speaker 2: but the fence a bunch of grass and weeds growing
Speaker 2: up along it that gave me and my camera guy
Speaker 2: just enough coverage. It was also the only way I
Speaker 2: could shoot to an oak tree that was dropping so
Speaker 2: much of the good stuff on the ground that I
Speaker 2: knew that's where the deer were going to be. The
Speaker 2: key here is to think about what is in front
Speaker 2: of you, to the sides of you, and behind you.
Speaker 2: You want three hundred and sixty degrees of cover, and
Speaker 2: you want to stay low. Most of the time, when
Speaker 2: I sit a natural ground blind and a deer comes in,
Speaker 2: I'm practically laying on the ground. If it's a non
Speaker 2: target deer, I might stay that way through the whole encounter.
Speaker 2: If it's a deer I want to shoot, I stay
Speaker 2: that way until I can draw an aim, which is
Speaker 2: a part you kind of just have to anticipate. Now,
Speaker 2: while it's fun to brush yourself in, really well, it's
Speaker 2: not fun to try to pick your bow up and
Speaker 2: draw it when your broadhead is caught on some brush
Speaker 2: and your bottom came is scraping on some dead leaves.
Speaker 2: Give yourself the space to draw, and then practice exactly that.
Speaker 2: Practice how you'll pick your bow up, how you'll draw.
Speaker 2: If you encounter any snags during your rehearsal, you can
Speaker 2: remedy them long before any deer wanders in. Now. I
Speaker 2: don't know if I saved the best for last year,
Speaker 2: but this point is one that I can't stress enough.
Speaker 2: When you're scouting or when you're hunting, always always look
Speaker 2: for ground blind options. If the deer always seem to
Speaker 2: leave the neighbor's CRP field and walk the fence line
Speaker 2: on your side as they had to wherever, don't write
Speaker 2: that off glass it with intention, study their route. Is
Speaker 2: there some old farm machinery or a patch of sumac
Speaker 2: or something you can bury yourself in to catch those
Speaker 2: deer way off guard? What about when you go into
Speaker 2: a spot that is just on fire with deer activity,
Speaker 2: but there's only one tree and it will only be
Speaker 2: good with say an east wind, Maybe you should set
Speaker 2: that up. But what if you don't get a true
Speaker 2: east wind for three weeks. That program might die in
Speaker 2: a few days, which means you're out of luck. Look
Speaker 2: for another way to hunt, which, when it comes to
Speaker 2: options for playing the wind, usually means sitting on the ground.
Speaker 2: I don't know how many times I've gone out to
Speaker 2: sit a stand only to realize the wind was just
Speaker 2: wrong and had to scramble to figure something out. The
Speaker 2: times that this has happened and I have a backup
Speaker 2: plan that involves a ground game, I've often killed deer.
Speaker 2: I think this is the biggest reason to always have
Speaker 2: ground blinds, at least in your mind, because they allow
Speaker 2: you to be a hell of a lot more versatile
Speaker 2: in your approach. One of my favorite spots to hunt
Speaker 2: in North Dakota involves a river that the deer like
Speaker 2: a lot. The downside of the river is that it's
Speaker 2: shallow and the deer can cross in multiple spots on
Speaker 2: most falls. Sometimes they cross right by the perfect stantree,
Speaker 2: but often they cross where the cottonwoods are enormous or nonexistent.
Speaker 2: This means that if they are really hitting a crossing
Speaker 2: that you just doesn't have the right trees. I either
Speaker 2: have to go to a secondary spot or try to
Speaker 2: make a ground play now I've made the ground play
Speaker 2: a lot, and it has worked enough to convince me
Speaker 2: that I need to think about this everywhere I hunt,
Speaker 2: even on the properties where I can set stands all
Speaker 2: summer and really take care of the preseason work. Sometimes
Speaker 2: a good area just requires you to hunt the way
Speaker 2: it will allow it, not the way that you want.
Speaker 2: So we are down to weeks now. Everyone is getting
Speaker 2: the itch to get out there and hunt, and I
Speaker 2: know you are too. Think about your ground game and
Speaker 2: the tree stands setups you have, think about your strategy
Speaker 2: for the fall. Think about the times last season or
Speaker 2: the last ten seasons, where you've watched deer do something
Speaker 2: that made you think you didn't have a good way
Speaker 2: to get them there. Maybe you do, And if you do,
Speaker 2: it might just be because you're willing to leave the
Speaker 2: saddle or the stand at home and get on the
Speaker 2: level with them. If you do this the right way,
Speaker 2: you won't feel like you're disadvantaged at all. And when
Speaker 2: you hunt with that feeling, you fill to do that
Speaker 2: and come back next week because I'm going to talk
Speaker 2: about what I think might be the most important week
Speaker 2: to scout in the entire season. That's it for this episode.
Speaker 2: I'm Tony Peterson. This has been the Wired to Hunt
Speaker 2: Foundation's podcast, which is brought to you by First Light.
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