Backpack Blind Hunting?

[RockChucker30]

Anyone ever backpacked in 2-5 miles and planned on either treestanding or ground blind hunting for most of their trip?

Where I killed my bull last year was 3.5 miles in and 2800 ft gain from the trailhead, but I think if I sat at that same creek crossing all day every day for a week and wasn't smelled then I'd have very good odds of killing another bull.

Adding 20 lbs on the pack in for my LW stand and safety harness is hard to commit to. I have an idea for a fabric ground blind seat that could use sawn sticks for legs that might work better.

[pointysticks]

i hiked my double bull out of the AZ desert..tied it to my relatively light badlands 2800. it was hot and gross. it hooked onto every tree i walked under.

now i complain about the 1 mile i have to hump to get to my turkey pasture. what is your estimated total pack weight with the blind?

[RockChucker30]

I'm thinking about more of a UL stool and building a ground blind than humping a popup.

With the stool setup I'm planning on building I could take it, a sawvivor, and use some paracord and be in for a pound or less.

A treestand would likely add close to 20 lbs.

I'm not carrying a big popup blind up the mountain. No way.

[pointysticks]

I'm thinking about more of a UL stool and building a ground blind than humping a popup.

With the stool setup I'm planning on building I could take it, a sawvivor, and use some paracord and be in for a pound or less.

Way smarter. The area we were in had very little brush. My friends begged me to set up the blind by a cattle water pot. We never used the blind. It just sat there for a week. To much stalk action. Now I speak profanity when the same guy begs me again. I call him names

[Coveyleader]

Can you go there prior to your hunt? If so, just pack a stand in and leave it. I have one place ( I should tell some young guys about as long as they pack my stand back out) that I packed a stand into. I killed a bull, but this place is like stepping off the moon heading towards earth. It is the only time I almost cried packing an elk out. I was that close. Needless to day, that stand is still there.

Pack a stand, leave it. Kill a bull, stash it for the next year.

[RockChucker30]

Coveyleader that's not a bad idea, not bad at all.

I've got several hang on stands that I'm not using at the moment. I could take some tree steps, the stand, and hunt a week then take it down and stash it somewhere up there.

I definitely wouldn't be leaving my lone wolf up there, but an unused hang on just maybe.

[Migolito]

During the Cali deer season, for specific areas, I take a piece of blind material and set up a ground blind. I sit on a log, or on the upside of a hill. I can't imagine taking my tree stand 2-3 miles in Too tuff 4me

There used to be a harness type tree stand, I believe I saw it on YT. Was supposed to be very light.

[dotman]

Anyone ever backpacked in 2-5 miles and planned on either treestanding or ground blind hunting for most of their trip?

Where I killed my bull last year was 3.5 miles in and 2800 ft gain from the trailhead, but I think if I sat at that same creek crossing all day every day for a week and wasn't smelled then I'd have very good odds of killing another bull.

Adding 20 lbs on the pack in for my LW stand and safety harness is hard to commit to. I have an idea for a fabric ground blind seat that could use sawn sticks for legs that might work better.

Have you considered Ghost Blinds? Not sure if they would work but the weigh nothing and are easy to pack. I haven't used one but they are an interesting concept.

[RockChucker30]

Trying to plan this out in my head.

A treestand offers more than a ground blind in concealment and may get my scent up high enough it doesn't bust an elk that would have spooked if I were on the ground. It's heavier, and I basically have to commit to putting it one spot because I won't be humping it all over the mountain.

A ground blind is much more flexible, but I would want a chair or stool to sit on. Waiting hours sitting on the ground you get in a lot of different positions, and those positions mean you have to move to get ready for a shot. A seat makes a big difference here. I can make a seat and then cut legs for it and assemble it on the mountain, then pile up some brush and have decent concealment. This is lighter and more flexible because I can move spots easier.

If I do commit to hunting that spot all day every day then I'll probably take the treestand. If I don't make that commitment and want to run n gun, spot and stalk, call etc, I'll probably do the ground blind thing.

[Coveyleader]

Those lone wolf stands are nice and I wouldn't leave that in there either. I'd go get yourself another "Disposable" such as a Gorilla or something along those lines. They're under 15 pounds and work real nice. Tomorrow I'm actually leaving to go hang two stands myself. One is about 2 miles in, the other about 2.5 to 3.

For me, I wouldn't even bother with a ground blind (packing one in) as you can make one just as easy with natural cover. Another option, one I've done is to dig a pit. I have one spot that has a wallow in a small valley that all the timber on the bottom is dead or in the wrong place wind-wise. The closet shot is about 30 yards (too far for me) so I dug a pit in the exact place I wanted, brushed it in, and it works great. I shot one elk out of it. I also think a pit keeps your scent from blowing all around. All it took was a shovel packed in there in the summer. It just depends on how serious you are I guess and how good the spot is. Obviously, a tree stand would be better.

With that shovel, it also helps to dig/deepen those little seeps wallows, water sources. There is one wallow/source I know of that is the coldest I've seen. It's in the shade, and is comprised of the prettiest sand/small pebbles you've seen. It has no business in this spot. Anyways, it's never really a waterhole but more of a seep dripping down from the edges of the cut. This is a nasty place, and I will drop in there with my shovel about the July time-frame and dig it out. Talk about a magnet! I've seen plenty of bulls and bears hit this place, but this is the one spot I won't pack an elk out unless it a nice 6x6 which would most likely hurt even more. I've never kiled an elk here, and to this day, I'm not sure I want to. The pack out is up a huge East facing mountain full of oak brush. That stuff gets so hot, so fast when East facing, I doubt I could get it out without it rotting.

Good luck, I'm heading out tomorrow to get some spots ready. Maybe I will take a few photos.

[>>>---WW---->]

I'm suprised Jeff hasn't jumped in here with his umbrella type blind setup. It can be used as a walking stick as well. Check out the Elk Mountain Slip system. Jeff is a sponcer here. It might be something you could use.

[JGH]

I've got the same dilemma this year ... thinking about taking an older, basically unused climber in this summer on a horse ... or ... the paracord/stool option.

An old friend used to say "When given a choice, take both." Maybe I will.