# A thing I learned at Tony Lapratt's Bootcamp



## StevenJ (Feb 11, 2009)

greencreekx181 said:


> if u build a box blind right the deer will see it as part of the habitat.


Share with us some of your techniques on building it right.


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## outdoor_m_i_k_e (Feb 3, 2005)

bioactive said:


> I think the most likely explanation in this case is that an adult deer laid down after the shot was fired. This is a signal to the others that everything is OK. If a senior member of the group is dropped on the spot, the rest of the group almost never runs, whether it is a shotgun or ML report.
> 
> I the deer that was shot had run very far, others would likely have scattered as well.


The deer ran about 30 yards full speed, head first into a creek making a big splash and bang against a log that was crossing the creek. . All of the other deer shot from this blind have been with a rifle. . . It wasnt like he just dropped, he made a heck of a lot of noise running and banging into trees and such. guess I should have clarified that.


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## greencreekx181 (Jan 21, 2010)

my hunting partners already say i share to much info . all i can say is that you shouldnt be able to see it when your done unless u know its there.and there are many ways to acomplish this.its not hard and easy to figure out. just give it a little thought. like i said the deer should see it as part of the habitat.


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## StevenJ (Feb 11, 2009)

greencreekx181 said:


> my hunting partners already say i share to much info .


 
I understand, after all, michigan deer hunting is a zero sum game. Don't ya think? If one hunter is successful, then another hunter suffers.


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## greencreekx181 (Jan 21, 2010)

we wish all hunters success and have helped many people in the past and are still doing so today.


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## TheCrawdad (May 9, 2009)

Why would a guy post on a public forum and imply he has some good ideas, but isn't willing to share them? Why even post at all?


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## johnhunter (Jun 17, 2000)

StevenJ said:


> Only a decrepit rich old idiot would use a box blind to hunt.


I feel exactly the same way about ladder stands.

Anyway, as to that old structure on your property, it sounds like a perfect location. Since I'm not favorably disposed to box blinds, what I would suggest is that you discard it, and then build a cozy pit blind on that very spot. Always good to have a convenient stand for your hunting guests to enjoy.


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## UNCLE TUB (Dec 1, 2009)

If you are going to use the outhouse remember to cover the hole you will be siiting on so as not to fall in!!! lol


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## StevenJ (Feb 11, 2009)

farmlegend said:


> I feel exactly the same way about ladder stands.
> 
> Anyway, as to that old structure on your property, it sounds like a perfect location. Since I'm not favorably disposed to box blinds, what I would suggest is that you discard it, and then build a cozy pit blind on that very spot. Always good to have a convenient stand for your hunting guests to enjoy.


 Good Thinking, Farmlegend. Any chance you're known for a dry sense of humor? That one went over a few heads.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## November Sunrise (Jan 12, 2006)

We've done a number of things with blinds for firearm hunting. 

One option that we use are a couple of old farm wagons. On one that we've used over the past several years we rigged up a makeshift blind out of pallets so that you can just slip your gun barrel out the highest slat. You can wheel that blind into position anywhere and have immediate and up close action - there is no "adjustment time" needed.

On the other extreme is one that we call "The Palace". It's a big ugly contraption about 10 feet long and 4 feet wide that sticks out like a sore thumb. It's positioned on a scraggly fence row with a very large field in front of and another behind it. It's one of my favorite spots to take kids as you can see a long distance so there's a high likelihood that they're at least going to see something, and in actuality the deer really relate to that fence line in terms of how they move across those fields, so oftentimes deer do come by within range. The key to that stand is time of day, as under favorable wind conditions it can be hunted repeatedly mornings and mid day, but it only takes a couple of afternoon hunts before it become largely worthless for the season, as it's almost impossible to get out of that stand at the end of the day without educating a lot of deer in the process. I'd guess that all told someone has probably hunted out of that stand 50 times in the past five seasons, and it continues to still be productive. 300 yards away is a ridge that we set aside and keep free from human activity until early November, and invariably at some point during the first ten days of November one of us will be perched in a tree on the ridge and end up seeing a shooter buck cruising by the Palace. 

Last fall we constructed a blind just inside a row of Norway spruces that is probably the best hidden of any of our blinds. We used 30 bales of straw. Across the back we stacked the bales two wide and four high, same thing along each side, and then two wide and three high across the front. Our roof consisted of two sheets of playwood and a handful of big rocks to keep the plywood from blowing off. We enter the blind through the front by pushing off one of the top bales where they're only three high (and then leaving that in the blind as a seat for the kids) and crawling through. I'm tall enough where I can see well over the three bales in front of me, but usually I have a kid or two along with me so they'll sit on the side where we crawled through that now just has two bales in front of them, and we'll flip the top of the two bales on its side which makes it just the right height for the youngster who was going to do the shooting. Once you get a little more than 20 yards out in front of this straw bale blind it's essentially indiscernible - blends in perfectly.


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## anonymous7242016 (Aug 16, 2008)

IMO a box blind put up well in advance before using( like 1 or more years, preferabley more), it in the correct area, hunting it at the correct time of day and year, and hunting it sparingly, could be good spot for years. I would hunt not much differently then I would like I was hunting in a tree stand during bow season.


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## Craves (Feb 16, 2010)

I remember reading a story a few years ago in MBH about a hunter who could no longer climb a tree to bowhunt. 
He built a ground blind near a well used deer trail and stuffed some old clothes to look like a hunter into the blind. When the season started, he went out and stuffed the "dummy" hunter into the blind and sat where the dummy had been. The deer were so accustomed to the dummy, they walked right by him and he was able to harvest a deer!


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## StevenJ (Feb 11, 2009)

That is one helluva idea. Makes sense. If a deer sees the same think every frickin day and senses no danger he will be less wary of that hunting spot. He gets to check it out crepuscularly  and at night. He thinks he has the lowdown. And then wham, never knew what hit him. Very wise tactic.


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## StevenJ (Feb 11, 2009)

Man, time flies by. 

I still haven't developed the 10 sq. ft. of real estate in the OP.


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## NorthWoodsHunter (Feb 21, 2011)

If it's there the deer are used to it. I think the guys that claim their deer shacks screw up movement aren't paying enough attention to the other factors of their behavior that are negativity affecting their hunting ie. sounds,scent,entrance and exit.


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## NorthWoodsHunter (Feb 21, 2011)

Remembered this article

https://www.qdma.com/articles/will-deer-avoid-a-hot-pink-stand


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## POPPAJ (Mar 24, 2015)

For scent control, has anyone thought about venting away scent by installing a chimney of sorts, maybe 15 to 20 feet above the box blind using plastic pipe?


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## Berserker (Aug 10, 2014)

No proof, but I think deer get used to structures especially if it has been there there whole life.

I do like hunting in the air, but I may hunt a 20 year old box blind this year too.


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## Smokin-the-eyes (Jan 4, 2014)

POPPAJ said:


> For scent control, has anyone thought about venting away scent by installing a chimney of sorts, maybe 15 to 20 feet above the box blind using plastic pipe?


Been thinking this with my 12 volt fan from ice shanty inside 4" black drainage pipe to create draft mab with a charcoal filter in it 
The first time a squirrel comes down it would prob crap my pants though lol


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## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

Berserker said:


> No proof, but I think deer get used to structures especially if it has been there there whole life.
> 
> I do like hunting in the air, but I may hunt a 20 year old box blind this year too.


Some do. I used to hunt by an old rundown barn. It was one of those you look at and marvel at how it still standing. It had been let go and was open on both ends. The floor had reverted back to weeds and grass. The deer used it for a bedding area. I would be sitting in the rain, and the deer would be sitting in the barn. Here's my sign!


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## Berserker (Aug 10, 2014)

I think UP writer Richard smith wrote about using old farm structures and such. Makes sense to me.


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## POPPAJ (Mar 24, 2015)

Smokin-the-eyes said:


> Been thinking this with my 12 volt fan from ice shanty inside 4" black drainage pipe to create draft mab with a charcoal filter in it
> The first time a squirrel comes down it would prob crap my pants though lol


As long as he doesn't run up your pant leg you should be OK.


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## Berserker (Aug 10, 2014)

I have 48" auger, sand country. I thought about putting urinal.


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## koz bow (Nov 18, 2006)

It's a doe sink!!! Don't waste your time..let your friends sit there!


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## bioactive (Oct 30, 2005)

koz bow said:


> It's a doe sink!!! Don't waste your time..let your friends sit there!


Saw 2 does and 3 fawns....


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## LCO (Jun 26, 2015)

Berserker said:


> I think UP writer Richard smith wrote about using old farm structures and such. Makes sense to me.


I would ignore anything and everything that guy writes about. 
Most of his stuff is like reading a children's book.


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## zakker (Sep 14, 2012)

Man, you guys are thinking this deer hunting thing too hard...just sayin


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## zakker (Sep 14, 2012)

Meant to add, put yourself in the best position and hope its the right time.


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## ckosal (May 20, 2013)

I hope Tony L. is wrong. I just bought 4 new blinds and put them up. Unfortunately, I couldn't get them up until early mid-September. I pulled my camera cards today on my way out of the woods and just saw a photo of a real lunker right by one of the new blinds (without me sitting in it - ha). 

I think if you locate them in the right spot (without disrupting the flow) they get used to them. Today on my way in from bow hunting, I stopped in the blind closest to my bunk house to get up the heater (getting it ready for my dad for the season). While I was in the blind setting up the heater I looked out and there was a doe in the food plot. She clearly didn't mind. Lets hope her boyfriend feels ok with them in November.


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## Berserker (Aug 10, 2014)

LCO said:


> I would ignore anything and everything that guy writes about.
> Most of his stuff is like reading a children's book.


I dunno, I guess it is not Middle East diplomacy, but ok for me. I don't have the patience
to read about how to talk to Iatola. 

I know what you mean, it is go out, stay out of wind, shoot deer. Didn't learn a ton, but a couple things.


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## johnhunter (Jun 17, 2000)

StevenJ said:


> Man, time flies by.
> 
> I still haven't developed the 10 sq. ft. of real estate in the OP.


Bump. 

Status?


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## Pinefarm2015 (Nov 29, 2015)

I thought the lesson was to pay with check, so there's a record of the transaction?

Some of the best bucks I ever saw in Texas were right next to active, pumping oil wells. The nicest buck I ever saw in Baldwin lived behind the parking lot of the grocery store and the best buck I've seen in Rockford lives between a subdivision, an industrial park and 131. Old deer blinds don't bother bucks. Most big, mature bucks are killed out of one.


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## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

StevenJ said:


> I kick myself for not utilizing this situation. I've avoided it like a smelly outhouse, but it makes all the sense in the world the paint the inside black, shore up the framework, cut some more windows. I can see the big open vertical door being a good bow opening.
> 
> I would consider this a one big buck shoot wonder.
> 
> ...


Remnar Soady shot a buck while in the outhouse.


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