Deer seeing movement in deer blind

If there are deer in the area, why are you moving?

Deer in my area are particularly spooky of anything that is abnormal and they won't tolerate a human presence. I place a stand near a well used trail or funnel and I would not depend on a decoy because the deer already know each other and something strange could spoil your day. You don't want the deer snorting and blowing. Painting the inside of a blind black, wearing dark clothes and wearing a facemask will help. I always place a blind so the sun does not shine directly into the interior of the blind, and I place a blind so it can be hunted in the morning or evening without being blinded by the sun. But, the main things that cause a deer to notice you are staring directly at them, or they see the shine of your eyeglasses. or you look through a pair of binoculars so they see the glare on the lenses, or you look through a rifle scope so they see the glare on the lenses, or you stick a rifle barrel out long before you are ready to shoot. The trick to using binoculars is to only use them for a few second and bring them down. Constant use of any kind of visual aid is bad. Any noise in the blind will tip the animals to your location and once they know that you are using the blind the chances of seeing a big buck gets less every day. Have you ever noticed that the first day in a blind you see several deer, the second day about half as many, and the third day only one or two. So, don't hunt the same blind every day.

I have found that even with a black interior, as in my tent blinds, you need to curb your movement and wear black clothes. I have had deer walk within feet of my blind and never know I was there.

Movement and wind direction. I keep the back of my blinds solid and no window. I sit as far back in the blind as I can so my silhouette is not visible from the sides. Try and back them up against some brush if possible. Of course we use feeders here so the front window looks toward the feeder. I have 2 blinds setup for different wind directions. The wind will bust you and I don't care how much scent killer you use. As mentioned the more you hunt the same blind back to back the less you will see.

No experience with blinds. But I have killed 3 archery bucks from the ground sitting in natural “hidey” holes while in full camo. All three bucks walked past me at 10 yards or less any movement made ie drawing was done when I could not see the bucks eyes. I’ve also had numerous does walk within feet. Stamping their feet doing the head bob thing. I didn’t move they sauntered off somewhere else. Wind direction and not moving are key. Also as sage said don’t even look at them. When I had a deer come in I would pick a spot and stare and keep track of the deer with my peripheral vision. Trees don’t have buck fever eyes you know.

We painted the interior of our blind black.
When we get inside, we remove our required orange. I keep a old black stocking hat, and a black fleece blanket in the blind.
?..and yes, deer pick out movement quickly.
We love our blind, especially on crappy days or when kids are along.

JDeere said:

Movement and wind direction. ..., I sit as far back in the blind as I can so my silhouette is not visible from the sides

Click to expand...

Here in Maryland a blind is required to post a big chunk of orange, and from what I've seen, it's a good idea to do so.....

I hunt from a "blind" but it's on the ground, There is a large tree to my back and I put an orange knit hat on the back of that. I can't shoot that direction anyway, as too much risk of a miss going over the property line, and I don't want any debate about "you shot my [fill in the blank]". I prefer a response of, "Mister if your [whatever] was damaged it wasn't from me..., I don't even face that way let alone shoot that way." But I digress...,

I stand back from the edge of the brush which I use as a blind. My face is covered and my hat has a brim, to keep my eyes in shadow. I scrape the brush where I'm standing to get anything dry and twigs out from under my feet, and this also kicks a little earth-scent into the air. I wash my hunting clothes with plain lye soap, no added scent, and then the outer layer is held in the smoke from a hardwood fire for a couple of minutes. This so far works really well. Movement is very slow when I move at all, and I pay attention to wind direction too.

The advantage of the ground blind is that a) I won't fall out of it, and b) I can move my feet to keep the blood going when it's cold.
The disadvantage is I don't see very far, and any wind picks up all of me that might have an odd scent.

Here a lot of guys use ladder-stands, instead of blinds. The disadvantage for them is their feet, which a lot of folks don't even realize they are shifting, are only a bit above the sight plane of the incoming deer. Easy to unwittingly alert them something odd is up in the tree.

A possible disadvantage of a blind, is sometimes construction. I can shift my feat on the loam, and make very little noise, but sitting on a wooden platform with hunting boots, and putting one's feet down a little too hard makes a pretty loud thud...maybe not to us but deer's ears are sorta like a pair of radar scanning the area. Some some folks in an elevated, plywood blind put in carpet or at least put a chunk under where their feet rest. (Heck I'm built like Santa Claus, so maybe my footfall is louder than most ? )

LD

I noticed this years ago. For a solution I hung a one gallon milk jug where it could be seen by the deer and wind would cause the jug to move. The deer got used to the movement and paid no attention to me in the following seasons.

I don’t do anything special but I don’t open all the windows. You are guaranteed to be easy to pick out if you have the windows facing them and behind you open at the same time.

I have pad and carpeting in my blind. It insulates and deaden noise. It wouldn't be a bad idea on the walls too. Like a 70s party van, lol.

I wear black clothes inside of a blind, including a hood. I also get as far back as I can be in the blind. In a ground blind, I only open the window I will likely be shooting from, and I leave the screen in place and shoot through it. I also rake up all the leaves and pine straw on the ground so the floor is just dirt. If I had a blind with a "hard" floor (wood) I would cover the floor in old rubber car/truck floor mats from the local junkyard. They won't get wet and moldy like carpet.

Even in a blind you have to keep movement to a min. If your blind has a wooden floor they may be hearing your movement not seeing it.
Lear to sit still & have your bow or gun close. A blind is not a house you can't get up & walk around or every animal in the area will know you are there.

bihj said:

I noticed this years ago. For a solution I hung a one gallon milk jug where it could be seen by the deer and wind would cause the jug to move. The deer got used to the movement and paid no attention to me in the following seasons.

Click to expand...

A buddy of mine hung some wind sock nylon yard art type of decorations from his stand (I think he stole them from his wife) and said it worked well. Prior to that, he used a staple gun to attach strips of 1" wide orange flagging tape to dangle off the eve of his stand.

My ground blind has dark interior and we wear face masks. Avoiding noise is a must as is excessive movement. We've killed 5 deer out of my blind in the last 4 years and several turkeys. So far it seems pretty effective. Have had deer walk 15-20 yards in front of the blind and turkeys closer. We don't have the blaze orange requirement in Kansas, so no problems there to solve. OPnly problem I have is the ideal spot faces directly east so facing the rising sun can be problematic. But, has not prevented us from success.

I have been watching a lot of hunting shows this year and can't figure out how I took so many deer without painting my face.

Captcurt said:

I have been watching a lot of hunting shows this year and can't figure out how I took so many deer without painting my face .

Click to expand...

OK so a little over-the-top for hunting deer, I will admit....

LD

Captcurt said:

I have been watching a lot of hunting shows this year and can't figure out how I took so many deer without painting my face.

Click to expand...

Same here, especially when you see them hunting with a rifle, in a elevated and enclosed box stand. Those guys fiddle with a range finder, adjust the tripod and the camera, move around like a rabbit in rut while continuously asking the cameraman with them..."you got him?", yet feel the need to camo their face........

Contrary to other opinions, I tell people not to paint it black on the inside. Black shows up as a void in an otherwise patterned space.

Paint the inside Camo, same as the outside and wear your Camo clothes while in there.

As a general rule less movement is better.

Truly though, being in the right place at the right time is more important than just about anything else.

daniel craig said:

Contrary to other opinions, I tell people not to paint it black on the inside. Black shows up as a void in an otherwise patterned space.

Paint the inside Camo, same as the outside and wear your Camo clothes while in there.

As a general rule less movement is better.

Truly though, being in the right place at the right time is more important than just about anything else.

Click to expand...

You are on the money about right place right time. I spend lots of time scouting deer and turkeys then place my blind accordingly. I only started hunting deer after I retired and had the time for scouting. My hunting buddy has killed many deer and a few elk. He said that "every" deer or elk he has ever shot involved being lucky at being in the right place at the right time.

Sniper66 said:

You are on the money about right place right time. I spend lots of time scouting deer and turkeys then place my blind accordingly. I only started hunting deer after I retired and had the time for scouting. My hunting buddy has killed many deer and a few elk. He said that "every" deer or elk he has ever shot involved being lucky at being in the right place at the right time.

Click to expand...

Can’t tell you the number of deer I’ve taken from a bright colored folding camp chair and a basic burlap tunic I made. Even taken a deer in jeans and t-shirt after I saw it in the orchard from my living room window (I didn’t shoot from the hose, threw on my boots and walked after it. No scent covering, no attractant, nothing. Deer aren’t really that smart.

Around here at least, if you don’t see deer during a given day of hunting it’s likely not due to a lack of Camo or scent control or anything but an issue with location and time.

daniel craig said:

Can’t tell you the number of deer I’ve taken from a bright colored folding camp chair and a basic burlap tunic I made. Even taken a deer in jeans and t-shirt after I saw it in the orchard from my living room window (I didn’t shoot from the hose, threw on my boots and walked after it. No scent covering, no attractant, nothing. Deer aren’t really that smart.

Around here at least, if you don’t see deer during a given day of hunting it’s likely not due to a lack of Camo or scent control or anything but an issue with location and time.

Click to expand...

I've had deer walk within 15-20 yards while setting on the ground while I was wearing an orange vest and cap.

Out West, in many states, blaze orange is mandatory; amazing how well those guys who have to actually go chase after the deer did, as opposed to sitting and waiting.

Captcurt said:

I've had deer walk within 15-20 yards while setting on the ground while I was wearing an orange vest and cap.

Click to expand...

.......... Me too. As long as I was completely motionless. Even in full blaze orange.

I have hunted from a blind and didn't pay too much attention to things since I pretty still in there anyhow. What I did notice is that when deer bed down in the trees in the back yard, they pay attention to us in the house through the windows. When they see movement they certainly pay attention.