Consistently Shoot Mature Deer From the Same Hunting Blind

With scent control and concealment features, a hunting blind is one of the best ways to see and shoot large deer year after year.

​The photo above features Buffalo County, Wisconsin, hunter, Bruce Witte, with a buck he harvested last season. It’s the sixth big buck killed out of the same Banks Outdoors deer hunting blind in the last five years.

This is an impressive streak, even in a location like Buffalo County where big deer are plentiful. However, the county is not immune to hunting pressure, which sets in around the firearm season. During this time, it’s likely every potentially productive stand location has a hunter on it that is waiting for a rut-crazed buck to make a mistake. No doubt, hunting from a Banks Stump elevated tower blind is helping keep this streak alive.

Consistently shooting big deer from the same hot spot year after year requires scouting and discipline. If you put the time in and hunt these spots with care, it’s likely to produce mature buck sightings and shot opportunities on an annual basis.

Hunting Blind Setups

Early season

In the early season, a destination area like a food plot is more predictable than hunting deer trails where pinch points or travel corridors can change. And plus, it may take some time to find the sweet spot in these “deer highway” zones. But during the early season, especially when deer are comfortable coming out to feed before nightfall because hunting pressure is still light, a Banks Stump Blind in the middle of an food plot can be a stand where you shoot a big buck year after year.

Opting to set up a blind in the middle of a food plot instead of a tree stand on the edge offers a few advantages. Early season winds can vary. Sure, you can set up one tree stand in a location best suited the predominant wind direction in your area, but will you get that wind on days you get to hunt? It’s a crapshoot when autumnal winds are made up of transitional summer and winter winds. A Banks blind seals tight and holds your scent in until it’s time to take a shot. The risk of educating deer of your presence is significantly reduced.

This strategy also keeps your blind locations in the timber fresh until the rut picks up steam and those ridgelines becomes runways for bucks cruising and searching for hot does.

Mid-Season

Usually the tail end of the pre rut to the end of the peak rut, the mid-season is the time to hunt the woods where bucks will be on their feet during daylight hours looking for does.

Since it’s harder to pattern daily buck movement during the rut, you want a blind in a high-traffic area between feeding and bedding areas. This is usually where multiple trails pour into a pinch point or funnel. Look for places where ridges intersect with areas of cover so thick there are only one or two places a deer can travel through them; and fingers or draws connecting blocks of timber. When bucks are prowling for does, you never know which direction they may show up from, so a blind with a 360-degree view offering multiple shot angles is ideal.

The tight sealing windows on a Banks Blind proves it value when say a deer you expected to show up in front of the blind actually makes an appearance behind you. Your comfort in a hunting blind versus a tree stand is much better, making those all-day much more enjoyable.

Late Season

This is where choosing a hunting blind over a tree stand really makes the most sense. In the Midwest, winters can be brutal. Hunters are much more comfortable in an enclosed blind. It’s also common to have large numbers of deer in and around food plots, and it’s much easier to avoid detection if you are in a blind that holds your scent in and conceals movement.

During the late season, it’s out of the timber and back to the food. But it will not be the same food sources as the early season – unless you left some corn or beans standing, which is a great idea if you can swing it.

One big challenge of late-season deer hunting is identifying the preferred food source. It’s best to take matters into your own hands and plant late-maturing food plots with winter greens, wheat or brassicas.

When you have a good food source to hunt over in December and January, it might be your best chance to consistently see a giant buck during daylight hours. Grocery supplies are down and demand is up, so even the most elusive deer in the herd are forced to join the line at an available food source.

Here are some other tips to keeping hunting blind locations fresh and productive year after year: