Blind Pursuits
“Quite a change from the deer stand I used to hunt from as a youngster back in the Zimmerscheidt Community’s gravel hills just north of Texas’ coastal plains.” Said I. “Back then, my deer stand was a 2”x4” nailed against the “Y” of a tall white oak tree, and I sat on the 2-inch side. It did keep me awake, fearing I would fall off. It was anything but comfortable. Guess that’s one of the many reasons for years I have mostly been hunting on the ground…remembering those days.”
“You’ll enjoy the comfort of the Orion blind. Don’t go to sleep. But, if you do, you won’t have far to fall. And thankfully, with all their insulation, I doubt anything would hear you if you did. Too, if you keep the windows closed, deer won’t even hear you snore.” Thomas Neuberger‘s smile turned to laughter.
A dear old friend going back many years to a time when Kim Hicks, Jay Novacek, then with the Dallas Cowboys and recently retired, and I owned “The Texas Hunting Directory,” Thomas had been our sales manager for the publication and our annual Opening Day outdoor show he did each September in Fredericksburg, Texas. We had shared some fun times…
These days Thomas owns N Bar Consulting. He works with top outdoor brands in marketing and sales, including deer blinds manufactured by Orion Hunting Products in Iron Mountain, Michigan, which is a long way of explaining how I happened to be crawling into an Orion blind and how I was introduced to their line of excellent hunting blinds.
For many years I seldom hunted from established deer blinds, preferring to find a place where deer trails converged, complete with rubs and scrapes, and there “building” a natural ground blind, that, or still-hunting and rattling. The latter continues to be my favorite way of hunting deer. Still, I will have to admit something is relaxing and fun about crawling into a well-insulated, raised deer blind on cold mornings or when dark clouds threaten wet weather, or even when the weather is “nice.”
This past hunting season on a lease I am a part of in western Texas, I spent a fair amount of time hunting from deer blinds. Those blinds were set up near food sources, both natural and otherwise, as well as where with some, I could see a waterhole. Water in that part of Texas is usually far in between. From those blinds, one, in particular, an Orion, I shot several whitetails does as part of our whitetail deer management program, using my .454 Casull Taurus Raging Hunter handgun and also my Mossberg Patriot rifle in .270 Win, both topped with Trijicon optics and shooting appropriate Hornady ammo. The one I hunted most was in an area where I could see several hundreds of yards in all directions. Not only did I shoot deer from the blind, an Orion’s 6’6” by 6’6”, but I also used it as a platform to spot deer nearly a mile away, which I stalked and took or decided to pass.
One of the things I noticed about the blind was how well-insulated it was and how tightly it was put together. By leaving windows closed on the windward side and only opening downwind windows, deer did not scent me. Nor did they pay any great attention to me as long as I moved slowly. But, I also used Orion’s magnetic black window mesh on the windows I left closed, so I was not silhouetted in the blind. This allowed movement in getting my revolver or rifle positioned for a killing shot.
One of the things I had earlier been concerned about is cautious older does and mature bucks shying away from or avoiding obvious deer blinds. That concern vanished when I shot an older mature buck our hunting group had been trying to take for the past few years, standing less than twenty steps from the Orion blind.
Something learned a long time ago…if comfortable while hunting; I tend to pay more attention. I tend to hunt longer and quite frequently hunt all day long. This is particularly if the blind is tall enough for me to stand up. With the Orion hunting blind, I can do so, even though I am 6 feet 3 inches tall. Being able to stand up in the blind makes for a much more comfortable, longer sit and successful day.
Years ago, when I first started hunting whitetails in Canada, the outfitter frequently dropped me off at an open treestand designed for bowhunters, which I am not, although I greatly respect bowhunters. Those “sits” were cold, uncomfortable, and purely miserable. Hard to be a “good hunter” when dealing with such, especially day after day. I can only imagine what big bucks I might have seen and taken had I been hunting from the comfort of an Orion hunting blind.
I recently ordered three Orion blinds. Using “data” gathered from Google Maps, HuntStand, and, more importantly, on-the-ground reconnaissance and past knowledge of the areas hunted, I will be setting up those blinds in June. This will give deer sufficient time to become accustomed to them before the opening of the fall hunting season. They will be set up on raised Orion stands (platforms) in areas where trails converge, there is food and water nearby, where I can hunt regardless of the wind direction, and where I will not be looking into the early morning nor setting sun. I will create shooting lanes. Some of these will come out of thickets on a serpentine path. Deer, like people, tend to take the paths of least resistance.
In eastern Texas, I will be setting my blind where I can see several white oaks fertilized this past winter, as well as near fertilized stands of smilax or green briar. Both are “natural food plots.” Deer have an innate ability to search out the most palatable and nutritious mast and forages. Trimmed shooting lanes will, like the oak trees and smilax, be fertilized with 13-13-13. It, too, will be on the edge of a small irregularly-shaped food plot adjoining a much bigger food plot, so even the wiliest buck will feel comfortable feeding there.
Another blind will go to northwestern Texas, in the rugged “breaks” leading to river bottomland on property populated by both whitetail and mule deer. Not only will that blind serve as a hunting place but also as an observation platform. Should Brandon Houston, host of CarbonTV.com’s “The Journey” on whose lease I will be hunting or I spot a distant buck that shows no signs of coming our way, we will plan an appropriate stalk.
The third will be set up on a property in North Texas, an area where previously there were no blinds but where have been seen some nice mature bucks. Last year Brandon Houston and I rattled in numerous bucks there, including three, which this coming fall should have developed truly impressive antlers.
Frankly, looking back, I never thought I would be spending so much time hunting from a deer blind as I plan this fall. The Orion hunting blinds have had “an effect on” me. Must be something to this “blind pursuits thing”!
Professional wildlife biologist/outdoor communicator, Larry Weishuhn, known to many as “Mr. Whitetail”, has established quality wildlife management programs on over 12,000,000 acres throughout North American and other parts of the world. He has hunted big game with rifle and/or handgun on six continents. Larry is a Professional Member of the Boone & Crockett Club, life-member of numerous wildlife conservation organizations including the Dallas Safari Club, Mule Deer Foundation, and Wild Sheep Foundation. He currently serves on the DSC Foundation Board of Directors, is one of three co-founders of the Texas Wildlife Association; is a member of the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame and the Muy Grande Hall of Fame; he too, received the Zeiss Lifetime Achievement Award among many other honors.
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