Trap door entry for elevated blind

[willy]

I've never understood why we should be so stealthy with a raised box blind entry. I don't have the ladder to any ladder stands concealed, and some of those in the woods.

My goal is to never let the deer know when I come into their area nor when I leave. I'm sure I've not succeeded all the time but if the wind is right and I can get up and down without them seeing me I have a good chance of getting out without cluing them in. I have most of my blind's entrance and exit paths blocked as far as sight goes. If I take care of the scent part as good as I can and I hunt the wind I don't bugger up a blind for hunting again in the near future for the deer I want to shoot. Young adult deer aren't
much of a worry to blow up but older ones are an entirely different story.

I'm blessed in that the vast majority of my blinds have been able to be developed into low pressure entrance and exit opportunities.

 

[j-bird]

In my case in particular the 2 I currently have it's about reducing the opportunity to educate the deer. Mine are on the edges of large agricultural fields and involve plots for the deer to stage in. The "trap door" is simply part of my plan to reduce educating the deer. I am simply trying to take in everything I can possibly put in my favor to improve my situation. Me being skylined as I climb my ladder and stand on the landing and the like are all things that a deer could be watching from 100 to 200 yards away and I have no idea that deer is there. Even if I have a totally screened approach to the blind...you climb that 8,10 or 12 feet and boom....you stick out like a billboard!

My plan doesn't just hinge on trap doors either. I am looking into lower my stands to help better hide their location, I am working on screening the blinds themselves, sealing them better, reducing exterior moving parts, and screen the approach tot he blinds as much as is realistic as well. The trap door access I think may simply allow me to stay elevated to some extent, reduce exterior moving parts, seal the blind better and not need my screening to be as tall. I may be putting way too much thought into it...but it can't hurt. I know the deer know the blinds are there.....I don't plan to become totally undetectable. I simply hope to reduce the level of detection and maybe make a cruising deer less concerned about that big box up in the air.

 

[hillrunner]

My goal is to never let the deer know when I come into their area nor when I leave. I'm sure I've not succeeded all the time but if the wind is right and I can get up and down without them seeing me I have a good chance of getting out without cluing them in. I have most of my blind's entrance and exit paths blocked as far as sight goes. If I take care of the scent part as good as I can and I hunt the wind I don't bugger up a blind for hunting again in the near future for the deer I want to shoot. Young adult deer aren't
much of a worry to blow up but older ones are an entirely different story.

I'm blessed in that the vast majority of my blinds have been able to be developed into low pressure entrance and exit opportunities.

Exactly, whether in a blind or a stand, I do everything I can to get in and out clean. Mature bucks will not tolerate hunting pressure for long.
For blinds, I put emphasis on my entrance and exit , not trying to be exactly where the deer enter the field.

 

[j-bird]

To help illustrate my specific situation....

My case on the north side of my place.

I have to cross/contend with a 30 acre ag field....that is typically harvested by the time I start hunting. I implemented the field buffers (yellow lines) to help screen the deer's view from the cover into the open field. I only hunt this blind when the wind comes from the N, NW or W. The red line is where I have recently planted some MG rhizomes in an effort to further screen the plot. Access is on foot. You will see that this is all about hiding in plain sight.


Here is a more ground level view with the blind in the distance


A picture of how exposed the ladder/landing can be (it's slightly hidden by the cedar in this pic). This pic was taken to show a cedar tree, but you can certainly see how skylined the stand is. The landing is roughly 8 feet or so off the ground.


Views from the blind. You can see how open it is.....The blind "front" face sort of NNW, so this view is mostly facing west and the pic below is a view looking more north/north east.




So again...my thinking is if I lower the blind, add some cover/screening to the blind itself, consider a trap door access to eliminate/reduce any additional skylining and movement and better sealing of the blind.....I HOPE to improve what we see. I don't expect it to be a game changer, but I need to make some renovations any way to this blind, so I might as well make as many changes for the better as I can.

 

[j-bird]

The situation on the south side....

So I only hunt this blind when the wind comes from the SW,S & SE. Again I have to access across a wide open ag field. The transition from the field to the plots is a slope down toward the creek. This elevation change helps with not needing to be as elevated (only 3 or 4 feet off the ground), but I still think I can do some things to improve the situation (maybe not a trap door).


This is a view back at the blind from the plot. Again you can see the skylining that is happening. That is switchgrass between the plot and the blind, and I have an MG screen (red line) recently planted to go around the blind as well.


Anyways....both blinds need renovated/replaced so this is why/where I am looking at making these improvements in both the blinds themselves and the areas around them that can possibly improve their affectivness.

 

[Foggy47]

I still have a couple of blinds with trap doors.....but I wont use those anymore. Mine are about 10 feet high. Too hard to crawl through that door with my big boots and clothes on....let alone the gun and gear I carry. Was not a big deal in younger days......alas.

 

[356]

I still have a couple of blinds with trap doors.....but I wont use those anymore. Mine are about 10 feet high. Too hard to crawl through that door with my big boots and clothes on....let alone the gun and gear I carry. Was not a big deal in younger days......alas.

While this is an old thread, I agree with Foggy47 that trap doors did not work as well not as I had hoped., although ghillihunters setup look pretty good. After one season, I converted my trap door to a side entry and would never go back. I am using trees and branches to provide cover. In a similar setup (traditional side entry with cover) we entered the blind with deer in the field undetected due to the trees and branches used for cover. Depending on the area, switchgrass would work as well. On my newest blind I am using the “under the blind” space to park an e-bike or UTV.

 

[Lucky_P]

Early on, my dad was crazy about building blinds WAY UP in the trees... had at least two that were 30-40 ft up in the air. Thankfully, he later realized that 8 ft up on posts was just fine.
One of his high stands, built in the crotch of a big, old water oak, had a trap-door entry in the floor. I hated that sucker. It was a pretty scary climb up to it from the outset.... and I had to do it with rifle slung over my back and put it into the blind, ahead of me, once I got the door open.
Then one year, I was the first one to try it out... flipped the door up to find the floor carpeted with several inches of owl shyt and pellets and three half-grown barn owls hissing at me. Needless to say, I climbed back down and went to a different foodplot to hunt.

 

[matinc]

This is the easiest and safest way for my 88 year old dad to access 10 feet.