Out here in East Texas hunting is just part of life. Probably half the people living here either hunt or eat meat that someone got from hunting. This year I am determined to try an take my limit in deer and fill the freezer. Hopefully I will be able to make some jerky and if I kill a pig too then I can make some pork / venison sausage. A lot people fill huge feeders full of corn, spend hundreds on the feeder and a blind, a full set of camo gear, and all sorts of other hunting accessories. For me hunting has to be an economic plus or I can't bring myself to do it.
The first day of open rifle season starts next Sunday and I have been preparing a new spot near a tiny creek, known as a branch, where I know the deer and pigs come to drink on well established game trails. I started by cutting down as much brush and small trees as I needed to in the area where I hung my small feeder. I had to cut down at least twenty pine trees, but they were all four inches around or less at the very base of the tree. This will give me a clear view of anything coming into the area as well as allowing the bigger trees to grow larger.
I thought about going full on primitive and constructing my blind entirely out of the brush and trees I had cut down, but I wanted something with a roof to keep some rain off. I used some old poles that have been here since we move in, corrogated tin off a rotting pig pen built in the sixties, and some pieces of corrugated Lexan left over from the chicken coops I had to take apart. The only thing I paid for was the box of self tapping sheet metal screws that I need to screw in the tin. After putting it together I cover the top with leaves and pine straw and piled the brush I cut down around the blind. I need to pile on a little more brush and spray a little paint on the non rusted spots on the tin.
The blind is just big enough for me to sit in and only has tin on three sides. I piled enough brush behind it that from the back you can't see it, but the point of that was for me to be able to blend into the brush behind me through the window. With mostly my head being the thing showing I spent two bucks at Wal-mart for two camo bandanas to cover my head and face. Add in the one bag of corn and my total investment would be 16 bucks, if it works it will be a great investment for a couple hundred dollars worth of meat.
At some point I would consider building a better, more comfortable blind that would keep me warmer and drier, but if this works I don't know if I could bring myself to spend the money. I would probably be more likely to try going the other way and trying the full on primitive and use only brush to make a blind.
