A number of years ago, my wife and I had located several decent whitetail bucks that were routinely feeding in the oat crop on one of our neighbor's fields. We watched the deer through the summer and early fall, trying to figure out how to get a crack at them when rifle season opened.

Our biggest problem was that the quarter section was completely under cultivation and lacked any meaningful cover. The deer were bedding on an adjacent quarter section of land that featured heavy timber, but, unfortunately, the owners did not allow hunting. This left us with no place to put up a tree stand.

Our neighbor would have allowed us to erect an elevated blind, but he didn't want a permanent structure in his field, and I really couldn't see spending the money to build a portable elevated blind to hunt that one field. I also wanted to avoid attracting attention to the area. Erecting a tower blind is like posting a sign along the road that screams, "Someone has seen a good buck here!"

There were old burn piles at several spots in the field, places where the landowner had piled and burned the tree roots years ago when the land was originally cleared. These provided an ideal location for some kind of stand, and although our neighbor didn't hunt big game, he did like to hunt geese when he had finished the fall harvest. That gave me an idea.

Pit blinds are routinely used for geese, so why wouldn't they work for hunting deer in this situation? I approached the neighbor with the idea of digging a pit blind in the middle of one of the burn piles. It wouldn't interfere with his farming practices, and we could both use it to hunt during the fall.

The blind worked like a charm, and my wife used it to take her first whitetail buck on a cold evening in late November. She watched the buck saunter slowly out of the bush and work its way into the middle of the field, less than 100 yards from the pit blind. One well-placed shot and she was calling me on the cell phone to help drag her buck out of the field.

Since then I have used pit blinds on a number of occasions to hide in places that, for one reason or another, precluded the use of conventional tree stands, tower blinds or shooting boxes. While I don't particularly enjoy digging holes, I will do it if it is the only way I believe I can successfully hunt a certain area.

Big deer are where you find them, and it is often difficult to locate a tree that is large enough, stable enough and situated in the right spot for a tree stand. Tower blinds are always an option, but they are usually permanent fixtures, and not all landowners are going to be receptive to their use.

Commercially made portable tower blinds are an option, but most of us can't afford to have several of them lying around. You could also build such a contraption, but homemade versions tend to be heavy and cumbersome to move.

Elevated stands stick out like a sore thumb if you are hunting in really open country, and in hilly terrain this problem is compounded when the stand is positioned on high ground where it is silhouetted and visible from miles away. Most game will soon learn to ignore the presence of a permanent stand or shooting box, but I have seen big whitetail bucks that never fully accepted these structures and always detoured around them at a safe distance.

A pit blind, on the other hand, can be built on high ground, in the side of a steep hill or out in the middle of a field. There are few situations where a pit cannot be used as a viable alternative to a conventional stand.

Obviously, low lying areas and land with a high water table should be avoided, and of course the use of pit blinds should be restricted to land you own or private property where you have previously made arrangements with the landowner.

All pit blinds should be safely covered and locked when not in use--to avoid any legal problems--and you should consider posting warning signs. Each situation is different, and you can judge for yourself what precautions are necessary.

A good cover or lid not only prevents accidents, it also keeps out intruders. One of the first pit blinds I built on our ranch proved to be an irresistible draw to the local raccoon population and, if it was left ajar, would quickly acquire new residents.

Sitting in an open stand for hours can be a rather chilly experience when the wind is blowing snow in your face and temperatures are dipping below zero. Pit blinds are a far warmer option. They keep you out of the wind, and the natural heat from the subsurface soil helps keep you more comfortable.

A pit blind also traps your scent. I have actually had deer walk within three feet of the blind without detecting my presence. That makes a pit blind a great setup for spots where the prevailing winds and topography force you to situate your stand upwind from the location you expect the game to appear.

Although pit blinds do not protrude above the ground a great deal, it is still a good idea to break up their outlines. Wildlife will notice any obvious changes to their environment, so you should cover fresh dirt you excavate with camo cloth or simply use brush, leaves and grass from the surrounding area to give it a natural look. In the late season you may not need to worry about this as a couple of inches of snow will solve all of the problems.

As to camouflaging the bind itself, pressure-treated wood is usually dull brown or green in color and blends in fairly well. If you choose to use untreated wood, it should be stained with a color that will blend with the area; don't forget to stain the underside of the lid, too. I also like to break up the solid color by spraying a bit of black and gray paint in an irregular pattern on the top edges of the pit blind walls and the top and underside of the lid or cover.

When I am building a permanent pit, I like to complete the construction by late spring so that I can landscape the area and have it completely blending in with the surrounding vegetation by hunting season. I carefully remove the sod from the construction area prior to digging the hole and set it aside. Once the blind panels and floor are in place, I spread the dirt out evenly around the blind and back-slope it up to within four inches of the top edge of the walls. I then pack it firmly and replace the sod I removed from the area earlier.

I give the sod a good soaking with a few buckets of water and then leave it alone for a few weeks. The sod quickly takes hold, and the new pit blind blends in beautifully.

Always try to match the vegetation that is growing around the location of your blind. If the blind is actually surrounded by clover, alfalfa or another crop, then seed the disturbed area around your blind accordingly.

Maintenance is minimal. With permanent pit blinds it is a good idea to open the lid and let them air out for several days during the dry summer months. They should also be checked for seepage after unusually heavy rains, although this should not be a problem if your pit blind was built in a suitable location and properly covered.

Don't forget that the vegetation along the shooting lanes from your pit blind should be trimmed periodically during the growing season. This will ensure you have a clear line of sight when hunting season rolls around. If you do this properly, the plants will still provide an adequate amount of cover for the front of your blind while leaving you with good visibility.

All too often hunters do not take the time to clear their shooting lanes well in advance of the season. They check the stand just before opening day and quickly run around snapping branches, stomping grass, pulling bushes and tossing debris to the side. Trophy bucks are quite sensitive to any disturbance in their areas, and this last-minute lane clearing may affect their movements.

This past year, my wife and I bought a new ranch. I watched the whitetails feeding in our alfalfa fields and made careful note of the routes they used to access their feeding area from bedding areas on our land and neighboring properties. In late June I dug a pit blind and occasionally trimmed the shooting lanes around it when I was out fencing or haying.

I couldn't go out opening morning, but I slipped quietly into the blind in the mid-afternoon and waited for the light to fade. About an hour before sunset, I was quietly sipping a cup of coffee when a couple of does slipped through the fence and fed slowly out into the field. They periodically turned and looked back the way they had come, so I knew they were expecting company.

The big buck jumped the fence, stood motionless at the edge of the field for a few minutes and then sauntered toward the does. I slowly squeezed the trigger on my T/C Omega muzzleloader, and when the smoke cleared the buck was lying motionless in the field. I just love it when a plan comes together.

Construction Advice

I pre-build my pit blinds in six pieces so they can easily be assembled or disassembled in the field with a minimal amount of equipment. The whole blind fits into the back of a pickup and can easily be handled by one person.

The dimensions I use limit the amount of wasted material yet provide enough space for one hunter and gear. It should be comfortable for most people, but the dimensions can easily be altered to suit your needs.

I build the blind using pressure-treated 1/2-inch plywood and 2x4 studs. Everything is assembled with 1 1/2-inch screws, and galvanized corner or shelving brackets are used to join the walls together at the corners. The lid can be attached with a pair of hinges or left unattached so that you can prop it up on different sides when required.

Overall, the pit blind is 64 inches long, 42 inches wide and the walls are 48 inches high. The lid or cover is 48 inches wide and 70 inches long, which allows for a three-inch overhang on all sides. The treated 2x4s are used to support the walls along the outside edges and provide a means of attaching the brackets in the corners; they are also used to frame the floor and lid every 16 inches on center. An additional brace is attached on the inside of the walls, 3 1/2 inches below the top, to support the frame of the lid.

The hole should be approximately three feet deep and six inches longer and wider than the finished dimensions of the blind. I then use the dirt for back fill, keeping it approximately four inches below the lip of the wall and sloping away from the blind to facilitate the water run-off.