Posted: 8/1/2010 4:52:54 AM EDT
| This year I'm planning on using ground blinds. I was looking at the ameristep chair blind but it has limited angle to shoot out of. I like it because it has the chair built in. Does anyone else use ground blinds and which one are you using? |
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I have the chair blind you were talking about. Biggest problem, if you move, even slightly, the whole blind moves.
It's very portable, quick set up and to take down and pack away takes just a few minutes. You have large and small window in front of you to suit the circumstances. I think this year I will go for a larger blind and bring a chair. |
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Have a Cabelas lightning blind. Pops open very easy, like an umbrella. I like it for use in wet weather, or taking a "junior hunter" with me. They are great if you have a handicapped hunter, as can lift up and over the hunter in a wheel chair. Large enough that have had 3 x 200lb+ guys in chairs, gear bags and a tripod video camera. Yes was a little tight, but still able to hunt 3 sides(left, right, and front). I had turkeys pecking at the bugs on the sides, deer within 1 foot of it. |
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Quoted:
Have a Cabelas lightning blind. Pops open very easy, like an umbrella. I like it for use in wet weather, or taking a "junior hunter" with me. They are great if you have a handicapped hunter, as can lift up and over the hunter in a wheel chair. Large enough that have had 3 x 200lb+ guys in chairs, gear bags and a tripod video camera. Yes was a little tight, but still able to hunt 3 sides(left, right, and front). I had turkeys pecking at the bugs on the sides, deer within 1 foot of it. I believe everything SW says except he isn't saying his blind is modified a bit. It has 4 wheels and a diesel engine in it! 
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Big fan of ground blinds here. I use mostly the ameristep doghouse type blinds. I do have one of the chair blinds you speak of. I like it in certain situations but it's role is somewhat limited due to the lack of a 360 view you mentioned. The doghouse blinds are freakin great though. I even bow hunt out of them and have had deer weel within bow range a number of times. Very versatile. I hardly ever climb a tree anymore. They are cheap too. You can get about four for the cost of a good climbing stand. I have about half a dozen blinds I set up at the begining of the season and I just leave them all year, even though they are quite mobile. I can set one up in about 5 or ten minutes. For me thats quicker and quieter then going up a tree in a climber. And safer to boot.
With that said, there are certainly times when there is no substitute for gettin up a tree but I have found that most of the spots I hunt can just as easily be hunted from a blind and that offers a lot of advantages sometimes. Not the least of which is protection from the elements. You can stay warm and dry in some seriously sloppy weather in a good ground blind and that gives me more time in the woods. Also, I feel like it does somewhat help control your scent. It disguises your movements. And another big factor is that it offers a lot of space to move around, stretch, and stay comfortable. I get cheap $10 folding chairs from walmart to put in my blinds, and those chairs are more comfortable then any climbing stand I've ever been in. I can spread out a back pack full of stuff in there. Lunch, coffee, a piss bottle, something to read, all sorts of stuff. When your hunting out of the ground blind, that stuff is easy to carry in because your not lugging around a heavy climber. Also, you can get into the blind very quickly and very quietly which is another major advantage over a climbing stand. Quick, no noise, no sweating. Anyway, I'm rambling. Just saying I'm a serious fan of ground blinds. If possible just pop them up a few weeks before you hunt an area so the deer are used to it and you don't even need to camoflauge them. Just climb in the windo and hunt. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Have a Cabelas lightning blind. Pops open very easy, like an umbrella. I like it for use in wet weather, or taking a "junior hunter" with me. They are great if you have a handicapped hunter, as can lift up and over the hunter in a wheel chair. Large enough that have had 3 x 200lb+ guys in chairs, gear bags and a tripod video camera. Yes was a little tight, but still able to hunt 3 sides(left, right, and front). I had turkeys pecking at the bugs on the sides, deer within 1 foot of it. I believe everything SW says except he isn't saying his blind is modified a bit. It has 4 wheels and a diesel engine in it! No, I don't do that like some that I know. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I believe everything SW says except he isn't saying his blind is modified a bit. It has 4 wheels and a diesel engine in it! No, I don't do that like some that I know. Well, so what if I do? The engine isn't on.  Some might say you are doing it wrong then.  
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+1 on the Ameristep Doghouse. I have one that I have been using for about 5 years. I put a blind out in August and don't pull it in until January. It can take quite a beating due to the weather. We can get extremely high winds, blazing sunshine, mountains of snow, and buckets of rain. And that's just on Monday The fiberglass rods for holding up the top of the blind broke the second year. You can get replacements but I have been using the blind without them. The zipper on the door ripped out last season. I just sewed it shut with some 550 cord and am using one of the window to enter. I had a tree blow over on it once which poked a few holes in it, again no biggie. The camo faded in the sunshine but now it blends better with fall foilage.
In summary, it was cheap, it has been through hell, I will be putting it back out shortly, and when it finally bites the big one, I will buy another. |
I also use a Ameristep Doghouse blind and can recommand them. I generally hunt on game lands so you have to remove it daily (same with tree stands) I have left it up in January on the edge of my backyard and gone squirrels from inside of it. Missed last year and will miss this years season again also. This last decade has only found me in the deer woods for two seasons.
CD |