Ground Blinds

Ground blinds like this are all the rage right now. I’ve got a Hunter’s View Wigam.

Hunter’s View Wigwam

I’ve had mixed results, but I think it depends on a few things:

1) Context: If I put up the blind in the middle of the woods, I seem to get busted. My best set-ups have been:

a) on steep hillsides, where the ground clutter obscures the outline

b) where the setting or rising sun is at my back

c) behind a blown-down cedar tree.

2) Secondary camoflage: Branches, cedar boughs, etc, placed in front of the blind really enhance the effectiveness.

Overall, it’s a great place to put a wiggling kid. Both my sons enjoy hunting out of it.

Furthermore, it removes the jack-in-the-box syndrome you get with an uncovered blind– An orange hat suddenly pops up, and starts bobbing around and dancing over the top of a burlap blind.

One tip I’ll give you: Store your pop-up blind with a handful of sodium bicarb sprinkled in. It does a really good job of killing odors.

Another tip: Some of these puppies are heavy. This one weighs 13 pounds, but some blinds go 25 lbs. Before you head out into the woods with one, remember to figure in a folding chair or two. All in all it gets to be a heafty package. I usually pre-position the load, not necessarily set up, but at least within a short walk of where I’m hunting.

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