I love ground blinds and have used them for several years. I've been through 4-5 brands now and
Barronnett Blinds are among my favorites. Being 6'1", there are limited choices when it comes to standing up inside the blind comfortably. I like to stand when I hunt, so having a bigger blind is a must for me unless I use it solely for gun hunting. The Big Mike has held up well for me over the years. Their
Grounder 350 is one of the best buys on the market for hunting blinds right now IMO.
My opinion is to set them up well in advance of season and let them sit until you are done hunting them. You won't get the longevity this way as you would with taking it in each hunt, but you are unlikely to fool deer with this method. The exception being gun hunting. Deer are keen to their surroundings, so you really have to focus on brushing them in, even when doing so well in advance of the season. Turkeys can easily be duped by a blind that wasn't there yesterday, so you can run and gun with one in a much more successful manner with turkey as opposed to deer.
As for rodents, I have never had much of an issue. Wasps are a totally different story!
Here is an example of brushing in a blind long before season arrives. We set this blind up on a hillside overlooking a creek bottom that was very narrow. We cleared a lane, then dug out a flat spot to sit the blind, then brushed it in. This has been a great ambush spot over the years and has since become "one" with the landscape.
I have my Barronett Big Mike sitting atop this now. It is very roomy, gives me a chance to stand up to shoot, and makes for a great place to observe deer, squirrel hunt, or just sit and enjoy nature. Just another way to use a blind.