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Ground Blinds

theshark

Junior Member
Thinking of setting up a ground blind in addition to my tree stand. Any recommendations, water/weather/wind Resistance? Leave up for the season or take down or put up each hunt?

If left up for the season how do you deal with rodents?

Thanks in advance.
 
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bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
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.

 

Dustinb80

#FACKCANCER
Supporting Member
18,172
187
S.W. Ohio
I hunted out of a Barronett blind in October. Those things are HUGE!!. It is definitely on my list for next season.
 
Yep, ours is the Barronette Bell Bottom, perfect for 3-4 of us! One person it would be excellent for as well!

As for me, I really don't think I'd leave it out for more than a week at a time. Just because I don't want to deal with holes, theft or just getting ruined. I'd say the best thing you could do is prep a spot to tuck it in, maybe behind some brush or in a fencerow, so you can pop it up the day you hunt and go with it.
 

Outdoorsfellar

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
As I was getting ready to leave for the bow shoot on Friday, my blind arrived. It's the Big Mike that I bought & I can see that I'll be happy with it. I won't able to stand & draw my compound, but it'll be good for my crossbow, I'm just too tall.. The one thing I don't care for is that the bottom & lower windows do not zip together, one has elastic hooks that fit to the upper. I don't use the shoot thru mesh anyhow, but one piece covers all the windows for each side. I set the blind up today after getting home.