Leaving ground blinds out

[Slickhead]

Has anyone left a ground blind out yaer round?
I was wondering how long one would last.
I thought of spraying it with canvas waterproofing before putting it out.
I hunt a 6 acre lot that is limited to ground hunting.
I thought of just constructing a brush blind (as there are so many saplings I could use)
But it would be nice to have the rain protection of the pop up blind.
Let me know your experiences.
THX

[stabow]

Most places that I hunt they would grow legs and walk off. Plus I don’t think they will hold up well being out in the weather all year.....stabow

[Al Natural]

Wind, rain, UV damage, I don't believe it would last a year.

[Cool Arrow]

I like to set mine up at least a month before I hunt from them. As mentioned above there is always the possibility of them dissapearing, but I try real hard to put them in places where they are not too obvious.
   Larry.

[wapiti792]

I like to leave mine up for at least a week. The problem is as time goes on and it gets warmer in spring wasps love to build nests in there. Last year my 8 year old and I crawled into our blind and had a giant wasp nest to deal with...big red ones. They bite a bit  

[Bill Carlsen]

This year I left my two Double Bulls up for the duration of our 3 month deer season in NH and they held up just fine.

[Don Stokes]

Mine haven't held up through storms long enough to know if they'll last a year. My last one was destroyed by a big tree branch, but it already had several holes from being blown around. The little stakes provided were not adequate for a big windy thunderstorm.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

A month or so will be fine, but I wouldn't leave it out all year long for the reasons already stated. They aren't meant to be left out for extended periods that long.

If you hunt near a river, I strongly suggest you make sure your out of the flood plain also. I've already lost 2 good blinds to the flood when I should have packed them up and brought them home. Problem is that the severe weather struck without warning and we got several inches of rain overnight, by the time I got down to the river to retrieve my blind it was already under about 10 ft. of raging water. I actually found one of them about a month later 20ft. up in a big sycamore tree......completely fubar'd.      

[Bob Miller]

Mine has been left set up since Sep 2009 and it is in fine shape. I will be hunting turkeys in it in two weeks.  It is a Hidden Hunter model.

[Steel]

I have three of the Ameristep 3D camo blinds that have been out 2.5 years two still work great. I just replaced one last weekend the snow broke the roof this last month.I have had a D- bull blind out for about a year still looks great also. The most important thing is to stake and tie the blind down really well. Also put a support rope/tie from the roof bolt to something about above the worst thing that can happen is a storm/heavy rain/snow Ko's the roof down so it holds all the water in a pool on top. This streaches the roof out and it will not work unless you tie it from above from then on.If you tie/stake the blind down right you will have no reason to fear wind/storms/snow and the blind may fade some but it will be there when you need it Unless in a flood plane like above!!!!).

[MIKE WIRT]

I have a Double Bull Matrix Blind and I left it out a little too long when we got all of that ice here in Missouri. Thankfully the blind held up. I just had to let it thaw in the garage for a few days or the fabric would have surely torn.

I do leave it out all of deer season, starting with our early bow season and have not had any problems.

[joekeith]

I've had one up for about 5 years now.  It's an Ameristep, Penthouse I believe.  After just a few months the UV got to it.  Turned the greens to more like reds.  I didn't like the color anymore and it started to shine so I just left it up. The critters don't seem to mind the color, but I guess they just got used to it being there. It's on my ground, near my house so thieves haven't got to it.

Well just a month or two ago a storm knocked a tree over and one of the limbs just caught the blind and put a tear about 2' in the side.  The tear is near the bottom so I decided to just let it go.

  All in all it has stood up much better than I thought it would.  It doesn't take long for the color to fade, but if it's there long enough to fade the critters will be used to it.  If you have a place safe from thieves
   I'd put up a cheaper one there and let it stay.  I also have a newer, better one I just put out as needed then put away.
Good luck    

[Shane H]

I've left mine out for a month or so, but last time the mice decided to chew holes in it! I think I'll pick mine up from now on.

[whitetail_downer100]

Out for a season good... Out all year probably not.

[redpepper49]

Mine has been out for two years also turned red , saw three gobblers walk past it last week. the straps that you tie to rotted

[Archer 1]

I had a Ameristep Doghouse blind set up from early deer season one year, until past the next years deer season, and it held up fine. It was in a cedar swamp, so was protected some from the wind. Had over 3 feet of snow that year, and I thought it would be down from the weight, but it stood up to it. Use good stake's, the ones that come with any blind are not worth squat.

[4 point]

I leave mine out for the season plus about a month before. The wind around here kills them. I wreak about one a year.