hunting - Blind Camo Patterns

[Oak518]

What BLIND and camo pattern for hunting in upstate New York.  I will be hunting both deer and turkeys. I would like to be able to stand up in it. L hunt both private and state lands and never see other hunters.  Would I have better luck leaving it set up. Thanks Dan

[Stumpkiller]

In "upstate NY" I have have had ground shots under 10 yards on deer in Winona Camo, Rockaflage (good luck finding either of those), Mossy Oak Bottomland, Woolrich red plaid, Asbell Shadow Plaid, solid green sage (see my avatar) and blaze orange.  

Movement is the enemy of ANY camo pattern.

IMHO you want cover behind you to break up your outline and minimize your movement.

[Sam McMichael]

Stumpkiller is completely correct. The camo pattern you use is far less important than the ability to remain still.

[huntmaster70]

I think most blinds other than the Hidden Hunter blinds on Ron La Clairs' web site, aren't tall enough to shoot a stickbow standing up in. For turkeys you can setup just about anywhere w/o spooking them & no need to leave it set up to get them acustomed to it. Deer seem to need it up for awhile so they get used to it. I wouldn't never  leave it set up on state land & sometimes not real comfortable even when set up on some private land. I think Hidden Hunter blinds offer a few different camo patterns to match areas.

[Terry Green]

Hey guys...he's asking about what camo for a blind.

   

Some of that area has a lot of soft woods and other areas have a lot of hardwoods.  As far as standing when shooting a stick bow.  Why do blinds need to be black inside and have a roof? I use a big Jim Bush In A Bag for turkeys and sometimes for deer, when the situation calls for it. The worst problem I have with it is when little birds, like gold crown kinglets land on it, they can get their little feets caught in the mesh.

[Oak518]

If  I go with the hunter hidden blind, what camo the grey or green.  L am 65 years old and mostly hunt out of tree stands.  I have been told that I blinds will work just has good has tree stands.   Any information will be helpful. Thanks Dan

[huntmaster70]

For early bow(deer)with leaves still on or in pines/hemlocks the green might be alittle better although I have a predator grey jacket that to me seems "too white/bright" but I've been told that unless I'm moving I seem to disappear.     Late season in bare woods or snowy conditions the grey might be better. For turkeys I think either camo would be OK

[RedShaft]

Predator camo.

[Terry Green]

I edited your post so folks could see the word BLIND in all caps so maybe they will know you are looking for camo patterns in blinds.

[Stumpkiller]

My current ground blind is a white pine tree that I placed a "curb-collected" 3 ft wide cedar bench underneath.  I can sit on the bench and lean back against the tree.  I then collected broken white pine branches from the area and used them to form a crescent around the trunk and bench.  I set it up facing the prevailing wind.

But I still prefer early season from a tree-stand.  SOOOO much easier to get into position and shoot without worrying about cover and a limb-strike on the blind itself.

My camo pattern in either case is Mossy Oak Bottomland.  If it's really cold I switch to wool bib overalls that are kind of a green woodland pattern.  

Moral - use a camo pattern that suits the area you are hunting.  One of the best I had was when I used to hunt  NY farm that had a swamp surround by small oak and maple under 30 years old (and all the fall colors or dried leaves on the ground) goldenrod and milliflori rose and corn fields all around it.  The pattern was supposed to be for hunting in rocky terrain.  But it blended well in that cover and I woud just use a Dean Torges style tree-seat and no blind at all.  

This deer walked directly at me for 75 yards and I shot it from 11 paces with no cover between us at all when he gave me a broadside (I was sitting on my tree seat with feet on the ground - and he collapsed in 35 yards.  A perfect hunt).  

 

A quarter mile across the road was old-growth Hemlock.  I'd have looked like a ghost leaning up against a dark hemlock tree in this camo.

[Oak518]

Thanks Terry. This year deer notice me more than ever.  I can not sit very long without standing up. I just hope I see about the same number of deer blinds vs tree stands. Thanks Dan

[LittleBen]

Hey Dan, I've hunted from pop up blinds in three states, on private and public land, including numerous NY counties and terrains.
My experience is this - First the most important thing is that the blind is not 'new' to the area. A blind they are used to is a lot better than one you just put up. Second, brush in the blind really well with native vegetation to breakup the outline and it will not spook the deer.

Oh yeah, couple more things .... don't wear camo in a blind .... wear black, it works MUCH better. And make sure you don't get silhouetted, all windows behind you must be closed.

I have many times closed up windows when I saw deer to setup for a shot.

In terms of the size of the blind, the pop ups are hard to shoot a trad bow out of. I did kill one out of a pop up using a 54" recurve, and I've shot up to maybe 64" bow out of the larger hub style blinds. For trad hunting, it's also important that the windows are not too high up or your bow will hit the ceiling. Hey need to be around midway up the blind for ideal bow positioning.