Best trad friendly popup blind these days?

[razorsharptokill]

It has been a while since I have had a pop up blind. What is the best bang for the buck these days ("or TWANG for the buck") LOL. I will be hunting Pronghorns next year out of one and want to have one so I can hunt with my grandkids more here in Oklahoma.

[BAK]

Love the shoulder patch.

I'm waiting to see what guys say to this question too.  I spent all day Sunday patching my old one with spray adhesive and rip stop nylon.

[razorsharptokill]

It seems that the ameristep blinds are 59"x59" square max. Not much of a footprint for two people

[OkKeith]

Jim-

I am a big fan of the Double Bull blinds. They are a little pricey but are very durable so last a long time. I have three of them. My first I bought second hand almost 20 years ago. Its a little beat up but still in service and the second is on its seventh season with no wear and tear. I am still unsure what I think about the shoot through mesh but that is no fault of the blind.

I am not a small guy (6'5" and 300lbs) and there is plenty of room to draw and shoot a recurve or longbow (canted of course). My wife and I regularly sit in it and hunt together and still have room for both our packs and gear.

They are not light to carry by any means and I always use 12 stakes to make it solid. I had one experience in being chintzy with the stakes and it had blown away in the night (I found it, thus the beating my first one took).

The first one was one of the originals with the triangular windows but the other two are the "Deluxe" and the model that I highly recommend. The windows can be adjusted for both width and height (important for shorter folks if they want to be able to see out).

There are several other less expensive brands that are good blinds, like the Ameristep. I have several Ameristeps and they are easier to carry (but smaller). The zippers always fail on those and the fabric is MUCH thinner. I still hunt in them but not as a long term set-up.

I have attached a photo of one of my deer hunting set-ups along a heavy travel route from feeding areas to bedding cover. I use pop-up style blinds for 85% of my hunting (ghillie suit with a stool and the occasional tree stand round it out) so spend a lot of time in my blinds. I also do a lot of Turkey hunting from my blinds with my wife. I have found that using a blind lets you get away with a little more movement, provides a good amount of scent control and makes it MUCH easier to enjoy my hot drinks and snacks while I hunt.

I am happy to answer any other questions you might have!

Keith

[razorsharptokill]

Wow! The deluxe is $400.00 ! Buy once cry once I guess.

[Ron LaClair]

[katman]

If you like roomy check out barronett big cat or big mike blind.

[razorsharptokill]

Very interesting mr. Laclair!

[bigbadjon]

I'm sure the Hidden Hunter is tops. However my favorite trad blind was an Ameristep throwdown. It was essentially 2 walls and no roof. Lightweight and nothing to bump your bow.

[Walt Francis]

What Keith said,

Jim-

I am a big fan of the Double Bull blinds. They are a little pricey but are very durable so last a long time. I have three of them. My first I bought second hand almost 20 years ago. Its a little beat up but still in service and the second is on its seventh season with no wear and tear. I am still unsure what I think about the shoot through mesh but that is no fault of the blind.

I am not a small guy (6'5" and 300lbs) and there is plenty of room to draw and shoot a recurve or longbow (canted of course). My wife and I regularly sit in it and hunt together and still have room for both our packs and gear.

They are not light to carry by any means and I always use 12 stakes to make it solid. I had one experience in being chintzy with the stakes and it had blown away in the night (I found it, thus the beating my first one took).

The first one was one of the originals with the triangular windows but the other two are the "Deluxe" and the model that I highly recommend. The windows can be adjusted for both width and height (important for shorter folks if they want to be able to see out).

There are several other less expensive brands that are good blinds, like the Ameristep. I have several Ameristeps and they are easier to carry (but smaller). The zippers always fail on those and the fabric is MUCH thinner. I still hunt in them but not as a long term set-up.

I have attached a photo of one of my deer hunting set-ups along a heavy travel route from feeding areas to bedding cover. I use pop-up style blinds for 85% of my hunting (ghillie suit with a stool and the occasional tree stand round it out) so spend a lot of time in my blinds. I also do a lot of Turkey hunting from my blinds with my wife. I have found that using a blind lets you get away with a little more movement, provides a good amount of scent control and makes it MUCH easier to enjoy my hot drinks and snacks while I hunt.

I am happy to answer any other questions you might have!

Keith

[Captain*Kirk]

The important dimension is height. A 62" bow won't do you much good in a 64" blind even if you cant the bow. I have a K-Mag (52" AMO) to hunt with so I have a little wiggle room if I buy a pop-up, but my other bows are leaving me not much room to spare.

[Skwerl58]

I am new to trad hunting and I am 6'4". I picked up a Muddy that is 75" in center and it has enough room for three blind chairs. Best part it was $103 and change and went up with no issues. I sat in it in a heavy rain and was surprised that it leaked very little.

[LC]

There's a ton of good replies. All I have to add is hunting Pronghorns from a blind it better be VERY wind resistant. Speaking as one who has hunted there and heard the weather forecast when it would be "breezy" today and  found out that meant 40 mph steady winds. Just saying. We used wooden blinds with open tops. I seriously worried they would get blown over some days.

[OkKeith]

Hey LC...

We have winds like that here as well. Out in the Oklahoma Panhandle where all of our Pronghorn hunting is located most folks build blinds with 4 T-posts and some cattle panels. They are built with open tops, or a tarp roof to keep the sun off. It gets wrapped in burlap. I have also seen them with plywood tops, wrapped in black contractor plastic and then wrapped in burlap for colder weather. As long as the posts are sunk above the fins I don't think they will blow away (might rock and roll a little though).

I once saw some photos of an awesome bow blind built out of encircled cattle panels with a roof made from a fiberglass satellite dish. I have been looking for one for years... one of these days I will find one.

Okkeith

[hitman]

I love the Primos xl club. Lots of room.

[Ron LaClair]

Inside my Hidden Hunter blind with my 66" David Miller longbow...plenty of room

[razorsharptokill]

Looks pretty roomy Ron, do you use the mesh screens?

[Josh H]

I use the Barronett 350 Grounder.

Lots of room for a tall guy (6'3") and a tall bow (64").

Easy to set up...room for three. You can buy the 250 if you do not want it as wide.

Good luck.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

I also have the Baronett 350.  Plenty of room.  And I've had mine set up in the woods for 3 years and it still solid.  Camo scheme has faded quite a bit but the deer dont care.

[Terry Green]

Hidden Hunter.