Looking for advice on ground blinds.

[Skyhunters]

Hello everyone. I'm fairly new to the sport. I'll be doing some whitetail hunting from a ground blind in N.Y. this fall. Haven't bought one yet - I wanted to check in with you guys before I did so. I'm wondering about your recommendations. I know some are made cheaply(thin, shiny, noisy, material etc.) Also concerned about dimensions (shooting a 60' AMO recurve and know I need limb clearance). I try to imagine shooting a recurve at a canted angle thru those windows and notice that manufacturers have them positioned differently. Have all these questions and just trying to avoid making silly mistakes. The prices vary quite a bit, but I'm willing to spend what I have to if it's worth it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated - thanks. Good luck out there.

[cahaba]

Check out these Ron LaClair sells. He is a sponsor on here and he knows bow hunting. They are tall enough to shoot bows out of. Also Barronett Hunting Blinds are real good.

   http://www.shrewbows.com/hiddenhunterblinds/index.html

[Mark Normand]

Be careful testing!  I punched a hole with top limb tip on my first try last year. Thought I had good clearance.. NOT!  lol

[GreyGoose]

This post makes me laugh at myself - I should have thrown my old ground blind into the package when I sold my compound.

But on the topic, I've been making blinds using local vegetation backed by camo cloth draping since switching.  I leave gaps or holes to shoot through, though I would not rule out shooting through the cloth as I used to with pop ups. Record is mixed; deer get as close as before, but I need them to get a lot closer!

[Fletcher]

You can make a pretty good blind with just natural materials, brush, branches, etc.  They worked great for many years before the tent blinds started to show up and still work now.

[T Lail]

I tend to use "natural" blinds myself....look around if you are hunting private property and you will be surprised at what can be found....

[LB_hntr]

The ones Ron LaClair sells is on my list to get as soon as I wear out my double bull. So even though I cant give personal experience on it I think its a great blind for trad hunters and will be getting one eventually. That said I also use a lot of natural blinds.
  Here where I hunt on state land we can only use dead materials or synthetic materials (cant cut anything live. or put a nail in a tree). So what I do is use string and wrap around a couple trees and lean the dead stuff against the string so the dead stuff is vertical like it would be standing in the woods. its quick and works great. I also have a couple spots that i put small fake Christmas trees at. i buy them on clearance at the end of the Christmas season and then stick 3 of them strategicly in front of a bush i sit by. works great and didn't cost me 50 bucks and can reuse anywere. i just remove a few of the fake branches to make shooting holes.

[sweet old bill]

I use the natural blind, I try to find a maple tree that is down and then brush it in. I also use the burlap camo material from wall mart, a bag of  pins and a 25 foot rope. I just in some case tie the rope around 3 trees and then hang the camo material with the wood pins. I find the cheap wall mart plastic chairs in green $8.00. I carry them in with me and each has a note on it with my name, phone number, that I am a hunter with a bad leg, and request no one to move the chair etc...So far in over 15 years have only lost to chairs.
I have several of these site setup and the overall cost is not a great expense and is on both family land and also state game lands.

[AkDan]

wasnt it Noelle Nadine who shot all the big whitetails on the ground?   Cant remember for sure.  

Natural blinds are great if you find one where you need it, or are able to modify something to fit the bill.

I've tinkered with pop ups also for longbeards and have to admit the 360 was a tough cookie to beat, its a shame primo's changed it!   It was by far and away one of the very few I could not only shoot out of, but it wasnt so gangly you couldn't move it on a regular basis.   There's a few others out there with clearance to shoot a full 68" bow, but they are far and few between!  usually the windows are too high.   I spent an afternoon and tested out every blind they had at the cabelas in Lincoln NE.  In the end I bought one of their blinds and ended up killing a bird out of it, and scared a ton more with it.   Mostly due to movement and light.  The thing flapped like a kite, and had a solar panel for a light source.   I left it in the states and hope I never see it again!  

A primos dark horse may fit your bill.  

 Like said earlier, be very aware of clearance.    If you cant shoot through one before you lay down money, don't buy it without someone experienced shooting a similar set up to what you have shooting through it first!

[Plumber]

I have a double bull blind with a shoot through screen lots of room nice fabric, quit an keeps the wind out very well.I got it used for 100. the blind new is closer to 350-400.befor buying this I used natural blinds.natural blinds work great an they are fun to build.but they cant be moved an it takes time to build them right.with a pop up blind it is probably best to leave it set a few days before hunting just to let the animals get use to it.where as a ground blind you can set up an hunt right away an you can custom build them to suit your need.they both have there time an place.I would probably use my pop up blind in cold weather an late season.good luck

[Steelhead]

I have used an Apache Ground Blind quite a bit.
They are made in MI.
Thier light,easy to set up and easy to pack and blend in very well.Thier are many camo patterns avalable
The 6ft model is a good size for trad bows.
Its different than most blinds you see available these days.