Ground blind recommendations

[Bezamaelee]

Going to be taking my eight year old to try to shoot his first Whitetail this fall. I’ve got a really good piece of private ground, locally but I need to set up a ground blind. We will have to set up for a close crossbow shot because of the thick cover. I’ve never bought a good ground blind and looking for recommendations. I will also leave it set up and bow hunt this blind as I have five solid shooter bucks on camera in the area.

I’m just going to order something online because there’s no stores near me with blinds. When I get online there’s so many different blondes and I just don’t know what I’m looking at. I’d like to keep it under $200.

what are any of you guys using?

 

[Runningwater]

My friend and I each have barronett blinds and are very happy with them. I have the heavy duty big Mike (really tall to help accommodate a recurve) and he has an ox-5. I think an ox-4 would be about right for 2. Heavy duty, nice fabric, easy to set up. I think they are good value for the money.

And on sale at sportsman's (as is the huge ox 5)

Barronett Ox 4 Backwoods Ground Blind

Barronett Ox 4 Backwoods Ground Blind - The Ox 4 weighs only 28 pounds and comes with a backpack carrying case. Brush holders, ground stakes, and tie downs are all included. Big features, big advantages, big results.

www.sportsmans.com

 

[WestKyHunt]

While I don't have any specific brand or model reccomendations I do have some advice.

Stay away from spring up blinds

Buy a bigger blind than you think you'll need. If it is too big for the area you want to use it, you don't really need it.

If it cost less than $100, it's a hunk of junk

 

[Rich M]

Yup - only expensive blinds work. LOL!

You can go and set up some pallets and make a square, sit in there and kid can fidget all he wants.
Get a roll of burlap and zip tie it to the brush - hides kid's movement.

Blinds are great in the rain - keeps you dry.

Just get the blind(s) in place soon so the scent fades and critters get used to em.

Enjoy your time with your boy. Gonna make some great memories.

 

[Texasbuckeye]

I have had a couple ground blinds and the one i still have is a muddy 3 oerson (currently on sale at camofire for 189ish) and that gives plenty of shooting options.

if i were looking to spend another couple hundred i have heard the bull blinds are phenomenal. I have zero experience with them.

either way, look for something with see thru mesh so you can keep windows closed but still see animals. One thing to remember about see thru mesh is it will glare out if sunlight is shining directly on the mesh (rising or setting sun).

 

[WestKyHunt]

Yup - only expensive blinds work. LOL!

Not necessarily what I was driving at.
I meant more along the lines of, cheap ones are cheap for a reason and will not last many days in the field.
I definitely wouldn't spend $300 on a blind.

I tend to prefer sitting next to a tree myself. Have also hunted with pallet and scrap wood blinds many times

 

[tt_johnsclist]

I have spent many hours in one with kids and will concur with some of the other posts:
- cheap blinds are junk, pop-ups are a pain
- shoot through mesh is key when a deer is close and kids move a lot getting ready for the shot
- bigger is better when you start loading in kids, backpacks, extra clothes, snacks, and camping chairs
- buy a good shooting stick or bipod for the crossbow
- zippers are better than Velcro, and magnets are better than elastic cords for closures and such

good luck!

 

[Rich M]

Not necessarily what I was driving at.
I meant more along the lines of, cheap ones are cheap for a reason and will not last many days in the field.
I definitely wouldn't spend $300 on a blind.

I tend to prefer sitting next to a tree myself. Have also hunted with pallet and scrap wood blinds many times

I was just trying to make a funny. Know exactly where you were coming from.

We could just talk about blind fabric - cheap $60 blinds are nylon and noisy plus the colors fade to some shade of pink after a bit in the sun. Spend $100 and maybe you get a better, quieter fabric.

I've used blinds a few times and never found em to be all that - EXCEPT in freezing cold and/or rain.

Some of my better hunts have been on a dove stool, back against a tree with a little cover in front of me.

 

[WELLSTON_HUNTER]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093R748P6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 i got this one from amazon lots of room has zippers on two sides do be door to get all your gear inside. all windows have toggles so no zippers or velcro for shooting windows. the other blind is a rhino 150

 

[wind gypsy]

I've never hunted out of a manufactured ground blind but made up some out of natural materials before. Haven't spent the research time to understand the benefits of the various options. Been thinking about getting one and the xenek seem to be very popular but they are expensive. Is there minimal benefit to spending that kind of $ on a blind?

 

[MSElkHunter]

I picked up a Rhino Blinds R-150 last year. It is nice and has plenty of room for me, my son, and our stuff. I will likely get another one this year. They are $121 on Amazon right now.


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[Ddog]

Barronett Big Cat. Love mine. Around $220 on Amazon.

 

[WCB]

Primos has the Double Bull Deluxe for $299...Hard to beat.

 

[Little Joe]

I have hunted out of multiple ground blinds, with multiple kids of various ages, with both crossbows and guns over the years. Skip the ground blind if possible, it will frequently hurt you more than it will help. Best advice I can give is put up a 2 man tree stand. Bring an iPad, trust me on this. 8 year olds have a short attention span, getting bored easily when they are not seeing much.

Biggest problem is there are too many blind spots when hunting out of a ground blind. With a kid you need as much advanced notice as possible when deer are approaching. Because of being in the blind and the blind spots, sometimes you don’t see or hear the deer until they are right in front of you. When that happens, it is typically too late with a young kid. Don’t forget you are at eye level with the deer. The deer will still see movement in the blind. Had multiple deer look right in the blind. Game over with an 8 year old.

Another thing, with a ground blind, sometimes you can hear the deer, but often can’t see them due to the blind spots. It becomes a guess as to where they will show themselves. You can hear them. The deer are close. You cannot see them or determine the exact path they are traveling. Tough to get the kid set up in the correct position. You may think the deer are going to show up to the left of the blind, and you look up with the deer being a few yards away on the right. Again, game over. Hard to reposition the kid under such circumstances. Especially with an excited 8 year old who cannot contain themself.

Two man tree stands offer a huge advantage. You typically get way more advanced notice which is critically important with an 8 year old in archery season. Much more time to correctly position your child for a shot. A little movement often isn’t fatal. You can whisper to you child, give instruction, without getting busted. And it is easier to see what your child is doing. If they are fumbling or something, it is much easier to get them straightened out without getting busted by the deer.

Personally, based on my experience, I would avoid hunting out of a ground blind with a young inexperienced hunter if possible. Young hunters will make every mistake possible. Mistakes are much harder to over come when you are at eye level with a deer 10 or 20 yards away.

 

[WestKyHunt]

Primos has the Double Bull Deluxe for $299...Hard to beat.

I must say that while they seem over priced, the double bull blinds seem to be tough. My buddy hunts with one his dad bought close to 20 years ago.
But that was before primos bought them

 

[MSElkHunter]

I have hunted out of multiple ground blinds, with multiple kids of various ages, with both crossbows and guns over the years. Skip the ground blind if possible, it will frequently hurt you more than it will help. Best advice I can give is put up a 2 man tree stand. Bring an iPad, trust me on this. 8 year olds have a short attention span, getting bored easily when they are not seeing much.

Biggest problem is there are too many blind spots when hunting out of a ground blind. With a kid you need as much advanced notice as possible when deer are approaching. Because of being in the blind and the blind spots, sometimes you don’t see or hear the deer until they are right in front of you. When that happens, it is typically too late with a young kid. Don’t forget you are at eye level with the deer. The deer will still see movement in the blind. Had multiple deer look right in the blind. Game over with an 8 year old.

Another thing, with a ground blind, sometimes you can hear the deer, but often can’t see them due to the blind spots. It becomes a guess as to where they will show themselves. You can hear them. The deer are close. You cannot see them or determine the exact path they are traveling. Tough to get the kid set up in the correct position. You may think the deer are going to show up to the left of the blind, and you look up with the deer being a few yards away on the right. Again, game over. Hard to reposition the kid under such circumstances. Especially with an excited 8 year old who cannot contain themself.

Two man tree stands offer a huge advantage. You typically get way more advanced notice which is critically important with an 8 year old in archery season. Much more time to correctly position your child for a shot. A little movement often isn’t fatal. You can whisper to you child, give instruction, without getting busted. And it is easier to see what your child is doing. If they are fumbling or something, it is much easier to get them straightened out without getting busted by the deer.

Personally, based on my experience, I would avoid hunting out of a ground blind with a young inexperienced hunter if possible. Young hunters will make every mistake possible. Mistakes are much harder to over come when you are at eye level with a deer 10 or 20 yards away.

The newer blinds don’t have blind spots. They are made out of one way fabric. You can see out of the whole blind but the animals cannot see in the blind. They are pretty nice.


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[YankyMate]

Another vote for the Primos Double Bull here. I have the 270 and have used it heavily for deer and hogs for the last 2 years. Big enough for two grown men, easy to set up like a good hub style blind should be, easy to brush in and conceal, easy to see and shoot out of.

Only downside is they reek like plastic when new, worse than other blinds I've used. I'd buy it ASAP and leave it in the yard airing out for the next month if I were you.

 

[Little Joe]

The newer blinds don’t have blind spots. They are made out of one way fabric. You can see out of the whole blind but the animals cannot see in the blind. They are pretty nice.

We had a place for some years where we were not permitted to hunt out of tree stands. Due to the young kids, ground blinds became the order of the day. When we got a new piece of property to hunt, I swore I would never go back to a ground blind. Never even considered looking at a ground blind again. I enjoy hunting on the ground, but not in those blinds.

Based on your description, the new blinds sound nice and a big improvement from the older blinds, solving a lot of problems.

 

[Remsp10]

I have a Double Bull and really like it. I got it on sale a number of years ago...haven't spent a lot of time in other brands though either. I agree with "buy bigger than you think you need/want" too.

 

[cburgin72]

There are some ground blinds on camofire today. Less than $200.