Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Portable blinds

My heart issues necessitate me staying on the ground these days. No more tree stand hunting due to some balance issues. I bought one of those hub blinds for this fall and am looking forward to trying it for gun and ML season. What's been other's experience with these? This one's tall enough I can stand up in it to stretch, and has windows on all four sides. I won't be shooting through the mesh, I'll keep all four windows open. How loud is it inside one of these when the gun goes off? Thinking I might take my muffs and hopefully have time to get them on before the shot.

I usually only keep two of the windows open, with perhaps a crack in the other two for an emergency shot. If the deer see that shadow in the middle move, they're out of there. With your back shaded, they most likely won't see you. I wear dark colors and still cover my face.

I haven't experienced blast any more noticeable in a hut. I often do wear sound enhancing muffs, which cut once a certain decibel range is reached. My beef with huts is that it seems much darker than if you had just sat against a tree or in a tree stand toward dusk or dawn. Deer DO notice them if not placed early and brushed in. If it's been there a week or two, they ignore it. Is nice when it rains.

Raking the floor area really helps in keeping down noise too. They're pretty comfortable and I wish you success.

Yep, agree with the above.

No noticeable blast, if the muzzle is outside the tent walls !

Deb shot from completely inside once. She said VERY LOUD ! Blew out propane heater & it took 15 minutes for her hearing to return to normal.

Comfortable way to hunt in our extreme climate.

There may be exceptions for example, In farm country where round bales appear and disappear even some of the willest bucks do not know the difference between them and a ground blind. I have placed a ground blind out in an open field one day and shoot a bow or gun out of it the next day.

Jeff,

We use them every year at some point. When the kids were first hunting, we used them almost exclusively. We don't put them out until the day before the season since we're on public land. If you're in a woods environment, I'd not worry too much about the deer noticing them, especially if you have them backed up to a spruce or something like that.

If your barrel is out the window when you shoot, it won't be any louder than normal. If it's inside the blind when it goes off...she's loud!

I would also agree with the above and keep 1 or 2 windows closed or slightly open at most. They will notice you inside. With the blind backed up to the trees, you can't shoot from that window anyway, so you're usually OK to keep it shut. Just don't forget to peek out of it.

They will gather some moisture on the roof from your breathing and it will drip on you after about 3 hrs. Yes, that's your spit dripping back on your head.

Same as the others. We use them where we can't set them up in advance. I covered mine with camo netting and I thought it looked good. The deer didn't as the leafy die cut camo blew around differently than the adjacent grass and limbs. Now I just put some limbs around it each time I go to that pop up and the deer start to ignore the stand.

Get a good comfortable chair as I have had deer hanging around where I couldn't move much for a couple hours at a time.

The spit rain is less on ones that have pocket roof vents like an umbrella. These are good in our area as it can be hot and it may help scent to go upward.
These help enough I may get them added to the ones that don't have them.

Typical archery set up for us;





Watch out for heavy wet snow !!

Lots of good info guys. Thanks for everyone's input. Unfortunately, I'll be having to put it up the day before hunting season due to a combo of public access and a nearby trail. I walk in right past some pines I can harvest some branches off of to brush it in, so hopefully that will work. I'll open the two windows on the sides I usually see the deer from. and crack the others slightly just in case. Do you guys run heaters in these if it gets bitter cold?

Yep, Jeff, we run Mr Heater buddy heaters in both of ours.

Because they stay put till we're done, we run them off 20lbers & regulated hose.

If you're packing in & out, couple of 1lbers will last the day.

I'm gonna take my Mr. Heater up with me and depending on how cold it's gonna be, take it there to the blind. From talking to others, it sounds like you're right on at 2 one pounders per day.

We do use the Mr Buddy’s Jeff. I have also heard rumors you can cook a hotdog or a pop tart on them.

My only suggestion is block or close windows such that light or ones vision does not have a straight through route. Otherwise, movement therein is readily visible. If one stays in the dark and back from the windows he is nearly invisible. Yes. Clear the container with the muzzle and life will be fine. Our biggest struggle is wind that might rattle the material. Wish they were made with something like soft burlap, but then rain would become an issue. Good luck out there,

I have several pop up blinds. I use the ameristep doghouse blinds. (They're a dome). I seldom ever get a chance to set up and leave it for long. (If on public lands, I add a cable and lock through a window to the nearest tree.)
I have both floored, and no floor models. Floored are much nicer. My floored version is double sided camo, so can be turned inside out for a different location, and zipped back together. DO NOT shoot through the windows, they can catch fire. The mesh windows do stop the wind, but fog up fast. I put the door to the side I will not be hunting(such as backed up to a tree or brush pile) and leave just a small bit of the adjacent window open to see movement.
By sitting in the corner with the 2 far windows fully open, I sit in the dark corner and have about a 180° view with just the small gap between the windows blocked.
I have a small tailgate sized propane bulk tank. 3gal 12lbs instead of 20lbs bulk tank. It will last a full 3-4 day hunt no problem with a buddy heater. I also made a few modifications to a 1000btu single burner heater, to have it as low as possible to the floor. With an open sleeping bag over my lap, I am pretty comfortable with the burner under my chair. A small folding table for drinks, noise makers. Binos, snacks, within easy reach is a useful thing as well. Visible range markers would be useful as well. I use orange painted gutter spikes as range markers.

I've used them a few times and what annoys me the most (besides not being able to see all around) is once you take them out of the carry bag, it takes an act of congress to get them back in.


They are nice for cold, wet and miserable weather though. Just know that when you click that igniter on the Buddy Heater, it's going to sound like a ships horn in the quiet woods.

Agree with the others about having too much window cross section open so that the inside of the blind is well lit. If your blind does not have a black coating on the inside, be careful about setting up where you will be backlit by the sun when deer are out and about. Use an opaque tarp or lots of brush on the back side where the sun strikes the blind. I spooked a doe at 80 yards because the late afternoon sun backlit me perfectly and she could see my outline when I moved.

I too like sitting in a dark corner looking out windows open diagonally across the blind. If your spot has the potential for deer at 5 yards, consider taking a handgun for close in side shots with minimal shuffling around.

Stake it down around the bottom and use the guy lines too. I use large plastic tent stakes rather than the metal rod stakes that come with the blind. If you set up under a larger tree, tie the top of the hub blind to an overhanging branch. Or use an adjustable tent pole in the center when you leave the blind in snowy weather. Popping up a collapsed top knocks all that camo snow off the blind!

If you think you might have a shot with the muzzle inside the blind, take some muffs or other ear protection. I would rather stick the muzzle out the window. I always have a tripod with a yoke in the blind and sometimes a bipod at the alternate window. The tripod eats up floor space but I rest the rifle on it even when not about to shoot. With the forend on the yoke and the butt on a leg or in my lap, I can glass, eat a snack, grab a drink, read a book and still not have to move much for a shot.

Oh, and don't forget a relief bottle with a tight screw cap!

Gonna try those MRE"s with the included heater this year. Unfortunately, I don't think Domino's delivers out there.......

Lots of good info here. Thanks guys. Looking forward to hunting out of this. I've been hunting off the side of an intersection of two trails, but have been busted twice by deer coming out of the brush behind me. I'm going to turn about 45 degrees towards the woods from the way I've been sitting so I can better cover the approach out of the woods where the deer seem to be coming from, and still have the best "other" crossing covered.

I use a blind for turkey and deer hunting with great success. I can not sit still and being inside the blind my moving is not an issue!

They are good for setting up on a trail. We’ve killed some nice deer hunting out of them

Omg it does! Lol