For centuries hunting blinds have been used to hide the presence of hunters, enabling them to virtually melt into their surroundings and go unnoticed by passing animals. Be it piling sticks, logs, and rocks together or using a modern-day pop-up blind, these things work. And we can assure you, they aren’t stopping anytime soon.
We’ve been lucky enough to sit in our fair share of blinds and have taken away a few key ingredients in what makes a good blind. Without question, it needs to be easy to set up and durable, with adequate shooting windows and enough room for you and your gear. Lastly, it needs to have a quiet operation. We don’t want to alert an animal with the violent rip of separating Velcro.
If you still want to learn more about picking out the right hunting blind for you, as well as some setup/blind hunting tips, be sure to check out our Buyer’s Guide, FAQ, and comparison chart. Otherwise, you can scroll through or jump to whatever category matches your needs.
The Best Hunting Blinds of 2023
Most Luxurious Hunting Blind
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Unparalleled protection from the elements (insulated) -
360 degrees of shooting windows -
Secures human odor inside the blind; minimizes the risk of being winded
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Expensive -
Very heavy; need a trailer to haul around and hunt out of
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Ultimate protection from outside elements -
360 degrees of shooting windows -
Double gasket sealed windows help keep human odor inside the blind
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Expensive -
Heavy and requires a trailer to move and hunt out of
Hunting Blinds Comparison Chart
Why You Should Trust Us
What was once a casual once-a-year pursuit has now turned into a lifestyle for me. Hunting is something I think about every day, and in light of getting better, critical thinking is at a high. In other words, if something on a hunting blind doesn’t work in my favor, it gets canned.
Through inclement weather, being hauled through the woods, and spending countless hours in them, hunting blinds are a tool I’ve used at full tilt. Be it alone or with a partner, I appreciate the advantages of these blinds, but always remember the disadvantages of certain designs.
When testing a hunting blind, I’m paying attention to setup time, durability, and if it’s both practical and functional. It can’t just work. It needs to work in my favor. Failure points need to be brought to light as they can mean the difference in the stars aligning or not aligning when an animal is in front of me.
Along with my personal experience, I also took into consideration the experience and opinions of seasoned hunters alike and respected hunters around me. With that, I paid attention to the top-selling blinds on the market and a variety of price points.
The hunting blinds listed above will fit the needs of a wide variety of hunters. If you’re reading this, and need a blind, there is something for you within it.
Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose the Best Hunting Blind
A Few Good Practices for Hunting in a Blind
Hunting in a blind isn’t just about setting it up anywhere, sitting, and shooting a deer. It’s more than that. Here are a few things to keep in mind when planning to hunt from a blind.
Brush It In
Blinds are no doubt in the business of making us disappear to passing by critters. They do a fantastic job of making movements and blending into our surroundings. However, the fact of the matter is, animals are smart. They can spot something out of sight, even if it looks natural. For instance, I’m sure you’re very familiar with the furniture in your house. But, if someone came in and put the coffee table in the bathroom, you’d notice.
With that in mind, while our blinds are helping us disappear, it’s a good practice to try and make our blinds disappear too. This is known as “brushing it in.” Basically, it’s when you place your blind where you’d like to be hunting and either cover or tie the native vegetation to it to help it blend in even more. Not only will this help break up the overall outline of the blind, but it will add natural scents and give the blind more of a 3D look. Some blinds have preattached tie-downs for this very purpose.
Make Sure You’re Comfortable
To hunt in a blind is to ambush hunt. And to ambush hunt is to sit in one place for sometimes what are 13-14-hour days dark to dark. So, we need to make sure that we are comfortable for the long haul.
Make sure you’ve got a comfortable chair. This is a big one for me. I’ve spent a lot of time sitting in minimalist chairs inside blinds, and I promise you it isn’t worth it. Get something that is going to provide back support, and that won’t make your legs fall asleep. On that note, a chair that isn’t noisy is also a plus. Remember, hunting. If you’re worried about weight, check out some of the ultralight backpacking chairs on the market. They pack down small, are lightweight, and you can sit in them all day long.
Another branch of staying comfortable is food. Staying all day in a blind is tiring, and the less movement in and out of the blind, the better. So, pack a full day of food in there with you, along with enough water. These are a few things that will drive folks to leave. No need to go grab a sandwich if it’s already in your pack.
Lastly, we’ve established that ambush hunting involves a whole lot of not moving around. A byproduct of that is you’re way more likely to get cold. Because of this, you’re dang sure gonna want to have warm clothes with you to ensure you can last in the blind. Not only that but if you’re bowhunting, you want to be able to physically pull your bow back. I’ve been in the situation of being so cold I couldn’t draw my bow. That’s my bad and easily remedied with forethought.
Test Shooting/Aiming Beforehand
Perhaps the number one thing folks fail to do when purchasing or about to hunt out of a blind is making sure they can actually shoot out of it, particularly with a bow. For a gun, it’s pretty straightforward. A bow is different. Some bows are longer than others, requiring more headspace. Some people have longer draw lengths than others requiring more internal space. And some folks run longer stabilizers which are great at getting caught on the windows of a blind.
At the very least, if you’re at the store, see if you can get inside the blind and mock draw inside to get a feel. In the field, make sure to draw your bow back and turn your body from one side to the other, ensuring you’ve got clearance. With a gun, ensure your shooting rest is set and ready to go at the proper height. Practice aiming at various things in front of you to try and cover all of the angles you might need.
FAQ
Deer and surrounding game can indeed be spooked by a hunter setting up a blind, but they will eventually get used to the blind being up, pending some acclimation time.
Pop-up blinds, box blinds, layout blinds, quick-set blinds, and brush blinds are the main ones.
Which blind a hunter goes with will be a reflection of the style of hunt, environment, as well as budget. A blind for run-and-gun type hunting is going to be different than one that will be left up all year long. Any blind will work. Pick the blind that matches your needs and go with it.
The focus here should be putting up the blind where the animal will be, not where they are at the moment. So, think of places like pinch points, feeding areas, trails, water sources, or even escape routes. Try to anticipate their natural movements and get in between point A and point B.
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