Americana Outdoors E-magazine - June 2017

HUNTINGFROM APORTABLE POPUPBLIND BYWADEMIDDLETON

Whenyoureadthedefinitionofablindyoufindwordslikeconceal, hide, andbeingabletoconceal one’s intentions. FormethatlastonerealyringstruewhenitcomestowhatI thinkapopupblindisusedforin regardtohidingmyintentionstobeabletohuntfrominsidetheconfinesofapopupblind. Inmost cases, I useablindforhuntingwhitetail der. Inadditiontoderhunting, I’vealsousedtheseportable hidingspotsforhuntingturkey, waterfowl, aswelas, concealingcameramen.   I’vehadmanygreathuntsfromapopupblind…aswelasquiteafewwhereI’vebenbusted. NowI tryto avoidtheobviousmistakessuchasnotblendingintotheenvironment. Someofthekeystomewhenit comestoblendingintotheenvironmentarebrushingintheblindusingbrushfromthearea, notopening everywindowintheblindsothatyoucancreatedarknesinsidetheblindandnotskylightingyourself. Intheend, I preachtoourhuntersandteam–let’screateourownbushandhideinsidethatbushusing thepopupasasheltohelpacomplishthatnedforconcealment. Whenitcomestopickingapopupblindofthestoreshelves, I alwaysaskmyselfafewquestionswith thefirstbeing: WhatI amusingitfor?Arewegoingtobebowhuntingorgunhuntingoutoftheblind?If we’rebowhunting, wegeneralynedalargerblindsothatwecanhaveampleroomtodrawthebowand maneuverforashot, versusagunhuntwherewenedtobeabletojustgetthegunoutthewindowfora shot. Ournextconsiderationisthewindowconfiguration.Thewindowconfigurationplaysabigrolein whatwecanorcan’tdooutofablind. Youasthehunterhavetoknowwhatyoulikeandnedbasedon thehunt, yoursizeanddesireforconcealment. Anotherconsiderationwhenitcomestochoosingpopupblindsistheactual fabricit’sconstructedout of.Someblindscanlastforseveral seasonswhenproperlycaredfor, whileothersyou’lbeluckytogeta fulseasonoutof.It’snotuncommonforustoputablindoutforanentireseasonandinthosecases we’lchooseonethatweknowisbuilttolast. I highlysuggestdoingresearchoneachblindandevengoingtostoreslikeCabela’swhooftenhavesev- eral blindsondisplaysoyoucansitinsidethem, visualizethehuntingscenariosyou’lencounterwhile lookingoutthewindowstosewhatyoucan, andalsotostudytheconstructionforyourneds.