Pop up ground blind user tips for high winds!
With the November deer gun hunt coming in just a week, got a question for some of you guys!
anyone using a popup ground blind, how long in advance do you guys put your blind out? (on private land (assuming you have permission to do so)
obviously the longer you have it out there the better in my opinion.
But it also REALLY matters where you're putting the blind, how much EXTRA support you bring and tiedowns you have to really feel confident in leaving it out there. ( not to mention neighbors)
take it from someone 4ish years ago who bought a brand new ground blind spent 200$ on it.
back then we were hunting only farmer fields. we would set our tents up in a row along a massive field facing the bush the deer would come out from and cross into the neighbors bush side. Well that year we set out tents up with the regular gear that cam with the tents about a week early. went home and the next day there were tornado warnings about an hour north of our hunting location. 90 -100km winds for 2 days. we knew those tents weren't going to be there come Sunday. ended up having to buy a crappier 100$ blind and put it up the week of. 2 of us found our blinds and they were salvageable still, but mine was gone. searched the whole day on Saturday looking for a tent that probably got blown to a neighbors field or probably into the middle of a massive forest or swamp.
after that year we learned from our mistakes and made sure our blinds will either withstand very high winds or not be left out there at all until the day of.
These are some things we use now to really tie our tents down.
- Bring a skid. put this under your blind, and with some extra string or rope tie the blind to the skid in at least 2 opposite spots. ( in the event your blind is not tied down efficiently or the pegs get ripped out from the ground, the skid will at least give it some more weight and may keep it from flying away. ) (also is nice when it colder because your feet aren't on the ground)
- Bring some long plant stakes. At least 2! opposing sides again, youll want to link the stakes behind the poles from your tent. un velcro the poles and velcro the stakes with the poles and push into the ground. again at least 2 sides will be great.
- Buy better pegs. this is a no brainer but still had to mention it. we use the thick plastic yellow or orange camping pegs.
- Aircraft cable this is by far the best thing I've done in my opinion. went to get some aircraft cable and made some small loops on both ends. made 3 of them. then added a clip to clip on the walls of my tent and a peg on the other end into the ground on all ends. the other string on the walls of the blind i usually tie to trees if there are any if not theyll also be pegged into the ground.
alot of these things are not really needed if you leave your popup in the middle of the bush because of less wind in my opinion. but just wanted to share!
if anyone has any other tips or stories please feel free to share! but the question still stands, how long do you leave your popup blind out!
