Deer Blind Recommendations for a Bowhunter

In the last decade, many bowhunters are realizing there are many benefits to hunting deer from a deer blind.

Bill Winke from Midwest Whitetail TV knows all about hunting whitetails from a deer blind. Winke spends over 70 days a year chasing big bucks and although he enjoys hunting out of a treestand, he believes every hunter should have a deer hunting blind or two on their property.

I love hunting from a treestand but there are times when hunting from a tree blind or bale blind makes sense. As long as the blinds are set up properly and in the right location, bucks can be killed from a blind on an elevated stand, Winke explained.

Deer Blind Placement

Winke spends a fair amount of time in Redneck Hunting Blinds mounted on their tower stands. According to him, blind placement is everything when hunting out of a tower blind, especially when bowhunting.

It is difficult to kill a buck with a bow in a tower blind if you are hunting a large food plot or crop field because the deer have too many places they can come and go out of in a field. I like placing my tower blinds on food plots that are an acre or smaller in size. I have a couple Redneck Blinds on a 7-acre food plot but I have two on that plot so it increases the odds of success. Putting a blind over a small plot is a great option. With a smaller plot, deer can typically only enter the field in a few places and if a bowhunter knows where those places are, that is where you set the blind.

Winke says another option is to put the blind in a central location in the food plot where the deer typically pass by. The downside of this is that eventually deer will get downwind of you.

 When I am hunting in a location where I know the deer are going to come down wind of me, I take every precaution I can to stay scent free. I keep all the windows closed until it is time to shoot, I use an Ozonics machine to help reduce odor, and I wear scent eliminating clothing. By doing everything I can to stay scent free most of the time, the blind contains enough of my odor that the deer don’t wind me. A Redneck Blind is one of the best blinds on the market in regards to scent containment because of their high quality door and window gaskets.

More Hunting Options

One reason Winke likes hunting out of tower blinds is it gives him options he doesn’t have when hunting out of a treestand.

 There are plenty of places you can’t hunt because of the swirling wind or lack of good trees to hang a stand. Some farms have deep valleys where the wind is always swirling. These places are perfect for a Redneck Blind because of the amount of human odor the blind contains. The blinds give us more options we didn’t have ten or twenty years ago, which is nice.

How to Avoid Spooking Deer

One challenge hunters can face when hunting from a tower blind is getting in and out of them without being detected because the blinds are often in the open.

The simplest solution is to have a person drive into the field I am hunting to spook off the deer. Deer never seem to be spooked by a vehicle entering a food plot. The reason I know that is because the next night I will see the same bucks in the field. Deer are accustomed to seeing farmers and seeing vehicles so they tolerate them.

Some of our blinds are placed on the fringe of a field where there are crops, cedar trees or other cover that can keep us hidden as we enter and exit the blind. I suggest anyone who is putting up a tower blind to really think about where they are going to put it and weigh all the options before they put the blind up. After a blind is in a certain location, moving it can be difficult so think ahead and put the blind in an area that has some cover if it is possible.

Hunting Comfortably is Key

Of course one of the greatest benefits of using an enclosed blind is the comfort factor.

I love hunting from a treestand, but the older I get the more I like hunting from a Redneck Blind.

I can stay warm and dry regardless of what the weather outside is doing. My kids love hunting out of them as well. Both of my kids have taken numerous deer out the Redneck blinds. They can play on an iPad, move around and when a buck comes in, they get serious and hunt. There have been many times over the years that I would have been inside the house not hunting at all when we killed deer out of tower blinds because we can sit all day long when the weather is nasty.

There is no better way to introduce kids to hunting than out of an enclosed blind. There is something to be said for comfort. When you are comfortable, you can hunt harder and longer. The more hours you spend in the woods, the better odds you have of success. Comfort is one of the main reasons to hunt from a tower blind like a Redneck.

Deer Blind Options

 I like hunting out of elevated blinds but hay bale blinds have their place as well. The Redneck Hay Bale blinds are as realistic as they get and are fairly easy to move. Sometimes we put them on trailers and move them from one farm to another. Because they look like a hay bale, deer don’t pay much attention to them.

With the bale blinds, I put them out in a field when a farmer starts to cut the corn. Since the deer haven’t seen the field without the corn in it for months, they don’t pay attention to the blind if it is in the field when the farmer harvests all the corn. They assume the blind has always been there. Even when I put a hay bale blind in a field that is wide open and hasn’t had crops in it for awhile, the deer get used to it fairly quickly because the blinds are made of natural material and look like a bale of hay. The bale blind is perfect for bowhunting and has enough room in it to hold a couple people comfortably.

Weather Doesn't Matter

Some may think that an elevated blind isn’t really made for bowhunting, but Winke and serious bow hunters from across the country are discovering that tower deer blinds can be a secret weapon when the weather is bad, the wind isn’t right or when you want to sit all day during the rut. When placed in the right location, an elevated blind or hay bale blind can be a highly effective way to harvest a mature whitetail.

Sidebar: Not All Deer Blinds are Created Equal

If you want a tower blind that you can bow hunt out of, make sure you buy a blind that offers long vertical windows that make drawing and taking a shot with a bow a piece of cake. Another feature a tower blind should have is gaskets around the doors and windows. The gaskets help contain human odor and greatly reduce insect problems.