There was a time when hunting from the ground usually meant you couldn't afford a tree stand. Few people, until recently, considered hunting from the ground a sound tactic for killing mature whitetail deer. The hardest part of ground blind hunting, finding a location and deploying the blind is made easier by having the right ground blind for the job.
The best ground blinds are light weight, fully featured and durable enough to leave out all season. Ground blind manufacturers have been building in more and more technology to the point that many are just as advanced as tree stands. You can have just about anything you want in a blind these days.
The 7 Best Ground Blinds
For those wanting a quick answer to which are the top hunting blinds available, here is a list of them:
More detail on each of these below, but first let's look at how to choose the right blind.
Choosing a Ground Blind
The main points to consider when choosing a ground blind are size, design and the intended location.
Size:
- Don't be tempted to buy too big. It can be difficult to brush in huge blinds. If you don't need all the space it may back-fire and get you caught
- Consider if you'll be bow hunting. If you will, look for a blind that will allow enough room to make a standing shot
- Don't assume the blind has enough room. Try to get inside the blind and try it out as come can get cramped
Design:
- Hub designs are faster and more durable but heavier and much bulkier
- The camouflage color on the outside can make a big difference on how easily it blends in
- Make sure there's plenty of visibility and shooting ports for not just guns and bows but also for cameras if you film your hunts
- Decide if you are willing to pay extra for scent control fabrics. They're becoming common on blinds but the jury is still out on if they're worth it
Intended Use:
- Make sure if you plan to use the blind at elevation there's shooting ports that allow you to shoot down hill without ruining the blind
- Don't buy a green camo blind if you hunt in the desert
- Be wary of blinds that have too big of windows. Spookier game such as deer or pronghorn antelope will look through them and see you
- Make sure the materials the blind is made of is durable enough to allow you to keep it out all season if need be. Some blinds are cheap and fall apart
Where to Put a Ground Blind
Placing a ground blind is a lot like placing a tree stand but a few key problems occur with blinds that you won't encounter with stands. You won’t have the elevation advantage while in a blind so try to place the blind uphill from where you anticipate the game to come from. Also, you have a much higher chance of being spotted so position yourself in between the target and the sun. That way the deer, hog or turkey will have to look into the sun to spot you.
There's a much higher chance of getting busted for scent too so place your blind just upwind of hard terrain funnels like drops offs, lakes, or clear cuts where you won’t be scent checked. Try not to setup on a deer trail like you would with a tree stand. Instead opt for a destination such as a food plot, oak grove or water source. If a deer senses the blind on the trail, they’ll just reroute around it. Especially older bucks and mature does - they won’t go near a blind if they have a choice, no matter how long it’s been there.
Ground Blinds Reviews:
Primos Double Bull Deluxe
Primos makes almost everything you need for hunting, including some of the best hunting blinds on the market. Several of their blinds are even better than those that the specialized ground blind companies make. They start off a little higher priced than other but they really are worth it.
The Primos Double Bull Deluxe is the best ground blind for the money and is perfect for all seasons. It is made with their propriety Truth Camo, an open design that works better than just about every mimicker pattern available. It is a huge hub style ground blind with 77” of floor space from hub to hub and 60” square. There is plenty of room inside for every kind of hunting.
One of the coolest features is they got completely rid of zippers on the whole blind. You won't find any zippers on doors or any vents. The fabric, unlike other blinds, is so durable and thick they can have fold sand cuffs that allow the windows and doors to open and close without zippers, velcro or any other loud hardware like snaps. This is a really cool feature for people who want a super durable, and very quiet blind that lasts. The fabric is very heavy and there’s no hardware to rust out or freeze at the wrong moment.
Big Cat 350 Hub Blind
The Barronett Big Cat is the best ground blind for bow hunting and recurve bow hunting because of the massive windows that allow for standing shots. This is a rare feature among ground blinds but this hub style blind is 80” tall and allows for full on standing shots at game with almost full length shooting windows.
The huge windows with shoot through mesh are toggle adjustable for concealment and the blind has another set of gun ports and low windows for shooting downhill or operating a camera. Inside you could easily fit three men or a huge tripod and two guys. The blind measures 70” square, this is a massive ground blind!
The Big Cat 350 is very durable with 10mm body poles and ball bearing hubs on every side that glide and pop out easily. This is a very cool ground blind that is really a deluxe model but only weighs a scant 19lbs. That is a gigantic blind with a tiny, tiny weight compared to other full featured models. The whole blind is covered in an open camo design proprietary to Barronett and is available in two options. This is a great blind for any archery hunter or anyone who hunts in steep terrain where shooting down hill is a problem. Western hunters will especially find this blind useful because of the weight, space and versatility.
Ameristep Care Taker Hub Hunting Blind
A traditional hub designed hunting blind is exactly what the Ameristep Care Taker is. It is a simple entry level model for hunting. It is on the low end of features and size but makes up for it with quality and price point.
The Ameristep Care Taker is a simple hub design that sets up fast, no surprises or problems there. The blind has 360-degree visibility and shoot through mesh with a gun port for shooting or filming. The whole blind is treated to be insect repellant and features a Realtree HD camouflage.
This is a great blind for early season when you won’t be in the blind all day but you still want a fair amount of room to stretch out without needing to shoot at a full stand. Being that it’s only 66” tall it’s very easy to brush in and hide. The shoot through mesh catches the breeze and the extra insect protection is a very nice feature that only a few blinds have.
This is also among the best portable hunting blinds because of it’s light weight, at just 7lbs. It comes with the blind and backpack style carrying case. Overall it’s a good buy for people just wanting to kill deer or hogs from the ground without too much fuss.
Ameristep Under Armour Speed Freak
Everybody knows Under Armor for their apparel and their sports gear. For years they’ve been one of the most premium brands of camouflage clothing for hunters and now they’ve put out a product in collaboration with the giants at Ameristep. They took the existing, excellent Ameristep Speed Freak Blind and added the scent control fabric technology from Under Armor to make a really awesome blind for hunting animals that use scent for survival.
The Speed Freak blind is designed to be set up in seconds for mobile hunting. The hub design includes a large visor, unique to the Speed Freak, to block the sun and keep you concealed. The visor also does a good job of breaking up the outline of the blind. The hub style blind goes up and down without issues and it really is faster than just about any other hub style blind on the market.
The fabric on this model includes the Under Armor scent control technology used on their hunting garments to reduce smells in the woods. Ground blind hunting is inherently risky because you’re on the same level as the game and you are saturating the area with your scent before the animal even gets there. The aim here is to keep all the scent inside the blind and not allow the woods to get stunk up by hunters inside waiting. The fabric is tough and has Realtree Xtra camouflage on the face for concealment.
The jury is still out as to how well it works but the blind itself is excellent. It’s fast, light and will work for up to two hunters comfortably across multiple seasons. It really is fun to watch this thing go up so fast and pairing it with scent control technology just seals the deal and makes it a really great product for deer or hog hunting.
Barronett Blinds Pentagon
This is a huge 5 sided blind from Barronett Blinds. It's a premium blind that offers huge protection for several hunters and all day comfort. The Pentagon is a castle for the diehard food plotter who just won't shimmy up a tree.
The Pentagon hunting blind is one of the best blinds for deer hunting because it offers so much room and visibility to overcome a lot of the draw backs of hunting in a ground blind. This blind is a fortress - almost a cross between the hard sided permanent blinds and portable pop up blinds. It’s still a hub design, it pops out easily but the foot print of the blind is huge at 96” from hub to hub and five sided. It stands at a whopping 72” tall but still manages to weigh only 20lbs.
This is a great blind for brushing in before deer season overlooking a destination food plot or oak grove and leaving it for the whole season. There’s enough room inside this blind for a small sofa and you can shoot standing, sitting or however you like. It's the best ground blind for crossbow hunting as well because the walls of the blind are less steep so there’s less chance of you hitting the limb of the bow on the wall or support.
Included in the bag is a backpack style carry case and, tie down steaks and ropes for securing it. The whole design is zipper-less and silent for set up and take downs. The fiberglass poles and metal hubs seem stable enough and the whole blind just feels like a fortress once inside.
Ameristep Warlock Blind
The Ameristep Warlock Blind is an interesting offering from the ground blind company that brings so many good products to market. This is a tactical inspired hunting blind made for the deserts and arid regions where concealment can be tough.
The main selling features of this blind is the Kryptek Highlander pattern. A high tech camouflage pattern that is made famous by the purported use of the pattern by military units around the world and the overall effectiveness of the design.
The camouflage is an open pattern and works much, much better than all mimicker patterns such as Realtree and Mossy Oak. They work by using general patterns and colors that break up the outline making it harder to see where the blind starts and the ground ends. This is perfect to elude pronghorn antelope, mule deer or turkeys that have been known for keen eye sight.
Other than the fantastic camouflage this blind is groundbreaking because of the large vertical windows in the corners of each side that allow for full range of archery shooting. That coupled by the high ceiling of 72”. It is 65” square, hub to hub, and has a final interesting feature.
The final stand out feature is the carbon treated fabric used to reduce the overall scent foot print of the blind. Seen in other blinds made by Ameristep this ground blind has a technology that uses carbon to reduce scent. It’s unclear how much this helps but for the price they’re bringing it to market it can’t hurt.
Overall this is an awesome hunting ground blind, a very versatile blind that’ll blend well, reduce scent and last for several seasons. It is a steal at its price online.
Ameristep Arcane Blind
This is my favorite piece of gear to come out in recent years. The Arcane blind is a ghillie suit you don’t have to wear! It is a total concealment solution for deep cover or areas with high pressure. There's a laundry list of things done right about this product but the two main things are concealment and breatheability.
The whole blind is made out of a leafy 3D polyester with Realtree HD camouflage printed onto it. This is an awesome step forward for concealment when chasing high pressured bucks. When brushed in, the blind disappears and it works better than expected. The 3D strips on any of the blinds these days can’t hold a candle to this blind when it comes to blending in. Once brushed in it can be hard to find if you don’t remember where it is.
The other big feature of this blind is that none of the walls are solid; the whole thing is made of a mesh fabric. This mesh fabric doesn’t repel mosquitoes as well but it sure does feel awesome in the early season when a breeze rolls through. Pronghorn hunters who use bows are going to love this blind because it’s unlike any other on the market when it comes to heat management. I love this blind and you’ll find me tucked inside it this fall when the rut rolls around.
The roof of the blind is still solid and leaves nothing to be desired. The blind isn’t the largest on the market measuring 59” from hub to hub and 67” tall, but it isn’t cramped with two hunters. The blind includes a carry bag, stakes and guy lines for setting up. This is one of the best ground blinds on the market and one of the best pieces of gear to come out in recent years.
Bottom Line
Ground blinds have come leaps and bounds in just a few years. You can find just about any kind of blind you’d like from chair sized models to huge fortresses. Ground blind hunting can be a bit safer, and sometimes just as effective as tree stand hunting if you use the best ground blind you can get your hands on. Most of all it's bringing in more hunters each season and even allowing older hunters to get in the field with their grandchildren, passing on the tradition.
