How to Set Up a Hunting Blind

Properly using a hunting blind can often mean the difference between success and failure. I have set up countless hunting blinds throughout my years, and I would like to share some tips and tricks to ensure you cover all your bases (and your tracks).

In this detailed guide, I will walk you through setting up a blind for a nighttime hog hunt; however, the same principles apply to hunting almost any type of game.

Practice Makes Perfect: Mastering the Art of Setting Up Your Ground Blind

One of the things you'll want to do before heading out to hunt is practice setting up the ground blind you will be using.

To reduce the time you'll spend setting up and taking down, you need to practice with the hunting ground blind you'll use in the field. This way, you'll be less likely to be spotted or heard by wandering hogs, increasing your chances of a successful shooting day. Since some blinds are more complicated, so you'll want to ensure you know how to operate them properly.

Airing Out Your Hunting Blind: Masking Your Scent

While practicing setting up your blind before your hunt, you should also allow time to air it out. Whether new or old, airing out your hunting blind is essential to mask your scent from hogs. The last thing you want is that fresh "factory" smell or musty basement odor giving you away to your game. The longer you let your blind acclimate to the outdoors before your hunt, the more "natural" it will smell.

Utilizing Natural Signs: Finding Strategic Locations to Hunt

Animals leave all kinds of evidence that they have been in an area. Finding and utilizing these natural signs will help create a strategic location to hunt.

A good indication of hog presence is droppings. There are two things to look for when inspecting hog feces - freshness and diameter. Observing the freshness of a hog's droppings will let you know how close to the area they are, while the diameter will let you know how large the animal is.

Another thing to look out for is the presence of a watering hole where hogs wallow. You can tell an animal's watering hole by checking for tracks near the edge and logs with mud over the top. Both are signs you can utilize in finding an area frequented by hogs.

Hogs like to rub their bodies against trees to the point where the bark rubs down to the wood. Trees with rubbed bark are a sure sign that hogs have been there. Here is a good rule of thumb to observe when looking for rub marks on tree bases: the higher the stripped bark, the taller the hog is likely to be. It's a simple and seemingly obvious phrase, but it has proven effective for me on many occasions.

Selecting a Location: Natural Cover and Clear Shooting Lanes

Looking for natural cover with unencumbered shooting lanes is the next step to picking a place to set up your hog hunting blind.

Check your surroundings for an area that has a good amount of natural coverage. Trees, bushes, or shrubs can help you to blend your hunting blind into the environment. Natural foliage covering will help to keep you free from unwanted attention.

You'll also want to pick a location with clear shooting lanes to aim through. Clear shooting lanes are the best way to ensure you won't miss a shot opportunity when it comes.

Hunting with the Wind: Avoiding Detection by Hogs

One of the most important things to remember is that you must hunt with the wind in your face to avoid detection. Much like carrying a tee shot on the golf course, the wind can carry odors great distances. Hogs, like many animals, have an uncanny sense of smell. If they catch even the slightest scent of something they don't recognize (like a hunter or a blind), they are likely to take off - taking the rest of their pack with them.

Set up your blind with the wind in your face, and you'll significantly improve your odds of avoiding detection.

Scent Blockers: Masking Human Odor for Stealthy Hunting

Since hogs and whitetail deer have such a good sense of smell, bringing some scent-blocking substance with you is an excellent idea to avoid detection.

A scent blocker is excellent to have with you and will completely mask your human smell. With a scent blocker, even if the wind direction changes, your scent will still be undetectable to the animal.

There are many options to choose from, all of which will help keep you invisible. Be sure to spray your clothes and the exterior of your blind to mask your human odor completely.

Silence is Golden: Minimizing Noise When Setting Up Your Ground Blind

Animals have one instinct - to survive. Nothing will send an animal running faster than a sound they do not recognize. As mentioned earlier, it is essential to practice and practice some more with your hunting blind, ensuring you know exactly how to set it up, enter, and manipulate it with as little noise as possible. One wrong zipper pull can ruin an entire day of hunting.

When it comes time to set up your ground blind for a hunt, consider the ease of entrance into the hunting blind itself. When you return to hunt that evening, the last thing you want to do is slosh through a puddle trail or steep over a patch of dry, snap-ready twigs. Find the most accessible positioning of the hunting blind entrance (while still maximizing concealment efforts) to ensure you can get in and out swiftly and quietly.

Covering Your Tracks and Achieving Hunting Success with a Well-Set-Up Hunting Blind

Hunting blinds can be an effective tool for hunting hogs, whitetail deer, or predators. However, before rushing out for that all-important hunt, practice with your blind, understand the importance of location, and think about your scent and sound. Once you cover these bases, you'll be ready to cover your tracks and drop the hammer.

Make sure to check out all of our Hunting Blind How-to Guides for tips on buying the best hunting blind for you, and check out all of our hunting gear for sale to ensure you're fully prepared to take down hogs all night long.