Setting Up a Hunting Blind in August: The Key to Avoiding Last-Minute Mistakes

Deer season is less than two months away in Minnesota, so setting up your Stump blind on your property now will give you a head start on hunting season. Setting up your blind before the season opens gives the deer herd time to get used to it and gives you time to observe the activity in the area. Check out our tips, below, for things you should keep in mind to avoid last-minute mistakes when you’re putting up your blind.

Don’t Wait Past August

Setting up your blind now gives deer the chance to get used to the blind on your property before hunting season kicks in. This is important for hunters because if you do anything out of the ordinary during hunting season, the herd could sense it as a threat and will be wary of the change. It could cause them to stay away from your property for a while to let the “disturbance” dissipate. Deer season opens on Sept. 13 in Minnesota, so as long as you put up your blind by the end of August, the deer will have a few weeks to get used to it.

Disguise Your Scent

While disguising your scent with a scent-eliminating spray is effective and vital during the active hunting season, you should still use it during the summer months while you’re checking your trail cameras, refilling your feeders, or setting up your blind. You don’t want your scent to be associated with your hunting areas in any way. If you eliminate your scent when you’re setting up the blind in August, you’re setting the precedence that the blind is not to be associated with humans. In addition to the neutral color and tree stump shape, remaining scentless will allow the blind to blend into the landscape more efficiently.

Set Up a Trail Camera

Putting up a trail camera near your blind is a great way to gather notes on how the deer move through the area. If you see that deer aren’t going near the blind, consider switching up the location of your blind or adding a feeder nearby. If you’re seeing activity, make note of the makeup of the herd. How many bucks and how many does are you seeing? Knowing the herd ratio will help you plan for the rut season. If there are more bucks than does, the rut season will be especially active because the bucks will be moving around trying to find the few does. Knowing the ratio will also help you manage your tags. If you’re seeing a lot of bucks, you can probably afford to be choosy about which bucks you want to harvest and wait for larger bucks. If you’re hardly seeing any bucks, you should probably consider taking a shot at harvesting an eligible buck as soon as you see one.

Our Stump blinds will help keep you concealed throughout the hunting season and setting them up now is your first step in making a successful harvest. They’re designed to blend into the landscape and be easily moveable so if you take the time to observe the herd and let the deer get used to the blind, you’ll be in a good place in the fall. Check out our blinds to upgrade your setup or add accessories before the season opens.

When do you set your blind up? Do you make sure it’s up by August? What precautions do you take? Let us know in the comments below!