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Ground Blind- Brush In or Not?

I have a ground blind that was tucked into a plot screen on a food plot. With a wet heavy snow this past weekend, it flattened my plot screen to the ground. Now my blind is out in the wide open.

Will this effect deer?

Should I leave it, move it, brush it in some how or ??

What do you think?

I would brush it on as much as possible or possibly even move it but still brush it in! Cheers

for sure brush it in

Been hunting out of Doublebull and Ameristep blinds since they hit the market and from what I've learned it all depends on how long the blinds have been in place. IF (big if) the blind has been in place for more than just a day or so you probably won't have a problem not brushing it in again. We put ours up in early September and by November they're in the open... and the deer don't seem to mind one bit.

What I would be concerned with is having too many windows open and being silhouetted. Wear black outer garments (gloves, jacket/shirt, facemask) and you'll be good to go.

This picture was taken a week after putting a portable blind in with no 'brushing in'. There have been no blinds used on this property any time recently.

The buck is 14 yards from the blind, a huge Ameristep Brotherhood blind. this is very hard hunted property during gun season. But these deer have probably never seen a portable blind before.

Hopefully I did the picture attachment correctly.

I hunted last nite from a ground blind that has been there since before last hunting season. Killed a doe out of it about two weeks ago. It is brushed in with cedar limbs but they have long been dead. Still got a lot of needles on them though. The young deer don't pay too much attention to it, but the older deer look at it pretty hard sometimes. I see this first hand, but also on my game cam. So they are aware of it even when I am not in it. Older does especially stare at it for 30--45 seconds as if to say "I know something ain't right here"! Hogs never act like they know it's there. Poorer eyesight I guess. Haven't been busted in it , but I have only hunted in it 5-6 times and am always carefull about my wind. If I have deer in front of me at dark, I text my son or wife to come pick me up in the Ranger, as I would rather run them off with that so they don't see me get out of the blind.

Brushing in a blind that is in plain view is pointless. It just looks like a bushy blob as opposed to a smooth one. Unless it is by brush and you are trying to blend it in, it doesn't make any sense. I don't even brush mine in any more, since I noticed while turkey hunting the deer don't pay much attention to it. I had it set up once in a pastured river bottoms by some trees and deer came by without even giving it a glance.

In my location I have to brush it in to keep from being stolen.

Knife, I guess it depends on the deer. Where I hunted in Central Texas for 18 years, during turkey season most deer would see it between 60 to 80 yd. and stomp or blow and detour or just leave. Of course it was usually in the open as turkeys couldn't care less about them. Here in East Texas, I brush them in completely and try to set them under an overhanging limb where you can't tell where the blind stops and the tree starts. Almost every acre of E. Texas is hunted, so our deer are pretty pressured. Add to that , small acreage on most places, you need to hide them as best you can.

I've never heard of a deer spooking from a brushed-in blind that didn't spook at one left unbrushed.

We prefer our blinds with loops so we can stick cedar limbs directly to the blind.

I would guess that if you left the blind out for a long period prior to hunting it brushing it in would become less and less of a concern. I always brush mine in, especially on the top portion as this is the are athat really makes the blind stick out in my opinion.

Probably doesn't matter on some deer, but the ones most of us are after it probably makes a difference. GOing that extra mile is worth it in my world.

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