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For those that have never seen one, a Ghost Blind is a lightweight, plastic blind that is camo on the backside and Mylar/mirrored on the side facing the animal. It's adapts to any location because it reflects the surrounding vegetation from the ground outward toward the animal.
I was out scouting a place I have permission on a couple of times after work, once last week and then tonight. There are plenty of deer here and I actually got stuck 1 hour past legal when the deer came into my tree very late last time. Because the trees around the area where the deer enter the field suck (or are at least too brushed in at the base to use a climber), I decided to use a Ghost Blind to get within 30 yards of that spot since the wind was favorable. This little 8-point came in and had no idea I was there. He was still pretty spindly, so I gave him a pass. He walked right by me at 20 yards and proceeded to eat.
Later, a raccoon got within *6 feet* of the thing with no clue I was there! Very impressive. A doe finally came in at last light, but the wind had finally shifted and she winded me before ever committing to the field. Sucks, but it's still great to see that under the right conditions, this thing can really be a force multiplier.
Ghost Blind: it works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsH4SULkvqEFor those that have never seen one, a Ghost Blind is a lightweight, plastic blind that is camo on the backside and Mylar/mirrored on the side facing the animal. It's adapts to any location because it reflects the surrounding vegetation from the ground outward toward the animal.
I was out scouting a place I have permission on a couple of times after work, once last week and then tonight. There are plenty of deer here and I actually got stuck 1 hour past legal when the deer came into my tree very late last time. Because the trees around the area where the deer enter the field suck (or are at least too brushed in at the base to use a climber), I decided to use a Ghost Blind to get within 30 yards of that spot since the wind was favorable. This little 8-point came in and had no idea I was there. He was still pretty spindly, so I gave him a pass. He walked right by me at 20 yards and proceeded to eat.
Later, a raccoon got within *6 feet* of the thing with no clue I was there! Very impressive. A doe finally came in at last light, but the wind had finally shifted and she winded me before ever committing to the field. Sucks, but it's still great to see that under the right conditions, this thing can really be a force multiplier.
Accuracy: because white space between bullet holes drives me insane.
Replies
I'm using the Predator version. The place I ordered from included a set of free height extensions, though it was not necessary to use them in this field.
However, I'll warn you now: they ain't cheap and a buddy of mine already went down the road of pricing parts, etc. He was hell-bent on making one for cheaper, but said that the corrugated plastic you need to make it light enough for field carry is shockingly expensive on the outside and that trying to make the proper cuts so the thing sits properly/doesn't double as a signal mirror were more trouble than its worth. You might save 15 bucks after an inordinate amount of asspain and end up with a less effective rendition.
Ultimately, he just broke down and paid the $200 for it...I followed suit.
You?? Naw, never! :jester:
That's the issue: while the 8' foot width on the corrugated plastic sheets would be plenty, the 4' height isn't enough. I thought he said that once you go bigger than that, the price jumped up a lot. Then there's Mylar sheeting and trying to get it to lay completely bubble-free and perfect. One screw up after you add the adhesive and you're out a lot of dough.
Saw this void of how to mak3 one a home a while ago
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
It seems doable, but awfully time consuming, to make you own. That, and the Plexiglas version seems way heavy. If you can score the corrugated plastic for cheap and have the patience to really get the Mylar application right, it seems reasonably worth making on your own. In my case, I'll gladly cough up the dough to simply have a working version ready to go without putting in that many hours to make it happen.
The thing is downright impressive. I'm uploading a video right now from my ReplayXP eyebrow cmera that actually show most of the buck's appearance, including me making the cellphone video above and a FaceTime call to a buddy until the buck finally hears him talk a bit too much (my buddy had no clue I was calling him with a deer in front of me) and takes off. Wait until you see how much movement I was getting away with behind that thing. Definitely worth the price of admission.
It will be a bit before the upload completes, but I'll get it up ASAP. It really shows you how well this kind of blind works.
The Doc had one of those things and was convinced you could hide behind it and stalk the Oryx.
It did not work while moving and they got busted every time.
It definitely is a stationary blind, probably reflects something wrong when moving.
I cut out a lot because the entire encounter ran about 6 mins, but you get the idea. You can get away with murder using this thing. The big catch is that you HAVE to know where the deer are entering the field if you want to sit out in the wide open like I did. If there is even a chance they will come in behind you, you'd better press up against or even slightly into a brush backing.
..... but I adore my comfort much more than previously
You have to keep it canted toward the ground or you're out of luck. One false reflection of the sun or the animal back at itself and it's over. That, and you still need to be mindful of your sound when walking.
Good to see ya back! A roof might be comfortable in the rain, but it would kill any hope of keeping this thing field portable. It's just light enough as it is to be worth carrying in and they do not recommend leaving it outside. The only functional Achillies Heel that I found with it is fogging: much like a scope, if you keep it indoors and then bring it out in the cold, you can generate some pretty severe fogging. That actually happened the first time that I used it.
Until I get time to do some serious brush clearing at the base of those far trees, there's no way to set a stand up over there on any of the remotely straight trees, let alone use a climber.
Last night, I took a chance and put my climber on the other end of the field on one of the few straight, exposed trees and got lucky that they came out early enough to work all the way across an offer a fringe distance shot before it was too dark. Unfortunately, the deer began moving back out of the field as I prepared to shoot, about 10 yards further than I was aiming, resulting in a low miss.
I'm much more creative than that limiting factor. I got mad skilz.
I know, I know...I've tried hunting in the nude before, too, but after December 1, it starts to suck.
Seriously though, the big advantage of it is the ability to make a hasty set up in a place that won't allow for any other cover. The honeysuckle on this field edge is so heavy in most places that even a couple of feet of it is completely impenetrable without cutting equipment (something I've arranged to do, but need to be able to get out midday to make happen without spooking everything nearby). No place to get into it, let alone draw a bow. As for getting elevated, the tree that I'm in is THE exposed trunk. Other than that, good luck getting concealment.
That blind is sweet, I am going to keep my eye out for one on sale.
Zorba -
The buddy who first told me about it said that he first broke it out amongst his work buddies at the concrete business he works for, all of whom were laughing at the concept...until he set it up in a field. They couldn't believe that he disappeared in plain sight and started asking about where he got it.
I was still skeptical, and wanted to hear how it worked in an actual field setting. That's when he took it out on the turkey scouting trip and got within shooting distance of some hens on the first try.