Blind – Walt in PA

The 2013-2014 Hunting Season is winding down and it is bittersweet. I didn't put nearly as much meat in my freezer as I had hoped but this season was leaps and bounds better than last. Thanks to Troy, I've gone from being absolutely clueless in the woods to having a general idea of what I'm doing. I think in maybe another season or two I'll be able to call myself a competent hunter. Of all the hunting Troy and I have done this season, I think I like Goose Hunting the most. That probably stems from being able to see my prey from a long way off. It isn't like Deer Hunting where you can spend all day in a tree and not see a single deer. When it comes to Geese, you're almost guaranteed to see something in a few hour sit, even if it doesn't get close enough to shoot. I've relied on Troy for more than just knowledge this season. All three geese that I've killed have been taken with a borrowed gun and shot from within a borrowed ground blind. Christmas was good this year and I've been slowly adding hunting gear. The latest addition to my gear has been a Northern Flight Ultimate Layout Blind from Cabela's. I picked it up as a season end special. Between special pricing for ordering online and free in-store shipping, I managed to get an expensive blind for a pretty good price. I went with the Ultimate variant of the Cabela's blind because I needed the extra width. Troy's blinds are great but I always feel constrained in the shoulders. This makes it tough to move around in the blind and preparing to pop out to take a shot is rather awkward. While the Northern Flight Ultimate Layout Blind has plenty of width, it is far larger than I anticipated. If I were a smaller guy, I could probably fit another small adult in the blind beside me. Moving around will not be an issue but I'm afraid concealing the blind may be. Not only is the blind very wide, it is also very tall. After the blind was setup (I owe a huge thanks to YouTube because the directions were awful), I began to worry. I'm going to need stubble corn standing 18" tall to hide this blind. Given where we hunt, this could pose a serious problem. When I broke the blind down and shouldered it, my wife burst out laughing. Visualize taking a lazy-boy recliner and strapping it to your back. The blind is wider than I am at the shoulders and is so tall that it makes contact with the back of my legs as I walk. Gargantuan size aside, the blind is great. It comes packed with features that should make a long and cold hunt very comfortable. I spent some time playing with it in my living room and I'm eager to get out and try it in the field. As much fun as I had with it, I think my daughter enjoyed it even more. She climbed inside with her Cabela's Pop Gun, my Goose Call, and pretended to hunt. I hope the interest sticks and my daughter and I are out killing geese together, in a few years.