Do Ground Blinds Help Scent Control? [Yes but Know THIS]

Poor scent control has spooked millions of deer, and there’s a good chance you are responsible for a couple dozen of those. We have all spooked plenty of deer, but staying as stealthy as possible is the goal. Ground blinds are a great tool for that. They certainly conceal your movement, and they might even help with scent control, however, you still need to use them correctly. 

Ground blinds help with scent control by blocking a majority of the wind, but they are not the perfect solution. Without a solid scent control routine, deer will still smell you inside your ground blind, even with a minimal amount of wind. Brushing in a blind adds to scent control and concealment.

In a hurry? This is the ground blind I recommend for the best scent control. It’s heavy-duty, so it lets less wind (and scent) through, and the same fact makes the blind last longer over the years. 

That was the short version, but if you want to learn how to get the most out of your ground blind, let’s start with “THIS” extremely important tip.

Start With the Blind Itself

If a ground blind is going to help you with scent control, it can not have a human odor. If you just got a shiny new ground blind from a big box store, or if you have been keeping it in your garage all off-season, it has a human odor. 

Obviously, you can not wash a ground blind. The best thing you can do is set it up outside. Set it up in your yard, and let it air out. Ground blinds are not made of material that really soaks up scent for a long time, so if you give it a week in the yard, it is going to smell like outside. Which is perfect. I do this with all sorts of hunting gear, and it works.

This is what my dad used to do before we went up to Kentucky for the October youth season. A fidgety kid like me needed all the help he could get when it came to movement, so a ground blind was the way to go. Every year when I saw that ground blind pop up in the yard, I knew it was almost time to go slay some deers!

You Can Avoid Some Wind, but Not Much Else

So how much does a ground blind help? All they really are are thin sheets of polyester, so don’t depend on them too much. Plus, with all the windows they have (which is usually a good thing), you can expect more scent to seep out. They do great at their job, concealing movement, but everything else is a bonus. 

You can expect them to block a little bit of wind, but the majority of ground blinds are by no means windproof. Some wind is coming through it, and wind will definitely come through the windows. If wind can come in, it can come out, and it will have your scent on it too. 

If you read a bunch of my content, you will notice that I really don’t care about the wind that much when I hunt. Wind changes directions many times a day, and I hunt all day when I am serious. So you can’t depend on it if you are sitting in one spot most of the day. The key is good scent control, and then the wind doesn’t matter.

Brush It In

One thing that will help any ground blind immensely is brushing it in. I always had my ground blind set up close to or in the tree line. Then we added layer after layer of brush (sticks, leafy limbs, leftover corn stalks, etc.) to the blind. Sure, blinds are camouflage, but local vegetation is the best camouflage in the world; just ask the snipers.

In this context, brushing a blind in serves two purposes. The main purpose (and the only one we truly cared about) was the fact that the blind would fit in much better and be more camouflaged. The second is that all that added material can block a little more wind, and since you brush in the front of your blind (which was facing the field), that brush is taking the brunt of the wind. AKA, it is better for scent control in some small way.

You Definitely Need Solid Scent Control

We have established that ground blinds, as thin as they are, do not hold all of your scent. So you definitely need a solid scent control routine. When we think of a scent control routine, we all know the general basics of washing your clothes in scent-free detergent, and taking a scent-free shower, however, there is a little more to it than that. 

There is so much more to it that I wrote an entire Ebook over it. It is called The Hunters Guide to Scent Control. You can learn more about the Ebook at the former link, and what you learn will be well worth the few dollars it costs. I poured dozens of hours of research into this book, and I am 100% certain it contains the best available knowledge in the industry. 

I also used an easy-to-understand redlight system to gauge the importance of each tip I mention in the Ebook too. The green tips are the bare necessities, the yellow ones are the best practices, and the red tips go the extra mile. That way, you know when tips definitely need to be in your scent control routine and which ones are optional.

If you are not so sure yet, you can sign up for my weekly email newsletter right here, and I will send you the first chapter of The Hunters Guide to Scent Control for FREE!

What Are the Best Ground Blinds for Scent Control?

If a blind is going to be good for scent control, it is going to be made out of a heavier fabric. Thin blinds let through more wind and are, therefore, worse for scent control. Also, the 2 way mesh blinds that let you see 180 degrees or more will keep you concealed and let you see plenty but are going to let plenty of scent go right through them. If you can see through it, scent passes through it as if it wasn’t even there. 

Another thing you want to do is cover any holes or vents you don’t need while you are hunting. Of course, you can’t make your blind airtight, but covering or closing windows and vents you are not using gives your scent fewer places to go. 

With all that being said, one blind that stood out was the Barronett Blinds Big Cat. It is made of heavy-duty fabric and is going to be your best bet as far as scent control goes. Plus, it is a three-person blind, so there is plenty of room inside, and a heavier fabric also means it is going to last longer. You can get this blind on Amazon right now for less than $275.

Thank you for reading my article! I hope you enjoyed it, and if you have any questions or feedback, please send me an email at Patrick.Long@omegaoutdoors.net. If you want to learn more about me or Omega Outdoors, visit my About Page. Otherwise, I hope you have a great day, and check out some of my other articles while you’re here!