Best Blinds for Turkey Hunting in 2022 | Field & Stream

2022-08-27 09:07:00 By : Mr. Tony Liu

Whether you're a bowhunter or shotgun assassin, a modern-day ground blind will boost your success in the turkey woods

It’s fitted with a 300-degree one-way see-through mesh fabric, which provides both maximum visibility and excellent hiding.

This blind has a large 77-inch shooting width, a roomy floor plan, and one-way see-through mesh that boosts visibility.

The blind is lightweight, which makes it a breeze to tote through the woods, and its low-profile design ensures rapid setup and easy concealment.

If you’re a hunter who likes to do their homework—a.k.a. figure out where the birds want to be and set out a few decoys—blinds for turkey hunting come in handy. While there’s nothing wrong with creeping through the woods with just a shotgun and turkey vest, hoping to fire up a deep-woods gobbler, today’s ground forts provide second-to-none concealment and are simple to set up and take down. Top-tier blinds will stand up to Mother Nature and provide you with season after season of turkey hunting enjoyment.

Ground blinds are excellent for those hunting with a partner or a few kids. Because the hunters are concealed inside, getting away with more movement is possible. Find one that’s right for you, and you’ll come out of the woods with more fans bobbing over your shoulder. Here are six of the best blinds for turkey hunting to consider. 

Why it Made the Cut: 

It’s fitted with a 300-degree one-way see-through mesh fabric, which provides both maximum visibility and excellent hiding. 

You can’t beat the durability and simplicity a hub-style blind provides, and this one has reinforced hubs that promise years of no-fail use. Primos has created some excellent ground blind marvels over the years — the Dark Horse, Bullpen, and Double Wide, to name a few. Primos’ latest ground fort, the Double Bull SurroundView Double Wide, has all the features that made the above blinds great: room, durability, functionality, and concealment. However, it also provides visibility that’s second-to-none. While many blind makers are adding one-way see-through mesh to their makes, Primos pioneered it. The see-through mesh is heavy-duty and doesn’t fade over time. 

The window system is dead silent and functional in that when a turkey comes in; he’s not getting away without catching an arrow or some lead in the head. Room is offered in spades, making this a fantastic blind choice for the solo turkey hunter wanting to have room to relax and hunt in comfort or those taking kids or filming with buddies. 

Why It Made the Cut: 

This blind has a large 77-inch shooting width, a roomy floor plan, and one-way see-through mesh that boosts visibility.

Sitting and waiting in a blind over a few lifelike decoys is one of the best ways for the bowhunter to bag a bird. This process, however, can be long, sometimes a little tedious, and if you’re not in a suitable blind with a quality chair, you can go crazy. Hours in the blind are more tolerable when you’re comfortable and have room to move. For the sit-and-wait bowhunter, this pentagon-shaped blind is a roomy, easy-to-deploy ground blind that can withstand the wind and elements when staked down and tied off properly. It provides plenty of room, a Black ShadowGuard blanket that eliminates inside-the-blind shadows and silhouettes, and a one-way see-through mesh that means you won’t be looking at the same section of landscape for hours. Additional depth added to the ground blind’s rear allows you to draw in total stealth, and, when a bird does commit, the 12 windows on Silent Slide are quiet and sized right. That old Tom won’t stand a chance.

Why It Made the Cut: 

The blind is lightweight, which makes it a breeze to tote through the woods, and its low-profile design ensures rapid setup and easy concealment.  

This honey of a blind comes cloaked in Mossy Oak Obsession or Mossy Oak Bottomland, two great turkey patterns that work well during the spring in most locales. The low-profile build makes it easy to conceal anywhere you strike that gobble. Though the blind only has a center height of 46 inches, it offers plenty of room for the bowhunter to draw and settle their pin on an approaching bird. I love the extra-large door opening, which allows the turkey bowhunter to get in and out quickly and quietly. Bowhunters haul lots of gear, and when your pack, vest, bow, etc., is hanging up on the blind door, it’s a pain. The blind only weighs 8 pounds, the aluminum hubs are constructed with engineered tips and pins, and the frame utilizes robust and flexible fiberglass poles. 

Why It Made the Cut: 

The blind weighs less than five pounds, which means you can tote your trusty shooter in one hand and this quick-deploy two-hub blind in the other and dominate the woods. 

The public land turkey woods are more crowded than ever, and gobblers seem to be getting brighter. Concealment is the key to consistently punching your turkey tag, and this quick-deploy, heavy-duty one-way see-through mesh blind provides supreme visibility while giving you excellent disguise. It’s excellent when you plop down on a big longbeard and have minimal cover, and I also use it in heavy cover for added concealment and to help cast shadows over my position.

The two-hub design is bulletproof, and though it feels ultra-stiff and hard to manipulate at first, the hubs will loosen a bit. With three windows to shoot from, you can quickly change positions if needed and not tip the deck in favor of the approaching Tom. The windows are also perfectly sized. When I’m toting a shotgun, I won’t hit the woods—especially the public-land turkey woods—without this blind. 

Why It Made the Cut: 

With its almost-seven-foot center height, Browning’s Envy allows you to stand and shoot or at least stretch out during long hours in the blind. 

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite ground blinds for turkey hunting because of its versatility. I take many turkey hunters yearly, and some tote a recurve, longbow, crossbow, compound bow, or shotgun—and this blind accommodates all weapons. When you’re sitting and waiting on a bird to wander in, it’s essential to be comfortable, and many bow and some shotgun hunters like to stand and shoot, which you can comfortably do thanks to the height of this blind. The included camera ports are great for photography and video, the Silent-Trac window system is quiet, and the curtains offer added concealment. Plus, it sports 600D polyester fabric and aluminum hubs with engineered tips and pins. 

Why It Made the Cut: 

The blind, for one hunter, is semi-roomy, deployment is easy, and when the hunt is over and it’s time to fold the blind up, you won’t need to crack out the anti-anxiety meds. 

I’m not a fan of pop-up style blinds void of a hub system, but if I use one, Ameristep’s Gunner will do in a pinch. Pop-up blinds are traditionally a hassle to break down, but this one isn’t bad. It’s worth the money if you plan to hunt solo with a shotgun or crossbow. Don’t buy this blind if you’re a bowhunter. The blind’s slender design and small footprint make it easy to conceal, and since the outer shell is made of Durashell Plus fabric, it can take some abuse and you can use it for seasons to come. The matte finish on the material is a nice touch as it eliminates glare.

Before breaking out your credit card, ask: What is my purpose for this ground blind? For example, I primarily bowhunt turkeys, so I want a blind that’s roomy, comfortable, quiet, and highly durable. You don’t need the same features if you instead want to run and gun with your shotgun in hand. In that case, you want a lightweight blind that is durable with rapid deployment, but you don’t necessarily need the size and fully contained concealment.  Like most hunting gear—including the pieces featured in our roundup of the best new gear for turkey hunting—when you match your ground blind choice to your hunting style, you’ll find a make that fits your needs and will become a purposeful piece in your turkey hunting arsenal. 

You don’t have to. Many shotgun hunters prefer not to tote a blind, no matter how light that blind may be. They snuggle up next to a tree and get after it. However, ground blinds will allow you to get away with a lot, and if you prefer to sit and wait on a bird in comfort, a hub-style ground blind is the way to go.

The best way to kill a turkey from a ground blind is to do some hands-on recon, find where the birds want to be, and have your ground blind and decoys set and ready when they get there. Turkeys are highly predictable, especially in the early part of the season. If you see them in the same place twice, you better be there and ready on day three. 

Depends on the turkey. I’ve hunted private and public tracts out West for Merriam birds and Rios in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. I’ve often set my ground blind in the middle of an ag field with no cover to blend it in, and the birds pay it zero attention. On the flip side of the coin, I’ve hunted Eastern birds and Osceolas in Florida that would tuck tail and run if the blind wasn’t totally blended into the environment. If I can use vegetation—many blinds have brush straps—I blend them in as well as possible. 

Turkeys can see about everything, and they have exceptional eyesight. Of course, the better you blend in a blind, the more it looks like part of the landscape to the bird. 

If you’re a serious turkey hunter, especially one who likes to hunt with multiple weapons, you need a ground blind or three. I love the concealment they provide, and because many blinds now feature see-through mesh, you get a good view of your surroundings so that when a bird comes in, you can see that bird, but they can’t see you. It makes the hunt even more exciting.

If you’re looking for more blind options, we reviewed the best hunting blinds of 2022, including more top-rated picks from Barronett, Browning, and Primos. 

I bowhunt turkeys in multiple states each spring with compound bows and shotguns, and each of the blinds mentioned has been reviewed and tested thoroughly. I take turkey hunting too seriously to recommend something that will not meet your expectations in the turkey woods. These ground blinds are tried and true. 

Jace Bauserman is a full-time freelance outdoor writer who has been working with Field & Stream since 2017. Before going full-time freelance, Bauserman was the editor-in-chief of Bowhunting World and Archery Business magazines. 

Want more of the Great Outdoors?

Sign up for the Field & Stream newsletter and get the latest intelligence straight to your inbox.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.