I have a Lucky Blind in Cordura. The difference is weight and weatherbility. The cotton is lighter but won't stand well in the weather plus you have to dry it completely before storing. The cordura is somewhat heavier but weathers well. I love it and use it when nessary (no trees or where I want to be). I find the deer do not even notice me and have taken deer from it through the years. It's super for turkey! Have no complaints in having it as an addition to my usable products. It's outstanding during late winter hunting. A small heater keeps me warm and comfortable.

 

Howdy,McKey-
I have a friend who swears by the Lucky cordura blinds. A couple of my hunting buddies bought the Doghouse blinds 2 seasons ago, but were put off by the noisy flapping of the thin cotton fabric. The Lucky user says the heavier weight of the cordura significantly reduces the flapping syndrome.
As far as scent reduction, any method which curtails scent from readily mixing with air currents will improve your odds. You may want to spray it down with a scent-killing product to take it to it's fullest.
When I buy one, it will be a Lucky.
Les

 

I've owned a Lucky's blind for about 5 or 6 years now. It's the cotton one and for the last 4 years I set it up in August or September and leave it till the end of rifle season. It has held up real well. The only thing I don't like about them is they are cumbersome to carry because they are long and don't fold.

I'm looking real close at the I.C.E. blind. They're made in Minnesota and fold much tighter, they both set up in about the same amount of time, literally just seconds but, the I.C.E. blind has a number of features that the Lucky's doesn't. With that being said I haven't seen any from Lucky's for several years so he may have changed them.

If you aren't traveling through heavy brush or long distances and want to keep your money in Michigan then Lucky's is a good choice. I went to his shop in Ubley to get mine and he's a real decent guy.

 

McKey~ I have used both the cotton and the cordura Lucky's Tent for about ten years now. Although the cordura is waterproof, I find that the cotton one works fine also, it resists the wind and the rain. The best thing about them is how fast you can set them up and take them down. It makes moving from place to place relatively easy. They also come in a wide variety of camo patterns. My property is about three mile from where thay are made in Ubly the people there are great, they also donate their tents to several hunting clubs for their fundraisers.

Neal

 

FYI

I was looking at the Ameristep Doghouse blind earlier this summer at the local Wal-Mart. It looked pretty good and the price was right.
What I really liked about them however is the easy up (5 seconds) and easy repack (10 seconds) I already have a sun tent for the beach and a camping tent that work the same way.

However, I was reading the box that the blind comes in and it said that the blind had an inner black coating to hide hunter movement and block scent. The blind on display did not have this black coating. I asked the Wal-Mart salesperson and they didn’t have a clue. There was a website for Ameristep on the box so I checked the site and some pics. showed a black inner coating on the doghouse and others showed a blind like the one I saw at the store.
I emailed the company and found out that they tried a coating but it wrecked the camo on the outside of the blind. They stopped the production of the inner-coated blinds and sent out the uncoated blinds. He said that the boxes were printed before they knew the problem with the coating! False Advertising?
The company says that now they have an inner coating that works and blinds with this coating will be produced in 2002.

 

How about some prices on the Lucky, ICE, and Doghouse blinds? Also, where does a guy find each?

thanks,

Nick

 

Hey folks,

nothing against Luckys, I never owned one. But I do have
a doghouse and doghouse. Both work well for me. The penthouse is big enough to live in <grin> and the other is
good to site in . the windows are about right for a regular stool,
and it doesnt flap much at all. I would have prefered smaller
windows, but I didnt design them!

anyway, thats my 2 cents.

Matt

 

I've seen Ameristep blinds at Dick's Sporting Goods and Dunhams as well as on-line. You can even pick them up on ebay.

I just picked up one of the smaller Outhouse blinds for only $80 and it came with a small chair. Not a bad deal. I figured I'd try this size and see how it works first. If it works OK, I can get a larger one and hand this one down to my son.

 

Well I haven't had a lot of experience in them especially the Luckys but with the lighter fabric of the penthouse the noise was a minus for me. I did hunt 2 times this year in a ground blind I had never heard of by the name of Double Bull. 2 bucks had been taken from this stand in an oak grove so I came down out of my treestands to try it. I had a 6 pt come in twice(26yards and 10 yards). It's the kind of blind that you shoot thru the mesh screen. Both bucks taken were pass thru double lung(22yds,18yds) and the guys said their arrows flew great. Only 1 year with it but so far seems good however I noticed a couple things like the mesh lowering the light in the mornings and evening and a glare on the mesh when the sun was setting for a few minutes. I think it was in the Predator Camo then they laid leafy branches against it. Good luck on whatever you choose.

 

My sons hunt out of the Ameristep Outhouse Blind. I got both of these for $80.00 apeice at the Woods-in-Water Sportsman Show in Imlay City last year. They came with a chair also. At that time the suggested retail price was $99.99. I bought them from the Ameristep vendor booth. They are fine for my son's to hunt from with both their guns and bows, but would suggest this blind only for gun hunting for an adult. They say on the box that the Outhouse is good for 2 people, but from my experience during the youth hunt, 2 people in this blind makes for crowded conditions. My son Brandon drew on a Buck with his bow last weekend. The Buck was 20 yards away, and never knew he was there, until a doe gave Brandon away. The doe was downwind of Brandon. For an adult, if you plan on using a Ameristep product for bowhunting, get the Doghouse. Same concealment, but larger blind than the Outhouse. Have seen the Doghouse on sale for $99.00 at Dunhams and Gander Mountain.

 

i have used a lucky blind for about 6 years now an love it for hunting. first i sprayed it with scotch gaurd in the middle of the summer so the scent would go away, totaly water proof now. next i cut 1/2'' cpvc pipe to the length of each of the six sides an thats makes it just a bit bigger inside now with the little bit of stretch on the sides plus it makes for a great gun rest for those exact shots. you have to cut a V notch in the end of each pipe to hold it in place. then build up a spot of elec. tape at just the right heighth. hope this works for your lucky tent. good luck an straight shootin'

 

I have a Ameristep Penthouse blind it is probably too big for a single hunter. I bought mine to be able to take my kids out hunting with me and it works great for that. Last year I had my oldest girl & son(10&8yrs) with me in the blind when we had 2 does walk right up to the blind within 15 yards. Needless to say the kids were in heaven! The deer were not spooked a bit by the blind. I believe it does help cover up some of your scent and movement.

 

My nephew bought the Penthouse and I have used it. There a couple of things that I didn't like about it. First, they let way too much light through and if the sun is right you're silhoutted inside, second they are so light you almost have to anchor them in a strong wind. While they would work OK in most deer hunting situations I think they would have way too much flexing for turkey hunting. The good thing is they are relatively inexpensive.

As fas as finding Lucky's, He is in Ubley, MI in the thimb. He always has ads in the papers and magazines. I don't know if he has a web site or not and I think Jay's used to carry them in Clare.

Steelslam you can buy a Lucky's w/ the stiffening rods built in, that's what mine has.

I.C.E Double Bull can be found at www.doublebullarchery.com or 888/464-0409. They are also in Cabela's catalogue.

 

anyone have any experience with the ones i see all over e-bay right now. Made by avid outdoors. either 6x4 or 4x4 sizes. Also for bowhunting wich of these are the best. And are there any that would not work well because of window size for bowhunting?
John

 

I saw these blinds at SportAuthority recently. Dont remember the price though.

They looked a little complex for setting up/teardown, compared to the Lucky or Ameistep blinds. Never saw it folded up though.