Maybe one of the easiest, inexpensive, and practical permanent ground blind options for deer and turkey hunters is a pallet blind. It takes little experience, time, and effort to build and complete. Throw a little paint and elbow grease in and you have yourself a practical and effective ground blind. Here is how it’s done, and a few different options that you may find will work for you.
Hunting Pallet Blind Ideas
Gun hunting out of a pallet blind can be extremely effective. The slots in the pallet allow for a great gun rest and you can pretty well see 360 degrees once you get inside the blind. Ideally, you want four pallets for gun hunting purposes. Set them down length wise so the runners on the pallets are horizontal. This allows you to place sticks, leaves, and other debris inside the pallet runners to help conceal the blind. I’ve found that screwing together the sides with 3-inch screws work best for tightly securing the pallets together. All pallets are different, and it may call for adding a 2×4 for shoring up loose ends. Once you’ve connected the sides, be sure to allow an easy entry/exit. You can get as fancy as you want with the pallet blind, sometimes adding shelves and gun holders can be useful.
Bowhunting Out of a Pallet Blind?
Bowhunting out of a pallet blind takes a little bit more careful planning. Due to the height of typical pallets, when one plans on bow hunting out of a pallet blind, it’s probably best to use three pallets instead of four and flip the pallets lengthwise. I don’t use a fourth pallet because this allows the bowhunter to freely pull back their bow without chance of bumping into the back of the blind. Flip the pallets lengthwise and cut out windows accordingly. If you’re a right-handed shooter, makes sure to have the biggest window on your left-hand side and the smallest on the far-right pallet. This allows you the easiest and most comfortable shot opportunity while sitting down. Also with a three-sided pallet blind, it’s best to secure the three sides with t-post and wire for extra support.
I’ve harvested turkeys, deer, and called in coyotes all from pallet blinds. One nice thing about a pallet blind is after a year of two of being left out, the blind usually promotes vertical growth of vines and other vegetation growing up in and around it, in a self-camouflaging way. You can’t say that about a pop-up blind!
Now is the best time to take advantage of warm spring days by creating and placing a pallet blind. By this fall, deer will be accumulated to it, and it should blend in nicely with a summer’s worth of growth.
Zach Jumps Zach@HeartlandLodge.com
Last Updated: June 6th, 2024