">

">

">

">

The "WigWam" Portable Hunting Blind manufactured by Hunter's View A Gear Review by Daniel Wood (Sept. 2002)

">

">

">

">

Three large windows offer excellent visibility.

About a year ago I started looking at these new fangled camoflauged tents, and did not think much of them. Some had hefty price tags, and I was more a "natural" man, I liked to build my ground blinds from natural cover. It was always part of the ritual a deer hunter goes through about a month or so before the opening of season, at least for some hunters like myself. I am a "stump sitter" as some call it. I find a well used deer trail and setup a stand nearby and wait. I use a blind to breakup my outline, and hide those small infrequent movements that I just can't help. I fidget you might say. I went through my normal ritual last year, scouting well before the opening of deer season, and built my deer blind where two deer trails came together. The area was being well traveled by the deer in the area. However, not all that uncommon, the conditions changed over the next 6 week period. After hunting the morning of opening day, I took a slow stroll through the woods to look for fresh deer signs, because there sure were no signs in my area now. I discovered that the landowner had cut a few trees in the area, and had stacked some firewood here and there. Perhaps this extra activity in the area was the cause for the deer to use another trail about 60 yards further into the woods. They appeared to be skirting the outside edge of the swail I had selected, and now avoiding this section of the woods. I had no choice but to select a new spot to hunt from, but it would have to be without my nice natural built deer blind. The thought came to me about them portable blinds I had made fun of in the store. I could sure use something like that now, I thought. Ne w Year, New Needs, New Technology This year I already know I will be hunting a different area. It will be on a public fish and game area consisting of 7,000 acres. Anytime a hunter chooses to hunt public land, he has to be prepared to move, for no one spot can be claimed by one person. And as I learned last year, conditions can change. With this in mind, I began to re-think the way I looked at those camo contraptions in the sporting goods stores, and decided I better figure out which one is the best for me.

During a Fall Classic at one big name store, I had the chance to really look over a half-dozen models of various deer blinds. I was ready to buy, but was dissappointed not to find one to my specifications. Some were just too confining, without enough room to move from opening to opening with a gun in hand. Others had too small of openings, or not enough openings. Some were just too darn expensive. I even went to the Internet and started researching. I was not having much luck. Maybe my expectations were too high. I wanted a blind that would fold up so I could carry it over my shoulder, like you do those folding chairs you see at soccer games and such. It needed to be as much of one-piece as possible. I did not want to be losing some crucial piece out in the dark in the woods. It has to be easy assembly, with realistic setup time under 5 minutes, with 2 minutes being considered ideal. Take down time needs to be simple too, because it will be pretty close to dark when taking it down. If it takes a little longer, I wouldn't mind as much on the take down as I would during setup.

The blind has to have room to move in it. I want to be able to sit on a stool, so I need some head room. I want to be able to see out of at least two good sized windows, with let's say, a 45 degree viewing angle in either direction. There has to be enough room to move my gun from one window position to the other with ease. After a month of looking around, and viewing perhaps 12 to 15 different models, I was at a loss, and didn't know what I was going to do. I have the talent to build one of my own, but really don't have the time. I did not want to build my own. I wanted to buy one, and I wanted the price to be around $100, with a maximum limit of $150. I saw one on the Internet I liked, and sent an e-mail asking for more information. They never responded. Wonders Never Cease to Exist I came home from work one day and my wife told me one of my favorite sporting goods stores was having a sale, and "they had one of them deer blinds in it". I grabbed the ad to look at what style it was, and what brand, and by golly, it looked pretty good in the paper. And the price was spectacular, about half of my maximum limit. I guess it was two days after I saw the ad before we had the time to make the 35 mile drive to the "city". When we got there, they had one hanging from the ceiling, I liked it. I couldn't reach it to feel the material, but looked it over real good. My wife was checking the shelves, "they only have one left" she told me. This was the closest thing I had seen yet that seemed to meet my specifications. Big windows, with optional smaller portholes. It had a lot of room in it. The box it was in was small too. I would guess it was 24" square by 3" thick at the max.  "I want it", I said, and we headed for the checkout line. The WigWam, by Hunter's View Arriving home late after an evening supper in the city, I just had to open it up and look at it. Like a kid with a new toy, I could not wait until tomorrow to try it out. Upstairs, in a loft where the computer, gun cabinet, bookcase, dresser and other items reside, and space is a premium, I removed the blind from its bag. I could feel a little tension from the spring-steel framework. I started to spread the bundle slightly when WHOOMP!!, that thing was now a 5 1/2 foot contraption, I could see that all I had to do was spread the two, now large coils, and this thing would be setup. Hey, looking good huh? Except for one thing, this thing opened so fast I was already looking at that small bag and this big package and wondering how in the world I was going to get it back in the bag.

">

">

">

">

Two adjustable straps make for easy carrying of the 12 pound backpack the blind fits into.

I had been a machinist years ago, and the way the tension felt, and the way this thing sprung open, it reminded me of a bandsaw blade. I remember it was always a trick folding a bandsaw blade back into the small coils the way they came packaged. I looked around for some directions, but could not find any. I had to access some memory cells from way back about 20 years. Sure enough, just like coiling up a bandsaw blade, I was able to colapse the deer blind and put it back in the bag. While placing the now small package back into the bag, I noticed a small zipper on the side of the blind. Yep, you guessed it, the directions were in it.

">

">

">

">

Putting It Back In The Bag The photo to the right shows the blind how it looks after it first "pops" open. This is also the position it is in as you prepare to fold it up. Notice how it looks like a clamshell, connected on one side. Keeping the connected end up against you about waist high, with your arms spread wide and thumbs up, hold the blind out from you horizontally. Try to "bounce" the outer end a little so that it dips down towards the ground. As it begins to dip down, bring your hands in towards the center. At one point you should feel the large coil colapse and begin to fold under and into itself.

">

">

">

">

As the blind begins to colapse, it sort of resembles a figure 8. Continue to roll your hands in and follow the coils. In the photo below and left, you can see that the large coils above have colapsed within themselves. Note that my hands have never let go, and remain in their original position. You can see that one of the coils has flopped onto the ground. At his point the pressure has weakened, and it is easy to hold the coiled up blind with one hand, while I use the other hand to lift the other coil to join the others. The blind is now ready to go into the bag.

Keep the connected end towards you, as you prepare to fold up the deer blind.

Hold the blind away from you horizontally, jerk it so the outer end dips towards the ground, while at the same time rolling your hands in towards the center.

Other Features of the WigWam After you have popped open the blind, and enter through the large'D' shaped door, you install two jointed tent poles which raise the ceiling. There are pockets about halfway up the wall where the tent poles locate. These poles look like your common poles found with any modern camping tent, jointed and held together with an elastic cord. The poles have their own small bag which also fits into the backpack. Next you go outside the blind and place a metal stake at each corner. Although the blind is free standing, the stakes keep any material from flapping, and prevents the wind from moving the blind away. With the stakes in, the blind is complete. The stakes also have their own small pouch to fit in. There are three large zippered windows, and also three smaller port holes, making the blind versatile for bow hunting, turkey hunting, or deer hunting with various size weapons. As of this writing, the quality of the zippers and the blind itself appear to be very good. Only time will tell how the blind holds up to years of use.