Deer are wary creatures, especially when the end of hunting season comes around. They have been dodging threats from ground blinds, treestands, saddles, and more. At that point, anything that looks even slightly unusual is off-limits.
Hunters that live and hunt near agricultural areas are in luck. Hay bales are a common fixture in fields along the road and on farms. Deer don't perceive them as a threat. But the commercially made ones can be very expensive.
Enter this incredibly realistic-looking do-it-yourself hay bale blind.
Using a list of simple materials, the creative hunter behind Big Bidness Outdoors creates a blind that looks just like an authentic hay bale. This might be just the project to toil away those long winter hours.
The finished blind looks good and would probably be mistaken for a real hay bale by even humans at a distance. Using soil erosion straw materials to simulate the hay was a stroke of genius. It looks and probably smells like the real thing to deer. Changing it out with fresh material on the cheap every season would be easy, keeping up the illusion of a harmless hay bale.
The only other things we would add would be carpeting on the floor to muffle sounds and padded rests on the windows to rest a rifle or shotgun. You could add some see-through mesh material to mask movements further inside.
Getty, Iryna Melnyck
It appears this guy bought most of these materials new. Still, a resourceful hunter could build a similar hay bale blind from recycled materials. It will probably cut your costs if you scavenge some extra 2x4s or plywood from a construction site.
We dig the look of this blind. It's an innovative way to get up close and personal with deer on food plots, especially during those late-season hunts when the animals are wary.
