Like a 20-year long Christmas Eve in the making, I could not wait to make it home from work to see what the delivery truck had brought for me. As I turned the corner into the driveway and drove up the hill, like a shining beacon of hunting hope my first ever Redneck Blind stood proudly.
My dad had met the trucking company at my house for the delivery while I was at work and helped unload the Trophy Tower and equipment to assemble my ten foot stand. These blinds are absolutely fantastic for a million reasons, and I couldn’t wait to get up and give mine a look over. In fact, I almost wanted to hug it, but that might have looked a bit odd. Instead, I just stood in awe thinking of all the great memories we were going to have together.
How?
The first question to answer when talking about putting up a Redneck is how? In my opinion, you’re going to want to put one in a location that is fairly easy to drive up to, if anything with farm or excavating equipment. The reason I say that is because these things are super heavy duty, and are not easily moved by a couple of guys carrying them on foot.
Our location, out behind my house was perfect because it’s a real high traffic deer area where we also have a two-track that we can easily drive on with the truck and trailer. So we hooked the trailer to the truck and slid the Redneck onto the trailer. I was shocked at how easy the blind was to maneuver until I looked at it and realized the bottom is a super-smooth layer of fiberglass designed for easy pushes and pulls.
We lifted the heavy platform gear on as well, put up the trailer tailgate and drove off to the location. Hoping to do as little physically as possible, dad and I slid the Redneck off exactly where we felt we needed to build it. I wanted to assemble the blind where we could just stand it up in its permanent location when we were done. I know other people have assembled them and then moved them with tractors and such. I’ve also seen people on the internet build their Rednecks on trailers and pull them around that way.
Everybody’s situation is different, so my first piece of advice is to find a place where you can either assemble yours and stand it up, or build it somewhere and get it moved into its permanent location.
Where?
My Redneck, it’s perfectly situated into what I call an axis of transition. We literally have a different view out each window. To the south, directly behind us is a two acre plot of ten foot tall standing field corn surrounded by thick bedding cover made of pines, autumn olive, mulberry, sumac, and oak. We will never harvest this corn because it is simply planted to be a deer magnet. To the west, out our left window is native bedding grass, a stand of pine bedding cover, and a big strip of early planted field corn that will also not get harvested. To the north, out the front door window is a giant patch of forage soybeans with turnips and radishes, also bordered by standing corn. To the east, out the right window is another stand of bedding pines, more permanent corn, and a lush well-manicured Cloverfield.
Why?
Our Redneck is in this location for several reasons. Basically, our hunting philosophy is simple, we cater to as many doe groups as possible, knowing that the bucks will not be too far away. On our property, we have several mineral sites, several water holes, and as I described above a plethora of different food and bedding locations. This axis of transition is right between all of them, so I’m guessing as the season progresses our deer sightings and encounters are just going to continue to increase
Another positive to this particular location is the fact that we can drive right up to it. Here’s a hypothetical example of why I like this easy access. Let’s say my dad is out hunting one evening and he’s covered up with deer at dark. Many hunters will simply crawl out of their tree stand or blind and walk straight back to the house or truck, hoping to scare as few deer as possible.
By having a two-track right in front of my blind, we’re going to go about things a little bit differently. In this situation, the hunter (in this case my dad) will either shoot me a text or call someone at the house for a ride. Then my wife, one of my teenage sons, or I will hop in the truck and drive out to pick him up. By driving out to the field we will purposely scare away the feeding deer with the truck. We will then have my dad hop in the back and get out of there before the deer even realize he was ever in the blind. I don’t mind the deer running away scared from the truck, because in farm country vehicles and equipment are not that big of a deal, and usually come and go with no consequence to the deer. However, I don’t want the deer seeing hunters walking around out in their environment, so therefore we’re going to choose the lesser of the two evils and scare them away with a vehicle.
Designed and Built by American Hunters
It is really hard for any competitive company to stay American these days, but the guys and girls at Redneck BlindsREdneck have figured it out. Not only have they figured out how to keep a company running with American workers, they do it really well. I can tell this blind is designed by hunters, plain and simple.
Every single window is padded for a tight seal and a quiet gun rest. The hinges are quiet. The blind is lined with foam padding and eggshell foam to absorb any noise and keep it warm. The vent holes are in there for clean breathing and to run a heater. The vents are also covered with a screen so no wasp makes it home in the summer. Everywhere I looked, the blind has the capability to be anchored to the earth and I feel completely safe and it. In fact, my seven-year-old was climbing around it the other day talking about having a campout with his best buddy. I told them once hunting seasons over he can play in there all he wants.
Hunting is supposed to be fun, and with all the comforts and amenities of this Redneck Blind, I know we are going to absolutely have a riot with it this fall. To add icing to the cake, I’m bringing out my Redneck Portable Hunting Chair to relax in while we are out in the blind. Heck, I might as well bring a pillow too it will be so comfy! I think this is a great way for an older hunter like my dad to continue to enjoy the sport, or for people like my camera hunting wife and eager to hunt children to get involved as well. Pretty much, between my dad, wife, and the kids, I think I might get one or two sits in the Redneck this fall by myself, otherwise, I think the calendar on it is pretty booked. I’m cool with that, I would rather see my family enjoy the sport that has been so good to me anyway.
As always, be safe, shoot straight, and have fun this fall. And if you get a chance to harvest something out of your Redneck, or one of your loved one does like I hope mine do, be sure to send us pictures.
About Jason Herbert:
Happily married father of four Jason Herbert gives God all the credit for the blessing in his life. His patient wife who is also an amazing editor gets all the credit for his success in the outdoor industry. Jason has been published in most major hunting magazines while having the chance to hunt several species of animals across the globe. Herbert is proud to be on the Cabela’s Pro Staff as well as honored to shoot for Bear Archery. In his free time, Jason enjoys working on his small hops farm where he also raises all sorts of fruit, vegetables and livestock.
