Protecting your deer hunting stand in extreme weather

Ever feel helpless while watching your deer hunting stand fly away at the behest of a tropical storm? Ever trudge for miles through the snow, only to learn that the roof of your deer stand caved in? When it comes to the best tools at our disposal, true hunters like us don’t like to take any chances! With this in mind, consider using certain strategies to protect your precious hunting den during these extreme weather conditions...

Torrential rain and flooding

Although most of us think any old deer hunting stand should hold up during downpours and even a moderate flood or two, you should seriously evaluate what sort of stand to buy before jumping to that conclusion. A stand with high towers made of extremely durable material would be the first obvious choice to combat these threats from Mother Nature.

Also consider the weight of the box blind, as we all know how saturated soil can tend to have a mind of its own during a flood, causing towers to move. If your box blind is too heavy, even just one torrential rain event can cause one tower to cave into that saturated soil, and then the whole structure can go down before you have a chance to say “timber”. In serious flooding events, even the best stand might not prevent this – which is why you should make your stand more permanent, adding a concrete foundation to your extra durable towers if you hunt on low ground. If you’re already in a flood prone area, this extra step can put that concern to rest.

In addition, a high-grade Hughes Products Box Blind will be lightweight enough to guarantee better stability in situations like flash floods. The fully-enclosed, vacuum-formed plastic roof will also prevent torrential rains from seeping into the blind.

Wind storms

Whether you live in the Great Plains or the Appalachian Mountains, there’s no doubt your area can be at least occasionally hit with either tornadoes, tropical storms or even just strong straight-line winds. With this in mind, make sure you again refer to the advice of getting the right type of towers. Also, be sure to stake these towers deeply enough into the ground to withstand the strong winds, and follow the instructions carefully during setup. Keep your deer hunting stand far away from any tall trees that already look half-dead, as this could be a recipe for disaster if a wind storm strikes and that rotten tree falls in the wrong direction.

Another thing to consider during a big wind storm is your windows. All Hughes Products Box Blinds have fully-adjustable windows that can definitely make it less likely for your stand to blow down during unexpected strong winds. If you take the extra step of making sure you never leave the windows fully closed when you think any storm may be approaching, you stand a better chance at preventing this from happening. After all, we don’t always have the time necessary to completely take down the blind, then disassemble and relocate the parts – although, you could technically do this with any of the products mentioned before!

snow

This last item can easily be another big concern no matter where you live, as most of us witness at least one or two snow events per year. In this case, there is a concern for many hunters that lightweight plastic roofing used in certain designs can easily collapse if too much snow falls – especially if there is a layer of ice involved! While there are so many benefits to this design, particularly as protection against almost every other type of weather condition imaginable, this is perhaps the only real flaw. The good news is, this flaw is completely preventable! All it takes is using a two-by-four, something like that, to prop the flexible plastic roof up, causing the snow and freezing rain to fall right off before it really has a chance to accumulate to the point of collapsing the roof. Use this strategy with any of the Hughes Products Box Blind choices, and your deer hunting stand will be officially snow-proofed.

Using preventative techniques like these will definitely make a big difference when it comes to weather-proofing your hard-earned deer hunting stand. Now go plan your next hunting excursion and don’t worry about the things you can’t control!