A hunting blind (US), hide or machan is a

concealment device Concealment devices or diversion safes are used to hide things for the purpose of secrecy or security. They are made from an ordinary household object such as a book, a soda can, a candle, a can, or something as small as a coin. The idea is tha ...

shelter Shelter is a small building giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger. Shelter may also refer to: Places * Port Shelter, Hong Kong * Shelter Bay (disambiguation), various locations * Shelter Cove (disambiguation), various locatio ...

for

hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

s or

gamekeeper A gamekeeper (often abbreviated to keeper), or in case of those dealing with deer (deer-)stalker, is a person who manages an area of countryside (e.g. areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland) to make sure there is enough game for shoo ...

s, designed to reduce the chance of detection by animals. There are different types of blinds for different situations, such as deer blinds and duck blinds. Some are exceedingly simple, while others are complex. The legality of various kinds of blinds may vary according to season, state and location.

Types of blinds

Blinds may be stable or mobile. An early blind used by hunters was a

cocking-cloth In hunting tactics, a cocking-cloth was a device used for catching pheasants, similar in construction to a kite. It consists of a piece of coarse canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marq ...

, a piece of canvas stretched on a frame like a kite that would permit hunters to approach

pheasants Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasi ...

and to shoot them through a hole in the cloth. Ground blinds are an alternative to the traditional

tree stand Tree stands or deer stands are open or enclosed platforms used by hunters. The platforms are secured to trees in order to elevate the hunter and give them a better vantage point. A tripod stand is a similar device, but because it is freestanding ...

; movements in a well-designed ground blind can virtually be undetectable by the game. Duck blinds in the grain fields in south central

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and north central

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

can be as simple as a hunter walking out into a grain field, stopping at a

dike Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes ...

, a raised area, or so high, wide

and or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar, and computing * Conjunction (grammar), connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a boolea ...

usually or so long on a side. The hunter simply sits down on the top and pushes dirt away with both feet, front and back. In two to three minutes a shallow depression is created. Then additional stubble from cut grain can be placed around the edges, enough to provide cover when the hunter lies down when birds are spotted, sitting up when they come in range. The blind can be deepened to allow sitting upright, if desired, by using a digging tool. In other areas duck blinds can be quite elaborate. More substantial structures are common in the

midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

, and their purpose often extends beyond concealment to include protection from the elements, particularly from rain and cold. In some areas, blinds can approach small cabins in their size and amenities. A

sinkbox A sinkbox is a specialized hunting blind used by waterfowl hunters. It consists of a weighted, partially submerged enclosure large enough to hold one or more hunters and suspended from a floating platform. It is placed into calm water so that th ...

is another elaborate form of duck blind, designed for partial submersion in a body of water; sinkboxes are illegal to use in the United States.
Also for hunting waterfowl in fields, hunters will use a layout blind. A layout blind is a low profile blind that a person can lie down in and stubble in to hide from waterfowl. Deer blinds may not be legal in all areas, so hunters are obligated to check

hunting laws Game laws are statutes which regulate the right to pursue and take or kill certain kinds of fish and wild animal (game). Their scope can include the following: restricting the days to harvest fish or game, restricting the number of animals per per ...

before constructing them. Alternatives include simply sitting still at the base of a tree. In some states, hunting from a camouflaged blind may be prohibited during rifle/shotgun season. In such cases, a hunter is required to add orange patch on blind such that the orange is visible from all angles. Other simple blinds include climbing a tree, usually with special

climbing equipment A wide range of equipment is used during rock or any other type of climbing that includes equipment commonly used to protect a climber against the consequences of a fall. Rope, cord and webbing Climbing ropes are typically of kernmantle c ...

and with some kind of seat, or with a

burlap Hessian (, ), burlap in the United States and Canada, or crocus in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, is a woven fabric usually made from skin of the jute plant or sisal fibres, which may be combined with other vegetable fibres to make rope, nets, ...

enclosed frame. In

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, a hunting platform on a tree during shikar is known as ''machan''.

Notes

External links

*
Photographic project documenting original gamekeeper's blinds in Central Europe

BLIND Advantage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunting Blind Blind