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While I hunt out of a tree stand
every season, I’ve always felt much more comfortable on the ground. Maybe it’s because I have more success there. Three of the last four whitetails I’ve harvested were from the ground. Or maybe it’s because I’ve never been the stealthiest guy in the world. It’s much harder to get picked off by a deer sitting on the ground than in the air, especially while sitting in a ground blind.
At the beginning of last year, I bought a Muddy Prevue 2 ground blind
. It was the first I’ve used with high-visibility see-through mesh. This style of blind is a little more expensive than more traditional options with tiny windows and opaque fabric but I finally caved. I just had to see if this style lived up to the hype. Here’s my honest review of the Muddy blind after deploying it during last year’s Michigan firearms deer season.
Quick Overview
Specs
Dimensions: 53” x 53” x 66”
Weight: 13.2 lbs
Windows: 4
Pros
Spacious interior
See-through mesh allows excellent visibility
No loose poles or other parts to lose
Cons
Storage bag is too small
Difficult to set up on your own
The Muddy Prevue is roomy without being too large and cumbersome. (Photo/Travis Smola)
Testing Results and Analysis
Size and Weight
This hunting blind
has a footprint of 53 x 53 inches. It’s the right size for one hunter or an adult and a youth hunter or two. Two adults could make it work, depending on their size. I think three adult hunters would be pushing it.
The entire blind weighs about 13 pounds. I easily lugged it to my chosen spot without issues. Muddy has incorporated the poles and frame into the fabric of the blind itself. It works a lot like a fast-pitch pop-up camping tent
. Set the folded-down blind on the ground and pull it up. Pop the sides out, and the thing is up in less than a minute. You can set it up rather quietly and quickly if you have a buddy to help out.
Visibility
I’ve been very strategic with my blind setups in the past. However, it seemed like every season, at least one deer would walk in a blind spot between windows. The Prevue’s see-through mesh windows solve that problem in a big way. Catching movement out of the corners of my eyes was much easier than a standard blind.
Additionally, I never lost sight of a deer simply because it stepped out of the window’s view. I never had to guess when moving was safe just because I couldn’t see the animal. Having such a large field of view made me a much stealthier hunter. That’s big, especially when trying to get within bow range of an animal.
The Prevue has zero blind spots, so I never lost sight of a deer. (Photo/Travis Smola)
Two panoramic windows cross the entire length of the two see-through panels. The other two sides have smaller, triangular-shaped windows. I faced these sides to my rear and right side, where I expected fewer shot opportunities.
See-Through Mesh
The Prevue’s signature selling point is the one-way mesh on two sides. It allows anyone sitting inside to see out while preventing animals from seeing inside. I tested the effectiveness of the see-through mesh a few times when I had some mature does at close range. At the risk of ruining my hunt, I waved my arms behind the see-through mesh. The deer never gave any indication they saw me. During one of my hunts, I had some turkeys show up. Despite their excellent eyesight, they didn’t see me either. This blind is like a cheat code at close range.
Because it’s so easy to see through the mesh, I didn’t need to open the panoramic windows up widely. I could keep them open just enough to slip my rifle barrel out. That just helped to conceal any movements further when deer were close. I had deer as close as 15 yards a few times. They never spotted me, thanks to the windows and blacked-out interior.
Quietness
These windows also open silently because they slide up or down on a kind of rail system. It’s refreshing not to deal with noisy zippers that bind up on the fabric or in the cold. This blind was clearly designed to be quiet. The only zipper on the whole blind is the door. I was pleased to see Muddy built this blind with a large zipper pull that’s easy to grip in cold weather. I hate when manufacturers go cheap with tiny pulls that bind as soon as the temperature dips.
The panoramic windows slide up and down on these track-like slides. (Photo/Travis Smola)
Weather Resistance
Speaking of the weather, I was pleased with how it handled snow and rain. It did an excellent job keeping me and my equipment dry during snow and rain. I was slightly concerned about the cold wind through the front mesh, but it was a non-factor. The outer fabric was very durable, and the camo pattern blended nicely. I probably could have brushed the blind in better than I did, but it didn’t seem to affect deer sightings.
The only thing that kept me from harvesting a deer from this blind was that I never saw a shooter while hunting it.
Storage and Transport
My biggest issue with the Prevue 2 was related to the carry bag more than the blind itself. Much like many camping tents
I’ve tested in recent years, the storage bag is too small. When I took it down, I couldn’t get it back into the storage bag. It was a rainy day when I took it down, and my patience was already wearing thin, so I gave up. I also didn’t want to risk tearing the material while trying to force it.
It was probably for the best. After all, it’s not great for these types of materials to be this compacted for the long term anyway. It becomes an even bigger issue when the material is damp or dirty, which the blind was after the season. I will probably buy a large plastic tub to store it in the off-season.
I could not compact this blind enough to fit into the original storage bag. (Photo/Travis Smola)
Setup
My other complaint is that this blind is tricky to set up alone. Once it gets going, the frame pops out and into place easily. However, lifting the center to get to that point is challenging. When setting it up solo, I found getting the roof popped up was easiest. Then, I’d lift the roof enough to go inside and pop the sides from the interior one at a time. It takes a little practice.
This blind is way easier to put up with a second person on the other side. Setting up solo is not impossible, but it wasn’t fun. I saw plenty of user reviews online that said they damaged the blind’s fabric by trying to set it up solo. Thus, it’s best to bring a hunting buddy along to help.
Verdict
I may not have harvested a deer from this blind last season, but I know it’s simply a matter of time. The Muddy Prevue 2 blind produced more deer sightings from the ground than any other I’ve used. It solved my biggest issue with a traditional ground blind with small windows: visibility. I never missed a deer coming in from a weird angle or behind the material between two windows.
It’s a little more expensive for a see-through blind like this. However, one hunt was all it took to convince me that I didn’t want to hunt from the old style of pop-up blind ever again.
Ground Blind FAQs
Q: Do you have to brush in a ground blind?
Brushing in a ground blind isn’t necessary, but it does help. It’s a lot of extra work, but it allows the blind’s outline to melt better into the surroundings. Deer don’t have excellent depth perception, so it helps hide the hunter easier when there’s some additional camo. Although my testing of this blind involved little brushing in, simply because I wanted to test the printed camo.
Q: How long does it take deer to get used to a blind?
Each state’s deer will react a little differently to a ground blind. We believe much of that is based on hunting pressure. In my experience, a few weeks is usually adequate in Michigan, which gets ridiculous pressure during the firearms season.
While I didn’t see a shooter testing this blind, I did see a mature buck walk past it on the last day of the season. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sitting in it at the time. At that point, it had only been in place for about two weeks.
Q: Where is the best place for a ground blind?
My personal favorite place for a ground blind is a feeding area, especially in the late season. After the rut is over, deer will congregate in these areas. Add a little snow, and it’s a perfect recipe for a late bow or muzzleloader hunt.
My second favorite location is an escape route. I killed my second-biggest buck ever from a ground blind during the Michigan firearms opener in 2001. When I shot him, the buck was making a beeline for a neighboring property that, at the time, had no hunters on it. Routes leading to posted property or protected forest preserves can be dynamite locations for gun season.
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For more than 125 years, Field & Stream has been providing readers with honest and authentic coverage of outdoor gear. Our writers and editors eat, sleep, and breathe the outdoors, and that passion comes through in our product reviews. You can count on F&S to keep you up to date on the best new gear. And when we write about a product—whether it’s a bass lure or a backpack—we cover the good and the bad, so you know exactly what to expect before you decide to make a purchase.
