Me and my wife use the same blind. We dont shoot through the mesh, Im like you I was always worried that it would affect the arrow flight. Thanks for your honesty and info!

 

Last night i took it out for a quick hunt, ended up with a yearling at 45yds. I had to get out of the blind and stalk up around a bush he was feeding around. I found that if i took the screens down i was very visible inside, mind you i didnt open every hole up just enough to shoot down my lanes. I am gonna put the screens up and cut around where my arrows went thru so i can attempt to hunt with screens up for concealment and still shoot out of them with arrows flying everywhere.

 

I am also very skeptical about mech blades not deploying through the mesh, it seems very tough mesh and im sure my spitfires will at least partway deploy through it. Have not tried it since i have just enough sharp blades to finish out my tags. A fixed blade should do well through them though. again have mot shot BHs through it...yet.

 

You say there is some deflection in the arrow based on the angle of the screen. Any chance you could give the screen some slight upward angle to counteract the 1-1.5" drop you see at 25 yards?

 

Well the screens are pretty much set in place, i set my pin just on top of the xring and i was able to keep 3in groups easily directly on target. The problem is the deer will never be perfectly perpendicular to the screen and there will nearly always be an angle you are shooting at. The degree of angle will directly effect the deflection of the arrow. You can attempt to target practice and learn where to counter-aim to be on target but it will always be aproximate. I advise all shooting thru screens to not just shoot directly square to the blind because when you try to shoot a deer walking at an angle to the blind you will find you are shooting wildly. If you dont shoot at all the angles then you will be surprised when you miss or gutshoot a deer. All screens im sure arent made equally and some may fare better than others but this is a very popular blind so i thought i would drop in my findings to you guys. Like i said though i am just gonna cut out a shooting hole for my arrows to pass through and i can use my rangefinder out of and still have some concealment, it seems to be a good trade off for me.

 

ttt

 

We leave our blinds up during the hunting season and I brush them in to where they look like a brushpile. We leave the windows zipped up when not hunting. When hunting we just take the mesh screen out of the window we are going to shoot out of. We use those 5 gallon buckets with the swivel seat that people use for dove hunting to sit on, they work well and being able to swivel sure helps for different shot angles. We use black facepaint on our faces and we dont have any problem with deer or turkeys spotting us in the blind. We love hunting out of a blind!

 

As said above, if you wear black and a black mask or face paint, they won't see you and you can leave the screen down. I've hunted from a ground blind for the past two years. I leave all windows closed except the one I will be shooting out of. I wear a black hood/face mask and black long sleve shirt with not problems.

These 2 post sum it up...

 

one thing to make sure is that the screens are as tight as possible (stretched) - you almost want them to rip open by themselves went they are touched by the arrow rather than having arrow do all the work.

 

While i was shooting i made sure they were as tight as i could possibly get them, i thought about this exact thing.

 

I'm not sure on this, but if you shot fieldpoint tipped arrows through the mesh, then your test may be compromised. ive never done it myself but have heard you need a hole bigger than what a field point makes for your vanes to pass through for unaffected arrow flight.

 

As said above, if you wear black and a black mask or face paint, they won't see you and you can leave the screen down. I've hunted from a ground blind for the past two years. I leave all windows closed except the one I will be shooting out of. I wear a black hood/face mask and black long sleve shirt with not problems.

 

That mesh flat out drives me nuts when the sun is not at a perfect angle!! And forget about seeing through it when its raining!

 

Yeah I wear black when im in the blind, I understand the principles of camouflage. BUT when I need to leave both side windows down they can see light through the other side and can see you moving in the blind. I only open what i need to shoot from, but sometimes they can come from everywhere. I always leave the back side closed for some sort of back stop. This post was only meant for those that want to shoot thru the screens if they so chose. I prefer not to myself, but if i had to now(i can unzip the side quietly just not remove the screen quietly) I fell confident i can make a close shot through the screen accurately. My main shooting lane will always be wide open, but the alternates on the side may keep the screens in them. I also hunt heavily used public land and cannot leave my blind up if im not in it, so i dont get the chance to brush in my blind very often. Heck yesterday i just plopped the thing in the middle of a hundred yard long turnip patch and ended up killing a yearling, had to get out of the stand and sidestep around a bush as it was getting dark fast but still got it done.

 

I shot at one big mutha with the mesh three years ago with a Thunderhead. Last day of the season. Rattled in the giant I hunted all year to my decoy. 25 yard chip shot. Missed low and right. Shot through the mesh at a bit of an angle. Won't ever do it again.

Since then I agree with the other guys......brush it in really well, and break up your window edges, keep it dark and your good.

 

I'm taking my screens off from now on, because if the angle isn't perfect it does affect the flight and it's not worth it, totally missed a doe at 30 yards because of it. Now I take the two middle screens off and put the decoy in front of them, the rest I leave on and most of the windows I leave shut, I just try to get the deer to approach the decoy, or don't take a shot otherwise.

 

Shoot through mesh is a joke for arrows. Been there, done that and failed miserably. The points of impact are off considerably. The arrow loses some velocity when shot through the mesh. The arrow causes significant noise that will make a drunk deer jump the string. The only good thing is that it taught me alot about what to do and what not to do concerning hub style blinds. Placement and deciding what two windows to open are key decisions before you ever pop up the blind and brush it in. If the placement is not good or your window openings are not in a good spot for the direction you anticipate to shoot, then don't waste your time. I have really used a hub blind alot over the last few years and have learned a ton over that time. Hub blinds are a good tool for your archery arsenal, but they do not come without some drawbacks that you learn to overcome. First step in overcoming a drawback, don't shoot through the "shoot through mesh".

 

Just dress in black, brush the blind in so it does draw attention, and pull the mesh up to a point where you can see and shoot above or below it. Whatever the case may be.

 

I have only shot one deer through the mesh on a blind. It was a 50 yard shot and arrow hit perfect- took out heart. I was using a fixed broadhead. Look at your blind sometime with one window open even brushed in. There will be a big black hole. I have seen many deer spoke at this. Turkey don't mind but many deer will. My two cents.