I bought a blind on Friday and I thought about the same things. They do smell right out of the box. Luckily I have a nice wooded area on my property. I took the blind into the woods and set it up. I threw a couple scent wafers inside. I figure I' ll let mother nature beat on it for a while.

If you need to use yours right away your best bet is to play the wind. If you can' t leave it for a few days in the area you' ll want to make it as invisible as possible. Put it near some trees and add some natural cover around it to help breakup the outline.

As far as temperatures go ... the coldest day that I can ever remember bow hunting was around 7 degrees farenheit. This was during the late bow season here in PA. The bow will definately tighten up with the colder weather. But I can' t say that I have ever experienced a problem with it. I just made sure things were clean and lubricated. Never had a problem with freezing or cracking.