I am new to this board so I don' t know if this has been discussed or not. I just purchased a Doghouse blind to use for bowhunting because the other two people who hunt one of the spots I have access to are too lazy to scout for deer so they scout for my stands and put theirs up next to mine[:@]. Thought was, backpack the blind in, sit up, hunt, take down and leave. They will never know where I was. Anyway the blind got here in the mail and I have shot a few arrows out of it now. It is a little cramped trying to shoot a bow but not bad. I have had to tweak myself more in tree stands to get in a shooting lane before. Not often but a few times. Anyone have experience with bowhunting out of one of these blinds. Does the shoot through mesh actually work like it says. I have trouble believing that an arrow could impact anything and not have the flight affected. Any experiences out of one of these blinds is welcome. The other good thing is now my nine year old daughter can squirm all she wants and it won' t matter. I am seeing more of her mother in her every year, can' t sit still longer than five minutes. Unless it is turkey season then she will sit all day and yell at me for moving.

Hey Wingmaninmo, I' ve been thinking about getting the Doghouse also. Did you get the TSC version or " regular" version? How cramped are you in the blind. All things considered, would you opt for a larger blind if you had it to do over? The Doghouse looks like a great combination of size, weight, and price (if it is really big enough inside).

I was turkey hunting out of blind this spring. While I had some deer close enough to shoot, they sure did not know what to think of the blind. Of course, I had it setup more for turkey hunting (field edges), so use some natural camo. And try to neutralize the scent asap.

i bought the outhouse but it is not roomy enough to bow hunt unless you sit all the way to the rear and shoot out the front door opening.

I think its great..
I got mine from Dunhams, for 59.99 on sale...

Can' t Beat that price for that Blind...

I' ve had 2 Doghouse blinds and I really like them. For me they are roomy and plenty big to bowhunt out of. You have to really camo the blinds up with sticks and brush because I have been busted in this blind more times than not. I think it' s something I really need to work on. My new blind has the Total Scent Control(TSC) windows and I really didn' t like them. Here is a copy/paste of one of my earlier posts speaking to that issue and the issue of the shoot thru mesh. After you read my post, don' t think that I' m bashing the blind because I really do like it and I use it. I' m just outlining the things I' ve experienced.

***************From my post on this forum on 9/9/2003 11:23:29 AM

I have the Doghouse TSC. I set it up on the edge of a field one evening when I bought it last season and walked away from it 20 yrds and looked at it. The clear shiny plastic on the inside of those windows was literally glaring at me. I was disgusted! Not only do the windows crackle like cellophane (that' s what they are I guess?) it' s shiny! I immediatly called Ameristep and asked them if I could order the replacement mesh windows without the TSC and she said not at the time but eventually that would be an option. I told her my concerns and she was dead silent.......then she said, " you are about the 20th call today with the same concerns. People do not like the way the window glare." She then told me that many people were taking a very sharp razor blade knife and carefully cutting the clear plastic off the mesh windows. Finally disgusted and not know what else to do, I cut the plastic off. Down the drain went all that extra $$ I paid for the TSC.

Now about the shoot thru mesh windows.... I know guys who shoot thru the mesh on these types of blinds and have great success but my testing quickly showed me that I will not be risking shooting thru the mesh windows. I very commonly practice with my bow while sitting in my chair that I will use in my pop-up blind and I' m very accurate while sitting in that chair. I then moved my chair into my blind and shot thru the open windows and was still dead on. I then put the mesh windows on and stretched them as tight as possible. I backed up to 20 yrds and took a shot thru the mesh window. To my utter shock, my arrow went off to the side of the target and was lost in my grass! I told myself I flinched but I moved my blind up to 10 yrds and shot another arrow. It hit in the very bottom right hand corner of my target. Now I' m very concerned. 3rd arrow, 10 yrds, hit left 6 inches and way down low. Now I' m ticked.lol I put everything up and tested it again on 3 seperate occasions. Every single time I experienced VERY eratic arrow flight and I never had an arrow hit where I was aiming. I have decided that I will NOT be using those mesh shoot thru windows. I just can' t make it work for me.

Disclaimer These were only my results and almost everyone else I talk to has no problems with the shoot thru mesh windows.

If it matters, I shoot a Diamond Hornet, 57lbs, 80% let off, 27 in draw, Gold Tip carbon arrows, and Thunderhead fixed 100 gr broad heads.

TxCowboy, Is all the difference between the TSC and the " rugular" Doghouse the scent membrane. I thought the TSC model was about 8 inches wider and included a " zip-in/zip-out floor" . Is this right. Which model Doghouse would you recommend.

The TSC model is 8 inches wider, has the zip out floor, gear holders on the walls and the cellophane scent windows. I have both models as well as the Penthouse and enjoy using all three for different situations.

I used the Doghouse last year to harvest my first doe out of a blind...and had a blast doing it. I love pop-up blinds for a variety of situations.