LAKEWOOD, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – As hunters get ready to head to the woods for Deer Hunt 2023, many are planning to approach the season in style, and in the Northwoods, a growing trend includes using elevated hunting blinds.
For many hunting deer in Wisconsin, the third week of November could bring a variety of weather.
“Well, I did my fair share of sitting in the woods where you sat there, and you froze. And you were shaking all day, or you got the buck fever. Where inside here, you are staying warm. You’re out of the climate. You’re out of the rain and the snow,” said Stephanie Capelle, Lakewood Trailers Manager.
Capelle says Lakewood Trailers may have an answer, in the form of elevated hunting stands.
“Inside here, you have tinted windows with magnetic closure, as well as you have your padded gun rest, and shelves all around. Inside here, you can lay your gun up in the corner, put your binoculars, all your hunting gear.”.
Capelle says the steel blinds feature an eight foot stand, and a staircase too.
It’s easier to get your gear up, ready to go,” she said.
Is it safer?
“Yes. Much safer,” she said.
And deer experts say the stands are becoming more popular.
“We’ve certainly seen a transition toward using elevated enclosed blinds,” said Jeff Pritzl, DNR State Deer Program Specialist.
Jeff Pritzl says Wisconsin hunters are getting older.
“The most common age of a deer hunter last fall was 60 years old. To go out there and enjoy, and stay out there, whether it’s a comfortable blind, whether it’s comfortable clothing, use of an UTV or something to get in and out, we’re seeing more of that progression.”
But Pritzl says there’s a trade-off.
“Even during the gun season, we hunters are more reliant on natural deer movement, as opposed to pressured deer movement. Strategies in the past, which are still out there, but not nearly as prevalent of driving deer, or still hunting, walking around. Those hunters moving around on the landscape move deer on the landscape. Now, with more hunters sitting still, we’re more reliant on natural deer movement. And sometimes deer just aren’t moving naturally during the gun season.”
Back at Lakewood Trailers, Stephanie Capelle says she expects hunting blind popularity to continue. She says the 7 x 7 foot model starts at about $5,400.
“They’re pretty much all sold by the first of gun season, because everybody wants it out there set up, ready to go. Once on a while, we’ll have some last minute people. They want one after season, because they sat in the snow, and they want something better,” she said.
The nine-day gun season begins the morning of Saturday, November 18.
