Well, my best laid plans, preparations, and purchases for this years deer hunting season have all but fallen flat on it's face. For the past 6-8 weeks I've been pretty much flat on my back. I had a fusion at L3-L4 several years ago, but now L5 has gotten really bad. Aside from the pain I have numbness and tingling almost constantly at the ***** of both feet and to the toes. As a result, I can't get my Redneck blinds out to my place in West Virginia. Or get them set up for that matter. Time schedules with friends and family just aren't working out. At this point I'll be there, but may not be able to hunt. It looks like that once again I'll just be manning the trail cams and feeders. Which is OK because I enjoy it. My sister has bought a regular ground blind and has it set up ready to go. I have been researching portable propane heaters made by Coleman and Mr. Heater. The original plan was to have them for the Rednecks. I figured that the Mr. Heater Little Buddy would be perfect for the Rednecks. They are rated at 3,800 BTU's and heat a 100 sq.ft. area. The Rednecks are 5x6 = 30sq.ft.. But, after a lot of research I went with the Mr. Heater Portable Buddy. It heats a 200 sq.ft. area and has two heat settings, Low=4,000 BTU's, High= 9,000 BTU's. Being that the Rednecks are solid blinds, it may be a bit of an over kill. But I figured for now they would do a better job in the fabric ground blinds than the Little Buddy would. When it gets windy it can get quite cold in there. You can always turn it down or off if it gets too hot. Has anyone used these before?

 

My dad has a small propane heater(not sure of brand or model) that we used to use on really cold days. It worked pretty good, although our tower stands don't have windows so the heat would escape. And since I have started duck hunting, the few days a year that we have in the low 20s I will be waist deep in a swamp where a heater wouldn't do me much good.

I hope your back gets better so that you can make it to the stand this year. I've been going 2-3 days a week since the season opened but haven't sealed the deal yet. I missed a doe twice last Saturday with my bow, but I'm seeing deer every hunt so I should get one soon.

 

I use a Mr. Heater Little Buddy heater in my blind, which is effectively just one of those snap up tent things. It has been 5 deg and snowing, and I am comfy cozy in my blind...

For what it's worth, sorry to hear about the health issues. Getting older can be painful. But it beats the alternative!

 

Be careful with a heater in a fabric blind. Things cold turn ugly quick in the heat of the moment. I use my blinds typically when the weather is nasty/windy, and I'm glad to just be out of the wind. The first deer I got was out of blind on a cold, rainy, breezy day.

 

We put one in my sisters blind on sat.. She used it yesterday for the afternoon hunt. She said she turned it on around 2:30 or so, and said she was quit comfortable. Saturday and Sunday night it dropped down into/around the teens here in Burlington, WV.. Sunday at daybreak it was 11 degrees, and Monday at daybreak it was around 19-20. I'm unable to hunt this year, again, because of back problems. My sis couldn't get up for the morning hunt , but got out for the afternoon. Where she has her blind set up is just inside a wood line next to a field that is just off a ridge line to a hollow. The field is surround by the woods. We have trail cams set up year around, and last Feb. we set up a Moultrie feeder. At first, when the feeder went off, it was like ringing the dinner bell. After a while they would show up. Then while they were feeding on the corn on the ground and it went off, the deer would get startled and take off, then return. But now they have gotten to the point that they just stand there a bit aways and wait for the feeder to go off, LOL. She did say that the deer were stomping and snorting a bit, and she thought it may be because the heater was making a very slight "hiss" noise from the propane running. We look at the trail cams often and we can see that even sometimes as little as five minutes passes, and then they are there feeding after we have left. Either they seen her enter the blind and knew she was in there. She was making some noise, or they smelled her. But she did "bag", not "harvest ", a four pointer. "Food around the corner, food around the corner.......".

 

I bought a Mr. Heater last Saturday and love it so far. It got down to 19 degrees Sunday with 12-15mph winds, and we were duck hunting from my boat on a big lake in GA. After a 15 minute ride, we were all numb from the cold. But the Mr. Heater kept us toasty in the blind for the rest of the morning.

 

I have heard folks say that deer can smell propane. That might possibly be true, if you are close enough. My blinds are set up with the short run at 100 yds to the feeder, and depending on wind conditions, I do NOT use a blind that is upwind of the feeder unless I just want to shiver in my blind and not bag a deer...

I got my Little Buddy heater back in I guess it was '04. I don't hunt every year due to fiscal realities (leases here are EXPENSIVE, so I tend to hunt when invited to a ranch...).

To be blunt, I have bagged either my limit, or at least the limit I wanted to take every year I have used the heater. Some years I just don't want to clean and pack up my limit, so I wait for the one big shooter to come along...

This year, I forgot to bring my heater, and not only did I freeze my tail off, I didn't bag a single deer... :-(

 

I have used a portable propane heater in a blind here in Iowa. Just be careful how you set it up keep it away from the sides and of course away from things that go boom and you shouldn't have any problems. I hunt the late season and below zero isn't uncommon my mr heater has kept the chill off but I wouldn't call it warm. But it is definitely better than sitting with my back against a tree and freezing. The deer can smell something is up but by that time they are usually within 50 yards and it is to late for them.