How To Soundproof A Deer Blind For Better and Stealthy Hunt

Deer blinds allow you to stay camouflaged while hunting deer and other wild animals. However, no matter how camouflaged you are, the slightest noise will scare away your prey. This noise can be caused by you trying to position your rifle to fire.

It can also be from the squeaking and creaking of the deer’s blind joints. And given how sensitive deer are to noise, soundproofing your deer blind will go a long way in improving your success. But what exactly can you do to soundproof your deer blind?

How To Soundproof A deer blind For Better Hunting And Less Likely To Scare The Prey Away

Use A Carpet On The Floor

Most of the sounds you make inside a deer blind will be from your movements. So the first and easiest thing you can do to soundproof your blind is to lay a carpet on the floor. This will help reduce sound from your movement.

Alternatively, you can also use a rug, a good example being a large doormat-style rug. Another option you can use on the floor is rubber mats. But for comfort, some people may prefer a carpet or rug. Nonetheless, all options will have the same desired results.

A more unorthodox and pricey option will be to use dynamat. This is a sound dampening material designed for cars. It may be a better option than carpets, but the difference may not be enough to warrant the hefty price for most people.

Cover The Walls

While, in most cases, you will be able to reduce noise from your deer blind just by covering the floor, it doesn’t hurt to go the extra mile and cover the walls. You can cover the walls with carpeting.

However, carpets can be a bit tricky to work with, especially on the walls. A better alternative will be to use something like an eggshell foam. This type of foam will be easier to work with us. You can cut it to suit your blind’s dimensions and shape.

There will be some installation work, though. For installation, you will need a spray adhesive; something like the 3M spray adhesive will do the trick. Using this foam will also have the added advantage of keeping the blind warm during colder months.

Paint The Walls, Black

But if you do not have the time or money to install the eggshell foam on the walls of the ground blind, painting them black will also help. This will work for larger blinds where you will not be in contact with the walls.

Also, it is worth noting that the sound you hear while inside the blind is significantly more than what is heard outside.

Use Rubber Paint

Applying rubber paint is the easiest and fastest thing you can do to noise dampen your ground blind. The paint can easily be applied with a brush or roller. The paint will also protect the nuts and bolts of the blind if the original paint has chipped off in some areas. Use liberal amounts of rubber paint coating on the blind for optimal results.

Apply A Dry Graphite Lubricant To Metal Joints

If your blind has any kind of metal joints, they are likely to squeak and creak when you are getting into the blind. One way to prevent this is to use a lubricant on the metal joints.

One of the best lubricants you can use for this job is a dry graphite lubricant. This type of lubricant will stay on even when it is raining. You can get the lubricant in a variety of forms, the most common being spray-on and squeeze tubes.

This works best for a blind mounted on a tower. The tower holding it up will have metal bolts, nuts, and other parts holding it up. For a typical ground blind that does not have any metal parts, this will not be a solution.

Wrap the Shooting Rails With Foam

If it has one, position your hunting rifle on the blind’s fold-down shooting rail can produce some noise. To prevent this unwanted noise, cover the rails with pipe insulation foam which will dampen the rails and serve as a quiet gun rest. You can use tape to cover the rails with foam too.

Use Mass Loaded Vinyl

Mass Loaded Vinyl is a common soundproofing compound used to soundproof engine compartments and vehicle cabins. To reduce the noise inside your blind, cover the walls of the blind with this material. 

To use it, first, cut it into shape based on the walls of your blind. The nail it or glue each piece of the MLV to each of the walls of the ground blind. The MLV has a black finish to it; you can apply latex paint to it if you do not like the black aesthetic of the MLV.

Cover Tubular Struts and Bars With Tape

If your blind has support struts or tubular bars, they can also produce noise. You can reduce their noise by covering them with foam insulation tape. There are various options available on the market, some thicker than others. 

Use Soundproof Foam

You can use a soundproof foam inside if you want to soundproof your blind while adding thermal insulation. The foam will help reduce echoes inside the blind and dampen noise from your movements. 

The best way to install soundproof foam is by attaching acoustic panels to the walls. You can do this by using hanging strips and spray adhesive. Hanging strips are a great option for the temporary hanging of the foam.

You can opt for spray adhesive if you want something more permanent. There are various options you can choose from, all of varying sizes.

Conclusion

Soundproofing a deer blind can seem a doubting task. However, it is not as complicated as it sounds. In most cases, adding a carpet on the floor will give you results. However, there is always the chance of bumping things such as binoculars on the walls.

For this reason, it is also a good idea to cover the walls of the blind with some kind of foam. The foam will keep your blind warm during colder months as well.

For several reasons, it may not be possible to soundproof your deer blind completely. One is that adding some of these options or all of them can make the blind heavier. Also, if the windows of the blind are open, in most cases they are, air and noise can travel in and out of the blind. 

However, using the options outlined above, you can significantly reduce the amount of noise coming from your blind. Another alternative would be to purchase a deer blind with soundproofing properties. This may not be the cheapest option, but it is an option. But if you already have a blind, you can use any of the above methods to make it quieter.