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- Nigel
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There is no doubt that using a hide gives you a fantastic advantage, but some hides are just meh, whilst others are fantastic. I have owned or used quite a few over the years, from a reclaimed garden shed to pop-up hides to home made blinds, all work but some work better than others.
The garden shed was so comfortable to work from but obviously not at all portable. It was set up a few years ago when a friend (now sadly departed) owned a small holding and allowed myself and a friend to use a small area that had a breeding pair of little owls in an oak tree. Then when the owls left we used it almost daily in the spring/autumn for a number of species like spotted flycatchers, yellowhammers, GS peckers, goldfinches,linnets and on one occaison a turtle dove,then eventually we set up a reflection pool. We no longer have access to the land and the shed has been knocked down.
I wanted to get some kingfisher shots, so I bought an Ameristep 'Dawg house' pop-up hide, but I soon realised that the birds were wary of it going up and down all the time. I built a permanent hide in the reedbed only for local youths to find and destroy it after just a few days. Back to the drawing board.....I bought a ghillie suit, that worked a treat, however you do look a bit of a tw@ if anyone should see you in it! but as long as you keep relatively still the birds were not at all bothered by you, the disadvantages though are: the material will get snagged in the vegetation around you and you get bloody hot wearing one.
I'm now on pop-up hides again,just for the convenience. I currently have a Tragopan V6, the best made pop-up I've used, built to a very high standard with loads of accessories available, it's not cheap though.Also a Nitehawk chair hide, probably my most used hide at the moment as its very portable and as the name suggests, it's built around a chair, it's surprising roomy inside with enough space for a tripod, downside is the opening in the front is big and you need a scrim net to conceal yourself which can flap around in wind. I have 2 other pop-up hides, the Dawghouse (or at least whats left of it) and a cheap one I got from eBay. I still used just camo netting as a blanket but for comfort it's got to be a hide. Then there's a simple hide made from what ever is laying on the ground around you, works OK but offers little or no weather protection and you can bet your bottom penny it won't be there next time you want to use it.
The cost of hides start at £0 , the Tragopan is £220.
The garden shed was so comfortable to work from but obviously not at all portable. It was set up a few years ago when a friend (now sadly departed) owned a small holding and allowed myself and a friend to use a small area that had a breeding pair of little owls in an oak tree. Then when the owls left we used it almost daily in the spring/autumn for a number of species like spotted flycatchers, yellowhammers, GS peckers, goldfinches,linnets and on one occaison a turtle dove,then eventually we set up a reflection pool. We no longer have access to the land and the shed has been knocked down.
I wanted to get some kingfisher shots, so I bought an Ameristep 'Dawg house' pop-up hide, but I soon realised that the birds were wary of it going up and down all the time. I built a permanent hide in the reedbed only for local youths to find and destroy it after just a few days. Back to the drawing board.....I bought a ghillie suit, that worked a treat, however you do look a bit of a tw@ if anyone should see you in it! but as long as you keep relatively still the birds were not at all bothered by you, the disadvantages though are: the material will get snagged in the vegetation around you and you get bloody hot wearing one.
I'm now on pop-up hides again,just for the convenience. I currently have a Tragopan V6, the best made pop-up I've used, built to a very high standard with loads of accessories available, it's not cheap though.Also a Nitehawk chair hide, probably my most used hide at the moment as its very portable and as the name suggests, it's built around a chair, it's surprising roomy inside with enough space for a tripod, downside is the opening in the front is big and you need a scrim net to conceal yourself which can flap around in wind. I have 2 other pop-up hides, the Dawghouse (or at least whats left of it) and a cheap one I got from eBay. I still used just camo netting as a blanket but for comfort it's got to be a hide. Then there's a simple hide made from what ever is laying on the ground around you, works OK but offers little or no weather protection and you can bet your bottom penny it won't be there next time you want to use it.
The cost of hides start at £0 , the Tragopan is £220.