I remember buying a spring steel framed blind in high school that took me an hour to figure out how to put it back into the carrying case it came in. In the last 5-10 years, the pop-up ground blind has undergone a huge transformation to bring it to the top of the list of options for hunters.

The hub-style blinds of today are easy to set-up and just as easy to take down. They can also come with magnetic doors and windows for added stealth or mesh windows that allow you to shoot an arrow through them. On the downside, they are somewhat expensive (a good 2-person blind starts at $99). After investing in a quality ground blind, nobody wants to have something happen that would ruin their blind.

A common use for ground blinds is for deer hunting. Since deer are skittish to “new” things in their everyday routine, it pays to set your blind up a few weeks in advance of the season starting so that they get used to its presence. Do your best to brush it in so that it doesn’t stick out as much but they will notice it. The downside to the weather in New York is the unpredictable start of the snowy season. When a heavy snow hits and it builds up on the roof of the blind, its weight forces the top to cave in. Once the top caves in, the weight of the roof is put onto the sides and one or more of the sides will break due to the increase in stress. Usually just one of the poles will break and the hub will still be okay. I had this exact scenario happen to me this past fall at the end of archery season. I went to check on my blind after a morning sit and noticed something was wrong from about 75 yards away. I had poles break on 3 out of the 4 sides after the roof had caved in. I spent about half an hour scooping the snow off the blind before I could break it down the best I could. I dragged it down the hill and put it in the garage to try to melt off the remaining snow and ice. After putting my bow away and changing my clothes, I started looking online at replacement poles for my blind. The model I have was discontinued (of course) so parts were nowhere to be found. I could order a new hub with 4 poles for $49.99, but I needed 3 to fix it so I’d spend more on the hubs and poles than I spent on the blind! I ended up complaining about my situation to a friend who said they had also gone through the same situation. However, they had found a solution on an online forum. They said to find fiberglass electric fence posts as they were the same diameter as most of the poles used in ground blinds. Then all you need to do is cut them to length and put them into the pole holders. I spent one Saturday afternoon working on my blind. I am pleased to say that the fence posts worked phenomenally. Here’s a quick rundown of how it went.

1. Identify what hub had the broken pole or poles.

2. Remove the hub assembly from the blind using socket wrench. Set all bolts, washers, and nuts aside.

3. Cut the broken pole flush with the end of the sleeve that is cabled to the hub.

4. Put the sleeve into a bench vise and tighten the vise.

5. Use a 3/8” drill bit to remove the end of the pole from the sleeve. Go for about one inch.

6. Clean out shavings in the sleeve.

7. Put the blunt end of the fence post into the sleeve and make sure it stays snug.

8. Hold the fencepost up to another pole with the ends of their sleeves even, mark the fencepost to match the end of the pole, cut the fencepost.

9. Put hub assembly back together and put the pole ends into their pockets. Test opening and closing hub a few times.

10. It hub holds up to test, put a few drops of superglue into the sleeve where the fencepost is put in.

If you find yourself getting ready to throw out a hub-style ground blind because the poles broke, give the fiberglass fencepost a try. They cost less than $2 a piece at farm supply stores so if they don’t work, you aren’t out that much but if they work you save a lot of money.