Portable Hides

I've been using the Lens Coat portable photographer's hide for years. I chose it because the price was right and it packs to the size of a small pillow. I've enjoyed using it because the hide has allowed me to be more discreet in the presence of animals. I've had a herd of 100 elk walk right past at a distance of less than 10-feet and they had no idea I was present.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the Lens Coat canvas hide is that every movement I make translates to outward movement of the canvas. Animals that are the most sensitive to the presence of predators - deer, pronghorn - tend to notice me even if I'm trying to make slow, subtle movements. Also, there's minimal room beneath the hide. It's pretty confining.

I recently added the Tragopan V6 to my kit and have had a few opportunities to take it out into the field.

It's bulkier than the Lens Coat and the folding camp chair I bring with the V6 is larger & heavier than the stool I use with the canvas hide. However, the Tragopan experience is much more comfortable. I've got room inside for my camera bag, the duffel for the Tragopan and the bag for the camp stool. I can move around without being seen. The portholes in the V6 make it easy to discreetly scan to my left and right for animals that might be approaching. It's just much more comfortable.

The negatives are that the duffel and camp chair are fairly large in size. They're not heavy but they do make it harder to cover ground across rugged terrain. I need to work out how to strap these items to my camera bag so I can carry everything hands-free.

On a side note, I still bring the Lens Coat hide with me on wildlife outings. It makes a great camera support when resting atop a partially rolled-down window while using my vehicle as a hide.

For those of you who also like to work from hides, what do you use? Have you built or fashioned your own solutions? If you use commercial products, which do you like or not like? Come out from hiding and let us know your thoughts :)

Thanks for starting this thread. I've not tried using a hide of any sort yet. So far, I'm just taking wildlife pics on hikes.

That Tragopan looks very nice, but is on the spendy side for someone starting out.

I picked up a really light weight compact camping chair that is fantastic to put in a small pack, easy to set up and comfy. I'm tempted to McGuiver something using camo netting and some fiberglass rod as an inexpensive way to try out a hide.

That sounds like a good plan to improvise something portable and useful, but not too expensive. If you'll be in a forest or other environment where fallen branches are abundant, I've found it helpful to stack some to make a low wall no more than 3-feet high to sit behind on a camp stool. I would often do this with the Lens Coat hide draped over me. That works pretty well.

Although I have a small blind/hide similar to the Tragopan V4, it's such a pain to collapse and carry that I seldom use it. Instead I bought a Ghillie hood similar to this www.theghilliesuits.com/product/ul-tracker-poncho/ -- only I bought it on sale for about half the list price. It fits in a small stuff sack that goes in a pack along with my long lens in its own case. The ghillie hood allows me total mobility and wildlife isn't scared when I move my arms or torso as long as I do so slowly. It's cooler than my blind and I can be very unobtrusive when putting it on -- recently I put the hood on and got set up within 75 feet of a half dozen wood ducks (they're very wary) with flushing them. By the way, I'm six feet tall and weigh about 190 pounds and can wear a camo winter jacket under the hood with room to spare.

I bought an "Ameristep Outhouse Lightweight Blind" last year, I only use it to shoot birds at a feeder in my backyard, it worked like a charm, roomy and with lots of openings. I would only use it in wintertime here in Florida.(cost $69.00)