Ridgefield Blind 5

Blind 5 at Ridgefield is an island pit blind with a 2-man concrete vault and a 1-man cylinder. Plan ahead and pack in some concealment material. There’s a lot of grass to the east of the blind so you can improvise with that and branches. The rocks and concrete foundation around the blind make it tough to stake anything around it. Also beware that as the season progresses the water around the blind gets deeper and so does the mud. There is an underwater gravel path that leads to the blind – go a little north from where you think it should be and you’ll find it.

Hunting Style

Blind 5 has a good location as it sits in water just off the middle of a north-south flyway. To the south is the access road and to the north is blind 2. A good number of ducks that get spooked out of the south side of the refuge fly right by this blind. Because there’s a lot of water around this blind (by Ridgefield standards) birds have a lot of choices in landing spots, some of which are well out of range. So it’s a good spot to try J-hooks, Xs or C patterns for your decoys, depending on wind direction. It’s one of the few blinds in the refuge where more than 2 dozen decoys might come in handy, especially if you are using them to close off some water farther away from the blind.

You’ll get a wide variety of shots here, with more passing shots. The nice thing about passing shots here is that your island affords good vision all around the blind so you can be ready. But ducks are not afraid to land here either, swinging north, south or even behind the blind to the east. In fact one hunter should try to set up for any shots that might present themselves behind the blind.

Goose Opportunities

This blind is a perennial top blind for ducks but does not yield many geese because it is surrounded by other blinds that shoot at groups before they even reach this blind.