The transformation of red oak leaves from green to a deep crimson each fall coincides with an epidemic in the Hill Country – buck fever. Even the most-experienced hunters feel twinges of nervous excitement as they fan out among hilltops and valleys in an annual quest to bag trophy whitetails or other game.
For many hunters, the odds of success have greatly improved since Nature Blinds established a fabricating operation on the western outskirts of Kerrville. The company specializes in durable and comfortable hunting blinds that resemble incredibly realistic tree stumps.
The inspiration for Nature Blinds came during a miserable 2005 hunting trip near Laredo for 44-year-old, native Californian Tim Thomason, the company's founder and inventor. After enduring frigid temps and battling angry wasps in a totally uncomfortable, homemade deer blind, he returned home and sculpted a "tree" in his garage out of foam.
"A still, small voice inside told me to 'build a tree,'" said Thomason, a man of deep religious faith. "I've enjoyed art all my life, and I used to design props and sets for church Christmas and Easter pageants. I always had a knack for that kind of creativity."
Plenty of trial and error went into the early iterations of Nature Blinds, along with guidance from a friend with experience in creating sets for Hollywood, but slowly and steadily, Thomason developed blinds with tremendous attention to detail like none others on the market.
"In 2010, I took off with my family for Texas, not knowing where to locate," he explained, "but we ended up in Kerrville, which we consider to be the 'promised land.'"
The following year, Thomason met his business partner, Max Duncan, and together they've built a thriving enterprise that now employs 35. They rely on moldable polyurethane, the same material used in manufacturing bowling balls, to handcraft their sturdy, 6-foot-in-diameter, 7-foot-tall blinds with rough, "bark" exteriors sealed with a tough polyuria coating. It takes up to 15 days from start to finish per full-sized "tree," Thomason said.
The company is constantly researching and developing in an ongoing quest for product improvement, and it tests its blinds for durability and longevity in the great outdoors at locales scattered around the globe. Thomason maintains his polyurethane creations can withstand a drubbing by a baseball bat, and he cites an instance in which one of his units survived a tornado.
As Nature Blinds has grown, its product line has expanded to offer multiple options – large blinds that can accommodate two hunters; lightweight two-piece modular blinds; units for hunters in wheelchairs; and 6-pound shields for those who preferred to stalk their prey instead of sit in a warm blind. Prices range from approximately $250 for the shield up to $4,000 for a deluxe Nature Blinds model.
The company ships Nature Blinds to retailers coast to coast as well as to Africa, Australia and Canada, Thomason said, but the greatest demand continues to emanate from Texas and the Midwest. He also pointed out that Nature Blinds appeal to a wider audience than hunters. Purchasers include wildlife photographers, bird watchers and even security and surveillance professionals.
The global success of Nature Blinds is now taking the company in new directions with Nature Innovations, a new family of home and garden products like planters, animal feeders, tanks, storage sheds and even portable toilets – all with a rustic tree motif. Those relatively new products can be found at hardware, lawn and garden and home improvement stores as well as online via Amazon.com.
Yet it's the true-to-life-looking blinds that get Thomason, a self-described "passionate hunter," and thousands like him excited, especially at this time of year. His "blind ambition" has established new levels of camouflage and concealment in the field and has provided another antidote for buck fever.
