Swivel Hunting Chair

What a swivel hunting chair does that a fixed chair can't

A fixed blind chair points one way. If a deer shows up at a side window, you have two choices: twist your body, or pick the chair up and turn it. Both are movement. Both make noise. A swivel hunting chair gives you a third choice: the seat turns under you while the legs stay put.

Petersen's Hunting explains the problem it solves. Big folding chairs leave little room to draw or move in a blind, so most hunters end up covering one window. Turn the seat and every window is yours, and that matters because game doesn't always come from the side you're watching.

The shared basics of hunting seats (types, carry weight, frames, weight capacity) are on the hunting chair page. This page is about the turn: when it helps, what makes it quiet, and how to set up a seat that rotates.

The table under this page only includes chairs whose maker or listing states a 360-degree swivel seat. Its columns cover how high the seat sits and whether that changes, the back, the frame, carry weight, rated load and any quiet claim, all in the maker's words or, where the maker is silent, the Amazon listing's (marked as listing values; weight stays the maker's). An empty cell means neither states it.

Who a swivel chair is for

• Ground blind hunters with more than one window in play. A field edge to the front and a trail to the side, for example.
• Long sits. The longer you sit, the more times a deer can come from somewhere you didn't plan.
• Bowhunters who need to square up. Turning the seat lets you face the shot instead of drawing at an awkward twist.
• Hunters who share a blind. Each person can cover a different side without bumping elbows.

My one opinion on this page: a swivel earns its place only in a blind where more than one window matters. The reason is in Petersen's own pitch. The swivel's value is covering several windows; with one window and one trail, you've paid for a moving part you'll never use.

Danny wants one for the cabin porch so he can watch the grill and the driveway at the same time. That's not hunting, but it's the right logic.

What to look at in a swivel hunting chair

A full 360 degrees, as the maker or the listing states it

Not every seat that turns goes all the way around. This page's list takes only chairs where the maker or the listing states a full 360 degrees. A seat that turns partway still helps, but it leaves a dead zone somewhere behind you, and deer seem to know where it is.

Quiet rotation is the feature, not a bonus

Noise is the whole risk. One squeaky seat in a Grand View Outdoors story cost a hunter a whole flock of turkeys. A swivel multiplies that risk, because you'll turn it a dozen times a sit.

Any "quiet" in the table is the maker talking. Treat it that way. Test it yourself: sit, turn slowly both ways, lean forward and back while turned, and listen. Do it in the garage, where you'll hear everything. Then do it again with the heavy coat on, because a coat changes where your weight sits.

Legs that level a seat that turns

This is the part people miss. A seat that's a little off level feels fine facing forward. Turn it 90 degrees and you're sitting downhill. Petersen's Hunting makes the case for legs you can set one by one: on uneven ground they're how the seat ends up flat, and a flat seat doesn't slide you off your shot.

Four legs you can set one at a time give you the most control. Set them with the seat turned to the window you expect to shoot from most, then turn it to the others and check again. Square and true, the way a shop teacher would want it.

Feet that don't sink

Broad foot pads are Petersen's answer to soft blind floors. The Mossy Oak review of a long-sit chair describes a leg angle meant to limit sinking in mud, gravel and sand. On a swivel, a leg that sinks is worse than on a fixed chair. You'll find the low corner the moment you turn toward it.

Seat height has to work at every window

The table shows seat height as the maker or the listing states it, often as a range when it adjusts. A ground blind's windows are not always at the same height, and Bowhunter's blind tips say the bottom of the window should sit well below your arrow when you prepare for the shot.

So check your height at each window you plan to shoot from, not just the front one. If one window is lower or higher, an adjustable seat height is what lets one chair cover them all. Write the setting down in the logbook. You won't remember it in the dark.

Arms that turn with you

Mossy Oak's ground blind advice is a seat with a back and no arms, because arms get in the way when you aim or shoot. On a swivel chair, the arms rotate with the seat. That's good news and bad news. The arm on your string side is always in the same spot relative to your draw, so you'll know right away whether it's a problem, and it'll be a problem at every window.

Some chairs let you fold the arms down or take them off. If you like arms for the long wait, make sure the string-side one folds down or comes off.

A backrest you can lean on while turned

The table marks which chairs have a backrest. On a swivel, the back goes where you go. That means you can rest against it facing any window, which is the point. It also means a tall back can brush the blind wall when you turn near a corner. Turn it all the way around once you've set it, and listen for fabric on fabric.

Weight to carry and weight to hold

A swivel base adds parts. Check the weight column if you carry the chair in. If it stays in the blind all season, that matters less. The weight capacity column shows what the maker rates the chair for; count your coat and boots against it, and leave room.

How to set a swivel chair in the blind

Placement for a seat that turns is different from placement for one that doesn't.

1. Start near a back corner. Bowhunter suggests a back corner, not the middle, so you're farther from the windows.
2. Leave room to turn and draw. The same tips say your elbow shouldn't hit the back wall at full draw. On a swivel, check that at every window, not just the front.
3. Clear the floor in a full circle. Bowhunter warns that a cluttered floor makes noise with your feet and gear. With a swivel, your feet travel around the chair, so the whole circle needs to be clean.
4. Keep gear outside your turning circle. A pack or a thermos inside that circle is something to kick at the wrong moment.
5. Level it, then check it at each window. See the legs section above.

Then practice. Grand View Outdoors' advice is to rehearse shots from the same blind you hunt. With a swivel, rehearse the turn too: rotate to a window, draw, hold, let down, rotate back. Do it slowly. The goal is a turn that nothing outside the blind notices.

More on the blind itself is on the ground blind page.

Two swivel chairs in one blind

Sharing a blind is where a swivel pulls double duty, and where it can get in the way. Two seats that turn need two turning circles that don't overlap. Bowhunter's tips about room at full draw apply twice: each archer needs space for the elbow behind and the arrow tip in front, at every window that person might shoot from.

Split the blind before the season. One person takes the front and one side, the other takes the back and the other side, and nobody swings across the middle. Agree on it at the kitchen table, not at first light with a deer in the window. For a bigger blind built for company, see the 2 person hunting blind page.

Swivel chair or fixed blind chair

• Choose a swivel when more than one window matters, when you share the blind, or when you sit long enough for deer to surprise you.
• Choose a fixed chair when one window covers everything, when you want the fewest parts, or when weight matters more than coverage.

Fixed blind chairs are on the hunting blind chair page. If cold is the problem, not coverage, look at the heated hunting chair page. And for walk-in sits where no chair is worth carrying, a hunting stool is the light answer.

Care for a seat that turns

A swivel is a moving part, and moving parts wear.

• Follow the maker's care instructions. If the manual says to check or tighten something, do it before each season.
• Turn it at home before every season. Listen for new noises, and feel for grinding or play in the seat.
• Keep grit out. Dirt in a turning joint is sandpaper you didn't ask for.
• Check the leg locks. A leg that creeps shorter during a sit will tip a turning seat first.
• Store it dry. A damp seat on a metal frame is how rust starts.

If a squeak shows up and the maker's instructions don't cure it, don't take that chair hunting until it's fixed. A noisy swivel is worse than no swivel at all. That's a Tuesday-night job at the workbench, not a 5 a.m. job in the blind.

Who should skip a swivel hunting chair

• One-window blinds. A fixed chair does the same job.
• Long walks. The extra hardware adds weight you'll feel on the way in.
• Tree stand and saddle hunters. You need a seat on the stand, not a chair. Start at the tree stand page.
• Spring turkey hunters sitting against a trunk. A low seat suits that better; see the turkey hunting chair page.

For everyone else in a ground blind with windows on more than one side, a quiet swivel is the one upgrade that changes how the blind hunts. Turn it slowly, keep it level, and write down which window the deer actually came to. In my experience, it's never the one you were facing.