Deer Blind Design and Picture Post

[Texasjack]

Finally got on a deer lease and got a decent spot. The stand there is in bad shape, so I'm working to design one up and build it. That put me to thinking that there are probably a whole bunch of cool ideas that people have run across to make the stand easier to set up or more comfortable or safer. I'd like to hear from anybody with a cool idea and I'd love to see some of your stands (or ones you've come across), so I started this thread.

Pics? Designs? Ideas?

 

[benenglish]

If you know someone with enough back issues of Precision Shooting magazine, try to find the articles that Dick Wright wrote over the years detailing the evolution of his deer blind. It's in the running for the most comfortable, easiest to shoot from, and all-around best in the USA.

 

[vmax]

I'm 6'7 and I know from years of getting in and out of and shooting from other people's blinds when I built my own I made it for me. A door that I don't have to crawl through and windows I can see out of and shoot from without sliding off of the chair and getting on a knee first.
I also went with a 4X6 to comfortably hold two hunters

Build it to suit you.

 

[mitchntx]

A buddy had an old 6'x10' double axle trailer that he used to store bulk CO2 for filling convenience store tanks.

Installed 4 stabilizing jacks
It was stripped to a flatbed and built a blind on it.
Back it into a spot, try it out. If it doesn't work or the placement is a little off, move it.

The floor plan is 6' x 8'

Found four (two on each side) surplus/overstock household bathroom windows which give a good seal and are quiet to operate.
The top portion was painted
Has a wide sill/gun rest

Plumbed for propane

Has an old truck toolbox on it to store the propane bottles, a pair of hedge trimmers, limb trimmers and a handsaw.

A shelf at the top that runs the length of the blind for storage and a dowell rod that is used to hang coats.

Floor is carpeted.
Has two office chairs.

 

[TX69]

 

[Reelthrill]

When I bought my blinds, I bought from here: TexasCedarBlinds.com. I paid only $750 for the 4X6 with 8' legs many years ago. I just went to the website...damn his prices have gone up over the years.

As others have said, get or build a blind with a big door. There are many designs to build your own out on the web. Pick a design you like and build from there. I found that building my own wasn't always the best option. Make sure you seal it from the elements, ensure it is as airtight as possible to keep out wasps, bees, and bats. I am sure many of us have some stories from not heeding that advice...

Encounters with Owls when a window blew open while we weren't there. Got up early in the morning, settled into the blind, noticed the window blown open, but thought nothing of it, until out of nowhere you are staring face to face with a big ass owl trying to come back in.

Wasps and bees I hate and are a total nuisance.

A friends blind had a slight gap at the bottom where to side panels met. Bats found a way in. We didn't know it, and he climbed up to inspect inside and just about jumped off of the ladder 8' feet in the air. The smell, the sound, the fear..I almost pee'd my pants laughing so hard at him. I am glad it wasn't me.

 

[Governors20]

A Bobcat or a Polaris work just as good as a blind. I see them all the time in both, and they dont care if I am there or not.

 

[Mexican_Hippie]

A few ideas in order of cheapest to most expensive:
- Just a stool in the brush (I did this a lot when rattling)
- (Ground) 4 wooden pallets wired together with bailing wire like a small hog pen - with a camo tarp thrown over
- (Ground) Popup camo blind from Cabelas
- (Ground) Home built plywood with just holes. Build a box with 2x4s - put on plywood - done
- (Raised) Same as above but with longer 4x4s for the corners (unlessyou have free used telephone poles available)
- (Raised) Metal, purpose built tripod
- (Raised) Fiberglass or metal, fully enclosed with windows, etc.
- (Ground) Used old electric gold cart. Bar around the top with camo shower curtain to pull back/forth.


If I'm hunting to enjoy it then my favorite is just having a stool or sitting in the brush. If I'm just in a hurry to take some meat then a blind is fine. Also, electric golf carts are awesome - no fumes and little noise.

 

[robertc1024]

I made one out of cedar fence pickets - recycled - and 2x2's. I screwed the pickets to a couple of 2x2's at appropriate heights to make a panel for the back. On the sides I did the same thing except the 2x2 was 1.5" off from the back. Drilled 1/4" holes through the junction of the 2x2's so I could just drop a bolt or big nail through them. You get the idea. Cheap, worked great except when I was half asleep and birds started flying in through the window I'd cut out in the front.

 

[Texasjack]

What?!? No elevator?

 

[Texasjack]

I built a pretty nice elevated 4x4 some years back. I used landscape timbers for the legs and it seemed to work pretty well.

But I never enjoyed climbing in a small hole and the older I get the less fun that is. And I've never found a window setup that I liked very well. Seems like there was always a choice of either blocking out the wind or being able to shoot.

I've gotten into a stand with an owl sitting in it. Nearly peed my pants when I opened the door and he flew out right in my face! We had a ground stand some years ago that some of the guys on the lease were bad about closing the windows on it. Opening day, a guy was sitting in it and a bobcat walked up to the stand and was about to jump in when he shot it.

 

[Mexican_Hippie]

Years ago I had a large owl fly into my open window early in the AM when it was still dark. Evidently it had been living there. All sorts of chaos ensued and shots were fired, lol

Owls are formidable.

 

[BIGCOUNTRY01]

My grandpa bought an old case 4890 was using it to plant one afternoon and the motor blew up in it. Him and my uncle drug it out of the field and into the tree line. He had a stroke shortly after so it sat there for many years. The deer got used to it and would walk within 10 yards of it. Needless to say i hunted out of that broken down tractor for quite a few years. I have an uncle who drug out an old school and hunted out of it.

 

[kittyhawk]

Just put this up this am. It's a 4x6. Sitting up on 4' legs. It sets on a pipeline with about 300-400 yard shot on both directions and good thinned woods in front of it.

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[kittyhawk]

Oh the two other bolides in the pic are now owl hotels........ Both are about to fall down so we just left then up for our owl family's.


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[deemus]

I have a round fiberglass blind. It's made from an underground fuel tank.

Kind of thick, and holds heat well in the winter. Insulation on windows, which have a good seal, and latches that hold open or closed. 6'5" tall. The floor is the only thing that can go bad, it's the only wood in the thing.

You can buy them in a few places. Mine is the small one. But they make them up to 30' tall.

 

[MikePotts]

Here's the one that we've used for the last 17 years. A friend & I built it from scrap lumber we scrounged from the taxidermy store where we worked at the time:

We didn't have any sort of plan (obviously!)

and jury rigged it 'twixt two white oaks which succumbed to oak wilt last year.

The 'walls' are mostly old pallets and most of the 'camo' is spray painted torn up 'wind netting' I liberated from the tennis courts where I play.

It ended up by being about 7' x 7' inside.

 

[STXdevilsquid]

One of my favorites was I took 4 large round bails and used them to make the side with a gap on one side. Very comfy and they get really close, I almost had a doe come in cause gap was too large at first.

 

[h_coats]

Here’s a rifle blind that me and my dad put together

 

[Texasjack]

I was surprised to see this resurrected after 4 years! Nice job on that blind. Simple, clean, and effective.

I built a nice stand on the lease I mentioned and "inherited" an old one that was in a good spot but I frequently shared it with a large rat. Unfortunately, the guy who ran the lease passed away and the landowner decided to sell the property. Some of the guys had nearby places to take the blinds, so I gave mine to them in hopes they would find a good home.

On a new lease now - deep in timber land. Time will tell if it's any good or not. I lucked out and got a spot where a previous member abandoned a tower. We'll see how it pans out.

Meanwhile, since this has been re-opened, maybe some others would be willing to post pics or designs for their stands.