I need a duck blind for my canoe! -Suggestions??

[TruthWalleyes]

I am an avid duck hunter, yet haven't invested in a decent sized boat. I use an older fiberglass canoe all camo'd out, except i think a blind is necessary. Been thinking this one over for 2 years now and still haven't found the perfect blind idea that is light enough and completely removable for transportation.

Anybody have any advice, seen anything, or done this themselves? Looking to prepare a little early this year for duck opener!

Thanks

[Duffman]

What we did to our canoe was to take a bunch of those black rubber bungee cords, remove the hooks, stretch them out somewhat and screw them under the outside of the gunnel all the way around the canoe (about every 10"). Then we would just ziptie a bunch of bundles of weeds/grass together and insert them into the bungees when we got to our spot, when it was time to go, we yanked 'em and piled 'em in the bottom of the canoe. If the bundles became too ragged after a couple of uses, we just made new ones, it's a very cheap way to go.

We did this on a Old Town plastic canoe (screwed straight thru the rubber and into the plastic), I don't know if or how it would work for fiberglass, but that's what we did for a blind in our canoe. Good luck.

[AF-1984]

Great idea!

I don't want to steal the post, but would like to know some suggestions as to what everyone else does for stabilization?

[TruthWalleyes]

I was thinking more of a blind that you commonly see on a 12-16ft boat, like a 3ft blind all the way around my canoe. Just need something for uprights and then the long camo "blankets/Blinds".

Stabilization- Depends on the lake, I like to hunt Swan & Middle lake so there are lots of cattails that you can push your canoe on top of and feel pretty stable.

I have used my paddles and rope to make vertical supports - marginal success. I will probably come up with a better solution by this fall.

[icehousebob]

For a blind for my jon boat, I use cut open burlap bags, the older and rougher looking the better. I sting them together on a rope. I stick plastic garden stakes in the mud around my boat and hang the burlap from it outside the boat. That way, if I rock the boat, the whole blind doesn't move too. Quick to set up and pull, and you can remove it and haul it in the truck when the boat is on top of the truck.

[Duffman]

For stablization, we just use some poplar saplings. This was up north, we'd just cut some down on the way to the slough, forgot the saw once, nothing a shotgun blast didn't take care of.

When we got to our spot we'd pull up on the bog and just drive 'em down as far as we could on both sides of the canoe middle point. The lengths we used were about 10', we'd leave about three feet sticking up above the gunnel, tie 'em to the center thwart and then run the rope back in forth between the two sticks all the way to the top. It made a little wall to stuff more cover in and break up the outline of the length of the canoe when seen from an airborne duck. And when we left, we also left the saplings behind. Hunted the same spot for years, the saplings would only make it two-three years before they decomposed. We always used new ones, but you could see the previous years stakes.

That canoe was solid as a rock, we could both sit on the same edge of the canoe lookin out sideways with no fear whatsoever of tipping, shooting yourself backwards out of the canoe was much more likely.

[jparrucci]

Exactly what Duffman said. If there is a lack of vegetation, I take the cheap camo netting material and hang that from the poplars. You just make a notch in the poplar at whatever height you wanna hang the netting. I have the leafy looking netting in the Advantage Wetlands or a simalar pattern. I only use this method when I am in the rice or somewhere like that. Usually I will just jam my canoe into cattails maybe a foot or so back, enough so that I am fully concealed. I will bend the cattails back over the canoe as well so I am even hidden from the top from the birds. There is no way I am ever spotted by a duck if I am in the cattails in my canoe. But in more open areas, what Duffman said is right on. I like the netting because it is lightweight and no hassel, compared with the grassmats that are heavy and a pain. The netting accomplishes the same thing. This also helps your stability greatly in a canoe. I can move around and jump up and down without even a worry of tipping. I even bring my Brittany with me in the canoe, because I know once we are set, we arent going over...its just getting to that spot that is iffy.