Missing anything in this blind plan?

[mixxedbagg]

Here's what I'm planning on doing to my 14' jonboat. The 4 corners in the top picture are where I will mount sections of pipe to slide the conduit frame in so I can remove it easily.

You can see that the blind frame only stretches about 7' of the 14'. I planned on covering the front and very rear of the boat and motor with camo burlap using camo clips as I will be hunting by myself and don't need a larger blind. Plus, it's fast and easy to fold up when I want to move.

I want to use the artificial grass and roll up a section on each side that I can just untie and roll down. Since I use the boat to retrieve ducks, I figure that I could just roll the sides back up to move the boat.

I figured the height at 54" as it clears my head pretty well. As I sat in the boat in a folding seat, my nose was at 38" so I figured that would be the low point of the opening in the blind.

Here are a few things I'm looking for suggestions on:

What size conduit would be a minimum to be durable for a frame this size? (It would be great if it could hold up to highway speeds with the grass rolls attached so I could leave it in the place while driving.)

How could I best connect the rolls of artificial grass?

Are there better types of grass for what I want to do?

Is nose height the best height for the opening in a blind?

Is the 16" between the top and bottom of the shooting gap too much or too little?

Any other suggestions to make this better (or even cheaper) before I screw it up myself?

Thanks!

[Gordie]

MB what I did was used 1 conduit and bend in the shape of a U but over the length of the boat and then used flat stock and pins to gusset it together so the whole blind folds up and down and 2 pins hold each side. Then I found an old volley ball net and zip tied it to the conduit.. good and tight then zip tied the fast grassto the whole frame and netting. when you need to retrive ducks you can fold it down both sides or just one side.

What I did for the mounting of the frame to the boat was weld a bolt to a plate that is then tec screwed to the boat .You could bole this thru the top part of the transsome of the boat also and then have to figure out where the mounting bolts would have to go in the front.

When I get a chance I will take a few photos of mine for ya.

[BrdHunter01]

Personally I wouldn't waste my time. Natural vegitation is much better than a blind. If you do go through with it remember it is a "blind" and you still need to put yourself within the natural vegitation to break up your blind. We hunt with people that have blinds but when it comes to late season mallards we refuse to hunt with him. We have told him many times that he still needs to put his boat in the vegitation to break it up but he won't listen. He still just pulls up on the outside of the weeds and puts up the blind! [PoorWordUsage] me off everytime.

We also hunted with a guy that had a blind and he had the back of his blind higher than the front. and every duck could see the horizontal pattern of the blind. There were tons of mallards coming down that day and every flock would flare no matter how deep he was in the weeds. We will NEVER hunt with that boat again.

GL

[mixxedbagg]

Thanks so far. I look forward to seeing those photos.

GL,

That's what I've been doing so far, but without much success. I have been just covering my boat with camo burlap and sitting on the floor. It's pretty tough to get a 14' jonboat into the shoreline vegetation in the places I've been hunting. I tried placing my boat behind an 'island' of cattails the other day, but the birds kept approaching from the sides or back and could see me sitting in there before locking in on the dekes. Also, I tried to hunt in bulrushes, but I didn't feel very concealed at all. Any better ways to hunt without a blind than I've been doing?

[BrdHunter01]

What do you mean "behind and island of cattails?" You should, if possible, ram the boat in those cattails. If you have the opportunity to hunt outside the boat do it. Park the boat a little ways down and sit on a bucket or camo chair. When hunting in sparse cover movement is key! Don't shine your face at them and keep still. Also try to break up the shape of your boat a bit.

[mixxedbagg]

It was a pretty small cattail clump. I don't mind trying to ram the boat in the cattails, but it sure is tough to get a jonboat back out when it's time to retrieve ducks. At that particular lake, we're talking about deepwater cattails and bulrushes, so getting out is not an option. On a local river I hunt, I haven't had much trouble because I just park the boat and walk down a little way to sit in the brush.

Yeah, when I was having troubles the other day, I really tried to keep still, but when the ducks would get behind me, it sure was hard to keep track of where they were approaching from. I've tried using the face paint and a hat with camo netting and I have to say the netting does a much better job of allowing you to look without spooking the birds.

[RumRiverRat]

Too boxy.

Needs to have a lower less obvious profile.

[duckhuntr21]

Too boxy.

Needs to have a lower less obvious profile.

+1 My friend made a blind that closely resembles the "C store"'s northern flight blind. Very easy and made some good improvements to it. I really like the idea about the volleyball net to attach the grass to. He ended up using some camo fabric which got kind of expensive. With this style of blind, you wouldn't have to make it the entire length of your boat as well.

[mixxedbagg]

Quote:

Needs to have a lower less obvious profile.

Do you think just going shorter would help? I can definitely bring the top down (to probably about 45"...or lower if I found a lower seat that would still be comfortable), but how tall do you think the shooting hole needs to be?

Basically, would a hole running from 38" to 45" from the floor be sufficient? Doesn't seem like it would be....but I've never hunted from a blind other than some burlap draped over a couple of balsam skeletons.

[Gordie]

I my self use a 18 ft jon and yes some birds flare espeacily mallards but mallards will look at a spot 5-6 time and still not set down and thats even when know ones there..

I'm going to try and do something a whole lot differnt next season for lake with out that much vegitation or rice I will try and use lay out blinds on the floor of nmy boat but just a bit elevated off of it.

I'm going to try and stay as low pro file as possible and even try and build a lay out boat of sorts but with a twist.

[BrdHunter01]

I my self use a 18 ft jon and yes some birds flare espeacily mallards but mallards will look at a spot 5-6 time and still not set down and thats even when know ones there..

I have seen this also many times but usually they circle well within shooting range if someone were there

[HugoBox]

If you put a blind on your boat make aure that the sides angle in a bit to break up your profile from the top. Think of the birds perspective when they are flying thirty yards up. If you build a boxy blind you essentially make the sides of your boat 54 inches tall and it could actually stick out more if that makes sense. We tried many versions of homemade blinds for 20 years and to be honest the Northern Flight is what finally solved our issues. Definitely spendy but money well spent IMO.

[ChuckN]

I agree, you really need to consider what the bird's eye view is like from in the air. If the birds can see the wide open space from inside the blind, it's really obvious. The shadows from inside appear black and it's a dead give away.

I've hunted from different blinds, and even homemade ones. It was a challenge to cover the tops effectively.

This year I went with the Beavertail blind, with their Ghillie grasses attached to the top cover. I couldn't be happier with the performance of this set-up. The grasses are extremely lightweight, durable and easily folds with the blind without any effort. This blind has several options to open the entire top, to covering the top and conceal each hunter to only allow their head to penetrate through an opening of their preference. It's nice to stay warm with a heater and out of the driving wind, rain and snow. I'm still experimenting with various paints on the grass to match my surroundings. So far, the ducks have been cupped and committed.

[walleyehunter80]

sweet blind

[HugoBox]

Good way to really figure out how the blind looks from up high park your rig on the street and go up to he second floor or hop up on the garage roof and you'll see it a bit more from the ducks' perspective. This is what made us realize that unless the virus swam in our blind was a piece... The other function of the blind for a wuss like me is comfort in cold windy weather.

After the bucks we spent building and rebuilding blinds we could have paid for a good one five years sooner.

Also that Beavertail blind above looks great!!

[ChuckN]

After the bucks we spent building and rebuilding blinds we could have paid for a good one five years sooner.

That's what I told my wife, and she didn't "buy" into it. I reminded her of the days she helped design and build my last homemade blind, and the money and time we spent on that. That blind didn't last long. I decided not to build another, and save up for a larger boat and blind that I really wanted.

[mixxedbagg]

Thanks. I'm taking all of these comments into consideration in my plans. So, should I go through with building a blind, how high top-to-bottom should the shooting hole be?

[BrdHunter01]

If you build one I would make it as short as possible. I wouldn't put a top on it. Just two sides and stand up and shoot in the middle.

We have also built many blinds that didn't last. Fun project though

[Jordyn Kaufer]

Make the top of the blind JUST high enought to when your sitting down it is at about eye level or just below... And angle in the pipe so it's like an upside-down V with the top of the V cut off. That will help because then you won't be AS visible from the air, and it will help break you up when your sitting there

[mixxedbagg]

Got a picture?

I was concerned about leaving the top open because I've had quite a few ducks approach from my back in the areas where I hunt. Is this less of an issue than I think?

Does anyone know of a good substitute for artificial grass? I haven't seen that stuff anywhere around here. I suppose I can order it, but it sure is nice to see the stuff in person before buying it.

[Jordyn Kaufer]

I'll get some pics up later maybe, busy with gettin ready for tomorrows hunt.. Its not too big of deal as long as you move slow to sit down if our standing up.. Also if you are just sittin and they come over the top it isn't too big of a deal. Just wear a camo hat too

[mudslinger]

Very nice blind ChuckN!

I too have a beavertail blind. I like the ease of it but I spend a lot of energy in the morning gathering vegitation to cover it up. Is your blind newer? mine only has vegitation pockets every 3ft or so and it just isnt enough. How did you attach all of that grass? Im going to try rigging stakes through the vegitation pockets and attaching grass mats for the rest of the season. Hiding an 18ft boat is tricky no matter how far in the cattails I get. Kudos on the rig

[mixxedbagg]

So, I scrapped the blind I drew based on the feedback I got and decided to try something that would fold and have an open top. I have the frame finished. Both the front wall and back wall have 3 different height settings depending on the cover I'm hunting that can be selected by choosing which holes in each conduit to run the pin through. You are seeing the highest setting for the front wall (which is middle on the back wall) in these photos. It's at about my nose level if I sit on the seat I plan on using. The lowest setting would require me to sit on a boat cushion on the floor and would be pretty close to the height of some bulrushes I've been hunting in.

The walls don't lean in because I have a narrow boat. I figured if I needed top cover, I'd throw some burlap over the top. The back has tarp on it right now and the front some burlap that needs to be trimmed and attached better at the top and bottom. I will cover those with fast grass or similar product as soon as I can find some. Then, I plan on painting the boat and blind frame camo when it warms up this spring.

Any other suggestions....other than tear it down and start over?!? (Maybe "Clean that garage!")

[HugoBox]

Man - that's some nice work. If I were to make any suggestion it would be to add a bunch of holes on your upright support so you can adjust the height up and down a ton. You may find as you're out that you want to have more flexibility. The only other would be to tie a short bit of decoy line or something to the pins and loop is aroudn the hole. I've found that trying to find those types of things on the floor in the dark can be tough.

Nice work for sure though. You'll really enjoy hunting out of it.

good luck

[ChuckN]

Mudslinger,

Yes, I purchased the Beavertail (1600 Series) this summer for my 1448 Alumacraft.

Here's all the Beavertail product. 6 Ghillie mats, and 6 Ghillie bundles (green).

You can see the straps, before I added grass.

The Ghillie grass mats and bundles all contain several plastic clips so you can clip all the grasses to the vegetation straps. That's all I did to attach it to the blind, and it all can come off if needed. The only modifications I've done is paint the grasses black, olive green and brown. It's worked out excellent, and nothing like stopping the boat, flip the blind and load the gun to hunt. No messing around with the blind.