my homemade duck blind

[JohnWester]

took a quick pic of my frame so far... should wrap it up today if the rain stops.  I'll get some more pics then too.

[Go Big Red!]

Nice start.  Looks like it should do well and give you plenty of room.

[JohnWester]

[JohnWester]

now for raffia

[redbull135]

I used the same stuff last year (the green fabric) worked great attached grass to it with zip tyes and the bottom i left loos so i coulld fold it down when travling slick set up

[Cody Gruchow]

area for the dog to jump out and retreive the bird??

[JohnWester]

working on that...

[USMC03]

What did you use for the tubing and where did you get it?

[redbull135]

hey USMC03  I used elec. conduit looks to be the same there

[USMC03]

Redbull, thats what I thought. my buddies are in the process of making a new blind and were also suggested electrical conduit. just looking for more and cheaper ideas. How did you like working with the conduit making a blind?

[FireRanger]

Conduit is good to use minus the fact it scratches up and can shine in the sun. Keep up with the paint on it and it will do great. Nothing like the reflection of shiny metal to ward of a flock of whistlers! Good luck and nice job!

[redbull135]

my grass hung over enough to cover it up

[JohnWester]

i used, 3/4 elec conduit.  cant find anything cheaper, about $3.50 for a ten foot section at menards.  and no worries about scratching, I put pipe insulation on it all, it's about $2.50 a pack of 4, 3 foot sections... just zip tied it on and putting netting over it.  the netting is some sort of plastic fence, also bought at menards, it's 3 feet by 50 foot roll.  It's not hard plastic, it's like a landing net. should hold up well.  and each joint of the net is knotted, so when I cut it, it won't unravel.  total spent, about $40??? maybe?  and bought 8 pulls of raffia that I will be attaching this week, about 120$ for that. so less then $200 so far.  not including paint.

[JohnWester]

okay, so here is my last installment,
I got it done just in time for the youth hunt.
Guys, going with the raffia over the fast grass was a great decision. It is lighter, and overall, given the color choices, I think blends in better.  It does take some time to attach it though... it took me two evenings, about 6 to 9:30 (so about 7 hours total) to do a 16 foot boat.  And I am still not completely down, I want to do the inside a little better.  I had purchased 8 hanks of this stuff from Matt Keller.

4 bean.
2 marsh green
2 sand
it was just the right amount to do the whole thing.  the netting I used I found at menards, but I just saw fleetfarm has it too... same price $20. look in the fencing area.

I started to weave this stuff in to the netting by pulling it through as a loop and then pulling it back on itself, kind of like a half hitch if that makes any sense.  It looked great that way, but I quickly realized that it was very time consuming. so I went to using zip ties. they work just as well, and quicker. I just staggered the height on the side as I attached it so there would be no gaps.

left side


right side


a look inside, notice I did some on the right side on the inside, need to do the same on the left side.


a shot of it folded down.
I just put a boat cover over it when traveling any distance on a highway.


here it is in use in the "field"  It worked out great, instead of screwing around trying to pull up in the cattails, I just dropped anchor right along the edge.  The ducks didn't seem to mind it at all.


the colors I got make the perfect blend to fit right into a cattail background.
any questions?

[FireRanger]

Very nice!! My fowlin' partner is finishing up the boat blind as well. I'll try to post some picks but it'll be after the opener 'cause he's got the rig up in Rapids. Can't wait to be able to park where ever. Pulling up into or beating down the tails is a pain. Again, very nice work and good luck on the water this season!!

[deadeye]

Looks like a job well done.  Should be a blast during the duck season.  P.S.  If you anchor out in the water, do you drop in a line too? 

[pheasantman2121]

When we made a few blinds for our boats we used 3/4 pvc pipe in gray color not the white stuff it was light weight and you could just cut it and put fittings on it to make the support poles plus you could bend it to the countour of the boat and we just used galvanized fence post brackets to attach it to the side of the boat.  it worked good.  But then one of my buddy got some extra money and bought the avery quick set blind and that thing it the bomb but very expensive it was like $800 bucks but very well worth the money it would take like 30 secs to set up