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Post by osprey on Mar 30, 2007 19:50:53 GMT -5
I'm making a few of the blinds like we use in North Dakota, thought I'd take pics and show you guys how to make 'em. Very good permanent blinds, nice and roomy, last for a LONG time. Turkeys will come by them the next day, but for deer you need to get them out months in advance so they've got time to get used to them - they've gotta become just part of the landscape. To start off you'll need some 16' panels of hog/cattle fence. It's heavy galvanized stuff, got this at Tractor Supply Center for $19.95 a panel. Trailered the jonboat over to Salisbury and loaded it on the boat to bring it home - the panels are too long to cartop or put in a pickup bed. Once you get it home the easiest way to get it to site is hook it over a ball hitch and drag it there...
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Post by osprey on Mar 30, 2007 19:56:22 GMT -5
This is the site for this one before I started. Used to just hide in the weeds on a bucket and kill deer with my bow, plan on being comfortable from now on... Here is the spot after a bit of clearing work with a chainsaw... You'll need two panels per blind. One gets cut in half so you have two 8' sections along with the other 16' section. Drive a pair of fence posts to anchor one end, brace the long panel against it, then walk it up in the middle so it arches like this... You can see the half panel wall section laying on the ground. Use that to measure the length and then drive posts on the other end to anchor it. Later we'll wire the panels to the posts after the covering goes on.
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Post by osprey on Mar 30, 2007 20:00:51 GMT -5
These are hog rings. Hog rings are your friend. And your enemy when it's 10 degrees, your hands are dry and cold and they keep sticking the bejesus out of you. (sorry, dakota flashback ) Use the hog rings to attach and secure the two 8' wall panels to the arched roof panel... BUT ONLY THREE CORNERS!!! You gotta leave one open for later for the door!
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Post by osprey on Mar 30, 2007 20:07:26 GMT -5
You'll need a pretty heavy set of bolt cutters to cut the wire panels. Not as heavy as these, these buggers have 3 foot handles, but it's what I had at the farm... This is one of the shooting windows. This one is in the long end, normally put one in the long end and one on the 8'wall. Play with the location a little, some spots are better depending on your height, how high a seat you have, left or right handed, and just where and how the blind is set. Just don't put two windows exactly opposite - you don't want deer to be able to look through to another opening as they'll see you moving between the two. You'll have to wait for the next installment to see it finished, I haven't gotten out to get the tarp coverings yet. When it's done it'll be cozy and nearly waterproof!
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Post by Hardcorehunter on Mar 30, 2007 20:17:43 GMT -5
Awesome blind. Could also double as a tepee if it was wrapped in deer hides. Then we could have pow wow's while smoking opium to contact the spirits. Well since I'm not an Indian maybe it should just be used as a blind. Can't wait for the finished product!
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Post by osprey on Apr 7, 2007 14:31:37 GMT -5
Well, got out to get a tarp, although not exactly what I wanted. Use the camo ones normally, but nobody seems to sell one of those in April, so just got a drab brown one. One 12'x20' tarp does the job. Here's the first wall done, cut and hog-ringed onto the frame, from two angles... ...and a close-up of the rings attaching it to the frame... Use some hog rings and secure big expanses of the tarp to the walls, too, or they'll flap excessively in the wind. As they stay out all year the deer get used to some noise, which actually helps cover your movement, but too much flapping will wear out the tarps quicker... Here's the second wall covered, with the shooting window cut out and edges hog-ringed tight... And here is the final blind with the roof attached and secured! I'll get some better shots of it, ran out of disc space for the day on the camera...
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Post by Hardcorehunter on Apr 7, 2007 19:43:53 GMT -5
Looks cool. Do you ever "brush" it in with trees and leaves? Like the stuff you cut to clear the spot, leaned up on and around it.
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Post by osprey on Apr 8, 2007 11:01:03 GMT -5
No, never needed to do that. Turkeys won't pay any attention to it as soon as it's built. Deer accept it as part of the landscape if it's been there long enough, and if it hasn't they'll be suspicious anyway. By fall it'll be grown up around it with grass and weeds and will just be something normal to the deer. We use tons of these in North Dakota, even near bait piles, and I've seen 50+ whitetails within 25 yards of one in an evening that never did anything more than look at it!!
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Post by BIG FOX on Apr 9, 2007 8:38:54 GMT -5
that is awesome...
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Post by sideways on Apr 16, 2007 13:09:24 GMT -5
It's a great idea, but I like Hardcore's idea of brushing it up especially on the 4 sides without the tarps. That would give you a 360 view and shot. Tarp the roof to keep the elements off.
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Post by osprey on Apr 17, 2007 16:33:40 GMT -5
Wondered how it made out, but it's still there and hasn't moved or had one rip in that 30-50 mph wind over the past few days!
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Post by dhextremecb on Apr 17, 2007 20:28:52 GMT -5
That looks so sweet and easy!!!!
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Post by osprey on Sept 12, 2007 13:06:33 GMT -5
Been sitting on the shed roof and glassing the field around this blind a bit the past few weeks, from about 700-800 yards away. Every night the does and fawns come around it, passing the shoot window at something like 2 feet. Saturday evening on the opener could be fun!!
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Post by davep on Sept 12, 2007 16:17:01 GMT -5
Every night the does and fawns come around it, passing the shoot window at something like 2 feet. Saturday evening on the opener could be fun!! 2 FEET? Man, forget the bow. You HAVE to use a BANG STICK!
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Post by osprey on Dec 18, 2011 9:18:59 GMT -5
Update - This blind is still standing, only maintenance since 2007 when built has been one new tarp on the roof. Funny to see now though, those little pines in the front are 10-12" diameter now! Have taken 3 nice bucks, several does and three gobblers from this one since construction.
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