# Deer blinds?



## Toxic (May 13, 2006)

I want to build a deer blind and was wondering if any of you guys have any good plans, tips, or pictures of what you have built? What are your recommendations, windows, doors, roof options? Thanks in advance.


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## Huntinbull (Apr 10, 2004)

The only advice I can give on a permanent/semi-permanent blind is this: Make sure you block light from above and behind you. A screen of brush in front is fine as long as they cannot see your silhouette through your front cover. Your shape/form are as scary to them as the actual visage.


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## Got One (May 26, 2006)

Toxic, Here is one I just put up. It is 4x6 with 14 ft. high to the widows but you can make it as high as you like by the size of 4x4 legs you use. Sliding plexiglass windows and swivel computer chair make shooting out of any window very easy.


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## Toxic (May 13, 2006)

Nice looking setup! Did you sink the 4x4's in the ground?


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## Got One (May 26, 2006)

I put them in about a foot just for leveling purposes but will put cable anchors in the ground also.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Steve, where did you buy the corner brackets, I need some.


I have built boxes for quite a few years and have them spread around the property we hunt. All but two of them are portable by pulling them with my 4 wheeler to new locations.

I build these 5'x5' with the walls out of 5/8" OSB which reduces some of the need for 2x4 framing in some areas. The windows are 3/16 - 1/4" plexiglass 14" x 20" with 2 windows per wall. I use two cabinet hinges per window. The windows flip up and stay up with any needing any hooks or anything to keep them in the up position. I used to use some sliding window designs until I found out they can freeze and I couldn't move them. I have a propane heater, shelves, comfortable swivel chairs in all of them. It makes it nice to sit from daylight til dark.

I used to be concerned with camo for the boxes. Where I hunt it isn't any issue. This is a working cattle farm and there is stuff sitting out in the fields all the time. The resident deer get used to a box very quickly. The non resident deer give the boxes some long looks but are not spooked by them. I do set them up a long way from where I expect to take the deer to reduce the impact but mostly for scent direction control. One of my most productive boxes sits right out in the middle of a grass field.

To me after a few year of making these the two most important considerations are location and comfortable





























A couple of pics my son has taken from the box he always hunts the first day of gun


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## bulafisherman (Apr 11, 2004)

I have been toying with the idea to build one for the back of my property for awhile now,have drawn up a few plans, still looking for any ideas, input ect,mine will have to be about 8 feet above the ground to be able to see above the brush, I can see ice being a problem in the winter with sliding windows, flip up windows are the way to go, lundy how do you keep your windows in the up position without the need for hook,also want to make mine portable so I can pull it with the quad and move it, not sure the best route to go on that yet, wheels would work but costly, I`am leaning towards a simple runner, will need to anchor it also, any ideas on an average cost as far as materials go?


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## Toxic (May 13, 2006)

Lundy, you can get those brackets from Cabelas. They cost 84.99. 
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...h/search-box.jsp.form1&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

You have a great looking setup!


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## Huntinbull (Apr 10, 2004)

Where I learned to hunt (UP of Michigan) those are called coops, not blinds. Toxic, Are you looking for something that ..... well, major? I was thinking brush and burlap. I wasn't even in the right league let alone in the right ballpark! Some nice set-ups! Comfort to the extreme!


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## Toxic (May 13, 2006)

Huntinbull said:


> Where I learned to hunt (UP of Michigan) those are called coops, not blinds. Toxic, Are you looking for something that ..... well, major? I was thinking brush and burlap. I wasn't even in the right league let alone in the right ballpark! Some nice set-ups! Comfort to the extreme!


Yes, I am looking for a permanent type blind. I'm taking my 4yr old out soon and want something comfortable and safe for him to hunt out of. I have a two man buddy blind now, but I am worried about him not being able to sit comfortably. And I do not like the fact there are no sides on it. I have burlap and camo netting around it now. Just want something better.


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## JV1 (Apr 18, 2004)

Good stuff guys...

I just built one to , however our idea was not to spend a single dime doing it.

We had some "old barn wood" from a barn we tore down , TONS of it , along with some extra lumber from building horse stalls

we built it 6 x 6 and the shooting windows are 10' off the field..

now let me get to the field

its a freshly plowed & planted deer food plot, planted with turnip greens, chicory , clover (red & white) winter peas & winter oats

The plants are just sprouting maybe an inch tall and the deer are already all over it

The shooting house is ugly , heavy (we had to use machine to raise it) but it serves the purpose

We had some camo material laying around so I did the windows and added some carpet to quiet the floor some... 

I was not going to hunt in it until the field was up and the deer get used to it , however yesterday morning I got to my treestand to meet ice cold pouring rain... so I climbed into the blind

It kept my warm & dry and I ended up hunting without my coat or boots on!

I saw 3 deer cross the field browsing on the food plot !

a few minutes after they crossed 2 more crossed , Im hoping after this plot grows tall I will have them for breakfast & dinner more often

the blind over looks a cow pasture where we see deer grazing daily as well as out the rear window a view of a pond with deer trail around it, and a brush line between the lake & the food plot... where we find scrapes

we see a huge group of turkey just out the left window every morning... im sure however when turkey season starts they will disappear though 

I have a thousand more pictures of how we built , raised the shooting house as well as pictures of the food plot...

just email me [email protected]


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## bulafisherman (Apr 11, 2004)

Thats sweet blind jv1 for not having any cost involved, however I`am not lucky enough to have scrap wood laying around, I have been toying with the idea of going to one of the amish sawmills over on the Pa, Oh state line and getting some cheap hemlock, I have used hemlock before for projects in a horse barn and if its not dryed long enough it will shrink,I figure if I`am going to buy lumber to build a blind I might as well build it so in the hold heat with a small portable heater allowing the boys and I to hunt and maybe even nap in comfort


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## JV1 (Apr 18, 2004)

thats the only bad part... its easy to take a nap...to easy


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## Got One (May 26, 2006)

Just finished another blind, this one is 4x4 and I took lundy's advice on the flip up windows instead of sliders. I'll be taking it down to camp next weekend.


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## Papascott (Apr 22, 2004)

Steve get a computer chair with armrests that swivels, a laptop with wireless internet a cooler full of diet coke and you could live in that thing! Very Nice! Did you paint that yourself? That looks awesome.


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## Got One (May 26, 2006)

Ya Scott, a 4 inch roller with black solid stain and a little brown and grey spray paint for accents.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Nice Steve!

I am starting a new 5'x8' box this weekend. My daughter-in-law wants to hunt deer for the first time this year. She will have an apprentice license and I will need to stay by her side the entire time. This should be fun. She says she is all in for the dirty work after the shot, we'll see


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## FireMurph (Apr 16, 2007)

Here's the one Toxic helped me put up at the farm we hunt in WV. It's not complete, the battery went dead in the drills. It will have more Log siding when it's done.
 

Total cost is about $150.00.
It's 8' off the ground, 3'x5' with roof. I put steps on instead of a ladder in case my Dad or someone else who has trouble climbing can use it. Hind site I would have made it 4' deep x 6' wide with a 2' platform on the side so the steps could come up from the rear.
Maybe the next one!


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## Huntinbull (Apr 10, 2004)

Oh Boy! You guys have gone and given me ideas. Now there is one more thing I am gonna have to convince the wife of. "But Honey! I NEED this money for my elevated, insulated, weather resistant, camoflaged, and heated blind! You want me to be comfortable enough to spend even MORE time hunting don't you?!?!?" Not sure if that is gonna fly but..... here goes!


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