Tower Blinds - Suggestions

[JJNY]

Looking for some design suggestions/ideas for Tower Blinds. We Lease Land that has a good amount of Fields with Hedgerows and Woodlot edges. The county we hunt in allows Rifles. We spend a lot of hours in the stand and would prefer to do all day sits. Our land is on top of a hill and there never seems to be a light wind day...LOL. All day sits get tougher on consecutive days due to cold weather, wind and plain discomfort in the stand. Not big on purchasing a manufactured "cookie cutter" stand, prefer to build something custom. Some criteria I'm considering...

Long Life/Sturdy/Quiet

Ability to remove and relocate

Possibility of using with a Bow

Prevent use by Trespassers without a lock. My thought is some type of removable ladder.

Comfort

Last but not least, Cost

If anyone feels like sharing, post pics or comment on what you have done to your Tower Blind that you feel makes it special. Thanks in advance for your ideas/suggestions!

[thphm]

1st. How High . What your are asking for is not Cheap and not movable very easy. LOL.

[JJNY]

10' or less to the Platform, just need to get up a little to see over the low profile humps in the field. As far as removable, I was thinking some sort of permanent structure in the ground and some type of Bracket on Top to remove the Posts. I don't see our Lease terminating any time soon however, I would like to be able to salvage something should something happen. I was hoping to work with a budget of $400-$500 per Tower. Plan is to build 1 per year.

[Red]

http://www.altapower.com/riversedge-10-foot-outpost-tower-with-camo-blind-enclosure-re703.html/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Organic+Feed+Google&utm_campaign=Data+Feed+Google&gclid=CJzL0KDy6cICFcFr7AodDFYA4w

I was looking at tower stands online and came across a few like this

Edited December 28, 2014 by Red

[growalot]

I took me some time to find it but here.....

 

Also I make my "shooting house" out of 2x2s screwed or nailed together and I have outside decks on them to sit on in warm temps...but I use all kinds of materials...one blind is a packing crate cardboard and tarp...even the roof..and it has been dry and comfy going on 5 or so years...the ones I'm building now are cardboard over 2x2's that will be "painted" with rubberized roofing paint tinted light green then camo painted like the one I did on page 3 of the link...... the roof will be a light weight luan painted with the roofing paint.. This link will give you an idea of what can be done  if you prefer not to have a fiberglass or metal roof, which are noisy...yes you can go with OSB and shingles...but if you want to move it later it is heavy...light weight walls and roof can last years and years but still be moved easily if need be...you can line the wall with card board for insulation...I also insulate the floors for rolling chairs... Cardboard is a great insulator and sound deadener windows for new blinds will be tinted vinyal stretch over a frame......blocks wind and helps with back lighting.....

 

 

http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/4908-lets-see-your-hunting-tree-stand-pictures/?hl=lets+seehunting+blinds#entry68882

 

 

http://www.rubberized.com/systems.html

 

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2014 by growalot

[Culvercreek hunt club]

One person or two person?

[First-light]

I want to build one that you can also shoot a bow out of.

[growalot]

I have shot a few deer with my bow out of my blinds...the big shooting house, I have taken two doe from with my compound...the small cardboard blind I used the deck on nice days.....  but I open the door up on rainy days and sit inside..when deer come into sight I slowly stand and wait...always make them tall enough to have good head clearance...I'm just limited on shots with the small blind...but made paths they like to follow on that side ...some times it works...some times not...but deck allows me to sneak out and turn for a shot to the back side.

Edited December 29, 2014 by growalot

[phade]

The manufactured variants have come a long way. I'm sure there's alot to be said with building your own, but I think the cost/benefit analysis is starting to be more even with manufactured options.

 

Especially if looking for mobile options that can be moved to another property should the lease fail.

[WNYBuckHunter]

For a really good mobile option, find an old utility or boat trailer thats a bit larger than the footprint of the tower you are building, and build the tower on top of it. You can make the shooting house part removable, or foldable for transportation to another property. Install trailer stabilizers at all 4 corners and youll be good to go. We are planning on building one of these, around 10 to 12 feet to the platform. It will be done on an old boat trailer, and the shooting house will be hinged to fold down. Setup will require the ATV/winch to lift or lower the shooting house.

 

You can build one fairly inexpensively, depending on the cost of the trailer.

 

Another option Ive seen is guys using old grain wagons as a base to put a blind on top of. Do a Google search for grain wagon blind. Some of them are pretty darn sweet.

[Lawdwaz]

These two pics are of a tower stand design that we hunted out of in Alabama back in 2008.  I've hunted out of a number of different types and liked this one the best, by far. 

 

 

 

The shooting openings were just the right size.  Many people make them much too big......same with the physical size of the hut.  It can easily be built too big..........BTDT.

[Lawdwaz]

This one is MUCH too big in all aspects; the interior dimensions and the really dumb big windows.  The deer spot you so easy its amazing...............yup, WAY to big.

 

 

[Lawdwaz]

Although this is a free standing ground hut I think the interior size is about right at (IIRC) 4'x4'.  The windows as seen are WAY, WAY to big.  Since this picture was taken we have added a board across each window at the lower edge.  Each board was maybe 8-10" high.  That makes it more difficult for the deer to spot you and gives you a better rest for your gun.  Burlap on the back window (windows on all four sides although the door side window is real small) that you don't expect to shoot out of.  If you had to, you could always step out the door to shoot......

 

If this was elevated only 8' it would afford a much better visual experience.

 

 

Shot out of this hut @ 135 yards this fall...............

 

 

When the weather is really sour, these things are nice to duck into.

[phade]

That's silly, but they built it so...

 

Something like that would likely entice me to simply sleep overnight in it if I had enough creature comforts.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

 

 

We have 2 box blinds at camp. One is only 2' off the ground because it is in the hemlocks and any higher would reduce visibility. The one pictured is 4' off the ground. This summer we are putting in two others and they will have 8' legs.

 

They are 4'x4' by 6'-6" tall at the highest part of the roof. Perfect size for one person. we use swivel  office style  chairs. I will admit they are probably a tad small if you wanted to bow hunt out of them.

Edited December 30, 2014 by Culvercreek hunt club

[Lawdwaz]

Built in the early 70's and still standing.  You couldn't imagine the deer shot out of it.

 

Spartan at best..............

 

 

 

[Lawdwaz]

Not much better............

 

[Lawdwaz]

For a really good mobile option, find an old utility or boat trailer thats a bit larger than the footprint of the tower you are building, and build the tower on top of it. You can make the shooting house part removable, or foldable for transportation to another property. Install trailer stabilizers at all 4 corners and youll be good to go. We are planning on building one of these, around 10 to 12 feet to the platform. It will be done on an old boat trailer, and the shooting house will be hinged to fold down. Setup will require the ATV/winch to lift or lower the shooting house.

 

You can build one fairly inexpensively, depending on the cost of the trailer.

 

Another option Ive seen is guys using old grain wagons as a base to put a blind on top of. Do a Google search for grain wagon blind. Some of them are pretty darn sweet.

 

An old hay wagon was the basis for this cobbed together disaster.............................functional as Hell but certainly NOT aesthetically pleasing...............

 

 

I've killed from that thing too.  It is in Pennsylvania last I saw it.............

Edited December 30, 2014 by Lawdwaz

[Lawdwaz]

That's silly, but they built it so...

 

Something like that would likely entice me to simply sleep overnight in it if I had enough creature comforts.

 

Sometimes your money clouds your brain.........

 

It was built after a HORRIBLE hunting season, weather wise.  Wind, snow, rain, hail you name it.  My friend decided he wanted something special built.  The interior is so big you just can't effectively cover all directions and with those huge windows you get picked off pretty easy. 

 

Often times the "last day of the season" afternoon hunt has been spent in it, sometimes with more than one occupant.  The guns may not even be loaded..........just a place to go sit and have a quiet chat with the very good possibility of a brandy sun downer to close out another chapter  in the "field notes" journal.  Could even be a good cigar smoked too.................

 

[thphm]

This one is MUCH too big in all aspects; the interior dimensions and the really dumb big windows.  The deer spot you so easy its amazing...............yup, WAY to big.

 

 

 

Not too big for me, building one now that is 8' x 8' x 7' high. But with smaller windows. Right now I have my Barronett 350 blind sitting on the platform that is 8 ' high , I will finish it in the spring. And the deer do not mind it either, went to pull the cards from the cams around it and there were 8 deer bedded anywhere from 8 yards to 20 yards from it.

[Fletch]

An old hay wagon was the basis for this cobbed together disaster.............................functional as Hell but certainly NOT aesthetically pleasing...............

 

 

I've killed from that thing too.  It is in Pennsylvania last I saw it.............

 

Ok this one wins the most not aesthetically pleasing vote so far!! Yikes! You may need to go to your doctor and get shots before hunting that!!

[Steuben Jerry]

14 ft to the floor, 6.5 ft x 6.5 ft wide. Propane heater, interior solar lights, carpeted floor. But certainly not easily moved. 360 degree watch, with a 400 yard view in the second pic.

 

 

[phade]

The fact there is a picnic table there is hilarious. But, I'd use it too.

[bisceglia]

if i had a tower blind like that i dont think there would be any need to leave it for the entire 3 weeks of gun season.  

[Steuben Jerry]

It doubles as a rifle range in the summer!

Edited December 30, 2014 by Steuben Jerry